As Tour hits mountains, reality hits Discovery team

ESPN.com ^ | Updated: July 13, 2006, 4:38 PM ET | Andrew Hood

[nutmeg]

PLA-DE-BERET, Spain -- For seven consecutive Julys, George Hincapie faithfully toiled for the greater good of Lance Armstrong's seven consecutive Tour de France victories.

With Armstrong enjoying retirement, the 33-year-old New Yorker dreamed of stepping out of the Texan's shadow to become America's next breakout star by making his own run at a Tour victory.

Those dreams dissolved Thursday in the five-climb, 128-mile 11th stage across the Pyrenees as a dejected Hincapie rolled across the line 46th at more than 20 minutes off the winning pace.

While fellow American Floyd Landis was already being anointed as Armstrong's heir apparent as the Tour's new race leader, Hincapie's name was being erased from the contender's list.

"The general classification is over for me now," said Hincapie after his disastrous Stage 11 outing, dropping out of contention to 40th overall and 23:01 behind Landis. "I've been working hard to improve, but it's just not coming together for me. It's disappointing."

The 93rd Tour started out fabulously for Hincapie, an affable, hard-working son of Colombian immigrant parents who married one of the Tour's pretty podium girls.

As the only teammate to be a part of all seven of Armstrong's record seven Tour wins, Hincapie won a breakout mountain stage in the Pyrenees last year and gave his candidacy as Armstrong's heir some real credibility.

A strong all-rounder who can climb and time trial, Hincapie missed a win in the opening prologue in Strasbourg on July 1 by less than a second.

He showed grace under pressure the next day to grab the race lead with time bonuses to become just the fourth American to don the Tour's prestigious maillot jaune.

"What I did with Lance, I wouldn't pass up for anything," Hincapie said during his one-day run in yellow...

[nutmeg]

Tour de France ping!

Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my Tour de France 2006 list.

[Ready4Freddy]

Thanks, nutmeg! ESPN has some great articles, don't they? I've especially enjoyed reading Bonnie DeSimone's.

A good one - Normandy a memory years cannot erase

[nutmeg]

It's rare that a childhood memory holds up 30-plus years later, but this one stayed true. My eyes welled up as I stood still and looked from marker to marker in one small quadrant of the enormous graveyard. Reading each name felt like a physical blow as I tried to comprehend the potential that had died with them and the impact on their families. I left red-eyed, wishing I had more time to linger, to walk the beach or go further down the coast to see the cliffs the Army Rangers climbed.

Oh my goodness... thanks so much for that link. I will have to go back and read all of Bonnie DeSimone's articles.

Her experience Colleville-sur-Mer sounds the same as ours back in 1995. It is impossible to leave the American Cemetery without red eyes...

My husband and I also visited the D-Day Museum nearby and Pointe-Du-Hoc. Geesh, it's been 11 years... time for a return visit soon, I hope.

[luv2ski]

We were there in 2000. My eldest son got to participate in the lowering of the flag that evening. It is such a breathtakingly beautiful place! The way they put sand from the beach in the engraved name on the cross when family visits is incredible, too.
Looking at those bunkers that still dot the beach, I just kept thinking, "How did we beat these guys?" We went home and watched "The Longest Day" over and over.
I found the French people in Normandy to be the most friendly and welcoming that we encountered in France. There were several people that went out of their way to express their gratitude to the Allied Troops for freeing them from German rule. They, at least, get it.

[Ready4Freddy]

My sisters, nieces, girlfriend & I, along w/ quite a group of friends, accompanied my Uncle back to Normandie in 2004 for the 60th Anniversary celebration. Our experience was similar, luv2ski - the locals were wonderful to us.

Speaking of bunkers... we were checking out one of the bunkers above Omaha & met 2 Rangers who had taken out that particular bunker some 60 years ago, when who should walk up but 2 German soldiers who had manned that bunker, and escaped just prior to it being blown. Not a dry eye in the immediate vicinity when the 4 men met, shook hands, then hugged! All the men had family with them, down to great-grand kids, so we were able to see 'the potential' that DeSimone wrote so eloquently about in that article.

I found the French people in Normandy to be the most friendly and welcoming that we encountered in France. There were several people that went out of their way to express their gratitude to the Allied Troops for freeing them from German rule.

[luv2ski]

Wow! Absolutely unbelievable!