One of the most iconic moments of early 2000's cycling, if not ever, has to be 'The Look' from Lance Armstrong. Back in 2001, the Tour de France was still completely open after nine days of racing with two main pre-race favourites, Armstrong and Jan Ullrich, sitting within 30 seconds of each other.
A fierce battle was awaited on the 21 hairpins of Alpe d'Huez. Armstrong, who so far wasn't look very well suddenly pops up to the front of the group. He looks behind as if to say: 'Here I am. I bluffed.' Before he takes off and destroys his competition by two minutes, effectively deciding the 2001 Tour de France on the spot.
"The story may not go the way you think," Armstrong revisited the moment in TheMove podcast where Ullrich was his guest. "It's funny, because it does indeed seem like 'a look', as if I'm looking at you. At least that is what the photo that went around the world suggests. But I was actually looking for teammate Jose Luis 'Chechu' Rubiera."
"With great acceleration he had brought me to the front earlier. But before I would attack myself, I first wanted to be sure where Rubiera was. If I got into trouble and was blown back, I knew there was at least someone still in the group - Rubiera - to save me. So basically I looked at my teammate. But because of the angle at which the images were taken, it seemed as if I was looking straight into Jan's eyes. It is important to clarify this."
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