Tour de Lance, Again? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Botnst · #1 09-09-2008, 07:34 AM

What will Lance gain if he returns? That's a loaded question
By Bonnie D. Ford
ESPN.com

Lance Armstrong has done nothing to quash rumors he wants to return to the Tour de France in 2009 after three full years of sitting on the sidelines watching his sport convulse, nearly crash out of contention and then scrape itself off the asphalt and try to move toward a more credible future.

If what VeloNews.com reported first is true and Armstrong plans to break the news in the monthly magazine Vanity Fair, some may find the name of the outlet fitting.

Confusion reigned as the rumors -- still unconfirmed by any of the principals -- bloomed like algae on the surface of the mainstream media. What in the world could be motivating him? It couldn't be money, and it couldn't be titles. Could it be ego? Altruism, in the form of increased revenue for cancer research? Boredom? Enough with the tabloid headlines and the blondes, already? The need to respond in a different way, to the doping innuendo that never dies, even though Armstrong never tested positive, and stirs afresh every time some ex-teammate gets caught?

Chances are that if this story moves from the realm of the theoretical into the concrete, there's a bit of all of the above at work, but the last item on the list is the most elusive.

The seven-time Tour winner is said to be planning a comeback with Astana, where his former boss Johan Bruyneel runs the show. Last year, Bruyneel contracted with respected Danish anti-doping researcher and certified cynic Rasmus Damsgaard to put his riders under the microscope, in the form of rigorous out-of-competition blood testing that is designed to show suspicious deviations from an athlete's normal biological parameters.

The VeloNews report suggested the Texan will race in five big events, including the Tour of California, and put his testing numbers online to offer proof that he is not cheating. In so doing, he would be jumping on a bandwagon that got rolling only after he left the sport.

When the careers of other top riders began imploding one by one because of doping revelations, the industry realized it needed to take drastic measures to keep sponsors from bailing completely. Even Armstrong's own team, Discovery Channel, folded after it could not nail down the financial support to which it had become accustomed.

It was Bjarne Riis, the 1996 Tour winner and Team CSC-Saxo Bank director who would later cop to his own tainted past, who first approached Damsgaard and implemented an independent program to back up standard anti-doping controls being done by the standard enforcers. Two U.S.-based teams, Columbia and Garmin-Chipotle, followed suit with a different testing agency and there's little doubt that someday soon all of cycling will be under a similar umbrella.

As Armstrong's critics will be quick to point out, riding clean now would have no bearing on whether he was riding clean before. Half the peloton is probably in the same position. And it would be fascinating to see the reaction to his results. If he were to do exceptionally well, unlikely as that seems at age 37, some might draw the entirely logical conclusion that he was always the superior athlete of the bunch -- whether he was a clean guy among other clean guys or the other way around.

Then, picture the explosive debate if Armstrong couldn't perform at his former level. It makes you ponder what he has to gain, especially if he races in France, where lab technicians and L'Equipe writers must be dancing on tables right about now at the prospect. If he's aiming to raise funds and consciousness for cancer research, a cause everyone can get behind, why take the risk of re-entering an arena where so many things could go wrong and even his considerable skill at controlling the message isn't always effective?

Perhaps Armstrong is counting on the daring and unexpected nature of this exploit to make Act III of his career an irresistible draw. Perhaps he relishes the dilemma it would present for race organizers who have been trying to tighten their entry requirements and pick and choose who comes to the party.

It's doubtful that Armstrong would have to start a letlanceride.com campaign as supporters of his former teammate Levi Leipheimer did when their man, while not implicated in any scandal, was still denied a chance to compete in the Tour because of Astana's exclusion. Wherever Armstrong goes, big money and big crowds follow. Cycling in Europe and North America is in far too tenuous of an economic position to refuse that offer.

There's the small matter of how this would work in practical terms. It's a bit hard to imagine Armstrong riding in support of Leipheimer for a week or Alberto Contador for three weeks. But hey, Armstrong has surprised us before, and he likely wouldn't be alone in his novelty value, especially on the domestic circuit. Dethroned Tour winner Floyd Landis is eligible to compete next January and reportedly team shopping, his doping-related exile over. Rock Racing's Tyler Hamilton, banned for two years for blood doping he continues to deny, will be wearing the Stars and Stripes jersey of the national road champion after outfoxing the field to win in a photo finish a couple of weeks ago.
No matter what anyone says on the record, some people who love cycling are sure to be ambivalent about this bombshell. No publicity is bad publicity for what is still essentially a niche sport, and Armstrong is a transcendent star. But it might be hard to avoid a sense that cycling, which has struggled so mightily to go forward, would shift to rewind mode.

It's as if an ex-president -- say, one whose tenure is remembered both for economic prosperity and a lurid sex scandal -- were to announce he was running again. It's as if your first serious squeeze -- the one you'd sort of rather remember the way they were, but secretly might be curious enough to see again -- sent you an e-mail. To paraphrase the slogan of a recent Internet ad featuring Armstrong, it might make you tired of being tired before it even starts.

Armstrong has every right to come back, as Michael Jordan came back, as Brett Favre came back, no matter what our fevered opinions may be on the subject and what tribal warfare might ensue. It's his legacy and his legs that would be on the line. If you think about it, it's not really that shocking. Absolutely nothing in this man's life has convinced him he can't win.

SwampYankee · #2 09-09-2008, 07:42 AM

I thought they cancelled it after he retired.

It'd do wonders for their ratings here.

Dee8go · #3 09-09-2008, 08:00 AM

It's got to be hard to know when to quit. It's got to be hard to QUIT, period! It would be phenomenal if he came back at 37 and kicked everybody else's butts one more time. That would be a record that would not soon be broken, if ever.

G-Benz · #4 09-09-2008, 10:23 AM

A comeback at that age takes balls (I mean "ball")...

Botnst · #5 09-24-2008, 11:53 PM

Armstrong to ride with Astana in comeback
By RACHEL COHEN, AP Sports Writer
5 hours, 11 minutes ago

NEW YORK (AP)—Lance Armstrong is chasing an eighth Tour de France title and an elusive feat: persuading everyone he’s clean.

As Armstrong reunites with his close friend and Astana team director Johan Bruyneel, the man behind his yellow jerseys, he’s also adding a new member to his support group. Anti-doping expert Don Catlin has been hired to test Armstrong anytime, anywhere—and to post the results online for the world to see.

“I think it’s the first time an athlete can actually be totally validated on the chance he’s successful,” Armstrong said Wednesday. “In my opinion, Don Catlin is beyond reproach.”

Armstrong revealed details of his comeback two weeks after saying he would end a three-year retirement. He’ll ride for Astana and will compete in the Tour Down Under in Adelaide, Australia, in January.

The setting was the Clinton Global Initiative, the annual meeting of former President Bill Clinton’s foundation. Armstrong held a news conference to talk cycling after announcing a new worldwide campaign to fight cancer before an audience of political and corporate leaders.

As he described his 2009 Tour plans, the 37-year-old Armstrong sometimes made it sound as though this was more a publicity move to raise awareness about the fight against cancer than a legitimate shot at winning an eighth title.

“I think we’re sure we’ll have success with the movement, because we need it,” he said in an interview with The Associated Press, “but I’m not sure I’ll be the fastest cyclist in the world.”

Astana was banned from this year’s Tour because of past doping violations. But Pat McQuaid, the leader of cycling’s governing body, said he believed the team would be allowed to return in 2009.

The Amaury Group, which owns the company that organizes the Tour, has confirmed in writing to UCI that Astana is on its list of teams “that they say are guaranteed to ride to the Tour de France in 2009 and 2010,” he told the AP.

Tour director Christian Prudhomme didn’t respond to messages.

The makeup of the 2009 Astana team is unclear. Alberto Contador, the 2007 Tour de France champ, suggested in AS newspaper Tuesday that the two elite riders couldn’t coexist on the same team.

In a statement released by Astana on Wednesday, Contador was conciliatory but didn’t commit to remaining on the team.

“Right now people are looking to make up controversy, but honestly I have no ill will towards Lance,” he said. “I identify with his passion for the sport. He has certainly been a role model for me and others throughout the world, and I imagine having him on Team Astana will only motivate me further.”

Contador, signed with Astana through 2010, won the Spanish Vuelta on Sunday. Combined with his 2008 Giro d’Italia title, he became just the fifth cyclist to win the three highest-regarded Tours.

“I think there’s room for all of us on that team,” Armstrong said.

Another Astana rider, American Levi Leipheimer, is a former Armstrong teammate with U.S. Postal Service.

“He will make everyone on the team better, and that is a good thing,” Leipheimer said from the cycling world championships in Varese, Italy.

Armstrong also hopes to improve the next generation of cyclists, starting an under-23 team that will include 18-year-old Taylor Phinney. Phinney, the son of 1984 Olympic medalists Connie Carpenter-Phinney and Davis Phinney, finished seventh at the Beijing Games in the individual pursuit. Axel Merckx, son of cycling great Eddy Merckx, will lead the development team.

Armstrong, the greatest rider of his generation, is counting on Catlin to help cement his legacy. Catlin will be paid by Astana, but McQuaid had no problem with that.

“I would have every faith that the results that he will find will be correct and transparent,” McQuaid said in a telephone interview. “He wouldn’t suffer fools, and he wouldn’t be a man that would be involved in anything unethical or incorrect.”

Catlin oversaw testing for anabolic agents at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and ran the country’s first anti-doping lab at UCLA for 25 years. He now runs Anti-Doping Research, a nonprofit organization he founded to research performance-enhancing drugs, uncover new drugs being used illegally and develop tests to detect them.

Armstrong said he didn’t know what kinds of tests Catlin would use.

Catlin did not immediately return messages and emails left by The Associated Press.

“I think this will be the most advanced anti-doping program in the world,” Armstrong said. “I’m going to talk about it today; beyond today, I’m not going to tell you how clean I am, and I’m not going to insinuate how dirty the others are.

“I’m going to ride my bike, I’m going to spread this message (about the fight against cancer) around the world, and Don Catlin can tell you if I’m clean or not.”

Kazakh Cycling Federation deputy chief Nikolai Proskurin said Armstrong agreed to ride for the Kazakhstan-based team for free the first year and has signed up to take part in five races. Armstrong wouldn’t rule out competing beyond 2009, but for now that’s all he’s committed to.

His goals for his charitable work are clearer. Armstrong plans to hold a global summit on cancer in Paris after the Tour. He hopes to draw nearly a dozen world leaders, including the next U.S. president. His schedule in the months leading up to the Tour will be influenced by the campaign to expand his foundation’s fight against cancer to underserved parts of the world.

“This will not look like any other Tour de France preparation,” he said. “The fact that we’re starting the season down under in Australia, looking to events in South Africa, looking to do training camps in South America—this won’t resemble any of the other seven victories, which is slightly scary.

“But I think you have the need and the void in these societies that it helps when you go.”

AP Writers Peter Leonard and Nikita Basov in Almaty, Kazakhstan, John Leicester in Paris and Raf Casert in Varese, Italy, contributed to this report.