July 22, 2003
Chivalry stops
AP Photo
As he was starting to pull away, skirting the crowd about 9.5 kilometers (5.9 miles) from the finish, Armstrong's right handlebar caught a spectator's outstretched bag, toppling him. Iban Mayo of Spain hit Armstrong and fell, too. Ullrich, however, swerved to avoid them, and raced ahead. Armstrong's Tour, it seemed for an instant, was over. Ullrich would win.
But then two things happened. Ullrich, perhaps recalling that Armstrong had waited for him when he crashed in the 2001, slowed while the Texan picked himself up, remounted and rejoined the race.
"Ullrich showed incredible fair play," said Stephen Roche, the 1987 Tour winner. "Both of them showed they are true champions."
Armstrong almost fell again just moments later when his right foot slipped from his pedal. But from there, he never looked back.
Powered by the adrenaline of the crash, he overtook Ullrich and Mayo and raced to the summit, finishing first, slumped exhausted over his handlebars. His effort turned the razor-thin 15-second advantage he had over Ullrich into a more comfortable cushion of 67 seconds and gave the Texan and his team a morale boost at a vital time.
FOX Sports
Sounds like a great illustration a la Chappell. I'll race you for it. (Hmmm . . . Now if I can just find the right text . . .)
Posted by: Evan at July 22, 2003 04:36 PMyep, that was mostly what drew my attention and caused the blog.
what about..."forgetting those things which are behind"?
no, we need a good OT story that parallels this one for the best eisegetical insight.
The French come through again to attempt to thwart American progress! Ullrich must not keep up on his politics! :0 I'll try to think of a text....
Posted by: Dad A at July 22, 2003 10:54 PMhow about jeremiah, chapters 2 through 6?
seriously.
'what will you do in the end thereof?'