Greetings from South Florida! TGIF!
It's Stage 7 and the Tour de France today. This is the longest stage of the Tour this year. The total distance is 142 miles, more than 220 KM. For the amateur riders, we usually heard the "century" races. It means 100 miles. But for these guys, the century seems like a warmup to them.
In just 7 miles after the start, the only American hopeful, TJ Ven Gardener crashed into a road sign at high speed. He was scratched badly with blood on his face, knees, and arms. It took two minutes for him to stand back up. But the team doctor decided he's OK to continue the race after examed him. TJ was riding after he started riding again while a team doctor patched him up riding in the team car beside him. He will still have more than 200 KM to go in the stage while in pain. these guys are "tough as nails" as a commentator said.
Over the years, there were a few years that an American team dominated the race with a superstar named Lance Amstrong. He got the whole country excited about the race and the cycling sport. It was a shame that later he was found guilty of cheating with performance enhancement drugs and even blood infusion with his own blood that was stored before the races. Once you were found cheating, it's over. His name disappeared from the sport completely. And we don't have anybody from the U.S. to cheer on.
I was always wondering why there was seldom an Asian athlete who participated in this race. In some years there was a Japanese rider in the race. Maybe our body type is not suitable to compete in this kind of brutal sport?
Enjoy your weekend! Cheers!
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