It's Official: Only One More "Tour de Lance" Left

Ever since the first time I watched the Tour de France back in '93, there's been a Lance Armstrong element to it--either as the up-and-coming American wunderkind learning the ropes in the shadows of greats like Miguel Indurain; or as the cancer patient whose return to cycling was very much in doubt for a time; or as the seven-time champion, of course; or as the guy who made a pretty remarkable return from retirement last year.

Lance is getting on in years, as cyclists go, so we've all known that there wouldn't be too many repeats of last year, and now he's revealed his plans. And true to form, he's done it via his Twitter account:

And yes, this will be final Tour de France. It's been a great ride. Looking forward to 3 great weeks.

His next tweet clarified that he meant it would be his final Tour; I hope the event itself goes on forever.

I was looking forward to watching this year's Tour anyway (it's taken on a special significance since I got to visit Switzerland back in '99; looking at the countryside and architecture of Europe brings back great memories), but now it will take on a special significance as we get to cheer on the pride of Plano on cycling's biggest stage.

The Tour starts Saturday; there's no doubt that my TV will be getting a little exercise that day.