Signs that the Apocalypse Is Not Yet Upon Us

In what has become (for this blogger) a tense and riveting Tour de France, Lance Armstrong increased his lead today by over 45 seconds, in spite of a fall during stage 15. Armstrong has not appeared to be as strong as in year's past, so this is going to be a compelling race to the end. What I find heartwarming are the actions taken by Armstrong's competitors during the fall:

[Jan] Ullrich had to swerve to avoid the crash. He waited with other riders while Armstrong and Mayo got back on their bikes and caught up.

"Jan is a good guy, he's an honorable guy," Armstrong said. "He probably didn't forget that when he crashed in 2001, in what appeared to be a serious crash, I told everyone: 'We can't race until he gets back up.' As we say in English: 'What goes around comes around,' and so I appreciate him doing that."

At the beginning of the stage, Ullrich trailed Armstrong by a mere 15 seconds and he and the rest of the peloton could have surged ahead for the stage win yesterday, but they chose not to. With all of the negative press stemming from professional athletic these days, it a good feeling to hear that such things as honor and sportsmanship still exist and mean something.

I'm rooting for Lance, but if Jan wins, then I will not be terribly displeased.