Lance Armstrong out of retirement

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Comments

  • milton50
    milton50 Posts: 3,856
    Oh my god. This is the craziest thing I've ever heard. I have to admit that there's nothing I'd like better than to see a provenly clean Armstrong still able to beat the world's best in the tour. Can't see it happening though.

    This is huge! :shock:
  • mididoctors
    mididoctors Posts: 18,908
    this could all end in tears

    he can't win..

    if he wins at 37 its simply unbelievable and if doesn't people will say he can't do it without the sauce...

    if he rode in the US or something... but the tour...

    some one push him off early season and save us all the mess in the press at the tour.
    "If I was a 38 year old man, I definitely wouldn't be riding a bright yellow bike with Hello Kitty disc wheels, put it that way. What we're witnessing here is the world's most high profile mid-life crisis" Afx237vi Mon Jul 20, 2009 2:43 pm
  • sing_for_absolution
    sing_for_absolution Posts: 1,908
    I hope it fails miserably.
  • wildmoustache
    wildmoustache Posts: 4,010
    try pausing that clip right at the beginning and he's giving you The Look!

    we should get a campaign going across all cycling forums for independent testing and publication of results
  • josd
    josd Posts: 107
    if he does come back with astana...whats gonna happen to contador?
    if i were him id be so pissed with johan right now
    johan pretty much said "yea levi is telling everyone bertie is the best climber in the world, but im willing to ditch him for lance at the drop of a hat"
  • Arkibal
    Arkibal Posts: 850
    Sad news indeed.
    I just hope he doesn't go to Astana.....
  • Ale10
    Ale10 Posts: 11
    josd wrote:
    if he does come back with astana...whats gonna happen to contador?
    if i were him id be so pissed with johan right now
    johan pretty much said "yea levi is telling everyone bertie is the best climber in the world, but im willing to ditch him for lance at the drop of a hat"

    I'm not sure Lance could beat Contador right now. 2009 will be 4 years from his last win. If he will really come back to ride the Tour and win it all, well... you know that US sprinters and swimmers will be good at the WC. :lol:
  • Mr Bumble
    Mr Bumble Posts: 572
    Ho-ho!

    This is incredible....!
    :twisted:

    :twisted: I know this not really pc but it would be even better if

    Kloeden goes and visits his old chum Ulle and instructs him to stop chomping the pies, go on a diet and race one of his bikes....

    Can anyone see Leipheimer, Contador or Kloeden wanting to ride for Lance though?

    Call me a cynic but apart from Ullrich and Vino just about everyone implicated in Operation Puerto has returned to the peloton. :twisted:
  • Ale10
    Ale10 Posts: 11
    Mr Bumble wrote:
    Can anyone see Leipheimer, Contador or Kloeden wanting to ride for Lance though?

    I would go crazy if i would have to see Contador ride for Lance. Geez... Don't talk about it, maybe he won't come back then. :roll:
  • Evil_Cod
    Evil_Cod Posts: 35
    mididoctors wrote:
    this could all end in tears

    he can't win..

    if he wins at 37 its simply unbelievable and if doesn't people will say he can't do it without the sauce...

    if he rode in the US or something... but the tour...

    some one push him off early season and save us all the mess in the press at the tour.

    Malcolm Elliot is still riding at 47.
  • ellieb
    ellieb Posts: 436
    I may have missed something here: Lance who? :?
  • Ale10
    Ale10 Posts: 11
    Evil_Cod wrote:
    mididoctors wrote:
    this could all end in tears

    he can't win..

    if he wins at 37 its simply unbelievable and if doesn't people will say he can't do it without the sauce...

    if he rode in the US or something... but the tour...

    some one push him off early season and save us all the mess in the press at the tour.

    Malcolm Elliot is still riding at 47.

    But he wouldn't like to win the biggest cycling race of the World, would he?
  • Jez mon
    Jez mon Posts: 3,809
    Calm down everyone, Mario C came back this year, remember that?

    A lot will happen between now and July. We don't know who he'll be riding for yet. Of course it seems obvious that Astana would be the team, but I'm fairly sure that if he wanted, Lance could put together a team himself and some of his old pals. Who knows we may see Big George leading a yellow clad lance through Paris once again.
    You live and learn. At any rate, you live
  • blazing_saddles
    blazing_saddles Posts: 22,725
    The ASO won't let him ride the Tour. L'Equipe broke the frozen EPO story a month after he'd quit.
    L'Equipe are owned by the ASO.
    If they let him ride, they are admitting that their own Sport's newspaper writes.......

    .......oh well, maybe they will let him ride.
    "Science is a tool for cheaters". An anonymous French PE teacher.
  • Jez mon
    Jez mon Posts: 3,809
    Lance would drag them through the courts and force ASO to let him ride, I'm guessing he'd probably be more successful than Levi.

    They'll let him ride and target test him. Then catch him out and cause nuclear war between Bush (who has taken over the States by military coup) and France.

    OK so that may not happen.
    You live and learn. At any rate, you live
  • donrhummy
    donrhummy Posts: 2,329
    Levi would ride for Lance. Contador? Maybe. I could see him wanting to battle it out with Lance. And you can say all you want about Lance's age, I would NEVER bet against him. He wins EVERYTHING. He won 7 TDF's. He won 3 lawsuits. He wins women by the dozen. (Just kidding) He does NOT lose (if he cares about it).
  • redddraggon
    redddraggon Posts: 10,862
    donrhummy wrote:
    He does NOT lose (if he cares about it).

    He could only manage second at Leadville, and I think he cared about that.
    I like bikes...

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  • GrahamGillooly
    GrahamGillooly Posts: 66
    Yeah, his words for Leadville were ''I'm training to win it''.

    However, i look forward to seeing how all this progresses and how well he does!
  • teagar
    teagar Posts: 2,100
    At least we'll all be able to share a hate figure who is actually on a bicycle rather than being bundled into the back of a police car.

    Always a silver lining...
    Note: the above post is an opinion and not fact. It might be a lie.
  • Patrick1.0
    Patrick1.0 Posts: 290
    redddraggon wrote:
    donrhummy wrote:
    He does NOT lose (if he cares about it).

    He could only manage second at Leadville, and I think he cared about that.

    I think he said after the race that he didn't really expect to win that race. He may have been giving it 100% to win it but he also said that he hadn't done a 7 hour ride for a long, long time. The Tour is a bit different, he knows what is required to win it and he will go about trying to achieve the pace in training he managed in previous years when he was building up for a Tour. If he can't do it, and if he didn't think he could still do it, I am sure he wouldn't try and come back.

    We'll see, let the guy train first of all though. He has a long time before the next Tour.

    I think that Lance Armstrong is a rider who anybody would be happy to work for in a Tour given the way he treats his team.
  • ellieb
    ellieb Posts: 436
    You know how at some point in the 'did he or didn't he?' thread somebody will always end up posting why are we discussing this it's irrelevant now.

    I think we have a definitive answer to that :D
  • Gazzetta67
    Gazzetta67 Posts: 1,890
    well at least we will have a hate figure to shout abuse at next year.....the guys ego must have been getting the better of him. if i was Contador i would give Bruyneel an ultimatum...if you sign him...im off to another team......Oh No just thought you can just imagine Phil Liggett and Team Sherwin Creaming themselves at the thought of mentioning Big Tex 100s of times during a stage...pass the sickbag ...cringe cringe :x
  • kevin44
    kevin44 Posts: 189
    14-1 with Ladbrokes
    any takers?
  • FullFrameRob
    FullFrameRob Posts: 188
    kevin44 wrote:
    14-1 with Ladbrokes
    any takers?

    No
  • richard wants a baum
    richard wants a baum Posts: 744
    Astana's Alberto Contador welcomed the possibility of having Armstrong as a teammate in cycling's top race next year.

    "It would be an honour to be able to ride with Lance Armstrong," the 2007 Tour champion was quoted as saying by Europa Press news agency.

    "Nothing in this news seems strange to me. Lance Armstrong is such an important rider that you can allow for everything."

    I cant imagine what his thinking, but think Michael Jordan everyone said the same thing and he did ok. This seems a litte different though seeing as its an endurance sport. ASO will let him ride think about how massive this is going to be come July the television rights will cost a fortune. TOH i was glad that this tour had so much new talent and that the whole Tour without Lance thing wasnt really present. Now we will have to wait a couple more years for that. If Contador does end up riding for Lance, which i cant imagine why he would who else would definately beat him. The Schlecks with a strong CSC?
    Take care of the luxuries and the necessites will take care of themselves.
  • BilgeRat
    BilgeRat Posts: 23
    This sucks!

    The Tour was a million times more interesting without some uber team crushing and grinding the rest. One can only hope that CSC kick his arrogant arse. This of course counts Basso out completely. At the sight of Armstrong his spine evaporates and he races like an obsequious little girl.
  • Ale10
    Ale10 Posts: 11
    Patrick1.0 wrote:
    I think that Lance Armstrong is a rider who anybody would be happy to work for in a Tour given the way he treats his team.

    Yeh, i'm sure Contador would love to work for Armstrong as a Tour winner, Giro winner and soon-to-be Vuelta winner.
  • bikeboy85
    bikeboy85 Posts: 6
    I can't think of any. The cancer idea still beats me.

    I did find some other funny reasons for the Lance comeback : http://cozybeehive.blogspot.com/2008/09/lance-comeback-let-lance-ridecom.html

    Make any sense? :)
  • donrhummy
    donrhummy Posts: 2,329
    It's official:

    VIDEO: http://www.livestrong.com/lance2009/

    http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/s ... &dist=hppr
    "I am happy to announce that after talking with my children, my family and my closest friends, I have decided to return to professional cycling in order to raise awareness of the global cancer burden. This year alone, nearly eight million people will die of cancer worldwide. Millions more will suffer in isolation, victims not only of the disease but of social stigma. After the passage of Proposition 15 in Texas, a $3 billion investment in the fight against cancer which is helping to make this disease part of the national dialogue in America, it's now time to address cancer on a global level."

    I still don't get it. How does this really help the cancer fight? Even if he wins, how does that make more governments improve their funding for cancer reasearch (as well as other issues)? And it is only governments that have enough to get something done both in money and in regulation/law changes and creating grants, etc.

    I think the only real reason he's doing it is it pisses him off that everyone says he must have doped since all his past opponents all doped and he beat them. So he's looking to do this while releasing all his bloodwork so there's no questions. But he's WRONG. It's not a rational decision for 90% of the people who are 100% certain he doped. If his bloodwork is all normal and he passes all the tests and wins, you know what they'll all say? "He's discovered a new drug or new way of doping his blood that can't be caught in the tests," or "He bought off all the testers" or "They're all afraid to find him positive because they fear he'll sue them." He will NEVER convince them.
  • merra
    merra Posts: 11
    Here's a link to the Vanity Fair article about his comeback....

    http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/featu ... rentPage=1

    It's quite lengthy but an interesting read all the same

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