Lance finally lost a mountain stage. He'd won four consecutive mountain stages, and I was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to lose a climb ever again. Yeah, it was a breakaway of riders too low in the GC to be a threat to anyone, but I had gotten used to seeing Armstrong sprint to the line ahead of Basso, Ullrich, Kloden and a random fifth rider. Jason's brought up the elephant in the room, so let's get right to it: has this gotten boring?

I'll be the first to admit that Indurain bored the crap out of me. Part of my love of Claudio Chiappucci is that he stood in perfect contrast to the Big Mig: colorful, quotable, reckless, and let's face it, tactically inept. Indurain had no signature moment, just a quiet demolition of the field in five consecuvtive colorless races. He was methodical, brilliant, and so boring that it's hard to think of any details of any of his triumphs. That's just how Indurain was. Lance is interesting to us for three reasons: his backstory, his style, and the fact he's an American.

Let's not kid ourselves, we're more interested in Americans. We try to keep a global perspective here, but we all know the Tour wouldn't get a mention on SportsCenter were it not for the Americans in the race. Well, one American in particular, though in the old days, Andy Hampstead used to get a quick mention before the baseball highlights. And the cancer survivor angle gets even non-sports fans intrigued. It would be silly to think the ridiculous amounts of coverage isn't triggered by Armstrong's American story. But I'm going to focus on his race style.
Lance stays interesting to me because he has had signature moments: the Stare, the Fall, that first stage win, his cut through the field, the war of words with Pantani and Ullrich, and his complete domination of every time trial. Armstrong is fun to follow because he is a ruthless competitor. Like I've said earlier, he doesn't just want to win, he wants to dominate. In a way, Pantani was right when he said that Lance giving stage wins was an insult. Lance's gesture though spoke the truth: "I'm winning the race, so here, have a stage win for your effort. I don't need it."

And we can see the end of his dominance on the horizon. Basso, Kloden, and Vinokourov lead a new generation which will eventually overthrow the old master. It's fascinating to see the end of the era while also watching this new generation come of age. And guys like Ullrich, Beloki, Mayo, and Hamilton aren't done, they still could find a way. It's almost a race to see who becomes the man to beat the man. This year just wasn't time yet, but even with Armstrong's authoratative victory, it's not like he's winning by ten minutes. He's trying to win every stage, and he's got four minutes on Basso. That's real good, but it's not the same level of destructive dominance Lance once held. It's beginning to slip. He's still the best, but the margin is slipping.

There is already talk of Lance retiring. As a fan, I'm begging Lance not to. He doesn't owe us anything, and in the end, it's not me who has to sacrifice my well-being to ride up these mountains, but I would like to see him go for seven. Don't just break the record, obliterate it. Don't win, dominate. It fits in with his career so well. Also, now that six is secure, wouldn't you love to see him ride the Veulta? Go for the double, it's the only thing missing from his career.
Greatness is rarely boring. I'll tune in to watch greatness, even in sports I don't particularly like.

To complete the contrast with Indurain, Armstrong's competition is interesting. The continued French struggles to find a contender, the changing of the guard at Telekom, the emergence of Basso, the Spanish Armada, the new generation of Italians, and the next generation of Americans. Lance has made his competitors better, as it takes perfection to beat him. Panani was always terrific, but Armstrong put him on the next level. Ullrich has never found a way to beat Lance, but he's established himself as a great. Let's put it like this, Stephen Roche won the Tour in the late eighties. A man with his skills, riding today, would be lucky to crack the top ten. This generation of cyclists is that good. The Ullrich of today would beat the Ullrich of his early years by 10 minutes... and he won the Tour back then. Armstrong's inspired a generation of guys who attack relentlessly, as its really the only hope they have of beating him. He's made the sport better. When he retires, there will be a generation of terrific talent ready to take over.