Lance Armstrong left this year’s Tour de France failing to match his own expectations.

Yes, Stage 20 of the Tour de France 2010 was his final appearance as he rode down the Champs Elysees in Paris. It was a sad day for Armstrong, aged 38, and for his many fans, to see the great man’s exit.

In Stage 19, the time trial, RadioShack rider Lance Armstrong finished in 67^th. And for the Texan cyclist who has an amazing legacy at the Tour de France after seven titles, finishing 67^th was embarassing. This time last year he came out of a four-year retirement and came close to making it 8 wins, but this year, his final year, it was not to be.

He had misfortune in many of the first few stages. In Stage 8, he suffered three crashes, effectively ending his chances. It was a sad and emotional day as he said graciously afterwards, “My tour is finished. No tears from me. I’ve had a lot of years here where it’s been very different, so I’m not going to dwell on today.”

We cannot ignore though, that the fight to defend his legacy in the sport still continue with a federal grand jury in Los Angeles still investigating illegal doping in the sport, that includes Floyd Landis, disgraced former Tour de France winner, continuing to make allegations against Armstrong.

Both Armstrong and his lawyer, Tim Herman, have referred to the investigation as a “witch hunt,” and no doubt many of Armstrong’s most ardent fans will be hoping for the best.

For now though we have to remember the skills and…

That only means one thing, this rivalry between Contador and Lance Armstrong just went up a notch.

Alberto Contador proved last Sunday that he is the sport’s next big star after winning Stage 15 of the 2009 Tour de France. The win also let Contador seize the yellow jersey, something he and his teammate, Lance Armstrong, have been salivating over ever since we kicked it off in Monaco.

While Alberto Contador had one of the best performances of his career to take the lead in the standings, Lance Armstrong had one of his worst. Armstrong finished in ninth place, finishing a minute and a half behind Contador. And because of his somewhat unimpressive performance, he sees his chances of an eight Tour de France title, fading.

”It will be hard. A day like this really shows who’s the best, and I wasn’t on par with what is required to win the Tour,” Lance Armstrong said. ”That’s the reality; that’s not devastating news or anything.”

”I gave it everything that I had, and I wasn’t the best.”

Being the best is what Alberto Contador is hoping to be once Armstrong walks away from the sport for good. He finally recovered the celebrated yellow jersey, something he hadn’t worn since his Tour victory two years ago, and now that he has, he’s making it clear that he is the man to beat this year.

And as far as his Astana teammate, Lance Armstrong is…

Will you care if it is?

Stretching from July 4 to July 26, the 2009 Tour de France will be made up of 21 stages and will cover a total distance of 3,500 kilometres. These 21 stages have the following profiles; 10 flat stages, 7 mountain stages, 1 medium mountain stage, 2 individual time-trial stages, and 1 team time-trial stage.

The race alternates between clockwise and anti-clockwise circuits of France. The combination of endurance and strength needed led the New York Times, three years ago, to say that the ”Tour de France is arguably the most physiologically demanding of athletic events.” The effort was compared to ”running a marathon several days a week for nearly three weeks,” while the total elevation of the climbs was compared to ”climbing three Everests.”

Yes, THREE Everests.

Riders are judged by accumulated time, known as the general classification. In some years time bonuses have been awarded for finishing position on a stage or at intermediate sprints. There are subsidiary competitions, some with distinctive jerseys for the best rider.

Most stages are in mainland France though it is common to visit nearby countries. Stages can be flat, undulating or mountainous. Riders generally start each day together with the first over the line winning, but stages can also be time trials for individuals or…

Apparently, the 37-year-old Texan wants more pain.

With still more than a few stages left in the 2009 Tour de France, seven-time winner Lance Armstrong is already looking towards the future.

You see, Lance Armstrong was asked by a pesky French reporter whether he’ll be back in the Tour de France next year or will this be his last one and guess what, the 37-year-old, who is competing in his first Tour since 2005, told that reporter that this won’t be his last one.

”Probably not. Probably not,” Lance Armstrong said. ”Maybe one more Tour.” Yes, Armstrong is so sure that he’ll be back next year that he made sure of it TWICE.

Armstrong also believes that there won’t be any major changes as far as the standings are concerned on this year’s Tour. According to Armstrong, that’ll happen once they get to Stage 15.

”There’s not going to be a lot of change until Verbier,” Armstrong said, referring to the grueling 15th stage between Pontarlier, France, and Verbier, Switzerland. ”We’ll have more moments there when we’ll see who’s truly the strongest.”

”I think that’s where the race is going to be decided,” he added of the Alps. ”The combination of those days from Colmar…”

Cavendish will go for his third straight win on Thursday.

The 2009 Tour de France continues its eastward journey across central France with Stage 12 running between Tonnerre and Vittel.

And as far as Mark Cavendish is concerned, he wants to win this one too. You see, he’s been riding on some kind of momentum lately that got him winning the last two races of the Tour. Thanks to Cavendish, the standings remain the same with Rinaldo Nocentini holding on to the yellow jersey, Alberto Contador second and Lance Armstrong remaining third overall.

The win also let Mark Cavendish take the green jersey from Thor Hushovd. ”I was able to get the jump on Thor and win, so it was perfect,” Cavendish said. ”It was just beautiful the way the guys could adapt to the situation and deliver me to the sprint.”

As big as this win was for Cavendish, don’t expect him to settle because we are entering to the crucial parts of the 2009 Tour de France where anything can happen, including Lance Armstrong catching up to the yellow jersey.

With stage 12 of the 2009 Tour de France running between Tonnerre and Vittel, the advantage now shifts to the breakaways as the race climbs six categorized climbs. None of the climbs on the menu are especially difficult. The constant up and down should enable the attackers to elude capture and contest the stage victory.

It’s a day of wine and water, as…

The French are probably hoping one of their drivers will, after all, it is their Independence Day.

You got that right, Stage 10 of the 2009 Tour de France is on the French national holiday, Bastille Day, a day the French celebrate the day of their independence. And since French riders in the Tour de France are always motivated during this time of the year, it is safe to assume that the Frenchies will be coming out strong. The question is, will you bet on one?

Stretching from Limoges to Issoudun, Stage 10 is a 120.8-mile hike that will do away with the use of car – to – rider race radio. Yup, the 10th stage will mark the first half of a notable experiment. Tour organizers have banned the use of car – to – rider race radio, leaving everyone to figure out time gaps and tactics as they did during the old days.

And while French riders will be eager to show their stuff on Bastille Day, this stage is likely to be controlled by the sprinters’ teams.

Usually, the day after a rest day is always a recipe for uncertainty in the peloton. Some riders will feel superhuman, others will feel like they left their legs in the Pyrenees, the frisky ones will look to take advantage of a groggy peloton early in the day and build a difficult – to – close gap over a trio of Cat 4 climbs clustered early on in the stage.

If an opportunist like Saxo Bank’s Jens Voight makes the…

Nine stages have passed and Lance is still playing catch-up.

It’s been more of the same as far as the standings in the 2009 Tour de France is concerned. Rinaldo Nocentini has been hanging on to his spot on top and guess what, after nine stages, it hasn’t changed.

Yes, Nocentini is still hanging on to the yellow jersey Sunday as Frenchman Pierrick Fedrigo won the race’s ninth stage held over 160.5km from Saint Gaudens to Tarbes.

Fedrigo, who rides for the Bbox-Bouygues team, handed the hosts their third stage win from this year’s race after outsprinting breakaway companion Franco Pellizotti at the finish line. It is Fedrigo’s second stage win on the world’s biggest cycling tournament, having claimed his maiden win in 2006.

The main peloton containing all the race favorites came over the finish line 34 secs later, having failed to close the gap to the leading pair on the 70.1km descent leading from the summit of the Col du Tourmalet to Tarbes.

On the third and final day in the Pyrenees and ahead of the race’s first rest day on Monday, Rinaldo Nocentini maintained his 06-second lead on Spain’s 2007 Tour de France champion, Alberto Contador.

Lance Armstrong, Contador’s teammate at Astana, is…

That’s right, the annual cycling event nobody probably gives a shit about anymore is on.

Lance Armstrong is attempting the impossible by going for an eighth title in the 2009 Tour de France, the world’s toughest cycling tournament. It is no surprise that the main plot will focus on a certain larger-than-life Texan who has come out of retirement to reclaim his spot on top of the sport. Can he do it?

If you really want to know, Lance Armstrong believes so. The Texan believes he still has the strength in his legs and the wind in his lungs to take an eighth yellow jersey.

But the odds are stacked against him.

At the age of 37, he will have to defy biology and the history books to end up with the yellow jersey in Paris in three weeks time. No rider has won the race at his age before. The oldest winner of the Tour was 36 when Firmin Lambot won way back in 1922. But despite this, it would still be unwise to bet against Lance Armstrong. How come? In case you missed it, his name is still Lance Armstrong.

Whether Armstrong can be on top of the Tour de France again or not, one thing is absolutely clear, him being back is good news to a sport riddled by controversy the last couple of years.

”He’s one of the biggest legends in the sport and the influence he has had has been absolutely incredible and for him to come back shows a lot of courage,” veteran Tour de France rider Stuart O’Grady said. ”It is also great publicity for the sport whether or not he wins.”

If there’s this one guy who can give Lance Armstrong a…

Somebody got away with a very valuable piece of sports memorabilia.

The 2009 Tour de France is still a long way from here but fans of the sport are already feeling all giggly in anticipation for it. Some even can’t help themselves of grabbing a ”piece” of it right now that they decided to just steal one of Lance Armstrong’s bikes just for the heck of it.

You read it, the seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong lost his time-trial bike when it was stolen from the Team Astana truck during the night before the popular cyclist heads for Stage 1 of the Tour of California.

Although Armstrong, in his first competitive appearance in his native country since ”resuming” his cycling career last month, finished a strong 10th place during the Tour prologue in preparation for Stage 1 in California, you just know that he must be pissed after learning that somebody stole his bike in his first official comeback performance.

A few hours after the time trial, someone removed four bikes from the Astana truck outside the Sacramento hotel where Lance Armstrong’s Astana team was residing in.

His time-trial bike, which was closest to the door, was stolen along with three other bikes that belong to Armstrong’s teammates; Steve Morabito, Yaroslav Popovych and…

Yes, he’s coming back.

Lance Armstrong, probably the most popular cyclist in the United States, since the country doesn’t really have that much, will ride the 2009 Tour de France after a long hiatus from the sport.

The Tour begins on the 4th of July and Lance Armstrong, probably celebrating his own Independence Day after finally ending his relationship with the singer Sheryl Crow, figured getting his ass back on a bicycle is the best way to let the rest of the world know that he’s back running his life. Hee hee.

”If you’ve been away for three or four years, it would be silly for anybody to think I could pick up where I left off,” Lance Armstrong said in a telephone interview from Tenerife in the Canary Islands.

”I can tell you I feel better than ever, I feel stronger than ever on Dec. 1. How that translates to racing, we’ll have to see. Mentally, in terms of motivation, this feels like 1998-1999 to me.”

Armstrong, who’ll likely join 2007 Tour champion Alberto Contador in the Astana team, will be a part of one of the most star-studded lineups in France. Joining Armstrong and Contador is Germany’s Andreas Kloeden, American veteran Levi Leipheimer and top support rider Yaroslav Popovych.

The Astana cycling team, now considered by far the strongest multistage team EVER, is so ridiculously powerful they might…