Tour de France/Olympics double

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It’s a dilemma for many athletes. Tennis players have to decide whether interrupting their summer hard court season to play in Beijing is worth being tired out for the final Grand Slam of the summer, the U.S. Open. Top American male Andy Roddick is skipping the Olympics.

Cyclists are struggling with that decision during these three weeks of the Tour de France.

While the Tour is the biggest race of the year, especially for the all-important sponsors, some riders like Team Columbia’s George Hincapie are keeping an eye not only on stage wins but on their physical condition.

Hincapie, 35, has qualified for his fifth Olympics. He will ride the road race in Beijing Aug. 10. He’s never won an Olympic medal and said to do so would be the perfect cap to a career coming to a close.

‘It’s tough,’ Hincapie said after today’s Stage 11 from Lannemezan to Foix.

‘The Tour is one of the most important events for the team, for us as well because we are a new team and to put one aside for the other is not something to take lightly. I’m trying to get through the tour not killing myself. It’s hard. Just riding it is even tough. I’m just trying not to hurt myself while still trying to win a stage or two these next couple of weeks because on a personal level it would be quite amazing for me to get an Olympic medal.’

Hincapie’s Team Columbia teammate Mark Cavendish, the British sprinter who has won two stages already, is having a similar dilemma. He has high aims for the Olympic time trial medal, he is not a good mountain climber and the grueling Alps stages are still ahead. Cavendish has speculated whether it would be worth it to finish the Tour or drop out and head home to do Olympic training.

‘Guys have to think that way,’ Hincapie said. ‘It’s always a tough year.’

-- Diane Pucin