First I must apologize to everyone here at caucus99percent for missing my normal Open Thread post yesterday. I have been immersed in watching the Tour de France via my on line subscription and simply forgot what day of the week it was. I am very grateful to JtC for covering for me at the last minute. He is truly JtC the magnificent!

Speaking of the Tour de France, this first week has been one of spectacular scenery and interesting racing due mainly to the organizers' choice of route which has provided something of interest every day thus far. Stage 2 was particularly breath taking visually as the riders raced in blustery winds and rain on the top of the very high dikes along the North Sea coast towards the finish in Zeeland, the Netherlands. Below is a picture (that does not appear to be subject to copyright) of the dikes on a nice day just to give you an idea of just how high they are. Massive amounts of water are pumped out from the landward side back into the North Sea via a pumping system powered by giant wind turbines. Stage 3 had a finish up a short, but very steep climb at the end. Tuesday's stage 4 required the riders to traverse seven sections of narrow cobblestones as part of the route. And yesterday's stage five was flat, but in the open winds across areas of northern France where many of the bloodiest battles of World War I were fought. Nothing can wreak more havoc on the peloton than winds and the peloton instantly exploded into three distinct groups. Stage 5 was dedicated to all the men from many countries whose lives were lost in World War I.

Yesterday this article on Lance Armstrong caught my eye and reminded me why I dislike him so much. Humility and contriteness are not possible in Lance's world. This year in a gesture in which Lance is thumbing his arrogant nose at the Tour de France, the cycling world, and the current competitors, he is "trolling" the Tour de France by riding some of the stages one day before the Tour de France itself passes through. Lance just refuses to go away quietly and make amends for all the damage he has done to his sport, his charity, and to many individuals who crossed his path.

Lance Armstrong is a man fueled by anger and revenge. When he competed, it allowed him to channel his anger in a more positive direction. But even then he did everything to ruin anyone who might have crossed him up or gotten into his way. He is still doing that today. And there are many bodies left strewn behind in his wake. Lance just refuses to go away quietly and make amends for all the damage he has done to his sport, his sponsors, his charity, and to the many individuals who crossed his path.

And the barely recalcitrant cheat has been pushing the limits of moral outrage more and more, unwilling or unable to stand down and let the bitter taste of poor sportsmanship and outright dishonesty fade from the public’s perception.

Many people paid a high price for calling Lance out on his doping. Among them, were three time Tour winner and the only American to win it honestly, Greg LeMond whose life and business were ruined by Lance Armstrong. LeMond called it twelve years of hell before he was finally vindicated. In addition to Greg LeMond, there was Betsy Andreu, the woman who persisted in telling the truth for years even though Lance tried to bully her and ruin her husband's (Frankie Andreu) cycling career. I love this picture of Greg Lemond with this tshirt paying homage to Betsy Andreu.

When Lance's former masseuse, Emma O'Reilly tried to tell the truth, Lance tried to destroy her reputation by calling her a whore. Add to that, numerous former team mates, eleven of whom testified against him, including Tyler Hamilton for whom Lance seemed particularly vindictive. Hamilton was not totally innocent himself and did not come clean until he was caught, but at least he has tried to rehabilitate himself by publicly speaking out against all drugs which he continues to do today.

While Lance Armstrong was not the first nor the last top cyclist to dope, the way he pressured team members to participate in doping was particularly heinous. Here's the story of Patrick McCarty who refused to go along with Armstrong and use performance enhancing drugs. As a result, his career became dead in the water. If you read only one link, this is the particularly heartbreaking story of Dave Zabriski who got into cycling to escape a bad home life.

Not only did Lance do irreparable damage to the lives of so many people with whom he had contact, but he did terrible damage to the image of the sport of cycling, especially here in the United States. In Greg LeMond's interview linked above, he speaks about how he is optimistic for the sport. I hope so.

BS: How prevalent are drugs now?

GL: It's significantly better. What I like seeing today with racing is there's a tremendous amount of racers under 24 who are as good as riders over 30. I think Armstrong's downfall had a positive impact. If you're a young rider and see the damage he did to the sport, I hope you think about it. There always are people willing to cheat, which is why you have to watch it closely.

After reading that article, I needed to get my angry thoughts about Lance Armstrong off my chest. But I will still have good thoughts of this year's Tour de France on my mind for the next two and a half weeks.

What is on your mind this morning?