Greig Leach

There are so many stories in the Tour de France, so many that become legendary, fabled, tales of valor, sacrifice, personal triumph and of struggle, pain and suffering. Today Andrew Talansky (Garmin Sharp) can add is name to the list of those who have showed courage and determination in the Tour. Talansky dropped off of the peloton on the first categorized climb of the day, eventually stopping at the side of the road apparently about to leave the Tour in unbearable pain. After a lengthy discussion, he decided to honor the work his team had done for him thus far, by riding the rest of the stage. He faced almost certain elimination by finishing outside of the time limit. Riders must finish within a certain percentage of the winner's time based on the difficulty of the stage. It was calculated that he had to cross the line no more than 34 minutes after Tony Gallopin raised his arms in victory. Talansky was the second victor of the day. After stretching his gap out to roughly twenty minutes, he found the inner strength to hold that gab, riding even with the peloton, but much further back, with only the following Broom Wagon, the Voiture Balai, and his team car for company. Virtually all of the crowds that had cheered the victory of Gallopin , waited to cheer this personal victory with almost the same zeal.