Questions for Lance

petecossins

We're hoping to get some time with Lance Armstrong in the coming weeks and would like to include some questions from readers of Procycling and users of the Bikeradar forums for him. So if there's anything you would like to ask Lance this is your chance as long as it is within the bounds of decency, legality and won't cause offence to anyone.

Questions can be posted below or sent to procycling@futurenet.co.uk

We'll put the best of them to Lance when we get some face time with him

Pete Cossins
Procycling Editor

rapid_uphill

!st question: are you going to enter the tdf yes or no?

LangerDan

In what way do you feel other cancer advocacy groups are failing that you need to make a comeback to increase global awareness of the disease?

iainf72

Will you please go away?

andyp

Are you going to seek Dr Michele Ferrari's advice on your preparation for big races?

blazing_saddles

I see yet another PCLA front cover coming on.
Questions for Lance? Let me see..........................nope, sorry.

andy_wrx

I can see my subscription being cancelled if there's a fawning article eulogising St Lance...

Bartoli

How long does he intend on racing for before he re-retires?

iainf72

On a more seriously note.

- You say you're coming back to raise awareness of cancer. What happens when you can no longer express yourself physically? Clearly cycling is not a sustainable model for promotion of your cause so is this come back not just delaying Livestrong slipping into obscurity? Or is there some kind of masterplan?

- You have said you may not do the TdF due to problems with the organisers yet still have Paris-Nice on the schedule. Do you know they're organised by the same people?

- Do the French like or hate you? It seems to change depending on which way the wind is blowing.

- Why should I take the relationship with Catlin seriously when at the time I'm writing this question you have no legal agreement in place with him?

SpaceJunk

Mine's a simple one:

'Lance, Dr Don Calin has stated that you're happy to have your urine and blood samples preserved for retrospective testing, why aren't you willing to let your existing pre-retirement samples be tested then?'

Homer J

Do you think you may have retired too early?

mercsport

petecossins wrote:

We're hoping to get some time with Lance Armstrong in the coming weeks and would like to include some questions from readers of Procycling and users of the Bikeradar forums for him. So if there's anything you would like to ask Lance this is your chance as long as it is within the bounds of decency, legality and won't cause offence to anyone.

Least of all to LA . A tough one that .

Outside of banalities such as his favourite colour of socks and the like I expect it will be a pretty short and dull dialogue then with the great man .

To be perfectly serious though , why not posit the same questions that Greg L would ask of him ?

.... another copy of PC left unsold on the shelf in the offing I see . Pity .

afx237vi

Any chance of letting aurelio conduct the entire interview? I think that would make for a more interesting issue than what we'll probably get.

mercsport

afx237vi wrote:

Any chance of letting aurelio conduct the entire interview? I think that would make for a more interesting issue than what we'll probably get.

Good idea . I'm pretty confident I'd buy that issue .

DavMartinR

afx237vi wrote:

Any chance of letting aurelio conduct the entire interview? I think that would make for a more interesting issue than what we'll probably get.

Yea I'd pay double for a copy of that.

Q. On spreading the cancer message world wide when will he be visiting Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq,Iran,Middel east,South America,Asia,Easten Europe and Scandinavia?

Q. Has he squeezed the flesh yet with Barrak Obama?

donrhummy

1. Given your tense relationship with ASO and the French and your assertions (and the investigation's findings) that the tests on your old samples were not valid tests, do you fear that the French/ASO will try to find you guilty if you attempt the tour de france?

2. Which do you like more: winning but riding poorly or having the best ride of your life but just losing out at the finish line?

3. Any chance you'll skip the Tour and try instead for a Giro-Vuelta double?

4. Given how tough and strong headed you were in your cycling career and in fighting cancer, why didn't you fight harder against Bush when he cut funding to fight cancer (and when he gave you the run-around until it was too late to change the budget)?

5. Will you be training the same aspects of fitness as you did previously, or will you be maximizing certain aspects more now that you're older?

donrhummy

How do you feel about dopers, especially many of the ones you rode against? Do you feel they've ruined the sport, or does it not bother you very much?

dave_1

Will he and Caitlin formalise their agreement on testing in some kind of contract or legal document covering detail, the minutiae regarding retrospective testing, the conditions for long term storage of samples, chain of custody etc or will he and Caitlin operate on the basis of a verbal agreement instead?

toontriathlete

Can anyone tell me what helmet is used in the wind tunnel video that Lance has on? It isn't a Giro Advantage 2 (I have one), and Lance's has a little "bump" on the tail on top (like the non-approved Bell TT helmet Cancellara wore)...as well as a closed off underside of the helmet. Is this a new Advanatage 3 helmet unreleased to the public or just a Bell TT with Giro stickers?

Kléber

Oh no. I've not been buying the magazines that feature him on the cover. This smells of another spin attempt to fill up empty winter magazine copy with the very thing I don't want to read. But since he's here, we have to admit there are a thousand question marks over his career and behaviour.

- After your chemotherapy and once you returned to racing, did you ever take EPO?
- You now talk of "transparency" and admit you got things wrong when it came to handling the media. In the spirit of transparency, is it true you/your entourage was blacklisting certain journalists?
- Will you be willing to be interviewed by any accredited journalist and agree to have no limits on the scope of the questions?
- As you'll know, France has one of the best cancer diagnosis and survival rates in the world. If you wanted to raise awareness of cycling, would it not have been better to join the Trek-backed Marco Polo cycling team? Surely it's in places like Malaysia, China, parts of North and West Africa that really need help when it comes to raising awareness?
- Your charitable foundation has been warned by watchdogs that it spends too much of every dollar raised on admin and salaries, that not enough actually goes to good causes. Despite earning millions from your sporting career and now from making speeches, why you draw a salary from this charity?

JC.152

toontriathlete wrote:

Can anyone tell me what helmet is used in the wind tunnel video that Lance has on? It isn't a Giro Advantage 2 (I have one), and Lance's has a little "bump" on the tail on top (like the non-approved Bell TT helmet Cancellara wore)...as well as a closed off underside of the helmet. Is this a new Advanatage 3 helmet unreleased to the public or just a Bell TT with Giro stickers?

I think Giro are developing a new areo one and thats why him and Contador where going in the wind tunnel

JC.152

toontriathlete wrote:

Can anyone tell me what helmet is used in the wind tunnel video that Lance has on? It isn't a Giro Advantage 2 (I have one), and Lance's has a little "bump" on the tail on top (like the non-approved Bell TT helmet Cancellara wore)...as well as a closed off underside of the helmet. Is this a new Advanatage 3 helmet unreleased to the public or just a Bell TT with Giro stickers?

I think Giro are developing a new areo one and thats why him and Contador where going in the wind tunnel

Chip \'oyler

Kléber wrote:

Oh no. I've not been buying the magazines that feature him on the cover. This smells of another spin attempt to fill up empty winter magazine copy with the very thing I don't want to read. But since he's here, we have to admit there are a thousand question marks over his career and behaviour.

- After your chemotherapy and once you returned to racing, did you ever take EPO?
- You now talk of "transparency" and admit you got things wrong when it came to handling the media. In the spirit of transparency, is it true you/your entourage was blacklisting certain journalists?
- Will you be willing to be interviewed by any accredited journalist and agree to have no limits on the scope of the questions?
- As you'll know, France has one of the best cancer diagnosis and survival rates in the world. If you wanted to raise awareness of cycling, would it not have been better to join the Trek-backed Marco Polo cycling team? Surely it's in places like Malaysia, China, parts of North and West Africa that really need help when it comes to raising awareness?
- Your charitable foundation has been warned by watchdogs that it spends too much of every dollar raised on admin and salaries, that not enough actually goes to good causes. Despite earning millions from your sporting career and now from making speeches, why you draw a salary from this charity?

Good questions. I'd like to see him 'um and arr' out of them :roll:

aurelio_-_banned

Kléber wrote:

Despite earning millions from your sporting career and now from making speeches, why you draw a salary from this charity?

I am certain that you know your stuff Kleber, but could you provide a reference for this? I couldn't dig one up and I feel that I shouldn`t really repeat this claim unless it is corroborated. Did he perhaps draw a salary from the LAF in the past but no longer does?

dave_1

aurelio wrote:

Kléber wrote:

Despite earning millions from your sporting career and now from making speeches, why you draw a salary from this charity?

I am certain that you know your stuff Kleber, but could you provide a reference for this? I couldn't dig one up and I feel that I shouldn`t really repeat this claim unless it is corroborated. Did he perhaps draw a salary from the LAF in the past but no longer does?

No wonder LA is scared on the roads of the TDF :? :roll:

steviedonut

petecossins wrote:

We're hoping to get some time with Lance Armstrong in the coming weeks and would like to include some questions from readers of Procycling and users of the Bikeradar forums for him. So if there's anything you would like to ask Lance this is your chance as long as it is within the bounds of decency, legality and won't cause offence to anyone.

Questions can be posted below or sent to procycling@futurenet.co.uk

We'll put the best of them to Lance when we get some face time with him

Pete Cossins
Procycling Editor

what on earth is the point of that beyond you being able to put him on your front cover?Any remotely interesting questions for him will doubtless see him throwing his toys from the pram.Im very disappointed by the way the entire cycling press is grovelling to him,what was it eric cantona said about seagulls following the trawler?

rapid_uphill

i would like to tell him what i really think of him but freedom of speech and all that round here, I would probably get banned.
you know how excitable the admins are.

leguape

Kléber wrote:

- As you'll know, France has one of the best cancer diagnosis and survival rates in the world. If you wanted to raise awareness of cycling, would it not have been better to join the Trek-backed Marco Polo cycling team? Surely it's in places like Malaysia, China, parts of North and West Africa that really need help when it comes to raising awareness?

Surely the answer to that is that the TDF is broadcast in almost every territory in that list and is the most renown bike race in the world. Every rider aspires to ride it. The Tours of Qinghai and Burkina-Faso aren't so well-known. You ride the TDF and everyone knows about it, you ride Burkina-Faso and you're lucky if the event even gets reported in the cycling press.

Chip \'oyler

leguape wrote:

Kléber wrote:

- As you'll know, France has one of the best cancer diagnosis and survival rates in the world. If you wanted to raise awareness of cycling, would it not have been better to join the Trek-backed Marco Polo cycling team? Surely it's in places like Malaysia, China, parts of North and West Africa that really need help when it comes to raising awareness?

Surely the answer to that is that the TDF is broadcast in almost every territory in that list and is the most renown bike race in the world. Every rider aspires to ride it. The Tours of Qinghai and Burkina-Faso aren't so well-known. You ride the TDF and everyone knows about it, you ride Burkina-Faso and you're lucky if the event even gets reported in the cycling press.

Yes but it would get mentioned in the African press - which would be the whole point.

Kléber

I think he's had saturation coverage for his cause in Europe already. The name, the wristbands, you name it, people are very aware of him, his story and more. I'd say it's less so in places where people don't watch the Tour, like most parts of Africa and Asia.

The quote about his salary came from a documentary, I can't find the transcript online. It would be worth asking him if he takes a salary. In addition, I'd like to know how he responds to this from charitywatch.org:

The Lance Armstrong Foundation spent as much as $45 to raise each $100, exceeding AIP’s 35% recommended fundraising ceiling by a significant margin. While LAF had difficulty raising contributions efficiently, it did prove to be a savvy merchandise marketer. LAF sold over $24 million in merchandise, including the ubiquitous yellow “LIVESTRONG” wristband, as well as clothing, sports gear and even dog leashes. Yet after spending $10 million in solicitation costs, the group brought in only $22 million in contributions, according to AIP’s analysis of LAF’s 2005 financial statements.

I think this rate has improved, let's hope so.

steve2021

Why not ask Paul Kimmage to do the interview?

Why did you behave as you did towards Simeoni? Do you regret it? Do you understand why it made people think you are a bully?

How has your preparation changed since you have stopped working with Ferrari?

Does it make you angry that so many of your rivals when you were racing were cheating?