Lance's Legacy: How Lance Changed Cycling

[Bordercollie1]

Well I completely agree with the broad sentiment of the thread, but not with the points you have made.

On the issue of bike technology Lance was always very traditional. When he made his frist comeback in '99 half of his equipment had been discontinued: 1 inch quill stem, San Marco Concor saddle, Shimano branded Look pedals, M frame Oakleys. For the mountain stages he was still running a downtube shifter to save weight. For time trials he was riding a Trek branded Litespeed blade TT bike with Dura Ace brakes. Shimano begged him to change to the SPD-R pedal and had to design the 3 bolt SL pedal just to get him to use one of their products.

Wind tunnel testing had been widely known about and used since Chris Boardman's Lotus bike in the '92 Olympics.

 

[Biffins]

Well I completely agree with the broad sentiment of the thread, but not with the points you have made.

On the issue of bike technology Lance was always very traditional. When he made his frist comeback in '99 half of his equipment had been discontinued: 1 inch quill stem, San Marco Concor saddle, Shimano branded Look pedals, M frame Oakleys. For the mountain stages he was still running a downtube shifter to save weight. For time trials he was riding a Trek branded Litespeed blade TT bike with Dura Ace brakes. Shimano begged him to change to the SPD-R pedal and had to design the 3 bolt SL pedal just to get him to use one of their products.

Wind tunnel testing had been widely known about and used since Chris Boardman's Lotus bike in the '92 Olympics.

I agree. Most of the developments in bike technology for Lance came after 2001-2002.

There's also a difference between generic wind tunnel testing to show that aerodynamic positioning reduces drag versus multiple wind tunnel tests in the same season's training sessions for each rider in team while working on elbow tuck and other angles. Apparently Lance would do a wind tunnel test after each new jersey just to check if any creases in the back of the jersey would create any drag, espectially with the radio unit attached, etc etc.

 

[Bordercollie1]

Maybe you should watch Roberto Heras' interview from "29 days with US Postal" from the training for the 2001 Tour de France.

Heras had already won the 2000 Vuelta, came 3rd in Vuelta in 1999, 5th in Tour de France in 2000, 6th in Giro in 1999. By all respects you can call him an elite rider prior to joining the US Postal team in 2001. And he said he had never done any wind tunnel testing before, never had done any recon on any course before, never had his nutrition and recovery process monitored like this before etc. He said joining the US Postal Team's training session had been an eye opening experience in how to win the Tour.

Heras signed from Kelme, famously the worst organised team in cycling.
Heras was a pure climber and so would never have had a need to go to a wind tunnel - Kelme were all about winning mountain stages.
A guy called Fuentes was the team doctor for Kelme so I think that Escartin, Oscar Sevilla and Heras probably had a pretty good 'nutrition and recovery process long before they joined Postal.

 

[Head wind into the valley]

Perhaps we could all go to one thread at a predetermined time (make sure it is the right one or you will get in trouble or deleted) and have a "Lance off" whereby we can all type about lance, lover and haters, and bring the internet to a collapse, then we can all go for a ride or have a cigarette and have this and every other lance matter out of our system once and for all.

 

[Dekker_Tifosi]

Well your list is kind of wrong Biffi.
But he did revolutionize blood refill day and the ways to hide and thought us how to bribe yourself out of positive tests by bringing money to the right people at the UCI.

 

[Belokki]

Well your list is kind of wrong Biffi.
But he did revolutionize blood refill day and the ways to hide and thought us how to bribe yourself out of positive tests by bringing money to the right people at the UCI.

prove it... and what day would that be? hater

 

[Belokki]

Lance's legacy would be:
making the Tour de France a global event...during his years as champion, the Tour had its biggest following in history of cycling...
him, defeating cancer, than coming back better than ever, becoming the greatest champion the race has ever saw is a really good Hollywood story...
+ he has a complex character, he follows his own rules, rides for himself, the way he want's, not budging just to please the crowd (like Conti in Schlecks case)...

 

[Mellow Velo]

Biffins the bear sticks his nose in the hornet's nest.

Trying to keep this thread out of the clinic, so............

Biffins offers us a dvd made by his sponsors on how Lance is scientifically superior.

Meanwhile, we have a number of links from these impartial specialists:

http://www.sportsscientists.com/2008/09/coyle-and-armstrong-research-errors.html

Completely demolishing the "science" behind the myth.

 

[TRDean]

This thread is pretty funny really. If I had to say Lance changed cycling...it would be in that he specialized in one race only. The TdF. It was very refreshing to see Tour contenders this year doing spring classics...and being competitive. I think Contador is going to seperate himself from Armstrong (if he already hasn't) by riding a multitude of different races. Maybe the Giro/Vuelta double next season. For me Lance made cycling very boring. That being said, most of your list is a good joke!!

 

[Mellow Velo]

Lance's legacy would be:
making the Tour de France a global event...during his years as champion, the Tour had its biggest following in history of cycling...

Cutting out the cheap shots and concentrating on the point that might be provable.

Can you supply the US viewing figures for any of the Lance years?
Perhaps we could then compare the numbers to those following the Tour in France, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The major factor behind the Tour truly becoming global, has nothing to do with Lance and everything to do with technology.
It is called satellite.

 

[GoGarmin]

There is no question that Lance increased the visibility of the Tour in the United States and increased its popularity. This has translated into more riders and as a result we're starting to see a real influx of young American talent (starting with riders like Teejay van Garderen, and eventually including real studs like Lawson Craddock.) His rise also ensured full television coverage of the Tour here, which is great.

As for the other claims, I agree that they have been somewhat overhyped due to trying to build the myth of Lance as a non-doping superman. However I think it is fair to say that part of his success was due to focusing solely on the Tour, to the exclusion of all other events, and that some of his preparations such as reconning the course were exceptional.

 

[Belokki]

Cutting out the cheap shots and concentrating on the point that might be provable.

Can you supply the US viewing figures for any of the Lance years?
Perhaps we could then compare the numbers to those following the Tour in France, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The major factor behind the Tour truly becoming global, has nothing to do with Lance and everything to do with technology.
It is called satellite.

its called marketability and hype...

it has everything to do with Lance... he was/is the biggest draw in cycling, just look at the forum...he's ancient and finished, stil most of the threads evolve around him.

remember when he got back into cycling? The popularity of the sport exploded after being an all time low, thanks to boring GTs and doping scandals...he single handedly pulled the sport out of the ditch.

and some haters say "he aint ****"...

 

[Barrus]

its called marketability and hype...

it has everything to do with Lance... he was/is the biggest draw in cycling, just look at the forum...he's ancient and finished, stil most of the threads evolve around him.

remember when he got back into cycling? The popularity of the sport exploded after being an all time low, thanks to boring GTs and doping scandals...he single handedly pulled the sport out of the ditch.

and some haters say "he aint ****"...

That might be the case in the US, but probably not the case in most of the other parts of the world. Also he did not pull the posrt out of a ditch, he only concentrated on the Tour, which is certainly not the whole of the sport. I would like to see what influx he had in the US on the rest of the races around the year, how much more people watch those, how many of the Lance fans really now about the spring classics, the other grand tours and a whole slew of other races?

 

[Belokki]

That might be the case in the US, but probably not the case in most of the other parts of the world. Also he did not pull the posrt out of a ditch, he only concentrated on the Tour, which is certainly not the whole of the sport. I would like to see what influx he had in the US on the rest of the races around the year, how much more people watch those, how many of the Lance fans really now about the spring classics, the other grand tours and a whole slew of other races?

dude...I'm not american! Im from europe!

 

[Barrus]

dude...I'm not american! Im from europe!

What part, 'cause that certainly isn't the case where I'm from, nor what I gathered from other parts of Europe

 

[Tim_sleepless]

If you think Lance and Co reconn'd anything like 100% of the tour, you're on crack.

Lemond was using a powermeter and HRM in the 80s.

 

[Belokki]

What part, 'cause that certainly isn't the case where I'm from, nor what I gathered from other parts of Europe

doesnt matter!

If I werent into cycling, I wouldnt give a damn about, PN,LBL,MSR,etc...

Even in football most fans dont watch the Ligue1(french premier league), why because there are no big names in it...
The Tour matters, its the Holy grail of cycling, and the average sport followers are only interested in the battle of the best of the best...(lets face it, cycling wont make you jump out of your seat unles you really support the one of the riders and he is involved)

 

[Barrus]

doesnt matter!

If I werent into cycling, I wouldnt give a damn about, PN,LBL,MSR,etc...

Even in football most fans dont watch the Ligue1(french premier league), why because there are no big names in it...
The Tour matters, its the Holy grail of cycling, and the average sport followers are only interested in the battle of the best of the best...(lets face it, cycling wont make you jump out of your seat unles you really support the one of the riders and he is involved)

But what you write now has nothing to do with Lance and his supposed increase in viewership, and him as the savior of cycling. I just don't believe your assumption of him as the Jesus Christ of cycling

 

[VeloEcosse]

Remarkable

It is a truly remarkable subject that has raged for years and will still go on long after LA has retired to the life of a celebrity former athlete and cancer campaigner....maybe even US Senator.

I agree that he did change cycling and brought a lot of things that were positive (pardon the pun) as well as negative. However, I think that the single most important part of his participation and subsequent winning of seven tours is that he managed to get back what a very evil disease took away from him and so many others.

I have never been a huge LA fan but admired the size of his cojones.

I completely agree that the forthcoming judicial enquiry will hopefully out the truth and that this subject will, once and for all be put to bed. We all know doping is still going on. It has just got more sophisticated and more organised. The problem is systemic and starts with the UCI before we even get near the teams.

Ever since the first amphetamines/stimulants were used by riders in the embryonic stages of the tour this has been an issue.

I truly hope for cycling's sake that he is and always has been pure. Otherwise he will not be the only one to suffer. All the people who benefit from Livestrong, from the revenue his many businesses generate and the profile that he adds to cycling itself will be destroyed.

Be careful what you wish for...it may just happen.

 

[eztarget]

Cutting out the cheap shots and concentrating on the point that might be provable.

Can you supply the US viewing figures for any of the Lance years?
Perhaps we could then compare the numbers to those following the Tour in France, Italy, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The major factor behind the Tour truly becoming global, has nothing to do with Lance and everything to do with technology.
It is called satellite.

So apparently satellites were first used in 1999. Okay.

 

[Belokki]

But what you write now has nothing to do with Lance and his supposed increase in viewership, and him as the savior of cycling. I just don't believe your assumption of him as the Jesus Christ of cycling

than you are more ignorant tha I tought, it was just a comparasine...

And no! He's more like the Mike Tyson of cycling...you cant stand him, but you cant get enough of him...

 

[Barrus]

no! He's more like the Mike Tyson of cycling...you cant stand him, but you cant get enough of him...

But can you somehow back up your statements? Or were they idle talk?

 

[Belokki]

But can you somehow back up your statements? Or were they idle talk?

just look at the forum... how many threads are about Lance? proof is infront of you...

 

[ruamruam]

Nobody has mentioned high cadence. Do you remember before Armstrong everyone tried to up the cols in 52 11s? Never occurred to them to then to use a lower gear until Armstrong came along.

He was so clever

 

[Barrus]

just look at the forum... how many threads are about Lance? proof is infront of you...

Still shows nothing about his supposed saving of the sport, nor of increased interest in the sport due to him.