9 replies to this topic

[mr guido]

"While I'm absolutely enjoying my time as a retired athlete with Sheryl and the kids, the recent smear campaign out of France has awoken my competitive side. I'm not willing to put a percentage on the chances but I will no longer rule it out..."

-- from his own website.

Then from the AP today:
Armstrong to Train With Team This Winter

Lance Armstrong plans to train with his team this winter, increasing speculation he will end his retirement and attempt an eighth straight Tour de France win.

"It's definitely an open possibility, I know he is on the bike," Discovery Channel team director Johan Bruyneel told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Wednesday.

Note to France: now look what you've done. You've gone and pissed off Lance. Again.



What do you think? Is he just screwing with their heads? Should he come back? You have to wonder if he's doing this just to stick it to the people who thought he was out of the picture for good and couldn't respond to their illegitimate allegations...

I don't think there's any doubt that he's clean and could still kick everyone's asses. But I think these announcements are intended just to drive that point home and send a scare into the tour organizers and other riders. I'd be surprised if he really came back for more. But it's impossible to get into the head of someone like Lance, so who really knows? The one thing I do know is I'd love to see him back and racing again. He's the Pedro of cycling and I'll never get tired of watching that.

[ragecage]

From what I can tell Lance has one of the fiercest competitive streaks in Pro sports. The man is obsessed with what is written about him, and about his reputation and legacy (and I don't mean that in a bad way).

I think all this speculation and the whole L'Equipe affair have done nothing but piss him off and want to make him prove one last time that he is clean. I think he feels a bit betrayed by the Tour people that not only were happy to see him go, but have thrown him under the bus pretty quickly. I mean he recently said "I'm thinking it's the best way to piss the French off".

I wouldn't be surprised to see him come back, and basically have a TV crew follow him 24hrs a day through the tour to prove that he is clean.

[Rod Becks Mullet]

As the old addage goes:

1) the way to beat Lance is not to get him mad.
2) Lance gets mad when he's not leading.

Well, Lance is REALLY pissed. But I hope he doesn't come back, because it won't be a competitive race, or it'll be sad to see him lose when he really had walked away.

[philly sox fan]

Wouldn't the best FU to France be for him to come back and race in the Gyro?

It's the same testing procedures so it wouldn't be like he was running away from French testing. This time last year there was talk that he wanted to show he could win one of the other major stage races so doing the Gyro would be some unfinished business in that respect.

I don't think it would do lasting damage to the Tour, but there would be some major short term embarrassment if Lance, by his mere presence, turned the Gyro in the the premier bike race of 2006.

[Rod Becks Mullet]

Even if he raced in the Giro, that wouldn't necessarily make it the premier race. In fact, I could see the Euro-press and bike geeks making jokes about him winning, since none of his main Tour competition (ie: the best cyclists in the world) would be there going for the win.

[BTwnDreamin]

Coming back is dumb.

He went out on his own terms and won.

I've always been skeptical about his feats and the repeated claims that he used drugs. ESPN Outside the Lines did a piece on him and his reported use of performance enhancing drugs which was very convincing.

If he did or did not I don't see the point of coming back, but now that he said it is a very real possibility he almost has to. I think really backed himself into a corner and now he'd look bad (to the French at least) if he didn't. If he does he has to win. He proved this year he can, so I hope for his sake that if/when he races the Tour that 'one last time' that he shoves it in their face.

Like I said, I don't completely trust his story though, so I can't say I'm 100% behind him no matter what he does.

I guess this all he can do to 'prove' the stories are both false and lack class.

[Maalox]

The best way to piss off the French is to taunt them with their war record.

[mr guido]

Thanks for that clever and original insight, Maalox. I'm sure that's Lance's plan B.

I don't think his goal is to piss of France, whether by insulting their war record (which is probably akin to an Englishman taunting me by asking when our last cricket victory was) or by trying to disrupt the Tour. I suspect it's more that he is angry and feels the only way he can respond to their allegations is to go out and whip them again.

It might be like Pedro coming out to pitch in relief of game 7 of the ALCS -- fueled by pride and a desire to get in one last jab before he goes out the door. Of course it didn't work out that way but I suspect Lance can do better.

[ragecage]

Cycling’s governing body said Friday it had received no evidence of doping by Lance Armstrong and criticized world doping authorities and a French sports newspaper for making allegations against the seven-time Tour de France champion

also interesting:

UCI president Hein Verbruggen has asked for harsh sanctions against dopers and suggested Armstrong should face sanctions if here were shown to be guilty.

He also told Friday’s Le Figaro that Armstrong had proposed before the Tour that all of his urine samples be kept for tests over the next 10 years.

[ragecage]

Looks like Lance has decided not to consider a comeback anymore... at least for now

Lance Armstrong won’t be getting back on his bike after all.

After recent hints he might return to the Tour de France next summer to “yank the chains” of the French, the seven-time champion said Thursday that defending his reputation against allegations of doping during his 1999 win had soured any thoughts of returning to the event he dominated.

“I’m sick of this,” Armstrong said during a late-afternoon conference call.

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