Lance Armstrong - winner in every respect

[Matra et Alpine]

WOW.

The man (god!) has just won another Tour de France race.

Congrats.

OK, his team has always been the strongest for the last few seasons and each willing to let their own dream of winning come second to supporting Lance. BUT that STILL cant' take it away from a great cyclist.

!!!!!!

[my porsche]

yeha hes awesome

my dad used to work with a biker and the guy was saying they did a study on lance and then the next lowest guy, and how much air they could respirate in a certain amount of time and lance's nukmber was like 3 times as much as the other guy, henc how he is able to be so much better


Lance if your reading this(hahahahah yeah right): Cangratulations!

[R34GTR]

Lance Armstrong is amazing this guy gives so much hope to Cancer Patients out there just showing them to keep fighting and that anything's possible greatest cyclist of our time

[my porsche]

maybe ever?


given that pretty much everyone in my grandparetns generation in my family has had cancer, i think i could use all the motivation possible :D

[Niko_Fx]

He is truly amazing, major props to you Mr. Armstrong :)

[Sweeney921]

Now it's official.

VIVA LA TOUR

[Lagonda]

I truly hate him. Thank god he's quitting. He's weak, the only thing he does is ride the Tour the France. He does nothing else. All the others compete (seriously) in other races. He only does a few races to keep in shape. I would have respect for the guy if he competed seriously in races other than the Tour.
He's has some good products as well. And he's on testosterone (with prescription). So no thanks. I would love a Tour without him again.

[Lagonda]

Now it's official.

VIVA LA TOUR
VivE LE tour. ;)

[R34GTR]

I truly hate him. Thank god he's quitting. He's weak, the only thing he does is ride the Tour the France. He does nothing else. All the others compete (seriously) in other races. He only does a few races to keep in shape. I would have respect for the guy if he competed seriously in races other than the Tour.
He's has some good products as well. And he's on testosterone (with prescription). So no thanks. I would love a Tour without him again.

How can you hate this man this man has survived Cancer and won the tour 7 times this man has got the best will power of any athlete today, Do you know how much this man means to the millions of family's having to deal with cancer each day of their lives, his Live strong campagne is helping research for a cure for Cancer and yet you Hate this man, a man doing so much for the cure of cancer and cancer patients ???

[Wouter Melissen]

He's has some good products as well. And he's on testosterone (with prescription). So no thanks. I would love a Tour without him again.
He has been tested more than any other bike rider in last couple of years, and has never been caught with anything in his blood. Ulrich on the other hand has been banned for using forbidden substances, yet I never hear anybody about that.

Marathon runners also compete in only a few races per year. The pace of a modern Tour is so high that it requires Armstrong's preparation to win. Face it, it is the most important race of the year. In ten years time nobody will remember the Giro, Vuelta or Classics winners, but the Tour winner will be remembered. He would have been silly not to concentrate on the Tour.

This year's Tour was quite exciting, with only a few sprints and a lot of surprise victories. Next year there will be another strong rider who will dominate; the battle for the yellow jersey is only rarely very tight.
It's much like Formula 1, everybody thought that if Ferrari would not dominate than it would be a lot more exciting, but this year is boring as any other.

[targa]

i didnt watch one minute of this tour...i watched every stage last year but this year was like....well, all he can do is win, and he broke the record lasy year....and i can get up at 7 in the morning to watch a bike race anymore....damn working and needing sleep to do said work

[henk4]

somehow I felt quite sad this afternoon watching Lance doing his final miles on a racing bike, but on the other hand we might me heading for a new era in the TdF as it is by no means certain that Basso will be his natural successor.

Apparently Lance will learn to play the guitar and accompany S. Crow on her tours, should be quite an event too. It might get her some additional audience

[Lagonda]

He has been tested more than any other bike rider in last couple of years, and has never been caught with anything in his blood.
That doesn't mean all that much really, new stuff pops up all the time and is quite undetectable. I know someone who's a bit in the cycling "business" and what he told me about the stuff they come up with every season is quite scary.


How can you hate this man this man has survived Cancer and won the tour 7 times this man has got the best will power of any athlete today, Do you know how much this man means to the millions of family's having to deal with cancer each day of their lives, his Live strong campagne is helping research for a cure for Cancer and yet you Hate this man, a man doing so much for the cure of cancer and cancer patients ???

Oh please. Sure cancer is awefull. But, the point I'm making is that I don't see him as a great athlete. Many people do see him as a great athlete, but many people don't either. I don't hate him as a person, how can I hate someone that I don't know personally ? :). I hate him as an athlete.

[Rockefella]

Apparently Lance will learn to play the guitar and accompany S. Crow on her tours, should be quite an event too. It might get her some additional audience
I heard they've broken up? :confused:

[Wouter Melissen]

That doesn't mean all that much really, new stuff pops up all the time and is quite undetectable. I know someone who's a bit in the cycling "business" and what he told me about the stuff they come up with every season is quite scary.

Innocent until proven guilty is not a principal in Belgium? I'm not naieve, and I am fully aware of the kind of sport cycling is, but it's a bit silly to pinpoint Armstrong as the only rider who might use doping. If he does use it, there is no logic in assuming he is the only one.

[henk4]

I heard they've broken up? :confused:

she was very present in Paris today

[nota]

Looking back, Lance was a hero in cycling. Sheryl was just heroin



:rolleyes:

[Lagonda]

Innocent until proven guilty is not a principal in Belgium? I'm not naieve, and I am fully aware of the kind of sport cycling is, but it's a bit silly to pinpoint Armstrong as the only rider who might use doping. If he does use it, there is no logic in assuming he is the only one.
Where did I say he was the only one ?

[spi-ti-tout]

Looking back, Lance was a hero in cycling. Sheryl was just heroin



:rolleyes:
Hahaha good one there :D

[Wouter Melissen]

Where did I say he was the only one ?
You specifically said you hated him for that reason. If you don't then it was completely inapropriate to mention that in the same bit where you explained why you hated him.

[Plutus]

Regardless of whether or not he competes in other cycle races, he has won the world's toughest sporting event more times than anyone else. He truly is an all time great and the first winner since Miguel Indurain to be worthy of the title "The World's Greatest".

[Matra et Alpine]

My only issue with Armstrong these last 2 years has been the feeling that his results are down to his team which have soem of the strongest cyclists willing to put HIS win ahead of their own chances.

now that comes with the job for them but more so than any team, Lance seems to be able to afford the best.

Much of his success has to go to his domestique. If he only had one or 2 strong riders supporting him it may not have been so "easy" !! I've not seen any other rider in the past get the level of support Lance has enjoyed. Doesnt' take away from him though as the best need to surround themslevs with the best if they can afford it :)

[F1_Master]

I have alot of respect for this man. A lot.

He grew up in a trailer park in my hometown of Plano, went through tough times as a child, and Lagonda, he has done other races. Look up his childhood. He did many, many competitions.
And he relied on his mother at his age. The man also survived an extremely hard cancer and many thought he had no chance of surviving but he pulled through.

7 wins in a row is more than anyone on this board will ever do. So to say he's not a great athlete would only show how much you could really do.

[Rockefella]

Congratulations Lance, you deserve it. BTW, why do people still question his doping? He gets his blood/urine tested more often than a heroine-addict injects him/herself with needles.

[Smithy]

he has a resting heart rate of 32...which is insane...then it shoots up over 200...if that's not in shape, i don't know what is...not to many athletes have that either...

yay Lance! Congrats!

[my porsche]

Congratulations Lance, you deserve it. BTW, why do people still question his doping? He gets his blood/urine tested more often than a heroine-addict injects him/herself with needles.
yeah he gets tested non stop

[Sweeney921]

VivE LE tour. ;)
I was actually thinking it was "le" after I posted.

[Sweeney921]

Oh please. Sure cancer is awefull. But, the point I'm making is that I don't see him as a great athlete. Many people do see him as a great athlete, but many people don't either. I don't hate him as a person, how can I hate someone that I don't know personally ? :). I hate him as an athlete.
How can he not be a great athlete if he holds the record for most wins ever? Are you saying that Greg Lemond, Miguel Indurain, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Jaques Anquetil were even worse because they only won 5? :rolleyes:

[Lagonda]

You specifically said you hated him for that reason. If you don't then it was completely inapropriate to mention that in the same bit where you explained why you hated him.
No. I mostly hate him for the fact that the only thing he accomplishes is the Tour. He does nothing else of significance.

And Matra makes a very good point here. Without his team he wouldn't have gotten all these wins. People like Merckx did it without. Eddy Merckx probably IS the biggest of them all.

[Rockefella]

No. I mostly hate him for the fact that the only thing he accomplishes is the Tour. He does nothing else of significance.

And Matra makes a very good point here. Without his team he wouldn't have gotten all these wins. People like Merckx did it without. Eddy Merckx probably IS the biggest of them all.
Lagonda, you have to give the man credit though, it's not like they picked this guy up off of the street and handed him a jersey. Sure, his teammates help him a lot, without a team you don't have much, but the man is a TREMENDOUS athlete.

[henk4]

No. I mostly hate him for the fact that the only thing he accomplishes is the Tour. He does nothing else of significance.


He became World Champion in Oslo over ten years ago, may be you are too young to remember that. He also won two stages in the Tour before his illnes and when he finished fourth in the Vuelta after his recovery he and Johan Bruyneel decided to go for the Tour and the top spot. You know the results

[Wouter Melissen]

Except for the time trial, where exactly did his team actually support him this year? They set the pace early on in the races, but once things got started he was alone against Basso, Ulrich, Vino and Mancebo. Even the two team mates could not do anything against Armstrong, who was beaten uphill only once, by Valverde.

Reminiscing to times long gone gets you nothing. Times have changed since Merckx and Hinault. Even Indurain relied on his team a lot already. Since then the top of the field has became a lot broader, with more riders able to win. Once out of his team, not one of Armstrong's former aids has been able to really challenge him, so it is not quite right to say they threw away their own chances. It must be a lot more gratifying to be part of the winning team than to finish rather unnoticed in the top ten (Landis), or very well noticed somewhere down the leaderbord (Heras).

[spi-ti-tout]

No. I mostly hate him for the fact that the only thing he accomplishes is the Tour. He does nothing else of significance.
It seems like you fail to realize just how hard it is to do even one thing. Have you ever tried to complete in something even 3 times down his level (which is still very high btw)? People can talk, yes, and people will always talk, but in the end its what happens and what they can do that will count. On top of that, he has cancer, which must make things even harder. So therefore his one achievement of the Tour de France may be so hard for him that it is the equivalent of someone else doing the Tour PLUS another race.