Vive la Lance!

[cartman]

Wow, this is incredible. Six consecutive wins in arguably the toughest athletic event in the world. And doing so eight years after he was given a less than 50% chance to live another year. But that is common knowledge.

Hats off again to Lance Armstrong!

[Philliesfan980]

Will probably go down as the most underappreciated feat in sports in the USA.

[FBPro]

Will probably go down as the most underappreciated feat in sports in the USA.

Agreed.

[Ragone]

Nah, when the Usa eventually wins a world cup in soccer.. that will be the most underappreciated :P

[Philliesfan980]

Nah, when the Usa eventually wins a world cup in soccer.. that will be the most underappreciated :P


Yeah right. All the little kids running around playing soccer nowadays?!!? And all those jerks who play..... well nevermind!! ;)

[Ragone]

Well, by that meaning is it's only played once every 4 years.. Which i see is a bigger issue.. Of course any olympic gold medal winner could be considered unappreciated.

And of course.. Greg Lemond still thinks lance is doping up..

[BreizhManu]

And of course.. Greg Lemond still thinks lance is doping up..Everybody thinks it, but everybody thinks all cyclists do...

Else great performance by Lance, he proved he was one of the greatest ever (Merckx and Hinault are still ahead of him because they didn't base their seasons only on the Tour), only thing I really dislike is what he did last friday against Simeoni.

[korme]

Seriously, someone on PTI made a great case for Lance, how hard it is to do (all the pain you must endure), and yet how easily he beats the competition. He's awesome.

[Anthony]

this is pretty much the only race he trains for. i believe many others compete in about 3 or 4 races per year. it's still impressive what's he done the last 6 years, but lets put it in perspective.

[Fritz]

Armstrong, right hand over his heart, then stood with Kloden and Basso on the podium as the Star Spangled Banner rang out over the Champs-Elysees.
.

[MIJB#19]

this is pretty much the only race he trains for. i believe many others compete in about 3 or 4 races per year. it's still impressive what's he done the last 6 years, but lets put it in perspective.It's a big victory and a major achievement, but HA has a point.
Of course, there are more reasons why Armstrong has achieved six-in-a-row:
* Armstrong is probably training the hardest of all cyclists
* Armstrong is the most focused on winning the Tour
* Armstrong is probably the best rider to focus on one race and then win it

Still, today's cycling has turned into a world of seemingly about five seperate groups of cyclists focusing on just a little piece of the whole circus, which starts in February in Australia and ending October in Japan.
Some riders focus on the Tour de France, some on the Italian equivalent, others on the Spanish equivalent. There are riders focusing on the World Championhips, some focus on three of the World Cup races, others focus on three or four other World Cup races from the total of ten. This year there are also riders focusing on the Olympics. And then there still are riders just focusing on stage victories in bunch sprints and some are specialists in individual time trials.

It's easy to pick the top 30-40 riders and put one of the above stamps on them and just one or maybe two in the case of the World Champs or the Olympics can be combined with focusing on World Cup races.

The international cycling asociation (UCI) has invented a new super league kind of cycling calendar, but that won't change the way riders will make their own calendar and preparation plan for the year.

[damnMikeBrown]

Come on now. The specialization argument still is being flown? Lance is an excellent one day rider. Remember that little Worlds R.R. Championship he won with a crappy U.S. team? He's a gamer every year for the Worlds T.T. Championship as well.

He competes in the Spring Classics, though not as much as some others do. Hincappie is a strong Classics guy, but if Lance chose to be, he'd be right there. Maybe gain some weight back, and he'd be podium more often than not. The point is for him, and every other tour rider, is that they are there for training, as are 85% of the field. The team's job in the classics is to get their guy in the break, then their day is over.

Specialization has been a serious part of any Tour contenders arsennal since LeMond. It's all part of a periodized training plan. You can not be at your peak 24/7, 365. It could be argued that peaking for 3 weeks in June is harder than peaking 4 or 5 different times during the year for one-day races.

There is no serious TDF contender who would choose to peak at the Giro over TDF. Note, I said TDF contender. Yes, every Italian and his brother would love to rage in the Giro, hell, so would I. Still, take a Pantani in peak form. While he may have won the Giro(what, one time?), he didn't focus on it. It was all a part of preparing for the next season's tour. It could easily be argued that he'd be the absolute class of the field had he focused on it, and that he'd be a multi-champion.

All that being said, I believe all cyclists are dirty at that level. I've raced nationally in the U.S., and even at lower levels have seen doping. That doesn't make his accomplishment any the less remarkable, because if I'm correct, and they're all on it, it creates a level playing field of sorts.

[Blackadar]

Everybody thinks it, but everybody thinks all cyclists do...

Else great performance by Lance, he proved he was one of the greatest ever (Merckx and Hinault are still ahead of him because they didn't base their seasons only on the Tour), only thing I really dislike is what he did last friday against Simeoni.

I love what he did against Simeoni. Simeoni is actually trying to sue Lance for calling him a liar about doping. It's personal. Frankly, if I were Lance, I'd do everything I could to see that the little shit never wins anything.

[Glengoyne]

Everybody thinks it, but everybody thinks all cyclists do...

Else great performance by Lance, he proved he was one of the greatest ever (Merckx and Hinault are still ahead of him because they didn't base their seasons only on the Tour), only thing I really dislike is what he did last friday against Simeoni.
What he did against Simeoni...I dunno. Simeoni is suing Armstrong. There is bad blood between the two of them, the Yellow Jersey decides who gets to break away or more specifically who doesn't. The reasons don't matter. This one was personal, I'm sure it isn't the first instance in racing history.

As for Lemond's position that Lance must be doping. I really cannot understand it. Armstrong was tested at least twice during the course of this tour. Actually I think the stage winner is always tested, so that makes it more like six times he was tested this tour. He competed in the Olympics, and until he left the US Olympic squad, he was regularly tested there.

I just think it is wrong to publicly proclaim that a successful athlete is "cheating" without some sort of credible and meaningful evidence.

[Franklinnoble]

Bah. I'm not getting on the "great American hero" bandwagon for anyone who leaves his wife and three kids so he can boink Sheryl Crow.

[Glengoyne]

Bah. I'm not getting on the "great American hero" bandwagon for anyone who leaves his wife and three kids so he can boink Sheryl Crow.
I was completely under the impression that she left him.

[Franklinnoble]

I was completely under the impression that she left him.
There actually hasn't been much news about it that I've seen. All I've read is that they split a little less than a year ago, and the only statement was the typical "We're still good friends" bit from Lance.

I think there's probably a lot more to it, but my observation is that this is the woman that stood by him when he fought through cancer when he was an absolute nobody, and is the mother of his children, and now he's a big-shot celebrity with million dollar endorsements all over the place, and suddenly they split and he's dating a pop star.

[scooter]

Actually, what I've read is that she initiated the divorce. She got tired of waiting for Lance to come home from training/racing/wind-tunnel-testing/etc. They had a home in Texas and a home in Spain. She spent most of her time in a foreign country alone, with three small children. And then there is trying to deal with three small children on trans-atlantic flights by herself :rolleyes:

I think in the end, you just wanted to use the word boink :D

[korme]

sheryl crow is a fine 40-something