I agree, Lance is one of my favorite sports figures to watch and cheer for. His story is just amazing, I am rooting for him to surpass Miguel Indurain's record for Tour de France victories.
In this day and age of sports personalities being larger than life and thinking they can pull any stunt and get away with it (from signing a football in the middle of a game to murder). It is so nice to see Lance in the 2001 TdF stop riding and make sure one of his closest competitors was ok after a crash (I believe it was Jan Ulrich).
Lance is a class act and I will be looking forward to the 5-peat this July, besides what else is there to look forward to in July?
Joined: 06 Nov 2002 Posts: 4 Location: St. Ignatius 0 eGriz Bucks
Lance did a really cute commercial yesterday during the playoff games. Shows that not only is the guy a great athlete but also has a pretty neat sense of humor.
The SI Sportsman of the year article made a good point about Lances career. They wondered if he would be anywhere near the athlete he is if he didn't have the cancer.
Before the cancer he was a slightly puggy hard working kid. Had some potential by was was more of a sprinter, was a little weak on the climbs.
After the cancer he became a sleek, powerful rider, with stamina unmatchable, and climbs like a monster.
The cancer really changed him, made him stronger and more focused. Could he have become the same athlete he is today if he hadn't had cancer? Possibly, but I don't believe so.
Lance Armstrong roared into 1996 as the number-one ranked cyclist in the world. But in October of that year, "the Golden Boy of American Cycling" was forced off his bike in excruciating pain.
Tests revealed an advanced form of testicular cancer that had spread to his abdomen, lungs and brain, and he was given only a 50 percent chance of survival. Remarkably, after a year of aggressive surgery and chemotherapy, he was declared cancer-free in 1997.
That last quote was taken from an ABC news site, Lance won his first TDF in 1999.
I havn't read it, but someone who has read his autobiography told me he actually credits the cancer for allowing him to become a stronger cyclist, both physically and mentally. Just what tey told me... I havn't read it.
I am hopeful the French will be EXTREMELY security minded.
The Tour riders will see that he is protected in the peleton (sp?),
my concern is the two individual time trails and the mountain
ascents/decents where he is open to whatever might be lurking
to take him out.
The Posties announced the BLUE TRAIN team members for 2003 as
LANCE ARMSTRONG (USA)
MICHAEL BARRY (CANADA)
ANTONIO CRUZ (USA)
VIATCHESLAV EKIMOV (RUSSIA)
ROBERTO HERAS (SPAIN)
GEORGE HINCAPIE (USA)
BENIOT JOACHIM (LUXEMBOURG)
STEFFEN KJAERGAARD (NORWAY)
DAMON KLUCK (USA)
KENNY LABBE (USA)
FLOYD LANDIS (USA)
GUENNADI MIKHAILOV (RUSSIA)
PAVEL PADRNOS (CZECHOSLOVAKIA)
VICTOR HUGO PENA (COLUMBIA)
JOSE LUIS RUBIERA (SPAIN)
CHRISTAIN VANDE VELDE (USA)
MAX VAN HEESWIJK (NETHERLANDS)
ROBBIE VENTURA (USA)
MATTHEW WHITE (AUSTRALIA)
DAVE ZABRISKIE (USA)
Correct me if I'm wrong, but this like the largest contingent of
YANKEE'S to ride for U.S. Postal.
Good luck men!!!
This being the 100th anniversary for the Tour should be a showcase
for the world to watch.
Isn't this the guy that randomly decided to ditch his wife and kids?? i know he later changed his mind, but any guy that can even think about that is not a very good guy in my book...
"Nobody in football should be called a genius. A genius is a guy like Norman Einstein." ~ Joe Theismann
He and his wife had a seperation a few months ago, but they got back together. From all accounts, he's a good family man, which is hard to manage with all his overseas training. Oh, and he's one of the all-time greatest athletes in the history of sports.
"A grizzly bear with a chainsaw - now there's a killing machine."
- Homer Simpson
Joined: 19 Aug 2003 Posts: 2275 Location: Roaming the countryside with GrizChick 2435 eGriz Bucks
one of the top athletes in the world.
For those of you who don't like beautiful women and like to complain, click on ignore and don't read my posts. I don't have anything of interest for ewe types. That includes the "mods".
Joined: 15 Sep 2003 Posts: 2359 Location: Cincinnati, OH (wish it were MT) 1218 eGriz Bucks
The man is a hero. Plain and simple.
He is THE athlete of our time.
"The TV business is...a cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason." Hunter S. Thompson
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