TDF: An American in Paris

The New York Times published a great little piece with some perspective on le Tour and its histoire. What an amazing, epic event!

Of course, the whole doping issue is troubling. There is no objective indication that Armstrong has been using drugs, but then the lingering question is, "how can someone who is not using drugs beat other riders who presumably are using drugs, and moreover how can he do it six times in a row?"

That is a good question. My guess is that he used some of this stuff to come back from cancer, much like any other recovering person might do, but that he hasn't used it since he started racing again. If that is true, then the only real remaining issue is whether or not that one year of using drugs somehow permanently changed his physiology.... Maybe some day we'll know the whole story.

Whether he has been using drugs or not, he still beat all other riders. And if drug use is so rampant, then that means other riders are using them. So it is a "level playing field" of sorts, and he beat them all. An incredible performance, especially this year.