Lance Armstrong Rides Into the Darkness at the Tour de France

Filed under: Cycling

PARIS -- To the end, the bitter and cryptic end, there was fuss and controversy, a cause celebre. Maybe it wasn't the time and place for a tribute to cancer patients worldwide, but as a survivor of the disease and a crusader against it, Lance Armstrong thought it was. And considering this was designed as a symbolic moment at the starting line of his final Tour de France, the event he defined as much as it defined him, then why the hell not?

So in the far southern suburb of Longjumeau, Armstrong and his Radio Shack teammates replaced their red-and-gray racing shirts with black jerseys -- each with a yellow 28 stenciled on the back. "Today, we're riding for every one of the 28 million people all over the world whose lives and families are affected by this disease,'' he said. It would have been a nice touch for Tour officials to let them compete one time with the black shirts, but the gentlemen who operate the race can be stuffy and curmudgeonly, and they sent urgent word to Armstrong: Wear the official shirts or risk a team disqualification, which is not how the legend would want to depart the Tour forever, especially with a explosive doping investigation awaiting him in the U.S.
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The start of the final stage was delayed 15 minutes. And some will say Armstrong tried to upstage the new king of cycling, Spain's Alberto Contador, who has won three of the last four Tours and might threaten Armstrong's record of seven titles. But eventually, the International Cycling Union allowed Lance and his mates to wear the black shirts on the Paris podium after Radio Shack won the team competition. As all the attention rightfully deflected to Contador, Armstrong didn't have deep thoughts.Snowboard Bobby Brown Freestyle Skiing Ryan Dungey