In the 1995 Tour de France, Lance Armstrong’s Motorola teammate, Fabio Casartelli, died from head injuries after crashing on the descent of the Col de Portet-Aspet. 

Casartelli was a gifted cyclist winning the 1992 Olympic road race gold medal at the young age of 21.

Three days after Casartelli was killed, Lance Armstrong won Stage 18, dedicating the win to his teammate by pointing to the sky with arms outstretched as he crossed the line. 

Tomorrow’s stage will go across the Col de Portet-Aspet about midway in the route passing where Casartelli crashed.

Armstrong had hoped to win his 8th and final Tour, but that dream was over a week ago.  His goal now is to win a stage – if he can.  Tomorrow’s stage 15 would seem to be the perfect ending to Armstrong’s storybook Tour de France career.

Based on what we have seen thus far, it does not seem that Armstrong has the legs or maybe even the desire to win.  He has been an emotional rider in the past, often using it to propel his efforts when the need arose.

Maybe the emotion of it being his last Tour, and his love for Casartelli, could fuel Armstrong to his final stage win of the Tour de France.