Lucky 7

Did anyone else find it slightly creepy to see Sheryl Crow carrying Lance Armstrong's kids onto the podium on Sunday?

Armstrong, as you all know, won his seventh straight Tour de France this month, an accomplishment that rivals anything the Yankees or Michael Jordan ever did. You may not know that Armstrong is divorced, having reached a mediated settlement late in 2003 with his former wife, Kristin, who is the mother of his three children. Kristin Armstrong bore three kids and the weight of Armstrong's recovery from cancer, a burden that apparently ruined their marriage. Enter Crow, who met Armstrong at a charity event in Las Vegas in October of 2003. Their relationship has been well-chronicled, and I certainly don't begrudge their happiness together, nor do I blame Armstrong for the dissolution of his marriage.

But still - seeing Sheryl Crow, rock star, wearing Luke Armstrong on her hip on the Champs Elysees like a soccer mom was quite disconcerting. Is this what she signed up for? Is she ready to be a stepmom in between tour dates? And was Kristin in France to help lug those kids around, or did she allow Lance and Sheryl to take them for the month? At the end of the day, it's none of our business, of course. I'm just wondering how the kids view all this.

Saw that Armstrong threw a retirement party at the Ritz in Paris after his record-setting seventh win. Six hundred of his closest friends. How much would you have paid to get on that guest list?