Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Just the Facts, Ma'am: A Compendium of Liberal Fiction -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rainy_Day_Woman who wrote (38130)	7/20/2005 10:03:17 AM
From: MulhollandDrive	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 90947

allez lance indeed! have you been watching at all? i had my arthro (i 'trained' for my surgery by riding as many miles as i could the week of ...lol) on the right knee last friday, so being 'stuck' at home quite a bit, i've been able to watch considerably more than i normally would it was so great to see george hincapie (with lance from the beginning) win stage 15 (his first stage win ever) canada.com Armstrong keeps lead, teammate George Hincapie takes stage in Tour de France John Leicester Canadian Press Monday, July 18, 2005 Overall leader Lance Armstrong, of Austin, Texas, foreground, Ivan Basso of Italy, rear left, and Jan Ullrich of Germany ride up the Val-Louron Azet pass during the 15th stage of the Tour de France cycling race, Sunday. (AP/Bernard Papon/Pool) SAINT-LARY-SOULAN, France (AP) - Sunday was a day of mixed emotions for Lance Armstrong at the Tour de France. In the morning, he remembered a friend and teammate killed in a crash a decade ago, meeting with his widow and young son. In the afternoon, he celebrated as another friend and teammate notched up his first solo Tour win. And, taking care of business, Armstrong solidified his overall race lead Sunday in the brutal 15th stage - and his prospects of retiring with a seventh consecutive Tour victory next Sunday. At the start in the picturesque town of Lezat-sur-Leze, Fabio Casartelli's widow had told Armstrong to go for a win. It didn't work out that way - but that was fine. Armstrong's most loyal teammate, genial New Yorker George Hincapie, pedalled to victory high in the Pyrenees, and Armstrong was delighted. Hincapie became the first of Armstrong's support riders and the eighth American to win an individual Tour stage. Armstrong, 33, and Hincapie, 32, first met as teenagers. They hugged, Armstrong giving a thumbs-up, at the finish. "This is a dream for me," said Hincapie. "I'm really in a state of shock." Armstrong called Hincapie "my biggest guy, my biggest friend on the team." "We've been riding together since we were 17," the six-time Tour champion said. "The guy is one of the best riders in cycling. Period. I'm so proud of him." Usually, Armstrong's teammates devote themselves entirely to making sure that he wins. They have few chances for Tour glory of their own. Their only wins have been collective ones - in team time trials that Armstrong's squad won for the third consecutive time this year. But in the sun-baked 205.5-kilometre trek up six mountain climbs, Hincapie joined a group of riders that broke away from the main pack, which included Armstrong. Hincapie said he went with that group thinking that Armstrong would catch up him later in the stage. But the breakaway built a lead of more than 18 minutes. At that point, Armstrong's team manager gave Hincapie the green light to ride for himself. "I just started thinking about the win," said Hincapie. "For it to work out is just a dream come true." Hincapie and Oscar Pereiro, having shaken off the rest of their group, fought for the victory alone on the final and hardest climb to the Pla d'Adet ski station above the Pyrenean town of Saint-Lary-Soulan. There, Hincapie beat the Spaniard with a sprint finish, shaking his head in disbelief as he crossed the line. Hincapie is the only one of Armstrong's eight teammates to have been with the Texan for all of his six Tour victories, from 1999-2004. The last time the Tour visited Pla d'Adet, in 2001, Armstrong won - on the way to his third Tour title. Armstrong said Hincapie's victory capped a "perfect day." "To win a stage in the Tour de France is special, but to win a stage like this which is arguably the hardest stage of the Tour is a big, big accomplishment. He deserves it," he said. More...