It’s the final iconic segment of a marathon that, while not the most difficult nor the most scenic, remains running’s greatest benchmark, a mixture of the small-city rural start in Hopkinton; the effervescent women of Wellesley College and the challenges of the Newton hills in the middle; and the monolithic, 60-by-60-foot Citgo sign 1 mile from the finish.

I don’t know how to comprehend terrorism or what to make of how the media covers it. It’s baffling reporters grilled a surgeon on national television after he had just performed six operations on victims of the explosion. Or that a YouTube video showing looters stealing Boston Marathon apparel had nearly 700,000 views in the first four days after the marathon. Why was the video even made from the television broadcast? And who are the looters?

I didn’t understand any of it—until my own, personal reality check of the good and heroism of others. Of surgeons going to work without being asked after just finishing the marathon. And volunteers helping strangers and residents along the course, inviting them into their homes.

When tragedies occur, citizens from Sandy Hook, Conn., to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts speak of resolve and resilience.

How race organizers will move forward is unknown. But the community, including runners, volunteers and shop owners, will embrace the event again in 2014 with a new fervor. It will be special, respectful—an homage to the tragedy to Patriots’ Day, April 15, 2013.

Veterans and first-time runners will experience the still-proud tradition and hopefully without fear. Other runners will continue to run other marathons or go on training runs with friends or on solo lunch-hour treks.

When we run—or go for a walk or ride a bike or swim or hike or help each other through difficult times—we win, and evil be damned.

(Author’s note: I completed the Boston Marathon in 1991 and 1996. This article was originally published in the Sacramento News & Review, April 25, 2013.)

Sports fans who make fun of golf as overbearingly boring will watch Tiger Woods play in the Swampville Open. Sports fans who don’t know the Tour de France from a tour of duty watched cycling to see what Armstrong was going to do next on some next on some steep, twisting, snow-peaked road. Or they watched because they had or knew someone who had or died from cancer.

Athletes with such sudden impact are often quickly canonized. But few sporting icons who have done so much right and apparently now so much wrong more convincingly than Armstrong.

From an early age, Armstrong’s moxie off and on his bicycle has been staggering.

Barely an adult as a first-time homeowner, Armstrong purchased investment artwork and infused his home in Texas with a designer’s savvy that included perching furniture off the floor because he liked the concept of space.

As a skilled amateur cyclist, Armstrong escorted his mother to award presentations after he surprisingly dominating races. At one race I attended, when race officials said post-race podiums were for cyclists only, the rider refused to attend. Organizers had no choice — they acquiesced.

But no one in sport, Pete Rose to Marion Jones to Barry Bonds, has been accused of pulverizing their sport so severely.

And nearly 15 years after accusations first swirled around cycling with his return from cancer and first victory Tour de France victory, the cyclist Thursday (Aug.23) announced he had enough. He wouldn’t pursue the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency’s charges of doping and conspiracy despite a career of denial of any wrongdoing.

Armstrong set his cycling parameters early. He was brash and went to the front of races and powered to single-day wins. When he figured out cycling didn’t work that way, Armstrong found riders who would unwaveringly ride only for him.

When I first interviewed Armstrong he was easy to like — cycling’s version of former NBA star Charles Barkley. He always had something to say. Armstrong was and still is often cordial and candid. He’s smart and can control a press conference instantaneously. But catch him in a foul mood and be prepared.

But with his fame and globally expanding cancer foundation, Armstrong also became a master of manipulation and intimidation and a public relations genius. He adapted to Twitter early and still has 3.5 million followers. He hired a personal photographer.

When he competed a few years ago in the Tour of Italy in his second comeback, Armstrong had short videos made from inside his team motorhome prior to each stage. He had teammates and competitors talk about the day ahead or their families or hobbies. It was new and refreshing and showed cyclists as humans, not shaved-legged robots on wheels.

But when a videographer shot and posted arguably the great footage in Armstrong’s career after he crashed a few years ago a stage of the Tour of California, the video was quickly pulled. The video showed the rider after he had crashed on a cattle guard. He was hurt and bloody but pedaling again.

Armstrong was unsure what to do. It was raw and showed Armstrong vulnerable. I liked him more because it showed Armstrong tough but frail. He was like the rest of us, if only for a few minutes. It may have been the best video in cycling history.

But Armstrong’s powerful PR machine reportedly got the video deleted.

Like any champion, Armstrong has been emphatically cheered when he’s won easily. But when he’s been spit on by Tour de France spectators in the French countryside or booed as a doper in the Alps, he’s won more convincingly.

When he rode through a field to avoid crashing on melting asphalt or when he glared at opponents or faked fatigue to again win at the Tour de France, Armstrong changed the traditions of cycling.

When he claimed his last Tour de France title in 2005, Armstrong addressed the drug accusations that had then already been circulating for nearly a decade:

“For the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics, the skeptics; I feel sorry for you,” he said from the final podium on the Champs Elysees in Paris. “You need to believe in these riders. I’m sorry you can’t dream big and I’m sorry you don’t believe in miracles.”

All of which circles back to Armstrong’s unexpected announcement.

Armstrong’s decision is hard to decipher. For all the strenuous hill climbs he’s overcome on and off his bike, why did the rider not challenge USADA’s accusations —the biggest cycling obstacle of his cycling career? He never backed way from any other mountain.

It’s also hard to understand why cycling has allowed the agency to change the history of the sport without offering proof. It’s embarrassing, I think, for USA Cycling, the national governing body of the sport, to avoid the subject of Armstrong and several of his former teammates also under the USADA microscope with repeated comments of “no comment.” When USA Cycling wants to promote the accomplishments of its athletes, it has plenty to say.

It’s disappointing several cyclists I spoke with at the USA Pro Challenge wouldn’t comment on Armstrong. The same athletes have always been accommodating when asked about their accomplishments with what reporters call “softball questions.”

It reminded me of a comment Steve Hegg, the former Olympic track gold medalist and national time trial champion, once said. When asked about Armstrong a few years ago, Hegg also wouldn’t comment specifically. But he said, “Cycling is the only sport that eats its own.”

Several years ago, when his post-cancer bestseller, “It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life” was published, Armstrong often reflected on his life. In one passage, he wrote:

“Quite simply, I believed I had a responsibility to be a good person, and that meant fair, honest, hardworking and honorable. If I did that, if I was good to my family, true to my friends, if I gave back to my community or to some cause, if I wasn’t a liar, a cheat, or a thief, then I believed that should be enough.”

It’s hard to understand why Armstrong would write those words knowing he was lying but write them anyway.

It’s hard to understand why Armstrong, given a second chance after looking at death from close range, would choose to purposely alter his body again.

And it’s hard right now to comprehend that the last article I’ll write about Lance Armstrong after more than 20 years of interviewing, observing and commenting on the most intriguing and perplexing athlete I’ve been around, is the story of a martyr or a fraud. It’s unbecoming of the athlete and the sport.

(Originally published in the Sacramento Bee on Aug, 26, 2012.)

With her high-pitched speech and diminutive stature, Mary Whipple could be mistaken as an Olympian of another kind, a gymnast perhaps.

But Whipple is now well into her second decade in a sport where her size, commanding voice and high energy level provides the ideal athletic dichotomy.

Now age 31 and possessor of Olympic silver and gold medals, the Orangevale-raised Whipple will be named July 25 to the U.S. team that will be competing at the World Rowing Championships in August in Slovenia.

The same squad will also compete, barring the unforeseen, in the 2012 Summer Olympics.

The U.S. team won the gold medal in Beijing and will defend its title — with Whipple again as the coxswain — in July 2012 at Dorney Lake, 25 miles west of London near Windsor Castle.
   
Among the 14 Olympic rowing events, only the men's and women's eight boats have coxswains. Often called the "ninth seat," coxswains are the smallest occupants.
   
For a boat to succeed, however, a coxswain must maintain a commanding presence over the remaining eight crew members — some nearly twice their size.

"At the Olympic or national level, there are a lot of boats without coxswains, but even in those boats someone is calling the shots," said the 5-foot-3, 106-pound Whipple, who splits time between Seattle and the national team training center in Princeton, N.J. "Someone is calling the race plan and the moves; they're in charge. My take is that on this level someone has to keep everyone organized, and somebody has to call the shots.

"In each boat everyone has a job. It just happens in the eight boat, my job is to steer. My job is to suggest things that I hope they will do. I pretty much lay out the scenario, 'We need you to do this for us to go faster.' Usually, they buy in. They allow me to tell them what to do."
   
Whipple and her twin sister became coxswains via happenstance.
   
Just prior to entering high school, they enrolled in a sculling class at Lake Natoma. A coach thought the twins were good coxswain candidates and both sisters began competing for Capital Crew, the regional program for high school athletes.
     
Sarah Whipple, now an assistant coach at UC Berkeley, guided UC Davis to a Division II national title in 2002.
   
Mary Whipple, who attended Casa Roble High School for two years before graduating from  Sacramento Adventist Academy in Carmichael, led Washington to the NCAA Division I Championships in 2001 and 2002.
   
A decade later, a teenager who didn't know what a coxswain did when she was encouraged to try it, is now world renowned.
   
"You haven't seen me in a boat, yet," said Whipple, chuckling. "I think that's why at lot of my teammates appreciate me. I know how to turn it on and turn it off. More important, when I say something it really needs to happen when I say it needs to happen for us to maintain our boat speed or increase our boat speed."
   
Although Whiple runs and lifts weights with teammates, she doesn't row. Regardless, Whipple's responsibilities, like the task of any good coxswain, are revered.
   
"I rowed for almost 20 years and anytime I got in a boat with a coxswain, they're in charge," said Toby Johnson, former collegiate rower at Washington State and Sacramento State women's head coach. "It's kind of ingrained in your system from when you start rowing that the coxswain is in charge.
   
"A lot of people think they just say 'stroke, stroke, stroke.' You know from watching race, that's just not true. They're in there steering, they're motivating. They're in charge of getting everyone to the race on time. It's a huge weight that's on their shoulders. Even though they're not actually working out (in the boat) they're a huge contributing factor to whether a boat could actually win or lose."
   
Tricia Blocher, a master's coach at the River City Rowing Club in West Sacramento and the former women's coach at UC Davis, stated the coxswain's role more succinctly.
   
"The coxswain is the eyes for the boat," Blocher said. "They sit in the front of the boat and drive it whichever way it's supposed to go."
   
Two years after her success at Washington, Whipple made her first Olympic team, with the U.S. finishing second in Athens, Greece.
   
"All four years of my first Olympic cycle just seemed like my rookie season," said Whipple. "In that era and going into the 2004 Olympics, the U.S. women's team hadn't medaled in 20 years since they won gold in 1984.
   
"But since the distance increase to 2,000 meters had just gone home from the Olympics empty handed. We were underdogs, but we came second. We felt like the goal was to get to the podium and then start chasing the colors of the medals."
   
A year later, Whipple was questioning her decision to stay.
   
"We came in fourth at the 2005 World Championships, and I was like, 'this is risky. I'm coming back, the team is young is kind of very young. Is it worth it? Is it worth sacrificing four more years with girls I hadn't formed a both win?
   
"I decided to do it one more years. The '06 year was magical. All of a sudden we came together as a group and it went from there. We won the '06 World Championships and the '07 World Championships. And then in the journey to the 2008 Olympics we weren't scared. We were excited to perform."
   
Now Whipple has her third Summer Olympics within a year's focus.
   
Regardless, with the eight seats on the boat undetermined through winter training camps and more recent sessions in New Jersey, Whipple was the only coxswain being considered.
   
Yet she preferred to wait until the team was announced to confirm her status.
   
"I think what separates me from other coxswains is that I value my role as a teammate first," Whipple said. "So I think I've created enough trust in rowers so that if I'm going to the saying something, it's not just because I'm going to fill silence. What comes out of my mouth really means something."
   

Combine new cities, new mountain climbs and a new time trial, and even the most discerning enthusiasts will have numerous subplots and overall strong racing to consider. But just as with any cycling stage race, fans who visit the starting- or finishing-stage cities of the May 13-20 event will want to find things to do before and after each stage.

San Francisco, the Stage 2 starting city, is a global travel destination with countless options. Clovis, the Stage 4 finish location known as the "Gateway to the Sierras," is less heralded.

But for anyone with a spirit of adventure, the race's stage locales offer a wide scope of before- or after-race options.

May 13

Stage 1, Santa Rosa back to Santa Rosa; 115.9 miles, 10:50 a.m. start.

How nice of organizers to begin the race on a Sunday when it's happy hour all day long at Russian River Brewing Co.

Plenty of brewpubs have great beer with great names. But this pub and eatery in the center of town stands alone. It's the home of the ales dubbed Mortification, Damnation and Perdition, but also Salvation and Redemption.

It's also the epicenter for connoisseurs of the renowned Pliny the Elder. The double IPA's description: "well-balanced with malt, hops and alcohol, slightly bitter with a fresh hop aroma of floral, citrus, and pine."

How long the supply will last during the opening day of the country's biggest bike race is unknown.

(Russian River Brewing Co., 725 Fourth St., Santa Rosa; 707-545-2337, www.russianriver brewing.com).

May 14

Stage 2, San Francisco to Aptos; 117.1 miles, 11:05 a.m. start.

Coffee aficionados know what they want. Which is why in Oakland and San Francisco any nearby competitors of the Blue Bottle Coffee Co. likely are frustrated.

From its humble one- location start based on Central Europe's first coffee house (the Blue Bottle in Vienna), it has grown to six Bay Area outlets serving what many consider the best caffeine anywhere near the City by the Bay. There are also two locations in New York.

Lines are often long, particularly for New Orleans-style iced coffee and the wondrous pairing of poached eggs with cornbread.

(Blue Bottle Coffee Co., headquarters: 300 Webster St., Oakland; 510-653-3394, www.bluebottlecoffee.net).

May 15

Stage 3, San Jose to Livermore; 115.3 miles, 11:15 a.m. start.

It's no secret that drive-in movie theaters are dwindling. But nostalgia is what West Wind does best. The Capitol 6 Drive-In is part of the collection of drive-ins and public markets owned by the San Rafael-based company that's in California, Nevada and Arizona.

The Capitol 6 Drive-In shows double features only, with adult admission $6.95 and $1 for children ages 5-11.

Drive up, turn your stereo to the designated channel and break loose with your favorite bring-along food and beverages or treats from the snack bar.

If you're staying in San Jose after the start of Stage 3, Tuesday night is Family Fun Night with adult admission $4.95. West Wind, which also owns the Sacramento 6 Drive-In, promotes the movie-watching joy of yesteryear with a dazzlingly hip website.

(West Wind Capitol 6 Drive-In, 3630 Hillcap Ave., San Jose; 408-226-2251, www.westwinddriveins.com).

May 16

Stage 4, Sonora to Clovis; 130.2 miles, 10:35 a.m. start.

If an establishment looks exactly like what a funky coffee shop should look like, that's plenty of reason to visit. If its name is B S Coffee Shop, it's a must stop.

The nondescript exterior and name belie the daily offerings. Trays of freshly made cinnamon rolls quickly confront customers. Melted butter is the house condiment of choice. Equally popular are biscuits served with sausage gravy, bacon gravy – or both.

Beyond its generous homemade breakfast treats, B S Coffee Shop is aptly named. Its endearing owner's personality defines "character."

(B S Coffee Shop, 233 Sunnyside Ave., Clovis; 559-299-2000).

May 17

Stage 5 time trials, Bakersfield back to Bakersfield; 18.4 miles, 1 p.m. start.

Buck Owens was born in Texas but died in 2006 in Bakersfield, the city he called home and helped make famous. Owens had dozens of country hits, including "Streets of Bakersfield" in 1973. Eight years earlier, the Beatles recorded Owens' standard, "Act Naturally."

Owens called Bakersfield the inspiration for the music he called "American music."

That's reason enough to visit the Crystal Palace, the nightclub, eatery and museum that honors Owens.

Specials include Dwight Yoakam's Baby Back Ribs and Brad Paisley's Southern Fried Catfish. All entrees, according to the online menu, are served with "Buck's homespun scratch biscuits and fresh squaw wheat bread."

(Crystal Palace, 2800 Buck Owens Blvd., Bakersfield, 661-328-7560; www.buckowens.com).

May 18

Stage 6, Palmdale to Big Bear Lake; 115.7 miles, 10:25 a.m. start.

With a finish elevation of 7,000 feet and with long, exposed climbs and expected high winds along the route, indoor relaxation will be warranted after a rugged day in the elements. The Bowling Barn in Big Bear Lake Village seems like an ideal elixir.

The old-style exterior is a contradiction to the 16-lane interior facility with a modern scoring system. The bowling alley bar is called Alley Oops, which management boasts has the best prices in town.

Billiards and darts, high-definition TVs and arcade games are also offered. There's no reference on the establishment's website to whether altitude changes the dynamics of bowling, but it seems like a worthy project to tackle. And it's a good thing Stage 6 is scheduled on a Friday. The Bowling Barn is open until midnight.

(The Bowling Barn, 40625 Big Bear Blvd., Big Bear Lake; 909-878-2695, www.bowlingbarn.com).

May 19

Stage 7, Ontario to Mount Baldy; 78.3 miles, noon start.

Mount Baldy is one of the highest points in Southern California, which means eating and drinking at 10,000 feet is different. Familiarity works best at Mt. Baldy Lodge.

The restaurant's burgers, chili, barbecued chicken, steak sandwiches and hot chocolate with big chunks of marshmallows get major props on social media sites. The wait staff treats everyone like locals.

The cozy lodge is open 365 days a year and has wood-burning fireplaces. Mount Baldy is 43 miles east of Los Angeles. But combine the mountain's extremes with its old-style lodge and it easily could be far more remote or at least it might be fun to pretend.

(Mt. Baldy Lodge, 6777 Mt. Baldy Road; 909-982-1115; www.mtbaldylodge.com).

May 20

Stage 8 time trial, Beverly Hills to Los Angeles; 42.6 miles, 10:10 a.m. start.

Eight days of watching bicycle racing can be exhausting, and a long drive home likely waits. Comfort food cures almost all ailments, and the Original Pantry defines comfort food and is just a few blocks from the finish line.

Opened in the 1920s, the diner does history and hearty well. It's an oasis tucked amid skyscrapers, a convention center, sports stadium and the general hustle and bustle of downtown Los Angeles.

The waiting line at peak hours goes around the block. Menus are on interior walls. Watch the veteran servers work their craft; take their advice, since they know what's best.

Homemade chili bean soup, fried chicken, steaks and eggs, and spaghetti and meatballs often reign. Unless otherwise agreed upon, everything comes with a huge pile of sourdough bread and homemade coleslaw. Save room, if possible, for apple pie a la mode. Breakfast is served 24/7.

(The Original Pantry, 877 S. Figueroa St., Los Angeles; 213-972-9279; www.pantrycafe.com).

The article was originally published May 6 in the Sacramento Bee.
 

Everything right with cycling had been overshadowed by everything wrong. He grew weary of cycling’s abrupt random drug testing.

He endured crashes and broken bones, the banes of cycling. And he had a young wife and a young daughter who needed him.

A stage winner at the Tour de France and Tour of Spain, Efimkin, 29, nullified a contract with Ag2r-La Mondiale, a top-tiered French team, and returned home to Roseville.

“It wasn’t one moment, but I read a lot of books and now I understand,” said Efimkin, who recently moved with his wife, Yuliya, 5-year-old daughter, Veronica, and 10-month-old son, Kevin, to a newly built home in Granite Bay. “Family for me is first place and racing is second. But it wasn’t easy to decide.

“With my brother, we have a big fan club in Italy. But I wasn’t going to race for the fans. But my friends understand.”

Vladimir Efimkin, Team Type 1

Slightly more than a year removed from competition, Efimkin, the elder of identical twins and known for his climbing skills, will resume his career with two upstart American stage races similar to the Tour of California.

Signed in recent weeks to the newly named Team Type 1-SANOFI squad, the brothers will race together beginning Tuesday in the Tour of Utah. The inaugural USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado follows, beginning Aug. 22.

“The first month (of training) was difficult,” said the 5-foot-11, 147-pound Efimkin, who often apologizes for his English, one of five languages he speaks. “I needed to be at our new house a lot of the time. I spent the whole day on the bike. I didn’t take the car.

“When there were other properties to look at in other cities, I took the bike. By the end of the days, I had a lot of kilometers on my legs.”

Both events suit the brothers’ climbing skills. The six-day Tour of Utah progresses into the Wasatch Mountains, with one stage finishing at more than 11,000 feet.

The weeklong Colorado event features several mountainous days, including an ascent to Independence Pass at more than 12,000 feet.

Chris Baldwin, Team Type 1-SANOFI’s public relations manager, said: “Russians ride with a different rhythm. They’re aggressive early. We think we’ll have a good double attack in the mountains.”

“You understand, training mileage is not racing mileage,” said Efimkin, who realized he missed cycling in May after watching the Tour of California advance near his previous home. “So for my first race, my objective is to finish. But in Russia, we tell it like this: ‘It’s a bad soldier who doesn’t want to be general.’

“I would like to win a race or win some stages, but I know my body has some surprises. Some days it’s not easy. But on the climbs, I will understand. If it’s not good, I will be a better father, and I will stop. In racing, it makes sense to be winner. If it’s just to think about finishing a race, it’s not interesting.”

Vladimir Alexandrovich Efimkin and Alexander Alexandrovich Efimkin were born 15 minutes apart in Kuybyshev (now Samara), Russia. As youngsters in a sports-centric city, they tried karate, swimming and basketball.

Cycling was an illogical and distant next choice. Bicycles were scarce and old. Efimkin recalls attending camps where children who didn’t show promise were quickly dismissed.

“Maybe we didn’t have talent, but it was fun, and I decided, ‘I need this,’ ” Efimkin said. “I think it’s important to have fun. But it was very difficult. Our system was about selection. If you were not on top, you were out. The economic situation was bad. The coach could only select who was strong.

“One day the coach, I think, found my brother a bike, but it was old. It was not for training. It didn’t work.”

The brothers’ father had a better idea. Through a connection with friends, a better used bike was found. Alexander quickly began to win regional races; Vladimir then did likewise.

“In this moment,” said Efimkin, laughing, “our careers changed. We weren’t bad guys. But the teachers did call our mom. We had a lot of energy.

“After high school, we were in a special school, like a university. We were cyclists, but with a special teacher who came to races. We understood a lot of stuff, mathematics, physiology, languages. I was able to understand then what happened to us before.”

The brothers turned pro in 2005. In 2007, Vladimir won a stage and finished sixth overall in the Tour of Spain and Tour of Switzerland. He won a stage and placed 10th overall in the 2008 Tour de France.

Alexander won a 2005 stage of the Tour of Portugal and had four combined stage and overall wins in 2007. This past spring, early in his new deal with Team Type 1-SANOFI, he won the Tour of Turkey.

The Efimkins are close and have often been teammates. Alexander lives in Italy; Vladimir moved from Italy to Roseville three years ago because his wife, also a Russian native, has worked in the banking industry and had many friends and family members in the Sacramento area.

As soon as his wife showed him the American River Parkway and its lengthy paved cycling path, Efimkin was ready to move.

The Team Type I-SANOFI squad is registered as Pro-Continental, one step below the Pro Tour teams that compete in the Tour de France.

The lower-division pro team is an ideal fit for the Efimkin brothers. It’s directed by Vassili Davidenko, a former Russian pro and 15-time national titlist. The team encourages and supports amateur and pro athletes with Type 1 diabetes. Five members of the current 20-rider men’s pro squad have the disease.

“We are different,” said Vladimir of the brothers’ cycling approaches. “If I train four of five hours a day, he does six hours because he is very serious. But I was more like him when I won the Tour of Portugal (in 2005). One day, I said to him, ‘You go because I am not ready.’ He said, ‘I can’t go, it’s impossible.’ So I went and I won a stage, and the race.”

Neither of the Efimkins has diabetes. But Vladimir has several developing business interests, including the Sacramento-based website www.sportsdestiny.com. The site is in Russian, but an English-language version is under construction.

It’s a training and inspirational site Efimkin uses to help young cyclists develop their talents and seeks to supply other fledgling cyclists with equipment at low costs.

But Efimkin also has a racing schedule again to focus on. After his two U.S. comeback stage races, two races in China await.

“For now, I will race with Team Type 1,” Efimkin said. “Maybe I would like to go back to a big team, but these races and roads will tell me.

“Maybe I will be on Team Type I one more year, or maybe I’ll be ready for a big team. I don’t know what I want. My family is very happy together, but I also understand I need to race.”

(Originally published in the Sacramento Bee, Aug. 7, 2011.)

To view a slideshow, visit: Vladimir Efimkin/Sacramento Bee

It’s still a month away in a new seven-day race in Colorado. But even by its Aug. 22 start, the cyclist from Bend, Oregon, will likely not remember his fall in stage 7 and the resulting concussion, broken nose, fractured rib and a nagging calf injury. In fact, he may never remember.

But there are two certainties. Horner has returned to his bike and his sense of humor is intact.

“My nose is OK; Well, it’s not OK if I bump it,” Horner said Thursday when contacted from Italy at his home in Bend. “Sitting here talking to you, it’s fine. It’s very good. But if you’re playing around with the dog, you don’t want it to bump into your face. Then it would be quite painful.”

Soon after returning to Bend, Horner went for his first ride with his girlfriend, an accomplished road racer. Now, he’s riding alone again for as long as two hours.

“I don’t remember the crash, so that part not going to have any effect on my racing ability or anything like that,” Horner, 39, said. “It’s non-existent as far as I am concerned. It was probably the easiest crash for me to go through because I don’t remember it. So I don’t think that will have any effect on me.

“Certainly when you get older you’re more careful when you’re descending anyway, so that just more about age and getting more intelligent than anything else. I have plenty of time before Colorado starts. My weight is still good and my fitness, of course, coming from Tour, is really high.”

One of four riders considered potential podium (top-three) contenders for RadioShack, Horner entered his fifth Tour de France on July 2 in Passage du Gois, France likely in the best shape of his long career. He won the Tour of California near the end of May and for the next five weeks maintained his new lighter weight, didn’t race and trained in San Diego.

But the 98th edition of the Tour de France was immediately different. Crashes are part of the sport, the effects of which Horner knows more than most pro cyclists. But the small roads of the early stages, aggressive racing and bad weather resulted in more than 20 serious crashes in the first week.

“I can remember in the first few days of the Tour when other guys like (Alberto) Contador (the two-time defending titlist) and some of the Garmin-Cervelo guys had crashed,” said Horner. “I was doing interviews and saying, ‘Gee, that’s really bad luck on them. I hope it doesn’t happen to us.’ ”

It did. In addition to Horner, teammates Jani Brajkovic of Slovenia, Andreas Kloden of Germany and Yaroslav Popovych of Ukraine, all left the race via injury or illness. A fifth teammate, Levi Leipheimer of Santa Rosa, Calif., also crashed several times. He’s currently the team’s highest-place rider, in 18th position, with two stages of the race left.

“At this point, I think the sponsors would he happy if we could just get a little air (television) time,” said Horner. “I don’t think any other teams in the Tour de France have half their team left.”

While television cameras were focusing on other crashes (seven cyclists received medical attention during the stage), the severity Horner’s fall with about 25 miles left was at first unknown. Team personnel and the race physicians didn’t arrive for several minutes, with the cyclist only wanting to get back on his bike.

“I’ve looked at the tape; yes, absolutely,” said Horner. “I was knocked out for a long period of time. I wasn’t the best tape, but from what I saw, it looked like it was a pretty good hit. The fact that they let me continue doesn’t surprise me at all. They’re not going to know what the head injury was.

“When a rider is off the ground standing on his two feet and saying ‘give me my bike.’ Well, anyone like that who’s not bleeding, there’s nothing gushing out of their head or their legs or they’re not falling back down to the ground, you hand them their bike.”

Horner began the 135.4-mile seventh stage from Chateauroux to LeMans in 13th position overall and trailing former race leader Thor Hushovd (Garmin-Cervelo) of Norway by 18 seconds. The first of the race’s six high mountain stages, Horner’s specialty, was only a few days away in the Pyrenees. But the 17-year pro never got there.

Despite some controversy that he was allowed to continue, Horner finished the seventh stage last in a group of six riders, 12 minutes and 41 seconds behind Mark Cavendish of Great Britain, who claimed the second of his four stage wins.

Horner, speaking erratically, was tranferred to a local hospital. He had two brain scans, the first upon his admission, he doesn’t remember. The second test, like the first, was negative, and Horner was released. He remained at a teammate’s home for a few days then returned to the United States.

“They couldn’t see any damage,” said Horner. “But they knew I had a concussion. I have some pretty severe memory loss and I had a headache that didn’t go away for a few days. I tried to convince the doctor to release me to go back to the race, but he wasn’t having any of that.”

Horner was scheduled to compete in the San Sebastian (Spain) Classic on July 30, the first major one-day race after the Tour de France. Now, he’s waiting to heal before resuming more diligent training.

“That’s bike racing,” Horner said, reflecting on his crash and the deflated potential strong showing for his team. “We (RadioShack) won Tour of the Basque Country. We won Tour of California and we won Tour de Suisse and I’m sure we’ll win something else by the end of the year.”

(Originally published July 23, 2011 in the Bend (Ore.) Bulletin.)

The Tour de France is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the Alps as part of the race, most notably the Col du Galibier and Alpe d’Huez, arguably the most famous mountain in race history.

The overall race winner will likely be determined in the mountains over the four days beginning with Wednesday’s 111.2-mile trek from Gap to Pinerolo in Italy in stage 17. Four beyond category climbs combined will test the field in stages 18 and 19, including ascents of the Col du Galibier on both days. The stage 18 finish at Galibier Serre-Chevalier (elevation 8,675 feet) will be the highest finish in race history and will likely shatter the field.

From left, Tyler Farrar, Ryder Hesjedal, David Millar, Christian Vande Velde of the Garmin-Cervelo team. Image © James Raia

Farrar, who finished second in stage 15 on Sunday, won stage 3 and finished third in stage 11, will attempt to do exactly what he did in the Pyrenees. He’ll likely ride near the back of the pack and hope to finish within the time cutoff and avoid crashes.

If successful, Farrar will have Sunday’s race finale with its finish on the Champs Elysees as his final sprinters’ stage win opportunity.

Farrar was upset after his runner-up status in stage 15. Moments after the race, he vented to reporters that he wondered how winner Mark Cavendish, the British rider who has now won four stages, was able to get to the front of the field so quickly when he’d been dropped by the rear of the field in the waning miles. The insinuation was that Cavendish held onto a team car.

But following Monday’s rest day luncheon in a chateau in southeastern France known for its boutique wines, Farrar dismissed his comments as just something that happened in the heat of competition.

Instead, the Garmin-Cervelo rider, now one of only two Americans who have won stages in all of cycling’s grand tours, discussed this year’s race, the strategies of sprinting and the loss of his best friend Wouter Weylandt, the Belgian rider who died in a crash May 2 in the Tour of Italy

Question: If you make it through the Alps and arrive in Paris, would you be satisfied with your Tour de France this year?

Tyler Farrar: Yeah. My goal was to win a stage here and I’ve done that. But, you know, I’m still very focused on Paris (the finish of the final stage). I’m satisfied, but I would be more satisfied if I could win another stage.

Q: This is your third Tour de France. How does a sprinter get better at sprinting? Or is it the team around him that makes sprinter a better sprinter?

TF: It’s a little bit of everything. I’ve certainly refined my training for the last three years. It’s a process of trial and error . . . figuring out what makes me faster, what doesn’t. What race program works best for preparing for the big races and what doesn’t work as well.

And it’s also the team. It’s getting a good lead-out. We’ve gotten better, but we still aren’t getting it right everyday. We still have a little ways to go when it comes to that.

Q: Specifically, and going back to be a better sprinter, Is it looking for a better opening? Or more power? Or is it strategy?

TF: It’s really a balance. You’re always trying to improve your training to be explosive and as strong as possible for the sprint. But it’s also the tactics and it’s also riding the sprint intelligently and gauging your sprint right.

Yesterday was a good example of miss timing. It was too late. I made up a lot of ground in the sprint, but I was coming from a little too far back and needed more time. Sometimes, you get away with that. But when you’re racing against (Mark) Cavendish and HTC, you don’t get away with that. You have to do it all perfectly if you want to win.

Q: You’ve won a lot of sprints, so I’m hedging what I’m asking, but do you have to be a badass to be a great sprinter or can you be a nice guy and be a great sprinter?

TF: I think you can turn it (your personality) on and off. In the closing kilometer, you can’t necessarily be a nice guy, but you don’t have to be like that (difficult) off the bike as well. That’s what I try to do. I don’t always succeed. Sometimes emotions get the better of you. I think there’s a race and then there’s everything else.

Q: Do you know your race scheduled beyond the Tour de France?

TF: Actually, I have no idea of my race program beyond the Tour de France. I guess I’ll find out it Paris.

Q: There are three stages in the Alps Are you concerned that the gruppetto (the back of the pack) might not make it within the time limit?

TF: The Alps are never easy. It’s the third week of the Tour. You can feel really great and have a bad day come at you out of nowhere. You can barely survive or not survive. So, it won’t be easy. You just have to try and take care of yourself and get through it as best you can.

Q: Last year, you crashed out of the Tour de France. But you finished the race the first time in 2009. Can you compare your first year here with this year?

TF: The first Tour was a bit of an eye-opener. It was only my second grand tour (three-week race) ever. And the first one, I had a pre-planned quitting day after two weeks. I wasn’t sure how the third week was going to go and how my body was going to react.

I’ve done a lot more since then. I finished my first Tour de France. I finished the Tour of Spain last year. I’ve done big blocks in other grand tours. So, I am a bit more confident in the third week of this Tour. Although like I said, it’s not going to be easy.

Q: Considering what you went through in May (the death via the Tour of Italy crash of his best friend Wouter Weylandt), is finishing the Tour de France part of the recovery or is just being here part of the process?

TF: To be honest, I don’t equate the two very much. Like I said in an earlier question, there’s the bike race and there’s the rest of life. And that (the loss of his friend) is pretty firmly in the rest of life. It wasn’t the easiest lead-up to the Tour de France for me, on a personal and emotional level. I’m glad that I was able to work through it and get here and do as well as I have. I mean Paris will be a big relief for everyone. It always is.

The women who give stage winners and jersey competition leaders awards each day are called the Podium Girls, and they’re photographed hundreds of times during the race.

But the same women also are employed as ambassadors and work in the starting village for Credit Lyonnais, the race’s long-time sponsor a national bank of France.

Many other sponsors and teams have women on site each day of the Tour de France. They serve food, meet VIPs, welcome journalists — and pose for photos.

Here are examples of some of the women of the Tour de France:

All Images © James Raia/2011 Tour de France

LeMond, who turned age 50 last month, was also victorious in the Tour de France in 1989 and 1990. And his status at the time as the most well-known American in the sport as well as his innovation and personality attracted many young athletes into the sport.

About 50 Americans have now competed in the Tour de France, the first Jonathan Boyer in 1981. And with Tyler Farrar’s victory in stage 3 this year, 11 Americans have now won Tour de France stages. Here’s a brief synopsis of each rider.

Tyler Farrar winning stage 3, 2011 Tour de France. Image ©Pool/Tim De Waele.

Lance Armstrong, 39. Seven-time Tour de France winner, 25-time individual stage winner . . . Retired unexpectedly earlier this year, with Tour Down Under in Australia in January his last competitive UCI road race . . . Can’t stay out of the limelight with his ongoing investigation and recent spat with Tyler Hamilton in an Aspen, Colo., restaurant. Armstrong is expected to attend the final few days of the Tour de France since he’s part owner of the RadioShack team.

Tyler Farrar, 27. Won stage 3 of this year’s race to end a long streak of second-and-place finishes to Mark Cavendish. With Dave Zabriskie (see below), the twosome are the only Americans win stages of the Tour de France, Tour of Italy and Tour of Spain.

Tyler Hamilton, 40. Won stage 16 in the 2003 Tour de France on a long solo breakaway while heavily bandaged . . . Recently confessed to doping and said Lance Armstrong did the same in a CBS interview. Returned his 2004 Olympic time trial gold medal.

Andy Hampsten, 49. Finished the Tour de France nine times . . . Won the stage finishing at L’Alpe d’Huez in 1992 and became the first and still American to win the Tour of Italy . . . Owns a bicycle company with his brother and has lived in several locales, including Tuscany, Italy, and Boulder, Colo. Runs high-end bicycle tours.

George Hincapie, 38. Now in the midst of his 16th Tour de France and hopeful to complete the race for the 15th time . . . Won the 15th stage of the Tour de France in 2005 . . . Had a career goal of winning Paris-Roubaix where he once finished second, but a title at the “Hell of the North” now seems improbable. Hincapie said earlier this year, he’ll ride through the 2012 season.

Floyd Landis, 35. Stripped of his 2006 Tour de France victory and fired from the Phonak team after a test revealed high ratios testosterone/epitestosterone ratio during stage 17, which he won on a long, solo breakaway. . . Won the inaugural Tour of California in 2006 . . . During the 2010 Tour of California held a press conference launching several controversies, including accusations that Lance Armstrong doped.

Greg LeMond, 50. Finished the Tour de France six times, including victories in 1986, 1989 and 1990 and also withdrew twice . . . Has “battled” Lance Armstrong and others, many not in cycling, over business issues from real estate to brand infringement . . .He revealed that he was abused as a boy by a family friend a couple of years ago during the Floyd Landis proceedings.

Levi Leipheimer, 37. Finished third overall in the 2007 Tour de France and claimed his only career stage win in the race in the same year in the final individual time trial. He’s iding in the event this year for the ninth time and has four career top-10 overall finishes.

Jeff Pierce, 52. A member of 7-Eleven, the famed first U.S. team to compete in the Tour de France. He won his share of races, but is often the “forgotten” rider when American stage winners are discussed . . . His only individual win occurred on the race’s final day in 1987 om the trek to the Champs Elysees in Paris . . . Worked for several years for USA Cycling, the sport’s governing body.

Davis Phinney, 51. Another member of the 7-Eleven team, Phinney in 1986 became the first American to win a stage of the Tour de France . . . A sprinting specialist, he also won stages race and had more than 300 career wins, the most of any males U.S. rider . . . At age 40 was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and now has an educational foundation based in Colorado . . . Married to Connie Carpenter,  the couple has two children, the oldest, Taylor,  is a pro with BMC.

David Zabriskie, 32. Riding in hs sixth Tour de France, Zabriskie is a time trial specialist who has won stages in all of the grand tours,  including the opening time trial of the 2005 Tour de France when he beat Lance Armstrong . . . Won the 2009 Tour of Missouri, the only stage race win of  his career . . . Known for his wacky sense of humor which includes impersonations and unique YouTube videos.

Tyler Farrar has twice in the past three weeks, including his first career stage Monday in the Tour de France, showcased his finishing homage for his deceased best friend Wouter Weylandt.

Image © James Raia

Just after crossing the line, Farrar made the shape of a “W” with his thumbs and first fingers. Farrar first made the gesture in his first win after Weylandt’s death in the Tour of Italy on May 2 when he claimed a stage of the Ster ZLM Tour in Holland on June 15.

Sprinters are known for their aggression and dramatic finish-line displays. But Farrar has also more than once been categorized as being “too nice” to be a great sprinter.

As such, Farrar’s subtle winning “W” is ideal, albeit in the aftermath of tragedy.

Farrar’s previous display after winning a race was to thrust his arms wide, nearly perpendicular to his body. It looked similar to the position gymnasts called an “iron cross” while performing on the rings apparatus.

To Farrar’s surprise, one of his “cross” was used in a super-sized format as on the side of his team’s bus.

With his victory Monday, Farrar acknowledged its significance as an American winning on the 4th of July. But he also recognized the professionalism of being led to the line by teammate Thor Hushovd of Norway, the race leader and reigning world champion.

Image ©Tour de France Photo Pool/Tim De Waele

“If you’re going to have someone like Thor leading you out, you better do a good sprint,” said Farrar, who finished 158th in stage 4 Tuesday, trailing by 4:17.

Nonetheless, just after claiming his fifth individual win of the season, Farrar had the time to make his new signature finish display. But he then also had to quickly adjust his swerving bike.

Non-sprinters often have more time to consider finish-line dramatics with wide-ranging choices.

Juan Antonio Flecha, the Argentine-born Spanish cyclist whose last name translates to “arrow,” gained international notoriety in 2003 at the Tour de France. As he rode across the finish line to a solo stage win he pantomimed releasing an arrow from a bow.

Carlos Sastre of Spain, the 2008 Tour de France winner, chose an equally unique display, also at the 2003 Tour de France. While winning the 13th stage, Sastre placed a pacifier in his mouth as a greeting to his infant daughter.

With similar sentiment, other cyclists have made “rocking” motions with their arms as if holding a small child.

Riders also raise an arm off the handlebars, like two-time defending Tour de France titlist Alberto Contador of Spain did at the line Tuesday, despite not winning.

Finish line displays, by whatever personal choice, is relatively new at the Tour de France.

“There was no TV and the riders were mostly focused on winning,” said Mogens Jacobsen, a journalist for Politiken in Copenhagen, Denmark, reporting this year on the Tour de France for the 34th time. “The only big display was on their bikes.”

For several decades, winning cyclists never took even took their hands off their handlebars. But by the time Eddy Merckx, often cited as cycling’s greatest rider, was in his prime in the 1970s, winning riders had transitioned from taking one hand off their handlebars to two hands.

The 98th edition of the Tour de France continues Wednesday with a 164.5-kilometer stage from Carhaix to Cap Frehel.