Armstrong Considering Comeback

[lithuanianmafia]

September 6, 2005

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- After winning his seventh Tour de France title, Lance Armstrong stepped off the winner's podium in Paris and into retirement, declaring, ``I'm finished.''

Six weeks later, he's already talking about a comeback.

Recently engaged to rocker girlfriend Sheryl Crow, Armstrong issued a statement Tuesday confirming that he's contemplating a return to competitive cycling in part because he knows how much it would rankle French media who believe his record of seven straight Tour wins is tainted by drug use.

ADVERTISEMENT
``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,'' Armstrong said. ``I'm not willing to put a percentage on the chances, but I will no longer rule it out.''

When he retired, Armstrong said he was looking forward to time away from the grueling months of training and six-hour rides around the countryside.

He planned to spend a few days ``with a beer, having a blast'' with time dedicated to playing with his three young children from his first marriage.

But he's been dogged in recent weeks with allegations of performance-enhancing drug use. On Aug. 23, the French newspaper L'Equipe reported it had evidence that six of Armstrong's urine samples from the '99 Tour tested positive last year for the blood booster EPO. The substance was banned in 1999, but there was no reliable test at the time.

Armstrong has angrily denied the charge, saying he was a victim of a ``setup.''

He first hinted of a comeback in an interview Monday with the Austin American-Statesman. An Armstrong spokesman on Tuesday said the comments were a joke, but within hours, the cyclist confirmed it was possible.

``I'm thinking it's the best way,'' to anger the French, he told the newspaper. ``I'm exercising every day.''

Dan Osipow, manager of Armstrong's Discovery Channel team, seemed to be caught off-guard by Armstrong's comments, but said the cyclist appears determined to protect his legacy.

``That to me sounds very Lance-like. It leaves things open and the motivation seems pretty clear. He is immensely proud of his reputation,'' Osipow said.

``Lance was pretty definitive when he announced his plans for retirement. But circumstances change. Who knows?'' Osipow said. ``I leave that to him. We all know he planned on staying fit.''

Although Armstrong will be 34 by next year's race, Osipow said it's likely he could win again.

``People said if he'd stuck around, he'd be the favorite the next two, three, four years,'' Osipow said.

Armstrong had said he'd be back on the Tour next year, as adviser for the Discovery Channel team. Now it could be as the lead rider.

``He owns part of the team,'' Osipow said. ``If there's a certain rider from Texas who wants to join the team, we'll have space.''

Hasn't he only be retired for a few months? Maybe retirement isn't all it's cracked up to be :p

[Jack_Bauer]

Hmmmm, I know this probably sounds a bit mean-spirited of me but I was kinda looking forward to next year's Tour WITHOUT Armstrong. The guy is obviously an astonishingly good athlete and I don't really have anything against him personally either, but the Tour sure was dull when he was at his prime! With him out of the picture there would be so many potential yellow jersey candidates, it would be one of the most open and exciting Tours in years. I fear if he were to come back the whole event would be so dominated by a 'Lance vs the French media' soap opera style storyline it would detract from the sporting contest. :rolleyes:

Besides, I think that there will always be a section of the French media that will suspect Armstrong of cheating regardless of how many times he wins Tours or makes comebacks. He could win by as much as he liked in '06, I don't think it would make a damn bit of difference to the way he is perceived in certain quarters. :(

[Schumi]

i totally agree a year without Lance would be great....it would give all the other great cyclists a great chance to win. Plus what else does he have to prove winning it 7 times in a row isnt a enough i guess.

[henk4]

Before 2000 there was not a proper way to detect EPO, so what they did was applying newly developed technology on old (1999) urin-samples. They found twelve positive samples, 6 of which allegedly belong to Armstrong, the 6 other samples have remained anonymous so far.
This is a professional and demanding sport. It is more than likely that participants will use whatever is available and what cannot be detected. At the same time detection methods improve. EPO is now easily traceable, but who knows what will be detectable next year? And what will happen if they apply these new technolgies to older urin samples? And what if the name Armstrong appears again there? If that is the case he might have to continue to ride the Tour until the end of his live, just to prove that he did not use anything :D

[Matra et Alpine]

Armstrong is such a great athlete that questions will ALWAYS be raised about the possibility he used drugs to stay at the top.

I'm not surprised to see again that it gets voiced in terms of the "French" though :D
erm who else is going to report the Tour de France widely ? It barely gets 1" of column space on the third from the back sports page in the UK :( and NOTHING on cycling the rest of the year :(

Also wasn't EPO triggered by lots of common 'drugs'. Doesn't the European version of "lem-sip" fail the test ?????? I'm sure that's what the Scottish skier got done for !

[Sauc3]

Armstrong is such a great athlete that questions will ALWAYS be raised about the possibility he used drugs to stay at the top.

I'm not surprised to see again that it gets voiced in terms of the "French" though :D
erm who else is going to report the Tour de France widely ? It barely gets 1" of column space on the third from the back sports page in the UK :( and NOTHING on cycling the rest of the year :(

Also wasn't EPO triggered by lots of common 'drugs'. Doesn't the European version of "lem-sip" fail the test ?????? I'm sure that's what the Scottish skier got done for !
Matra have you read Armstrongs autobiographies? If not, and you're interested in the sport, I highly reccomend them.
Along with what you say there, I believe the whole issue to be centered in France, with Italy involved as well.

A lot of people believe that the chemotherapy somehow gave him a "boost", gave him extra powers or something. All it did was give him the ability to retrain, to make his body into something which was tailored for riding. Before his cancer he was a large, tough man, known for bullying in bike races. Cancer has given him an extra advantage (getting the info for the other advantage as we speak), but I believe that he is not influenced by drugs. Some people are better than others at their given area, and Lance Armstrong is the best.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0767914481/qid=1126092590/sr=8-13/ref=pd_bbs_13/002-6305285-0425624?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0425179613/qid=1126092590/sr=8-1/ref=pd_bbs_1/002-6305285-0425624?v=glance&s=books&n=507846
We actually bought both these books in France, how's that for irony! :p

EDIT: Found the extra info:


His oversized heart can beat over 200 times a minute and thus pump an extraordinarily large volume of blood and oxygen to his legs. His VO2 max—the maximum amount of oxygen his lungs can take in, an important measurement for an endurance athlete—is extremely high.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/07/0722_050722_armstrong.html

[Matra et Alpine]

sauc, I didnt' support the EPO claim other than to point out the test can be tricked and to say that EVERY top athlete will be questioned about drug use.

I've followed Armstrong. He IS a great athelete, but more important he is a great sportsman - ie he makes sure he has the best team to ensure his success. I've crewed for thrid best SCottish road racer on his events and even 12 hour races. I know how much of an athlete Armstrong is and the dedication he puts in. I personally dont think he did anything that everyone else didnt do at the time.

The chemo treatment may well have 'helped' and can question whether it's all natural. I dont accept that lessens the feat. But as blood doping is considered illegal and can lead to a competitior ban then it does get to be a wooly line to judge. I dont see it any different to carb-bulking :)

[Sauc3]

sauc, I didnt' support the EPO claim other than to point out the test can be tricked and to say that EVERY top athlete will be questioned about drug use.

I've followed Armstrong. He IS a great athelete, but more important he is a great sportsman - ie he makes sure he has the best team to ensure his success. I've crewed for thrid best SCottish road racer on his events and even 12 hour races. I know how much of an athlete Armstrong is and the dedication he puts in. I personally dont think he did anything that everyone else didnt do at the time.

The chemo treatment may well have 'helped' and can question whether it's all natural. I dont accept that lessens the feat. But as blood doping is considered illegal and can lead to a competitior ban then it does get to be a wooly line to judge. I dont see it any different to carb-bulking :)
I agree fully, anyone with a grudge against Armstrong, possibly the testers themselves, could somehow plant something in the sample to make it look like he took an illegal substance.

Also, the bulk of my statement above was a statement to everyone in general, not necessarily about the EPO claim, and more of a question of whether or not you had read his autobiographies.

I fully support Armstrong, and personally believe that he has not in any way taken drugs that enhance his perfomance so that he will win. I believe it all lays in his genetic structure, the third link which I gave explains this, and that he was able to rebuild his body in such a manner after his ordeal with cancer that it was perfectly tailored for his sport.

[Matra et Alpine]

I agree fully, anyone with a grudge against Armstrong, possibly the testers themselves, could somehow plant something in the sample to make it look like he took an illegal substance.
Why the conspriacy ?
All it would have needed is for him to have taken an over the counter flu remedy like LemSip to have failed the test !!!!!

I fully support Armstrong, and personally believe that he has not in any way taken drugs that enhance his perfomance so that he will win. I believe it all lays in his genetic structure, the third link which I gave explains this, and that he was able to rebuild his body in such a manner after his ordeal with cancer that it was perfectly tailored for his sport.
I'm 99% with you.
BUT the other 1% recognises that the industry was RIFE with drugs and I find it hard to believe that through his WHOLE career he didnt' take any.
But I believe that of every ahtlete :)
WHen the win becomes THAT important pushing the limits does happen :(
What does surprise me is that some get so upset over the claim when the whole sport was full of drugs at the time !!!!!!!

[Sauc3]

Why the conspriacy ?
All it would have needed is for him to have taken an over the counter flu remedy like LemSip to have failed the test !!!!!
Oh I agree with you on that, I'm just saying that even if he didn't, there still seem to be enough people out there (namely the French) who hold a grudge against him, and that certain people who have access to items like these might use that to their advantage. Just stating it as a possibility.

I'm 99% with you.
BUT the other 1% recognises that the industry was RIFE with drugs and I find it hard to believe that through his WHOLE career he didnt' take any.
But I believe that of every ahtlete :)
WHen the win becomes THAT important pushing the limits does happen :(
What does surprise me is that some get so upset over the claim when the whole sport was full of drugs at the time !!!!!!!
Well that 1% might have come from his saddle cream! :p

He once tested positive for minute traces of a banned substance, however it was explained that he had a medical prescription for saddle sore relief cream which had introduced those substances into his body chemistry, and he had cleared his use of the cream in advance with UCI and Tour organizers.http://www.answers.com/topic/tour-de-france

Personally I don't believe he has ever taken drugs during his professional sporting career, I believe he knows that he is good enough to win WITHOUT the aid of enhancing agents. I can't speak about his personal use outside of his career, because I don't know. Then again, this is my personal view. To each their own.

[drakkie]

It barely gets 1" of column space on the third from the back sports page in the UK :( and NOTHING on cycling the rest of the year :(


HOLY SHIT !!!! it gets pages full in the sport section.the tour de france is in the headlines here each year.there is alwaysa section on the frontpage reserved for it !!!!!!!!!!!!

on school we even have a kind of competition between tchers and students, who guesses the results the bets, in which you can win a cake.this is mostly won by teachers :)

in a lot of towns there are smaller or bigger cycling tours/matches each year. !!!!

[Matra et Alpine]

HOLY SHIT !!!! it gets pages full in the sport section.the tour de france is in the headlines here each year.there is alwaysa section on the frontpage reserved for it !!!!!!!!!!!!

THat's the advantage of living in a flat country where cycling is popular.
If I was to use a cycle to get to and from work it woudl be equivalent of Alpe d'Huez most of the time in cold, driving winds and rain.

So we dont have the affinity for the sport as others :D

[henk4]

THat's the advantage of living in a flat country where cycling is popular.
If I was to use a cycle to get to and from work it woudl be equivalent of Alpe d'Huez most of the time in cold, driving winds and rain.

So we dont have the affinity for the sport as others :D

sissy scots :D

[Matra et Alpine]

sissy scots :D
in this case I concur 100% :o

[henk4]

in this case I concur 100% :o

Fleet should read this, he would not believe you can agree to anything :)

[nota]

the Tour gets televised here every year, this year was 4 hours live coverage of every stage

[Lagonda]

Every stage gets full coverage here as well and the Tour even gets it's own TV show etc. But cycling is pretty big here.

As for Armstrong, yeah well I guess he didn't really want to stop and now he has an excuse to begin again. I'm not a big fan.
And the Americans with their anti French bashing are working on my nerves.

[henk4]

Every stage gets full coverage here as well and the Tour even gets it's own TV show etc. But cycling is pretty big here.

As for Armstrong, yeah well I guess he didn't really want to stop and now he has an excuse to begin again. I'm not a big fan.
And the Americans with their anti French bashing are working on my nerves.

I hope you are listening to the commentators on Sporza, who really make no problem out of saying that over 50% of the peloton in the Vuelta is still on EPO.

[SIMPLETON]

He should go back and race. The stuff they do on those bikes are crazy. But we need to get way more tv coverage here. CBS has 1 hour a week IIRC. OLN has coverage of ALL of it, but I aint go in to be paying for that channel.

[henk4]

This morning there was a short report in our newspaper that LA's return was just a hoax, to tease the French.