For even the unsurpassed, the great, Lance Armstrong, age finally arrived.

Amazingly able to keep up with great climbers a decade younger than him, Lance seemed poised to triumph in this year’s tour.

But the tour, has a way of separating the champions from the pretenders. For the first time in almost 11 years, Lance Armstrong felt like his competitors must have felt as he crushed them up mountains, leaving them gasping for air and wondering what went horribly wrong…

Alberto Contador looked to his left, saw the group of leaders and then blitzed to the top.

As we watched him sprint on ahead, we wondered, will Lance respond, and the old tired body that crossed over the finish line a 1.5 minutes later told us the story, no.

Lance no longer the Champion, he was now the domestique of a new champion.