Lance Armstrong Makes the Break, Stage 3 Tour de France

The whole Armstrong story has been misinterpreted, in my opinion.  From a tactical sense, it was the perfect move for Lance to be in, because not a single one of the other overall race favorites was in that front group - so he actually gained time on all of the rivals, which in fact, is not only perfect for his team but it is also perfect racing tactics.  All it does is put him in a better position to be a threat, should he actually have the legs when the race reaches the more crucial stages.  

He actually didn't harm Alberto Contador at all, because nobody who is a threat gained time on Alberto except Lance - and that is fine in this situation.  This would have been a completely different story if Sastre, Andy or Frank Schleck, Cadel Evans, or Denis Menchov had been in the split. Then you would have had to say it's a mistake, because Lance doesn't know if he's going to be better than those guys in the long haul. So in essence he would've been contributing to giving time to someone whom you might not be able to beat.  

 

I read some of the articles about this yesterday, and I didn't see a single one which correctly pointed out what a good move this was for Lance and team Astana. It's a real shame, in my opinion, that others have interpreted this as a "rift," but I think there's a certain amount of journalistic sensationalism going on here.