Tags
alpine, cycling, green, Italy, Lance Armstrong, miracle, photography, prayer flags, souvenir, Timmelsjoch, tour, Tour de France
On the Italian side of the Timmelsjoch Pass these cycling jerseys flutter in the wind like prayer flags – or washing – depending on how you see them 
The climb on this, the southern side, is steep and ragged with hairpins, so much so that it is impassable to larger vehicles. However, it is the very nature of the climb that makes it a popular route for motorcyclists – and cyclists who like their challenges to be big. These jerseys, torn to deter souvenir hunters, bear witness to the fact that a cycling tour must have recently passed this way and what these guys do never fails to impress me. The sheer mental and physical determination is phenomenal – and that’s just the tours. What about the endless hours in the saddle, the training, the sacrifices, the physical and mental punishment …..
This post sadly coincides with the loss of a hero as Lance Armstrong, seven times winner of the Tour de France, is buried in a deluge of bad press and the tatters of an illustrious career after the US Anti Doping Agency’s report stated that he was part of “the most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen”.
He is a hero to many as, whilst seemingly at the peak of his career, he was diagnosed with cancer and given less than a 50% chance of survival. He went on to beat the cancer and return to cycle racing, taking the sport by storm and winning more accolades than I’m sure even he can remember. Doping in cycling is an enormous problem and he is by no means alone but when he celebrated his record-breaking seventh Tour de France win he said: “I’ll say to the people who don’t believe, the cynics and the sceptics: I’m sorry for you. I’m sorry you don’t believe in miracles.”
I wanted to believe in miracles – I still do, but now I feel hugely disappointed. Some miracle. However, for me, the saddest thing to come out of this whole sorry episode is the fact that others, striving of their own endeavour, were denied their chance to win and all that goes with it. When all the sacrifice and endless hours of training result in the pinnacle of their physical and mental performance and that brief moment when, along with a touch of lady luck, it all comes together. For many a once in a lifetime combination – lost forever.
(All images are copyright to Noeline Smith)
As you say Nolene, it’s sad to learn that a man we all looked up to has been found to have cheated. I was so shocked a few years back when Linford Christie was found to have cheated also. Young people look up to these athletes and it’s such a betrayal. That they can hold their heads up on the winners podium beggars belief.
You’re right – how on earth can they stand on the podium and celebrate when there’s a chance that the guys on the lower steps got there on their own merit and were denied that step up. Even as I write this I find it sad that the best I can say is that there’s only a ‘chance’. What happened to sport?
I love the jersey’s Noeline, what a really cool thing to come across.
I think many are thinking, they knew he must have been taking something, it was truly extraordinary what he did, but it is also incredibly stupid, if that is the right word. With so many young people looking up to him and wanting to be him, it is sad the example he has set for them. There are true champions out there, and I want to see them.
I must admit I wondered if he was taking something but put that to the back of my mind as I wanted to believe. For a man who had achieved what he already had, he had nothing to prove …….. and I thought that he would have had enough drugs pumped into him during his treatment anyway to not want to take the risk.
I know exactly what you mean. I thought it was strange how well he did, but I thought maybe it had something to do with the cancer, and maybe that drove him. The sad thing is that he was so inspirational to so many people, I wonder how his Live Strong campaign will go now.
I hope, and believe, that most people will differentiate between the man and the cause as it would be a crying shame if it affects the campaign. I guess the other thing to remember is that what he, and all the other professional cyclists do, is incredibly tough and takes huge amounts of personal resolve. The drugs only help convert that into a win.