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TOUR DE FRANCE: IS LANCE STILL UNBEATABLE?
Today is a much needed rest day in the Tour de France. Lance Armstrong is
in
second place overall (26 seconds behind yellow jersey holder Igor Gonzalez
Galdeano of Spain) after finishing 11 seconds behind winner Santiago
Botero
of Colombia in yesterday's ninth stage individual time trial. Lance was
widely expected to win yesterday, having won seven of the previous nine
Tour
de France time trials, going back to 1999. "The Tour has
changed--Armstrong
isn't as strong in the time trial as he was a year ago," Gonzalez Galdeano
brashly said. "The race has become more open. We'll now see if he's as
unbeatable as he once was in the mountains." The Tour moves into the
Pyrenees on Thursday, for the first of six mountain stages this year.
Chris Carmichael, Lance's coach, wrote of the ninth stage results in his
column on http://www.velonews.com/: "So what happened today? Santiago
Botero
and Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano rode brilliantly, and Lance rode reasonably
well. I don't think anyone should look at today's result as a failure on
Lance's part, nor as a chink in his armor. He will be a formidable and
aggressive force on the hardest mountain stages coming later this week and
next week. Lance has the same or better climbing form he had when he left
everyone behind last year on the climbs to Alp d'Huez and Pla d'Adet. The
climbing battles will be hard fought and exciting to watch, and I
confidently expect to see Lance finishing at least one summit by himself
and
well ahead of anyone else."
Catch all the action live on Outdoor Life Network, or (if you can’t sneak
out of work), get live updates on the official Tour de France site
http://www.letour.fr/2002/us/, Bicycling magazine’s
http://www.tourdefrancenews.com/, or Velo News’
http://www.velonews.com/tour2002/. OLN is airing Lance’s new ad for
bicycling advocacy, bicyclists’ rights and the League during Tour
coverage. You can also see it on http://www.bikeleague.org. To support
Lance and the fight against cancer, visit http://www.cycleofhope.org and
http://www.laf.org.
THE LEAGUE’S NEW MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS
The League has recently created a wide range of exciting new membership
benefits. As of July 1, all new and renewing members plus all life members
will receive Bicycling magazine as a benefit of League membership. In
addition, League members are eligible to receive discounts on travel
(including hotels, car rentals and bike shipping) and tours. Discounts are
available at a number of leading bicycle retailers around the country.
Several leading manufacturers of bicycles and cycling gear (including
Saris, Bike Friday and Rudy Project) are offering substantial discounts
and special promotions. League members must present their membership cards
or provide their membership numbers at the time of purchase to receive the
discounts and special promotions.Visit
http://www.bikeleague.org/members/discounts.html for details. To join the
League, go to https://league2.securesites.com/commerce/join.htm.
EXPERIENCE THE BEST CYCLING IN NORTH AMERICA!
Come to BikeFest 2002, August 2-4 in Amherst, MA and enjoy what Richard
Fries, publisher of The Ride (http://www.ridezine.com), calls,
“Undoubtedly my favorite place to be on a bike! Arguably the best cycling
in North America!" Cycle low-traffic roads through the beautiful
Connecticut River Valley in western Mass. or hit the dirt
on your mountain
bike. Bonus: entertainment on site and in a cool downtown area, serious
cycling food, plus talks on bicycle advocacy, bike fit for women, touring
Iceland, bike maintenance and repair, frame building, and more. For
information on
BikeFest 2002 or to register visit
http://www.bikeleague.org/events/bikefest2002.html.
LANCE, TRACK LEGEND MARTY NOTHSTEIN, AND “LION KING” MARIO CIPOLLINI TO
DUKE IT OUT ON THE STREETS OF MANHATTAN, AUGUST 4
Just a week after the grand finale on the Champs Elysees, Lance and his
U.S. Postal Service teammates will race through the streets of Lower
Manhattan in the first ever New York City Cycling Championship on August
4. They will compete against the likes of 2000 Olympic Gold Medallist
Marty Nothstein and "Lion King" Mario Cipollini, who has won over 150 pro
cycling races around
the world and is among the world’s top road sprinters. (That is, if
Cipollini does not retire before then, as he indicated he planned to
earlier this week. Test your Italian on http://www.mariocipollini.net).
The 100-kilometer professional cycling race will feature 60 - 70 top
professional cyclists racing through Manhattan’s financial district with
the Start/Finish Line at Wall & Water Streets. For details, go to
http://www.nycbikerace.com. Could this end Wall Street’s slump?
NEW YORK JEWISH ENVIRONMENTAL BIKE RIDE, OCT. 13-14
Join Hazon as they seek to mobilize the Jewish community towards greater
environmental awareness and activism, and ride through the beautiful
Hudson Valley of New York during the peak of fall foliage, October 13-14.
The Ride is open to riders of any religious background. Beginning near
Poughkeepsie and ending with a celebration and Jewish Eco-Fair in
Manhattan, day 1 will
be approximately 70 miles, and day 2 will be approximately 40. Go to
http://www.hazon.org for details and registration.
COAST-TO-COAST ON A TANDEM
On August 25, Steve and Stephanie Mountford will leave New York City on a
6,000-mile ride across America on their tandem. They will hit Niagara
Falls, Chicago, Kansas, New Orleans, Texas, Phoenix, the Grand Canyon, Las
Vegas, Death Valley and Los Angeles, and finish in San Francisco on
December 7. They are riding to support the National Children's Leukemia
Foundation,
whose mission is to raise public awareness of the need for bone marrow
donors, and to aid and support sufferers of leukemia. On the tragic day of
September 11th last year, a little boy aged five, the son of a close
friend of theirs, lost his four-year battle against leukemia. If a
compatible bone marrow donor had been found, he might have been saved. To
learn more and support their great effort, visit
http://www.coasttocoast2002.com/.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN SEPTEMBER? CYCLISTS NEEDED FOR BORDER-TO-BORDER RIDE
TO BENEFIT CHILDREN WITH HIV/AIDS
The 2002 Border to Border Challenge is a 1,900-mile bicycle ride from
Canada to Mexico with a goal of raising $1 million for pediatric HIV/AIDS
research and critical care. The trip originates at the Canadian border
near Babb, Montana, east of Glacier National Park, and finishes in El
Paso, Texas. The ride will essentially follow the Continental Divide
staying on paved roads.
The tour will be divided into three legs, each of which will be
approximately six to seven days covering 500 to 600 miles. The total trip
starts September 4, will be approximately 2000 miles and will take about
one month to complete. Visit http://www.bordertoborderusa.org to register
or support the cause.