Tour de France

Greatness sometimes demands recognition. Lance Armstrong is an iconic figure, and I know that he'll be one of the iconic figures of our lifetimes. Truly fantastic performances. The highlight from 2001 (I think it was a climb to Alpe d'Huez) where Lance feigns exhaustion on an early climb, then stares at Jan Ullrich before kicking into a gear nobody else in the field has... just amazing. The stare back is akin to Ali's stare (the greatest sports photo of all time).

Next year, watch Alexandr Vinokurov kick a whole lot of ass if he has the right team around him. Guy's got huge balls in the way he finished the tour this year (though I think the tour organizers screwed Levi Leipheimer today).

update: I meant to write this yesterday... 5 of the top 20 riders are Americans. More top 20 finishes than any other nation. And Americans are some of the top team riders. This is about 8 years after Lance really started making news. That's where he really makes a difference. Sure, there were many before, but nobody put cycling on the map like Lance. He's created a wave. It's a fine time for him to retire, because his team is in good shape, the sport in his country is in great shape.