04/25/24
July 23, 2004
No next year, and no.7: says TDF official. Armstrong's entourage denies the statement. Lance is unavailable for comment. I'm confused.
I heard this on the preview this morning as I was leaving for work, and frankly I wouldn't be surprised. The Tour is Lance's life's work, and if he's this dominant six wins into his tenure, then really, why the hell not? It's not like there's another more important event in his discipline, anywhere on the planet. Aside from dropping out of competition and becoming some kind of cycling crimefighter or becoming his girlfriend's valet or something, there's nothing else he really needs to do between now and when he retires.
posted by chicobangs at 10:48 AM on July 23, 2004
Sorry. (Read link, then comment. Doh.) He had told some fans last month that he was coming back next year regardless of how well he did this year. Every year he stays in competition, he raises the profile of his sport more. And until someone else can capture the imaginaton of the non-cycling world like this, it behooves his sport for him to stay. And he has said repeatedly that he cares about such things a lot.
posted by chicobangs at 10:51 AM on July 23, 2004
The Discovery Channel just ponied up a lot of money to sponsor Lance's team. I would be surprised if he doesn't race next year.
posted by 86 at 11:14 AM on July 23, 2004
ditto. In an interview I caught earlier this month, asked what he would like to do in the future, Lance answered along the lines of 'I'd like to keep winning the Tour de France.' (it might've been the 'chronicles', so it may not have been a recent interview. but still.) Which begs the question, wtf is this official thinking? Insulting the current and soon to be newly re-crowned champ? Does the Tour not want him back? If so, why? I thought the spitters were in the minority, but this doesn't jive with that assumption.
posted by garfield at 11:26 AM on July 23, 2004
I'd also be very surprised if Lance doesn't ride the Tour next year. Not only has Discovery signed on for three years (Not sure they would have done so if Lance wasn't going to lead the team in the '05 TdF) but I don't think he can stay away. That being said I can see him and the team concentrating on not just the Tour but more of the classics and maybe the Giro & the Vuelta. I think the new UCI rules require teams to compete in more races and not just the Tour.
posted by JohnSFO at 11:46 AM on July 23, 2004
Here is a weblog-safe link to the article, since I can't remember what the SpoFi password is (from NY Times Link Generator). As for wanting to respect the other 5-time winners that came before him, I'm not so sure this is the way to do it. Isn't part of respect for a sport doing the absolute best that you can? Shouldn't respect mean trying to win as many titles in a row as he possibly can, and then retire knowing that he left everything out there? (I'm not even sure if I believe this myself, but I certainly believe it right now while I'm typing....)
posted by smithers at 12:19 PM on July 23, 2004
Garfield, that quote was in the "Chronicles," and he'd said it after winning his 3rd one, tying Greg Lemond for the American somethingorother. But I can't see that mindset having changed that much, and smithers, you're also right: it not only serves his legacy to stay, but staying and winning as much as he possibly can does the sport a service too; someone else is going to come along someday and win 6 or 7 or more Tours in a row, and you don't want anyone saying "what if Lance hadn't quit" then. That's why they keep track of records.
posted by chicobangs at 01:13 PM on July 23, 2004
Armstrong wants to set a record for Tour victories, the official said, but he does not want to appear to be rubbing in any superiority over the feats of Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain. That's probably the best explanation in the article, but I can't imagine any world class athlete not wanting to participate in the biggest event in his or her sport.
posted by trox at 01:58 PM on July 23, 2004
All week on Eurosport they have been banging on about how Armstrong is already handpicking the riders he wants with him on Le Tour next year. Lots of speculation about Levi Leipheimer joining him, apparently.
posted by Fat Buddha at 03:51 PM on July 23, 2004
trox: some traditionalists have criticized him because he 'only' does the Tour, and does not do other events, which the old-school cyclists feel is important to being a 'rounded' champion. So it is possible he may want to flesh out his reputation by focusing on other events.
posted by tieguy at 06:16 PM on July 23, 2004
The way he's kicked ass this year, it sort of makes sense. The knock on him in the cycling world is that he concentrates on only one race, totally ignoring the Giro d'Italia, for example. By doing other races he'd be able to gain new fans, try new things and let someone else win the tour.