who says "good guys always finish last"?

as bad as the situation in sports sometimes gets, sometimes it is still a glorious, pure, and triumphant spectacle of all that is good and noble. sometimes a clean hard working young man rises up and achieves more than anyone could reasonably expect, or imagine. over the past three weeks, 21 year old Andy schleck rode into second place in the giro d' italia. in the early stages of the race the fans applauded his effort, while silently saying he was to young and inexperienced to finish in the lofty position he had attained, but as time went on they started to believe. on the penultimate stage of the race, on the climb up the mighty mt Zoncolon (one of the toughest climbs in Europe), he was off the pace and people started to nod their heads knowingly. this was it the youngster finally had broken was the popular opinion, this then would be his triumph. after 131 kilometers the mt Zoncolon climb started. it is a twelve kilometer climb with an average 14.9% grade, and Andy was behind the leaders and looked to be in difficulty. then to everyone's surprise he started to fly. he quickly bridged to the race leader's gruppo, and then with astonishing ease left them behind. he finished the day in third place for the stage, and gained time on all of his closest competitors. the only people to best him that day, were a four time champion of the giro and that champion's teammate. this accomplishment cemented his place on the podium, and secured for Andy, the jersey for best young rider in the giro. instead of riding defensively for the last stages of the race, Andy continued to ride aggressively and took about thirty seconds out of the race leader in the last time trial of the giro. this was not enough to win overall, but in finishing the way he did, he showed character, and class, and brought great support to the pro peleton in a time when it is sorely needed. this then is what sports are truly about, his grit and determination brought out the best not only in himself, but inspired all who watched. bravo Andy, bravo. and on a side note, to show he is a normal red blooded young man, he had his teammates teach him some Italian to impress the gorgeous miss giro on the final podium. he said to her "ti voglio dare tanti baci" (i want to give you many kisses). the crowd and miss giro both appreciated the comments, in the spirit they were made, and everyone had a good laugh. once again bravo Andy.