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Lance Armstrong returns

evan06

Warming-Up
Jul 23, 2007
103
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Not sure if everyone has had the opportnity to read about the latest storm growing in the cycling world...a return of Lance Armstrong. According to an article over at Velo news he plans to join the Astana team and partake in 5 races, receive no salary or compensation, and make all his blood samples available online for all to see. Additionally, the article talks about him getting more involved in mountain bike racing as a result of his awesome showing at the Leadville 100. Finally, he may dabble in cyclocross reminiscent of his performance in the Tour de France where as a result of a nasty crash by a rider in front of him was forced to bolt across a field, jump of his bike and then back on. If the rumors are true, watch out.

James
 
Bring it on!

Great, I've been practicing my "Look" in anticipation of seeing Lancie-boy out on the trails.....!

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Alan, so you have been training in the hills after all? Right, that means I'm gonna train extra hard now!

Landis has also confirmed he is making a comeback to pro cycling. I hope Lance stays well away from him. Having a confirmed drug cheat on the same team would be a PR disaster, esp with the rumours surrounding Lance.
 
Do I recognize somebody behind Lance?

AlanW....were you in Aspen Colorado on Wednesday :cool: ?
 
Some people jus can't stay away. He will achieve absolutely nothing by doing this and probably just damage his reputation, thats IF they let him ride, Astana could well not be allowed in again.

BTW, according to Lance he was not 'looking' at Ullrich. This is a famous myth. According to Lance in his book he was looking behind Ullrich for his team mates. But go ahead and keep practicing anyway Alan. And if you see Lance on the road, please tell him to stay retired!

Ash
 
french reactions

Bewlidered and bemused!

Just to continue this theme, this was on cyclingnews the other day:

French reactions to Armstrong comeback
Prudhomme welcomes American "in principle"
By Hedwig Kröner

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme has no objections to Armstrong racing the 2009 event if he sticks to current anti-doping tests

The sensitive relationship between the seven-time Tour de France winner and the home country of the greatest bike race on earth, France, is once again put to the test with the announcement of Lance Armstrong's comeback in 2009. The American's bid to win the Grande Boucle once again after three years of retirement from the sport has triggered many reactions in the homeland of cycling; most of them not of a positive nature. Still, Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said that Armstrong could participate in the race "if he complies with today's much more severe anti-doping rules."

The overall feeling within the French cycling community following the surprising news this week was one of bewilderment. Jean-René Bernaudeau, manager of Bouygues Télécom, could not understand Armstrong's decision and even cast a new shadow of doubt on the way the American was going to try to achieve his goal. "I don't know what to think of it," he told L'Equipe. "In any case, this kind of come-back does not fit into my view of the sport. Bernard Hinault would never have done this... With Armstrong, you get the impression that everything is easy: he stops for three years and then comes back as if nothing happened. That's not how cycling works. Now, we can ask ourselves what the recipe is..."

Bernard Hinault, the five time winner believed Armstrong could do it again

Speaking of Bernard Hinault, the five-time Tour de France winner was not as incredulous at the return of the 37 year-old champion. "Jeannie Longo is still there, and she's almost 50 years old," he commented. "Lance Armstrong has a lot of time in front of him, still. If I'm surprised at his comeback? Yes and no. Yes, because he had stopped the bike, and no, because he is not the first, nor will he be the last rider to attempt a come-back of this kind.

"Now, will he have the capacities to return to the highest level? I don't know. We shall see at Paris-Nice. Personally, I was never tempted by a come-back during my time. Instead of taking up competition once again, I think it is better not to stop in the first place."

Marc Madiot, manager of La Française des Jeux was puzzled even though respectful of Armstrong's motives. "He is dedicated to the fight against cancer, that is fine," he said. "That's good news. But I don't know if taking up competition at the highest level is the best solution for it... It appears completely surrealistic to me. We will see, but right now I can't imagine him winning the Tour de France again, or else the rest of them are all worthless... But before trying to win the Tour again, Lance Armstrong has to explain himself about what happened in 1999."

Indeed, the allegations of the American achieving his first Tour win with the help of performance-enhancing drugs (See the Latest News for August 23, 2005 as well as Cyclingnews' complete coverage of the L'Equipe claims) are still very present in the collective memory of the French cycling community. Even though the accusations were never confirmed by the International Cycling Union (UCI), most of the French public tends to believe the newspaper.

This is something even Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme noted as he commented that Armstrong was "welcome in principle" at next year's race. "If his yet unknown team as well as himself comply with today's much more severe anti-doping rules, then we will accept his participation," Prudhomme told AFP, even though "Armstrong's victories have been tarnished by suspicions since 1999."


The ASO official was mostly curious to see if Armstrong will be able to achieve an eighth Tour de France victory. "To me, this return is one of pure challenge. There are very few sportsmen who succeeded a come-back like Michael Jordan. It's a real challenge to come back after three years of retirement, even if he finished second in a mountain bike race recently. Moreover, there is his age. He will be 37 years old in one week. Now, you can always say that Raymond Poulidor came second in the Tour at the age of 38 years (in 1974), and third (in 1976) when he was 40. Still, it is now mid-September and a lot of things will be happening until the start of the next Tour de France in Monaco."
 
When I saw the story on the news all I could think was, well now there will be no conflict within the Astana team as who will be the leader for the Tour de France. But I think Lance will be back sooner than we think. I would wager that he will go in for surgery and have a plate placed on the break to get him back on the road to training.

James
 
When I saw the story on the news all I could think was, well now there will be no conflict within the Astana team as who will be the leader for the Tour de France. But I think Lance will be back sooner than we think. I would wager that he will go in for surgery and have a plate placed on the break to get him back on the road to training.

James

He bone may take 4 to 6 weeks to heel but with a metal plate in he could be racing in 2 to 3 weeks. Shinichi Fukushima the Japanese pro did that about 2 years ago.

Amazing that it is Lance's 1st clavicle break with 17 years as a pro cyclist. I broke both mine before I started cycling...

I wonder if it will be an EPO laced metal plate to speed his recovery...
 
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