Lance Is Back
Just in case you've been in a cave for a few weeks, Lance Armstrong is back at it and out on the mountains and flat lands of France trying to regain his form as the worlds greatest cyclist.
Now don't get me wrong, Lance is well past his prime and by all accord should be commenting on instead of competing in the Tour de France. He is now 37 and still competes with men in their 20's.
Yes, he is not at the top of his game but there he was climbing up another treacherous mountain road up to the top of the Alps. Yes, he does not have the yellow jersey signifying the fastest cyclist in the tour, but he is not about to scream no and give up either. He has never done this and never will. He could have easily said that his broken collar bone had not healed sufficiently and given up. (did I mention that he broke his color bone a few months before the start of the Tour?)
So why is he putting his body through another beating like this? Armstrong said on his livestrong.org website that "after talking with my children, my family and my closest friends, I have decided to return to professional cycling in order to raise awareness of the global cancer burden." I think that and the fact that he didn't feel he was washed up yet made him come back.
It reminds me of another great athlete that did the same thing. Michael Jordan retired twice and came back out of retirement because he missed the competition. I'm sure that is why Lance also trained and completed the NY Marathon in a time of 2 hours 46 minutes. That's moving for a guy that is not a pro marathon runner (6 minutes 21 seconds for 26.2 miles).
So where will he wind up at the end of the tour? My guess is he will finish behind his teammate and 2007 winner Alberto Contador, but my guess is that he will race again next year at the head of his own team. It is no coincidence that he is not wearing the team helmet and colors at the tour. This should and will bring back intrigue again into the Tour de France over the winter months as we see who else will join him and the new team... maybe longtime friend and former teammate George Hincapie?
Now don't get me wrong, Lance is well past his prime and by all accord should be commenting on instead of competing in the Tour de France. He is now 37 and still competes with men in their 20's.
Yes, he is not at the top of his game but there he was climbing up another treacherous mountain road up to the top of the Alps. Yes, he does not have the yellow jersey signifying the fastest cyclist in the tour, but he is not about to scream no and give up either. He has never done this and never will. He could have easily said that his broken collar bone had not healed sufficiently and given up. (did I mention that he broke his color bone a few months before the start of the Tour?)
So why is he putting his body through another beating like this? Armstrong said on his livestrong.org website that "after talking with my children, my family and my closest friends, I have decided to return to professional cycling in order to raise awareness of the global cancer burden." I think that and the fact that he didn't feel he was washed up yet made him come back.
It reminds me of another great athlete that did the same thing. Michael Jordan retired twice and came back out of retirement because he missed the competition. I'm sure that is why Lance also trained and completed the NY Marathon in a time of 2 hours 46 minutes. That's moving for a guy that is not a pro marathon runner (6 minutes 21 seconds for 26.2 miles).
So where will he wind up at the end of the tour? My guess is he will finish behind his teammate and 2007 winner Alberto Contador, but my guess is that he will race again next year at the head of his own team. It is no coincidence that he is not wearing the team helmet and colors at the tour. This should and will bring back intrigue again into the Tour de France over the winter months as we see who else will join him and the new team... maybe longtime friend and former teammate George Hincapie?Labels: Sports
posted by Fe Man at 6:37 AM
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