The leader of the Tour
Linda Robertson / Miami Herald
ALPE D’HUEZ, France – The key to surviving this storied stage of the Tour de France is not to look up.
If a cyclist looks up, he will see the 21 trails, zigzagging across a green wall of trees.
He will see ski-lift chairs suspended above him.
He will see snow-capped peaks.
He will realize he is climbing an alp on a bike, 9.6 miles and 3,300 feet of unrelenting ascent.
He will realize this is a road that is meant to be skied down, not ridden up.
For Lance Armstrong, the more outrageous the challenge, the better. He lives to find out, every July, what his body can endure. The exquisite pain of Alpe d’Huez is his reward.
On Wednesday, he conquered the mountain again and, barring catastrophe, sewed up his record sixth straight Tour de France title.
Dancing in the pedals, his legs and lungs burning, his teeth bared and his eyes focused on the pavement, Armstrong wound his way up, up, up. He passed through a narrow alley of fans, most cheering, some jeering and a few spitting at him as they parted. They waved American and Texas flags in his face. They ran alongside him, swishing yellow jerseys like matadors. They snapped close-up photographs. They screamed encouragement and epithets. But Armstrong’s gaze did not waver. He did not look up. He saw only the road, falling away behind him, yard by yard, mile by mile.
