Will Armstrong ride the Tour de France?

[joe_papp]

He's finished..The controversy is too much.. Did you hear his interviews during the TOC pre-Landis?..his demeanor?..He knew what was coming and has been cowering behind it..The spark is gone..France is gonna fry him..It was all a matter of time..

Agreed...he's known about the rumors for months, and the events of this week were expected at any time since he fled France during the Circuit de Sarthe. If he leaves for France on Monday, it will be to escape the scrutiny of US-based investigative reporters...but his comeback is dead in the water, and he will orchestrate a collision with a dump truck or something to be able to DNS le Tour.

What's the procedure for scratching a rider and bringing in your reserve? Can you do that up to 24hrs before the start? I don't think he'll race le Tour ever again.

Biggest, hubris-driven mistake he ever made was to come back to competition. He made the perfect getaway after 2005 - a truly impressive reign followed by a magnificent escape - and he threw it all away with this stupid "You Can't Catch Me! nahnahnahnahnaaanahhh...attitude."

Ok, he didn't throw it all away, since some significant percentage of the world's population will refuse to admit to themselves that he didn't cheat, but this is a stain that he won't be able to wash away. Did ANY previous allegation against him generate this kind of reaction in the mainstream press?

 

[thehog]

Agreed...he's known about the rumors for months, and the events of this week were expected at any time since he fled France during the Circuit de Sarthe. If he leaves for France on Monday, it will be to escape the scrutiny of US-based investigative reporters...but his comeback is dead in the water, and he will orchestrate a collision with a dump truck or something to be able to DNS le Tour.

What's the procedure for scratching a rider and bringing in your reserve? Can you do that up to 24hrs before the start? I don't think he'll race le Tour ever again.

Biggest, hubris-driven mistake he ever made was to come back to competition. He made the perfect getaway after 2005 - a truly impressive reign followed by a magnificent escape - and he threw it all away with this stupid "You Can't Catch Me! nahnahnahnahnaaanahhh...attitude."

Ok, he didn't throw it all away, since some significant percentage of the world's population will refuse to admit to themselves that he didn't cheat, but this is a stain that he won't be able to wash away. Did ANY previous allegation against him generate this kind of reaction in the mainstream press?

Perfect post. So true. I have no idea why he came back.

Well he did clear 10mill+ in the last 2 years but was it worth the risk of Landis going postal? I mean he had to think the former USPS boys who got banged up couldn't watch him pull in the cash at the rate he was clearing it. Something had to break.

 

[craig1985]

Agreed...he's known about the rumors for months, and the events of this week were expected at any time since he fled France during the Circuit de Sarthe. If he leaves for France on Monday, it will be to escape the scrutiny of US-based investigative reporters...but his comeback is dead in the water, and he will orchestrate a collision with a dump truck or something to be able to DNS le Tour.

What's the procedure for scratching a rider and bringing in your reserve? Can you do that up to 24hrs before the start? I don't think he'll race le Tour ever again.

Biggest, hubris-driven mistake he ever made was to come back to competition. He made the perfect getaway after 2005 - a truly impressive reign followed by a magnificent escape - and he threw it all away with this stupid "You Can't Catch Me! nahnahnahnahnaaanahhh...attitude."

Ok, he didn't throw it all away, since some significant percentage of the world's population will refuse to admit to themselves that he didn't cheat, but this is a stain that he won't be able to wash away. Did ANY previous allegation against him generate this kind of reaction in the mainstream press?

Matt White, as you probably remember, crashed out of the 2004 Tour de France before it started as he was out doing his preview of the course, and Belgian Peter Farazijn was called up right at the last minute and made it just in time for the start (as in get get changed and start) of the prolouge. That he actually finished the race is pretty impressive.

 

[rxgqgxnyfz]

I don't really care when and if he will be caught, i just hope he WILL show up for the Tour and we will see our due three weeks of Alberto owning LA's ***.
________
Extreme Q Vaporizer Temperature

 

[Neworld]

Wondering about LA's return to the TdF...

Does that Dallas insurance company SCA care about it? Can they reopen the initiatives about his 'potential' doping and their desire to reacquire the monies they paid to him after his TdF win (cannot remember the year sorry)

NW

 

[bobs nob]

If he does ride he'll be a few Mill out of pocket before showing up that's for sure.

I wonder what uci would need in terms of ca$h to 'find' a positive on someone, for instance, perhaps lance can get the stink of epo off of him by purchasing a positive on one of the sports top gc contenders in the tdf..... just a thought.

I have doubted he would be in the tdf all year and I am not so sure now (although I voted no in the poll.)

 

[SpeedWay]

Perfect post. So true. I have no idea why he came back.

Well he did clear 10mill+ in the last 2 years but was it worth the risk of Landis going postal? I mean he had to think the former USPS boys who got banged up couldn't watch him pull in the cash at the rate he was clearing it. Something had to break.

Take an introductory class in marketing psychology - it may give you an idea. That might help you differentiate between LA the cyclist and LA the product. At the very least take a long ride, it does wonders for the synapses. Too much conflict, drama, and innuendo poisons a man's soul. This also will pass and there is no warranty for what was lost. Take a clue from the 1,000's of fans lining Figueroa Street today - the sun shinned all day and a good time was had by all.
They get it.

 

[bobs nob]

i don't really care when and if he will be caught, i just hope he will show up for the tour and we will see our due three weeks of alberto owning la's ***.

true dat !

 

[Pantani_lives]

in a way i hope he does.. It will be amazing to stand on the champs elysees and listen to a couple of million people booing him. Im taking the video camera

After the revelations in l'Equipe people didn't boo him. If he's allowed to ride he will be treated like a big star just as always.

I hope he doesn't start. It would mean I could actually watch the Tour this year without seeing his face all the time.

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

I can't see it. He has looked rough, a bit overweight, haggard, and distracted all year, and even commented so himself. This can only weigh even more.

If he went, he'd be riding clean though, as I can't possibly see him being stupid enough to dope during the Tour. But either way, he'd be humbled. I would be surprised if he cracked the top 10 at this point.

Levi becomes the defacto leader of RS now. Here is his chance...

 

[Alpe d'Huez]

So true. I have no idea why he came back. Well he did clear 10mill+.

Unless it's pure greed on top of the hubris, he didn't need to do that Hog. He could easily have become a patron to the sport, showing up to help promote events, acting as an honorary, and charged a smaller fee and still made a lot of money. He could have gone to races, gotten on TV and talked about the sport and LAF and Livestrong, talked to fans, posed for pictures, all without having to race. Or entered a few races just for fun. No, it wouldn't have been $10m, but it would have been easy, and lucrative.

I said on here months ago it was a mistake for him to come back and he would never win the Tour, or anything major. I said he should stay retired, and work towards promoting the sport and attach his brand in the process to the growth at races like the Nevada City Classic or Gila. Or just racing domestically for fun, not trying to win very often either. With his name he could have boosted those races even promoting them from the sidelines, nearly as much as he did riding them, and maybe even resurrected the Coors' Classic, like he talked about. It would have been a natural way to go out, and ride into the sunset. Now, it's all likely gone.

I won't be too surprised if we never see him race again.

 

[wattage]

Yes he will, this year his going for his first win in the penal tdf http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8082354.stm

 

[Pantani_lives]

Yes he will, this year his going for his first win in the penal tdf http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8082354.stm

good one

 

[Michielveedeebee]

I don't really care when and if he will be caught, i just hope he WILL show up for the Tour and we will see our due three weeks of Alberto owning LA's ***.

Haha so true

 

[pmcg76]

Unless it's pure greed on top of the hubris, he didn't need to do that Hog. He could easily have become a patron to the sport, showing up to help promote events, acting as an honorary, and charged a smaller fee and still made a lot of money. He could have gone to races, gotten on TV and talked about the sport and LAF and Livestrong, talked to fans, posed for pictures, all without having to race. Or entered a few races just for fun. No, it wouldn't have been $10m, but it would have been easy, and lucrative.

I said on here months ago it was a mistake for him to come back and he would never win the Tour, or anything major. I said he should stay retired, and work towards promoting the sport and attach his brand in the process to the growth at races like the Nevada City Classic or Gila. Or just racing domestically for fun, not trying to win very often either. With his name he could have boosted those races even promoting them from the sidelines, nearly as much as he did riding them, and maybe even resurrected the Coors' Classic, like he talked about. It would have been a natural way to go out, and ride into the sunset. Now, it's all likely gone.

I won't be too surprised if we never see him race again.

I agree with you on the comeback.

On the money issue, I always refer to him competeing at the Tour of Ireland, this is a personal grievance for me.

The Tour of Ireland was cut by 2 days last year, it ended up being a 3 day event. This was announced around this time last year after the participation of Lance was secured, the presence of Lance was a tie-in with a cancer summit being held in Dublin, at which he was the keynote speaker.

The official reason for the shortening of the race was economic difficulties.
The field in 09 was virtually the same field of teams as 08, just substitute Cervelo for Garmin. The one extra team was Astana.

Race organiser, Dara McQuaid, (son of Pat) has since admitted that a lot of money was spent in securing Lance. So with the same field, and one would assume the same expenditure as 08, and the race allegedly suffering economic difficulties, the organisers still found a lot of money to pay Lance to race and then drop out when it rained a little. The marketing for 09 was also more aggressive and extensive than normal.

Looking at this logically, Lance was the economic difficulty and that is a really sad fact, a good race being cut because of a big-name money grabber. Would he still have showed at the cancer summit if he werent getting paid so well. That is the only official race he showed up at post-Tour.

So far, there is no mention of economic difficulties for the Tour of Ireland this year.

 

[Dr. Maserati]

I agree with you on the comeback.

On the money issue, I always refer to him competeing at the Tour of Ireland, this is a personal grievance for me.

The Tour of Ireland was cut by 2 days last year, it ended up being a 3 day event. This was announced around this time last year after the participation of Lance was secured, the presence of Lance was a tie-in with a cancer summit being held in Dublin, at which he was the keynote speaker.

The official reason for the shortening of the race was economic difficulties.
The field in 09 was virtually the same field of teams as 08, just substitute Cervelo for Garmin. The one extra team was Astana.

Race organiser, Dara McQuaid, (son of Pat) has since admitted that a lot of money was spent in securing Lance. So with the same field, and one would assume the same expenditure as 08, and the race allegedly suffering economic difficulties, the organisers still found a lot of money to pay Lance to race and then drop out when it rained a little. The marketing for 09 was also more aggressive and extensive than normal.

Looking at this logically, Lance was the economic difficulty and that is a really sad fact, a good race being cut because of a big-name money grabber. Would he still have showed at the cancer summit if he werent getting paid so well. That is the only official race he showed up at post-Tour.

So far, there is no mention of economic difficulties for the Tour of Ireland this year.

Yes, he would - but where is the real question. He had originally said the conference would be in France, this was before he got the green light from the Tour directors to say he could race.

It appears the Cancer summit was put out to tender for whoever was willing to pay his large appearance fee's, the 'winner' was Ireland.

This is from the day he announced his return at the Clinton Global Initiative in September 2008:

On Wednesday, at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting held in New York City, Armstrong announced his return to cycling "in order to raise awareness of the global cancer burden." He also invited world leaders to join him next July in Paris as he kicks off the first Global Cancer Summit, an effort to develop international partnerships to help world governments harness resources needed to fight cancer.

He also said the same in his infamous Vanity affair article in September 2008.

And Team Armstrong claims to have recently made a crucial allegiance with the likes of Bill Clinton, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, and several other eminences to be named later, who have plans to announce a global cancer summit, possibly inviting various heads of state to Paris around the time of the Tour. Armstrong insists, “France is an important country, regardless of what people in the red states say—and a good country. So you start there, and obviously you’re at the hub of Europe. And you can have tons of involvement from leaders there [and] why wouldn’t you have the president of the United States there?”

I have already gone in to detail to explain why I believe Lance was the reason the Tour of Ireland went from a 5 day race to a 3 day,full post here.

 

[Berzin]

According to the Times 2 other riders are considering cooperation, if that happens you can stick a fork in LA.

The Times article I read by Davis Walsh stated that so far it was Landis and Armstrongs' ex-wife.

Do you or anyone else have a link to this development?

Because with two other riders participating in this, I think we can all agree that we are now looking at is the beginning of the end. Not just for Armstrong, but for the whole charade that was his career from 1999 onwards.

 

[Anonymous]

The Times article I read by Davis Walsh stated that so far it was Landis and Armstrongs' ex-wife.

Do you or anyone else have a link to this development?

theres a david walsh thread in this section.. link is on the first post of that thread..

it was the new york times that said two riders were considering co-operating
the times (UK) said kristin and landis were already in discussions

might be worth us all remembering that there are people from different continents and to be more specific with our newspaper references.

 

[Berzin]

Biggest, hubris-driven mistake he ever made was to come back to competition. He made the perfect getaway after 2005 - a truly impressive reign followed by a magnificent escape - and he threw it all away with this stupid "You Can't Catch Me! nahnahnahnahnaaanahhh...attitude."

Joe, put yourself in his position for a second. Armstrong has built a reputation and a fortune on being the "Golden Boy" of American sport.

He took it corporate, and the message became "anyone who wants to defy the odds and come out on top has only to put their "Lance Face On" and go at it".

That in and of itself is an incredibly compelling message, especially here in the states where the mantra is 'hardest worker wins". And wasn't Lance always the hardest working man in the peloton according to those Trek commercials?

But the ugly underbelly of that contrived notion is the willingness to cheat is tacitly accepted as as a virtue-win at all costs, as long as you win. Cheat, just don't get caught doing it.

He is insulated by the "cancer survivor/warrior" facade built on bags of transfused blood, steroids and HGH.

And he has a whole apparatus to support him, from the President of the UCI down to every screaming, rabid fanboy who thinks one day they too can grow up to be like Lance.

His fans remind me of those suburban football fanatics who disappear into their man caves every Sunday rooting for their home teams and playing fantasy football. Ask any of them about steroids and to a man they'll tell you-"As long as steroids are ingested by guys on THEIR team, then YEAH BABY!!! GO GIANTS!!!"

So Armstrong is sitting at home, jogging with Matthew McConaughey and diddling every anorexic dingbat who looks like his mother. He looks up and sees Carlos Sastre winning the Tour and says, "I can still beat these guys with one needle tied behind my back". And then he dreams up this cancer awareness thing as a reason to do it.

For more money, more power and the prestige of having won 8 Tours.

He already had the apparatus in place to do this-a team with great domestiques, the same director sportif who knows the drill, the whole doping system ready to go, the UCI in his pocket and a legion of fanboy zombies.

I'm sure he thought two things-one, no one who knows would ever rat him out, and even if they did he would be insulated from any accusation because there is no proof as far as failed tests are concerned, and two, anyone who would dare could easily be marginalized.

I believe he never thought for one second that his ex-domestiques would jeopardize their collective futures to come together as a group and say, "Yes, we all doped and we did it together. And this is how we helped Lance win his 7 Tours".

He even counted on disgraced riders like Tyler Hamilton would just shut up and go away, despite all he knows and is unwilling to tell. But Floyd changed all that. He has been discredited and marginalized, but if others come forward none of that will matter.

The only thing we can do now is wait and see if anyone else steps up. The more people come forward, and I'm talking about riders who helped him win his Tours and most certainly doped alongside him, the less Armstrong's camp will be able to vilify Floyd Landis.

 

[BYOP88]

Not getting ahead of the situation, but just say some others see the light and confess, would Armstrong would lose his TDF wins from 02-05 and inturn would that mean Armstrong would have to return all the money he gained from SCA Promotions?

 

[flicker]

Unless it's pure greed on top of the hubris, he didn't need to do that Hog. He could easily have become a patron to the sport, showing up to help promote events, acting as an honorary, and charged a smaller fee and still made a lot of money. He could have gone to races, gotten on TV and talked about the sport and LAF and Livestrong, talked to fans, posed for pictures, all without having to race. Or entered a few races just for fun. No, it wouldn't have been $10m, but it would have been easy, and lucrative.

I said on here months ago it was a mistake for him to come back and he would never win the Tour, or anything major. I said he should stay retired, and work towards promoting the sport and attach his brand in the process to the growth at races like the Nevada City Classic or Gila. Or just racing domestically for fun, not trying to win very often either. With his name he could have boosted those races even promoting them from the sidelines, nearly as much as he did riding them, and maybe even resurrected the Coors' Classic, like he talked about. It would have been a natural way to go out, and ride into the sunset. Now, it's all likely gone.

I won't be too surprised if we never see him race again.

You forget Alpe it is all about Lance, never underestimate the greed of the other guy...fits yellow armband to a T. Do not count him out and I would not doubt he wins it. I have the pro cycling article 2005 written in June.... Lance has a degree in Kideology...never count him out... he is awesome.

 

[Hillavoider]

Lance has lived inside this successfull bubble for so long i think he thinks he can do anything. I seriously think he underestimated whats happening right now. i would not be surprised to see him at the tour, and get absolutely flogged by kids ten years younger then him, then pull out.

Paul and Phil will be the only 2 people cheering him on.

 

[Kender]

Lance has lived inside this successfull bubble for so long i think he thinks he can do anything. I seriously think he underestimated whats happening right now. i would not be surprised to see him at the tour, and get absolutely flogged by kids ten years younger then him, then pull out.

Paul and Phil will be the only 2 people cheering him on.

on a day like this anything could happen

 

[filipo]

From CN this morning:

N

ow, however, the cut near his eye is causing worries. His attorney Bill Stapleton told the USA Today newspaper that the injury was more serious than originally thought.

"His (left) eye looks pretty bad, the cut goes from the bottom of his eyelid to his nose. He may have to see the surgeon again before he leaves for next week's Tour of Luxembourg, “ (Stapleton) said.

Sounds like the back-out plan is already in action...

 

[Colm.Murphy]

From CN this morning:

N

Sounds like the back-out plan is already in action...

Pfft....simply not true about the cut. Check this image. It is isolated to exactly under the left part of his left eye. The other stuff is drying blood. The cut is clear.