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    The King is the ultimate symbol of power. Traditionaly the monarch was surrounded by courtiers, who had the same function as the heavenly beings surrounding GOD. He was thus seen by his subjects as an earthly counterpart of GOD and a symbolic link between heavenly and earthly power. The King is also a symbol of consciousness, the ruler over our unconscious urges. Many games are based on the balance of power and involve Kings, Queens, Courtiers, and Armies. The object of the game can be defeat the other players by conquering their court and army, or to build up a royal power base with which to trump one's opponents. The La Tour Family La Tour d'Auvergne is the name of my FRENCH ROYAL FAMILY, orginally from village of Latour in Auvergne, dating from 10th century; in divided into several branches, including Comtes de Auvergne, Ducs de Bouillon and Al'bert, and Vicomtes de Turenne; see BOUILLON and TURENNE. Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne (d. 1519) married Lorenzo de' Medici, Duc de Urbino; mother of Queen Catherine de Medicis who married Henri de Valois, duc d'Orlens, later would be Henri II de Valois, King of France. 
Henri de La Tour was the head of the junior branch of the La Tour family. The La Tour had become comtes d'Auvergne and Boulogne, by the marriage of Bertrand IV de La Tour in 1389 to Marie d'Auvergne, daughter of Godefroy of Boulogne, Lord of Montgascon; the eldest son Bertrand V became comte d'Auvergne, his line ending in 1501; the younger son Godefroi inherited Montgascon. Earlier, however, a younger son of Bertrand II had received the seigneurie d'Oliergues. Agne de La Tour, seigneur d'Oliergues (d. 1489), married Anne de Beaufort, heir to the vicomt� de Turenne. His two sons were Antoine and Antoine-Raymond, the latter's posterity continuing to the 19th century. The former's son Fran�ois (1497-1532) married Anne de La Tour de Montgascon, heir of Godefroi cited above. Their grandson was Henri de La Tour. After they inherited Bouillon in 1594, the arms of the family became: Quarterly La Tour, Auvergne, Turenne, Bouillon, over all Boulogne (first appearance on a coin of 1614) and later still: Quarterly 1 and 4 La Tour, 2 Boulogne, 3 Turenne, over all Auvergne impaling Bouillon. A map of Clermont-Ferrand dated 1739 and visible at Gallica shows the arms of the duc de Bouillon supported by two griffins sejeant regardant crowned and an open ducal coronet. BOUILLON, -- ancient town in LUXEMBOURG PROVINCE, BELGIUM, on the SEMOIS RIVER in the ARDENNES. It was long known for the ducal title connected with it. BOUILLON in the 11th century was held by the COUNTS OF ARDENNES, whom GERMAN KINGS invested with the DUKEDOM OF LOWER LORRAINE. Because BOUILLON was their chief stronghold. BOUILLON was not yet a DUCHY. In 1096 the Bishopic of Leige received the town, and the bishops thereafter often styled themselves DUKES OF BOUILLON. One Guillaume de La Marck received BOUILLON IN 1482; and, although Liege took it back twice in the following century, BOUILLON ---- now formally a dukedom ---- eventually descended, by marriage, to Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne in 1591. The DUCHY remained in this line until 1794, when BOUILLON declared itself a republic (it was annexed by FRANCE the next year). On the defeat of Napoleonic FRANCE, the victorious powers in November 1815 gave the sovereignty, with LUXEMBOURG, to the NETHERLANDS. The DUCAL TITLE was adjudged in 1816 to Charles-Alain Gabriel de Rohan, duc de Montbazon (a descendant of Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne), in whose FAMILY it remains. On the partition of LUXEMBOURG in 1831, BOUILLON became BELGIAN. The town, a popular summer resort, is noted for its well-preserved MEDIEVAL CASTLE, which is located in the ARDENNES HILLS above the town. Pop. (1983 est.) 5,427. Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Viscount de Turenne, duc de Bouillon (1555-1623), was the first member of his family to become Duc de Bouillon. He married Charlotte de La Marck, last descendant of the house that had governed BOUILLON since 1482. Charlotte, dying in childbirth in May 1594, bequeathed her possessions and titles to Henri. Converted to PROTESTANTISM in 1572, Henri vacillated in his political allegiance until 1576, when he became aligned with King Henri of Navarre (who was to become Henry IV, King of France in 1589). He was made Marshal in 1592. After his wife's death, Henri, now Duc de Bouillon, married Elisabeth of the House of Orange Nassau. In February 1601, Henri, who had turned against Henri IV, King of France, joined a conspiracy to assassinated him. However, the plot was discovered and Bouillon fled FRANCE in 1602. Returned to favor in 1606, Bouillon demonstrated no gratitude. After Henri IV was assassinated in 1610, Bouillon intrigued against the Duc de Sully, Henri IV's comrade-in-arms. Bouillon also entered a PROTESTANT CONSPIRACY, which he refused to lead himself. Instead he fled to SEDAN in 1623 and tried to enlist GERMAN PROTESTANT help for an invasion of FRANCE. Jarnac (zh�rn�k') , town, Charente Dept., in the Cognac region, on the Charente River. At Jarnac in 1569 French Catholics under the duke of Anjou (later Henry III) defeated the Huguenots, whose leader, Louis I, Prince of Cond�, was killed. ALPHONSE LE BLANC a descendant of PIERRE LE BLANC, served under CHARLES IX, and took part in the BATTLE OF JARNAC, that the DUKE D'AUJOU, later HENRI III, won over the HUGUENOTS in 1569. 
The Wars of Religion [Huguenot Wars] (1562-1598) Series of French civil wars, pitting Catholics against Huguenots (Protestant nobles and merchants). Underlying Causes: Religious intolerance, starting with a massacre of Huguenots (French Protestants) by the orders of the Duke of Guise in 1562. The wars are fought in 1562-63, 1567-8, 1568-70 (including the Battle of Jarnac), 1572-3 (beginning with the Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre), 1574-6 (including the Battle of Dormans), 1577, and 1580. In 1585, another civil war (the War of the Three Henri's) involves Henri of Guise and the revived Catholic League, King Henri III of France, and Protestant Henry of Navarre (heir to the throne). Henri III attempts to suppress Protestantism, but the Battle of Coutras (1587) is a victory for Henri of Navarre. Henri of Guise revolts against the king, but is assassinated. The two Henris march on Paris, but the king is assassinated by a vengeful monk. Henri of Navarre becomes king (1589), and defeats the Catholic League at the Battle of Arques (1589) and the Battle of Ivry (1590). The first siege of Paris (1590) is a failure, as is the siege of Rouen (1591-2), but Henry IV then renounces Protestantism and finally enters Paris in 1594. Spain continues to support the Catholic faction, but following the Battle of Fontaine-Francaise (1595), the Spanish are driven from Burgundy. The Treaty of Vervins and Edict of Nantes (1598) grant political rights to the French Protestants, bringing the war to a close. 
 Abu Jar'far Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khawarizmi Nothing that is unique in history can, by definition, be unremarkable. It can be unimportant, perhaps, uninteresting, possibly, but never unremarkable. In this new millennium, another unique event in the annals of history has almost been brought about. Currently, three, and possibly four, queens reign at the time in Europe. It is a circumstance that is, indeed, unique. The three current queens are Elizabeth of the House of Windsor, Queen of the United Kingdom; Margaret of the House of Holstein-Glucksburg, Queen of Denmark; and Beatrix of the House of Orange-Nassau, Queen of the Netherlands. With a change of law in Sweden (first brought into operation on 1 January 1980), the eldest child of the reigning sovereign�irrespective of gender�can now succeed to the throne. Therefore, on her father's death, the Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden will inherit the throne rather than her younger brother, Prince Charles Philip. She would then become the fourth reigning queen (assuming none of the other died or were stripped of the monarchy). But there is another unique circumstance connected with this: all four are related. Connections With and Between Four Renaissance Queens In the mid-sixteenth century, a fiery Scotsman of the reform faith issued an article that is known to history as, "The First Blast of the Trumpet Against a Monstrous Regiment of Women." The fiery Scotsman, John Knox, revealed that he thought a woman's place was in the home, not on a throne. His "first blast on the trumpet" was against four queens: Elizabeth Tudor of England (1558-1603), who never forgave him; Mary of Guise, Dowager Queen Consort of Scotland and widow of King James V, who held with difficulty the throne for her infant daughter; Mary, Queen of Scots; and Catharine de Medici (1519-89), Dowager Queen of France, widow of King Henry II, but queen de facto in the name of her sickly children. Of these four blasted queens, three are direct ancestors of the millennium queens. The exception is Catharine de Medici. If her son, King Francis II, had had a son with Mary, Queen of Scots�his wife of eighteen months�then Catharine would have been an ancestress. As it was, Francis II died childless. Elizabeth I  In England, Elizabeth Tudor, daughter of King Henry VIII by his second of six wives (Anne Boleyn), had survived a very uncertain childhood. The uncertainty stemmed from being branded a bastard, banished to Hatfield House, and force to live in virtual penury to being petted by her father, declared legitimate and in line of succession to the throne, and thus in favor. Surrounded by many self-seeking enemies during the reign of her half-brother King Edward VI (1537-53), she circumvented them. After her brother's death, Elizabeth survived the attempt to place the Lady Jane Grey on the throne in 1553 in preference to Mary Tudor. She also kept her head during "Bloody" Mary's perilous reign, but she spent part of the time in the Tower of London as a prisoner. Upon Mary's death, Elizabeth became Queen of England, just eleven years after the death of her father. To continue with this web of royal connection, one should know that Elizabeth Tudor was also the niece of Margaret, sister of Henry VIII, who had married King James IV of Scotland in 1503. Thus, Queen Margaret (1489-1541) was both Elizabeth's aunt and the grandmother of Mary, Queen of Scots. In making the connection between past and present, it is worth noting that both queens regnant of England to bear the name Elizabeth succeeded to the throne at the comparatively early age of twenty-five years. Elizabeth I was born in 1533 and succeeded to the throne in 1558, and Elizabeth II was born in 1926 and succeeded in 1952, just before her twenty-sixth birthday. 
Medici -- Godfathers of The Renaissance 
   Catharine de Medici In France, the uncouth, undereducated, and ultra shy Prince Henri (later King Henri II) had been forced into an arranged marriage with Catharine de Medici. Catharine was the daughter of Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino. Unfortunately, Henri was ruled by his mistress, Diane de Poitiers, to whom he had been deliberately introduced by his father, and Catharine suffered twenty-six years of humiliation, knowing that Henri only came to her bed on sufferance, at the behest of his mistress, and for dynastic reasons. Unhappy though this marriage undoubtedly was, Catharine produced ten children. After the death of her husband in 1559, Catharine was able to cast her malevolence upon people and events. Feared by all and loved by none, she ruled France through her sickly offspring. One set of twins died in infancy. Her oldest son died at the early age of sixteen. History relates that she deliberately delayed sending for the doctors, thus causing his death. Her second son, Louis, died in infancy. Charles, her third son, was mentally unbalanced, if not completely mad. Her fourth son, Henri, was undoubtedly a homosexual, unacceptable in those days except in royalty. Her fifth son, Francis, was deformed, and her youngest child, Margaret, was little short of being a nymphomaniac. Of her other two children, both daughters, she married one, Elizabeth, to Mary Tudor's widower, King Philip II of Spain, and the other, Claudia, to the powerful Duke of Lorraine. The 11th child of Catharine, was Francois (Hercule) , Duc de Aujou-Alencon France. Mary of Guise and Mary, Queen of Scots In turbulent Scotland, torn apart by religious factions and the constant incursions of the English across the Scottish border, the young king was having domestic problems. King James V (1512-32), son of Margaret, the sister of King Henry VIII of England, had buried his childless wife, Madelaine. Less than nine months later, he married Mary of Guise. Four years later, his wife produced a child�Mary, later known as Mary, Queen of Scots�but the king died, leaving Mary of Guise as regent in the name of their infant daughter queen. Mary was born on December 7th, and her father died on December 14th. Within the first six months of her life, Mary survived several kidnapping attempts of warring religious factions. These mostly stemmed from hatred toward the co-regent, Cardinal Beaton. During the same period, England ravaged the country, the Cardinal was assassinated, and the gory Battle of Pinkie took place, wherein the English narrowly missed capturing the infant queen. Eventually, still at a tender age, Mary, Queen of Scots, was shipped off to France to supposedly less dangerous territory; there she came under the evil influence of Catharine de Medici. By the time she was eighteen, Mary, Queen of Scots, had been in turn Dauphine of France (Crown Princess) and, on the death of her father-in-law King Francis II, Queen of France and Scotland for a short eighteen months. She had seen her cousin Elizabeth Tudor ascend to the throne of England. She had also lost her own mother, become Queen Dowager of France, and witnessed firsthand the vengeful nature of her mother-in-law, Catharine de Medici. It was Catharine who had ensured that Mary was shipped back to Scotland to rule that turbulent country. For Mary, the last twenty-seven years of her life were as eventful as her first eighteen. She made an ill-fated marriage with the handsome, but feckless Henry, Lord Darnley, by whom she had a son (subsequently King James VI of Scotland, who succeeded as King James I of England in 1603 on the death of Elizabeth Tudor). She then married Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, who was murdered in 1567�supposedly at the hands of the man Mary subsequently married, James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, who was said to have raped the queen. After the murder of Darnley, the people rebelled. In 1567, Mary was captured, imprisoned, and forced to sign her abdication in favor of her infant son. She managed to escape her imprisonment in Lockleven Castle and fight a final battle against her subjects at Langside. Defeated, she fled to England and threw herself on the mercy of her cousin, Elizabeth Tudor. While imprisoned in England, Mary plotted against Elizabeth, who finally signed her death warrant. Mary, Queen of Scots, laid her head on the block at Fotheringay Castle in 1587. Mary of Guise died in 1560, Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1587, and two years later the evil Catharine de Medici followed suit. Of the queens whom Knox had trumpeted against, only Elizabeth Tudor remained. She would linger on for another sixteen years and die unmarried and childless on 24 March 1603, thus bringing to an end the turbulent Tudor dynasty and uniting the two crowns of England and Scotland. Four months after Elizabeth's death, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots, was crowned at Westminster Abbey as King James I of England along with his wife Anne of Denmark. History always refers to this first Stuart king of England as "The wisest fool in Christendom." Ancient and Modern Relationships With this background on four Renaissance queens, it is now possible to understand the common ancestry of the millennium queens. The present Queen of Denmark, Margaret, descends directly from the marriage of Frederick V of Denmark and the Princess Louisa of England. The present Queen of England, Elizabeth, is directly descended from Princess Louisa's father, King George II. George II descends from the marriage of King James I of England and through James VI of Scotland, the son of Mary, Queen of Scots. Mary, Queen of Scots, of course, was in turn was the granddaughter of the Princess Margaret, sister of King Henry VIII (father of Elizabeth Tudor). The present Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands is also linked to Princess Louisa. Louisa's sister, Princess Anne, married Prince William of Holland. William, like his predecessors, held the title of Stadtholder of Holland (which, at the time, translated to governor or viceroy of Holland). It was not until the reign of this couple�s grandson that Holland was recognized as a kingdom. That grandson became King William I of the Netherlands. The present Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands descends directly from the marriage of Princess Anne, and like Queen Elizabeth and Queen Margaret, she traces her ancestry back through King George II of England to Mary, Queen of Scots. The common ancestry of the three then continues further back in history. King Malcolm III of Scotland (1031-93), known as Canmore, married as his second wife the Princess Margaret (1045-93), known to history as Saint Margaret, who was the daughter of Edward Atheling, the last Saxon prince. Their son, King Alexander I (1077-1124) married Sybilla (unknown-1122), the natural daughter of King Henry I of England (who was the son of William the Conqueror, the first Norman king of England). So the intermarriage between countries continued. And as if that wasn�t enough, King Henry I (1068-1135) married Matilda (1079-1118), the sister of King Alexander (the son of the Princess Margaret and King Malcolm mentioned above). This king was the grandson of the first indisputable king of the Scots, Duncan I, who reigned from 1034 until his murder six years later. Thus, the line stretches back on the English (Norman) side through the Saxon line, during the course of which, although unrelated, three Danish Kings reigned in England (for more information, see the sidebar entitled "Danish Royalty in England" ). ALBANY, JOHN STEWART, 2nd DUKE OF (b. c. 1484 ---- d. June 2, 1536), Regent of Scotland during the reign of James V and advocate of close ties between FRANCE AND SCOTLAND. His father, Alexander Stewart (c. 1454--85), the 1st Duke of Albany of the second creation, died when he was scarcely more than an infant, and he was raised in FRANCE by his mother, Anne de la Tour d'Auvergne. In 1515, at the request of the Scottish Parliament, he came to SCOTLAND from FRANCE. Inaugurated regent in July, he organized resistance to the ENGLISH influence of Queen Margaret Tudor, whom he took prisoner at Stirling in August. He was declared heir to the throne on November 12, 1516. Returning to FRANCE in 1517 he concluded the TREATY OF ROUEN, which renewed the alliance between FRANCE and SCOTLAND and stipulated that a daughter of Francis I, King of France should marry James V, King of Scotland. Returning to SCOTLAND at the close of 1521, he immediately became the object of ENGLISH attacks. He reconciled himself temporarily with Margaret and was accused by the ENGLISH GOVERNMENT of scheming to marry her himself. This was denied by the SCOTS, and the ENGLISH demand for the regent's dismissal was refused. War with ENGLAND broke out in September 1522, but Albany had little success in the field and retired to FRANCE. Returning again in September 1523, he failed once more and finally left SCOTLAND on May 20, 1524. His regency was expressly terminated by DECLARATION OF PARLIAMENT later that year. From 1530 he acted as FRENCH AMBASSADOR in ROME. In 1533, he conducted Catherine de' Medicis, his wife's niece, to FRANCE for her marriage to Henri de Valois (afterward Henri II de Valois, King of France). Thereafter much of his time was spent in protracted and fruitless negotiations for the marriage of James V, King of Scotland. Albany died leaving no legitimate heir. The Swedish Connection Should this millennium see a fourth queen regnant, it would be Victoria (1977�), Hereditary Princess of Sweden. In the past, the throne of Sweden has always passed to the oldest son, and only if a son is lacking has a woman succeeded. Having said that, keep in mind also that Sweden has been ruled by a woman only once. Queen Christina was born in 1626 and reigned as queen from 1632-54, when she abdicated and died in Rome in 1689. Understanding Victoria�s connection in the ancestry means learning a little Swedish history as well, and Sweden�s history is a checkered one. Over the centuries, its kings have ruled over Norway and Denmark as well as Sweden. When Sweden finally gave Norway its independence in 1905, the people of Norway decided to retain a monarchy, and instead of choosing a Swedish prince as king, they went to Denmark. The choice fell on Charles, brother of King Christian X, who in taking a Norwegian name became King Haakon VII of Norway. This is significant because Haakon was married to an English princess: Maud (1869-1938), the daughter of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra of Denmark. This marriage is the connecting point for Victoria and the other millennium queens (see the "Danish Royalty in England" sidebar for more information on these connections). The Princess Victoria of Sweden also has a closer and more recent kinship to the Queen of England. Her great-grandfather, King Gustavas VI Adolphus (1882-1973), was married in 1905 to the Princess Margaret, daughter of the Duke of Connaught, son of Queen Victoria of England, who was a great-granddaughter of King George II. The Duke of Connaught was the brother of King Edward VII, who was the great-grandfather of Elizabeth II�thus the connecting point. A Final Bond There is one other common marriage bond between the four millennium queens. Philippa, daughter of King Henry IV of England, married King Eric VII of Denmark (see the "Danish Royalty" sidebar for this ancestral line). At the time, Eric was king of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. And although he was childless, his sister would continue the line. Her son became King Christopher III of Denmark and Sweden, and Christopher III married Dorothea of Brandenburg. Upon his death in 1448, Dorothea then married the next king, Christian I of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, from whom all four are also descended. A Truly Remarkable Event Thus, at least three and possibly four queens regnant�all of common ancestry�could be reigning sometime in the millennium. It is surely a unique event in history that shouldn�t go unremarked.    THE CROWN JEWELS, the essential accoutrements of ROYAL OFFICE, have assumed almost mystical significance for a ruling monarch. Without them, he or she would lose all authority. The CROWN JEWELS, ORB, and SCEPTER are essential in the coronation ceremony, when they are worn or carried by the newly crowned monarch.  La Tour d'Auvergne is the name of my FRENCH ROYAL FAMILY, orginally from village of Latour in Auvergne, dating from 10th century; in divided into several branches, including Comtes de Auvergne, Ducs de Bouillon and Al'bert, and Vicomtes de Turenne; see BOUILLON and TURENNE. Madeleine de La Tour d'Auvergne (d. 1519) married Lorenzo de' Medici, Duc de Urbino; mother of Queen Catherine de Medicis who married Henri de Valois, duc d'Orlens, later would be Henri II de Valois, King of France. There was one of these Acadian families, about who PROTESTANT ANTECEDENTS there can be no question, and which was destined to take a prominent part in the history of the colony. Its founder was Claude de St. Elienne, sieur de la Tour. He is said to have been allied to the NOBLE HOUSE OF BOUILLON. About the year 1609 he came a widower, with his son Charles, then a boy of fourteen (14), to Port Royal, for purposes of trade, having lost the greater part of his estates in the WARS OF RELIGION. When that settlement was broken up, in 1613. La Tour removed to the coast of MAINE, and built a fort and trading house at the mouth of the PENOBSCOT RIVER, which was claimed by the FRENCH as within the limits of ACADIA. Here he continued for a number of years, until finally dispossessed by the ENGLISH OF PLYMOUTH. Meanwhile, Charles de la Tour, now a bold and active youth, had formed a close friendship with young Biencourt, the son of Poutrincourt, the proprietor of PORT ROYAL. Biencourt had remained in after the destruction of the settlement, at first seeking a home among the INDIANS, and then engaging, with a few companions, in the attempt to rebuild the trading post whose beginnings had been so unfortunate. The two friends, nearly of the same age, became inseparable; and when in the year 1623, Biencourt died, he appointed Charles his successor in the government of the colony, bequeathing to him all his rights in PORT ROYAL. 
 
Making a molehill out of a mountain, Lance Armstrong surged toward his second Tour de France win By Ian Thomsen Issue date: Sports Illustrated, July 24, 2000 
Lance Armstrong almost died four years ago, and on July 10 he nearly went to heaven. He was pedaling his bicycle powerfully toward the clouds atop the Pyrenees in southwest France, not far from the miraculous waters of Lourdes. It was a frigid, rainy day, and the icy winds were lashing the 162 Tour de France cyclists who dared climb the mountains, screaming at them to turn back and save themselves -- but Armstrong charged on. Like Don Quixote, he hears and sees only that which furthers his mission. "To me it was like a sunny day at the beach," he said on Sunday. "An absolutely perfect day." It was certainly one that inspired awe. After beginning the 10th stage in 16th place, almost six minutes behind Alberto Elli of Italy, Armstrong picked up more than 10 minutes, opening a decisive lead of 4:14 over his most dangerous challenger, Jan Ullrich of Germany, the 1997 Tour champion. Even more impressive than the speed of Armstrong's climb up Mount Hautacam, which was hors de categorie (literally beyond categorization, or so steep that it exceeds the rating system), was the contrast between the expressions of his opponents, who were gnashing and fighting for each breath of thin air, and that of the 28-year-old Texan, who appeared grim, determined and at peace. It was an ascent that the legendary French climber Raymond Poulidor called unprecedented in the annals of cycling. "When I saw Armstrong," said French racer Stephane Heulot, "I had the impression I was watching someone descending a hill I was trying to scale." By Monday, the Tour's final rest day, Armstrong had increased his advantage to 7:26 over Ullrich, who was now worried mainly about holding on to second place. With only six stages remaining in the 21-stage, 2,274.4-mile event, Armstrong seemed certain -- barring accident, injury or illness -- of wearing the yellow jersey at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris this Sunday as champion for the second straight year. "In principle we know who the winner is already," the manager of Ullrich's Deutsche Telekom team, Walter Godefroot, said after Armstrong's magnificent climb in stage 10. "No one can fight him." It came as a huge shock last July when Armstrong won the Tour only three years after being diagnosed with testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain. Rather than being celebrated, his fantastic recovery became the subject of rumor and suspicion resulting in part from the fiasco of the previous year, when the Tour was marred by arrests and suspensions after an official team car was found to be carrying large amounts of the blood-doping agent EPO, the performance-enhancing drug of choice for modern riders. No charges were leveled against Armstrong, who admits that he has used EPO -- but only while undergoing four cycles of chemotherapy over a three-month period in 1996. At that time EPO boosted the red-cell count in his blood and was vital to keeping him alive. How did the young man who suffered so much to stay alive react to the notion that he was risking his life to win a race? "Absurd," says Armstrong. The win-at-all-costs philosophy that plagues cycling and other sports is best revealed by the survey question routinely asked of high-level athletes: Would you take a drug that made you a champion, knowing that it would kill you in five years? In a 1995 poll of mostly Olympic-caliber U.S. athletes, more than 50% said they would. Armstrong believes that if those respondents could have been in his skin in 1996 -- after his hair had fallen out, revealing two horseshoe-shaped scars where doctors had removed tumors from his brain -- they would have answered differently. "I've seen those results, and I find them hard to believe," Armstrong says. "If they are true, then those people are crazy. Look, I live for cycling right now, but one day it's going to end, and then there are going to be no more yellow jerseys, no more adoration -- we don't want your autograph, we don't want your picture, we don't want you to write a book. [His autobiography, It's Not About the Bike, is a best-seller.] One day I'm going to be a normal guy, and that's going to be fine." For months after his cancer treatment he was adrift, with little ambition to return to the sport. When he decided to make his comeback during a cycling retreat to Boone, N.C., in 1998, he did so with new vigor. "I did train hard from '92 to '96, and I did have good results," says Armstrong, who in that time won a couple of Tour de France stages as well as the 1993 world championship. "But it was nothing compared with the training I'm doing now." Armstrong and his wife, Kristin, whom he met in Austin while he was bald and frail from chemo, are almost Zen-like in their devotion to the here and now, and to the belief that what one does is less important than the pleasure one takes in doing it well. "For nine months out of the year it's like we're living in a monastery," Kristin said from Nice, where she was staying with their nine-month-old son, Luke. Each morning Lance -- being one of those fortunate souls who can ride his bike to work -- heads out to do his training. "And I go hard, for seven hours sometimes," he says. He returns, parks his bike in the garage and walks into the house wearing his famous work clothes. "He comes home just like any other guy comes home," Kristin says. "The first thing he always says is, 'Where's my boy!' He doesn't look tired. He looks so happy and peaceful." Then he has a bite, naps, has dinner, spends a few hours around the house and goes to bed. "And that's that," Kristin says, without complaining. "Day in, day out, that's how we live. People see the highlights, but they don't see that it's a very, very serious commitment." Armstrong has undergone profound changes physically as well as spiritually. The old Armstrong had a thick neck and shoulders, which, as five-time champion Eddy Merckx of Belgium told him many times, prevented him from succeeding at the Tour de France. Even Armstrong doubted his future in the great race: How could he win while carrying so much weight up the mountains? In the most unpredictable way, chemotherapy rescued him. The treatments whittled away his bulk, and while Armstrong regained his strength, he developed a new, relatively gaunt shape. He also switched from the standard method of training extremely hard to one in which he backs off slightly and goes longer. Now he weighs 160 pounds -- 20 less than the old Armstrong, who had finished only one Tour in four attempts. As Armstrong has become sleeker, the 26-year-old Ullrich, who is possibly the most gifted rider in the Tour, has gotten beefier, having gained 10 pounds over the winter. Armstrong's other chief rival, Marco Pantani, went into seclusion in June 1999 after being thrown out of the Giro d'Italia when the results of a blood test raised suspicions of EPO use. In the fall he is expected to face criminal charges in Italy of "falsifying sporting results" and could serve time in jail. Two months ago Pantani made a surprise return to the sport in hopes of challenging Armstrong in France. "Ullrich and Pantani are friggin' posers," says Armstrong's longtime coach, Chris Carmichael. "You can't compete for the Tour de France with that kind of training." To most workers in any job, success is a result of hard work. Before his illness, Armstrong was unwilling to make the necessary sacrifice. Now he welcomes it. "What is a sacrifice?" Armstrong asks. "You suffer a little during a training ride, you suffer during a race, and I like that. I would be really upset if I never had the opportunity to suffer. I would go crazy." The new, improved Armstrong is tuned in to all kinds of things -- mainly those that affect his performance. He recalls every accusation and indignity that has appeared in the French press, because they help stoke his competitive fire. For all his determination to live in the moment, he's not above wanting to even the score for past insults. At the same time, he is more aware than ever of relationships. During a race last month through the Rhone Alps, Le Dauphine Libere, Armstrong did the grunt work in helping U.S. Postal Service teammate Tyler Hamilton win; he set the pace, shielded Hamilton from the wind, advised when to attack and when to back off. (Imagine Michael Jordan setting up Luc Longley to score 43 points in a playoff game.) He was thanking Hamilton for the help he provided at the Tour de France last year, and thanking him in advance for the work to come. In football terms Armstrong is the ball-carrier and his eight Postal Service teammates are blocking for him. If he crosses the line first, then the whole team wins. So, as the team approached the first mountain stage on that miserable morning of July 10, its strategy was to go out together hard and fast in an attempt to break down as many of Armstrong's opponents as possible. They charged too fast. Halfway up the third climb Armstrong found himself alone among the top racers, unprotected. He was unable to make up any ground. He had put in 119 miles that day when he reached the foot of the concluding 8.44-mile climb. The gradient ahead was rated at 7.9% -- or an average of 7.9 feet vertically per 100 feet traveled -- and was the steepest of the race to that point. Armstrong rose from his saddle and methodically pushed one foot down after another, as if crushing grapes. As he attacked the mountain, Ullrich sat frozen in his seat, unable to react. Alex Zulle of Switzerland, last year's runner-up, abandoned the chase after a few hundred yards. "When I looked back for him," says French rider Richard Virenque, who was in the lead group, "Armstrong just took off like a plane." Javier Otxoa of Spain had broken away early and led the stage by 10:30 when the final ascent began. By the time Armstrong reached the end of the stage, he had shaved all but 42 seconds off the wobbling Otxoa's lead and seized his seemingly insurmountable overall advantage. Greg LeMond, the three-time winner from the U.S., only wished Armstrong had a rival who could have turned the stage into a terrific duel. "If Ullrich wasn't still searching for his form," says LeMond, "what was a five-minute gain in the mountains could have become a battle all the way to the top." Perhaps Armstrong will inspire better efforts from others next year. How could anyone not take heart at the new life he has made from the old? Carmichael predicts that Armstrong has the mettle to overtake the mark of five Tour victories shared by Merckx and three others. But if Armstrong remains on his bike that long, it won't be to break a record. He will quit when he feels like it, because life is too short to be wasting time. "If he weren't enjoying what he's doing, if it didn't mean as much to him, he would do something else that did," Kristin says. "When Lance quits he will be at the top of the sport, not at the bottom." "I love being wedded to my job, but I am going to get a divorce one day," Armstrong says. "For right now it's a good fling." 
BEEFEATERS BEEFEATERS symbolize England's proud historical tradition. More properly called the Yeomen of the Guard, their popular name is derived from the French boufitiers --- guardians of the King's buffet. Constituted in 1485 by Henry VII (Lancastrian) Tudor to serve as the sovereign's bodyguard, the corps is England's oldest military formation. Today its members are most often seen on state occasions and on duty as warders at the Tower of London. The yeomen are drawn from the ranks of retired soldiers, and their idiosyncratic military hierarchy ranges form their captain (usually a peer), to a lieutenant and ensign, through the "clerk of the cheque," and "exons," down to messengers, sergeants major, yeoman bedgoers and bedhangers, and privates. Their colorful formal uniforms date from the fifteenth century and consist of red tunics faced with puple stripes and gold lace, red knee-breeches and stockings, a ruff and plumed hat. On less formal occasions they dispense with the ruff and substitute a derby (bowler) hat. |
