No prizes for guessing what I am about to talk about: Lance Armstong! He announced yesterday he will come out of retirement to race in the above. He says it is to raise awareness for his charity but does anyone think he won't want to win it? and who thinks he can. I say Yes he can and if he starts he will win. I did comment in this years TDF thread that the standard is not what it used to be (sastre wasn't even the 3rd best 2000-2004) and now is the chance to see it. I don't think his age will be a factor, yes he will be 37, but endurance gets better with age (to a point). I don't think he will have the turn of pace and the time trial ability of old, but he will still outdo most. I assume he loves the competitive atmosphere and misses the limelight, which will give his charity a boost & upp he income to the charity. I only hope the Tour Management don't stop him racing - there is speculation he will join up with Johan Bruneel who was his director at US postal & Discovery and Johan has said his relationship transcended director-rider ground and he cannot imagine competing against him, but his team (Astana) were not allowed to compete this year and The tour manager (prudhomme) has said he must comply with current doping controls which he says are vastly different to before (inferring he may not be able to comply) Good Luck Lance!
So many riders were caught doping, and I didn't even pay attention to Tour de France any more since Floyd Landis was caught. At least I may start watching again if Lance is riding next year. I really admire all these riders going uphill at near 16 - 17mph which is still faster than me riding on a flat road.
For what it's worth.. ..him winning again or not, IMO, his presence will be good for marketing & commercial purposes...and i'm sure that's what everyone is hoping for.. ..i don't think Lance will race for anyone else except for Johan Bruyneel.. It should be interesting also to see if all of Lance's ex-teammate riders (from his previous Le Tour De France's teams) will also jump ship to the Astana team. Or will he have a brand new set of teammates??..
I know, but he will have to be sure that the Astana team will be allowed to race..........otherwise it could be an embarassing comeback.
^^Sir-Lance-a-lot..^^ ..is officially back. Saw the press-conference this afternoon as Lance, flanked by his future teammates??, spoke to the media. pic courtesy of yahoo/gettyimages http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/news;_yl...?slug=ap-armstrong-comeback&prov=ap&type=lgns His first race next yr will be @ the Tour of Australia (Jan. 20-25). Then he'll come back home & race @ the Tour of California (Feb. 14-22)!! He'll ride in the same team (Astana) with this yr's Tour of California winner Levi Leipheimer; (woo-hoo, kwun, you notice that?? Don't miss it!)
