July 25, 2004
Congrats on #6 Lance!
Congratulations Lance Armstrong! Today you've made history and proved to the world that you are indeed a phenominon in the world of sports. More importantly, you've also given hope to people across the globe and sent your message loud and clear. Livestrong and fight like hell! Anything is possible! Thank you Lance. You are an inspiration to many people, cancer survivors and many, many others.
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Today, cyclist Lance Armstrong went down in history as the first man to win the Tour de France 6 times. Even more astounding is he did it six times in a row! Everybody said it was impossible. It had been tried many times, by some of the most awesome cyclists in history such as Eddie Merckx, Jaques Anquetil, and Bernard Hinault, but the all failed to go beyond five.
The Tour de France has been called the most grueling sporting event known to man. At 3391KM, with nearly 200 riders and 20 grueling stages, this race pushes the contestants to the very limits of their bodies over a three week period. Over the three week period, most cyclists will consume over 100,000 calories, partake in skin peeling crashes, bruised muscles, ruptured internal organs, fight off crazed fans that literally flow into the road, and climb some of the most wickedly steep peaks in Europe. Many drop out, unable to contend with the stress on their bodies and minds. Others will succumb to serious injuries. By the end of the race, only half or less of the riders will remain. The Tour isn't for the weak of heart, and it demands that the contestants be in the best of shape.
In 1996, the world said Lance Armstrong would never race again. He was diagnosed with stage 4 testicular cancer. By the time he discovered the disease, it had spread to his abdomen, lungs, and brain. He underwent surgury twice. Once to remove the diseased testicle and then again to remove lesions on his brain. Soon after, he started on a severe regimine of chemo that burned his skin from the inside out, left him bald, and drastically changed the muscular structure of his body. His chances of living were less than 3 percent (he learned later from his doctors). Most tagged him as a dead man, the rest said that if he did miraculously recover, he would never ride a bike again.
They were wrong.
"If you can move, you're still alive." Those are the words he told himself over and over again while he was sick. He refused to be bedridden. He refused to stop riding his bike until he was so sick from chemo that he had no choice, but even then, he wouldn't ride in a wheelchair, even if it meant he had to walk for an hour to get to where he was going.
Like everything else in his life, Lance saw cancer as a competitor. He talked to it, gave it a name (The Bastard), and swore he would not succumb to it. Those who said he was finished only fueled his desire to win, and he fought like hell to prove them wrong. Shortly after starting chemo, Lance's HCG levels began to drop drastically (HCG is the marker used by the doctors to measure the cancer inside the body). The numbers kept falling. Drastically. His doctors were amazed, stunned even.
In December 1996 he took his last chemo treatments and went home. However, his even with his success, he was left a nervous wreck. Uncertain if the disease would return or not, afraid to ride his bike, Lance was left in a sort of limbo. Still, he felt obligated to share his experience with the world and he started a foundation to support cancer survivorship and research. He called it Livestrong.
Once Lance decided to ride again, he found himself shunned by the cycling world. His old team, Confidis had terminated his contract after sending a representive to see him while he was at the sickest point of his chemo. They assumed he would die, and made a business decision to part ways with him, despite publically announcing they would stand by him to the end. Teamless, Lance struggled to find someone to take him on, and the blackball against him only aided his fervor. Again and again he was told he would never ride the way he did in the past, that those days of victory were finished. He would prove them all wrong again and make them pay for it to boot. US Postal took the chance and signed him.
His comeback wasn't immediate. Still plagued with fear of the cancer returning, Lance seasawed back and forth between wanting to race and wanting to retire. He quit the race in Paris-Nice, packed up, and headed for Austin, declaring he was finished. For awhile, he did nothing with himself, besides playing golf and watching television. His friends and wife convinced him to enter the US Pro Championships as a final race, and his manager took him to the Appalachians to train. It was there that he learned to love to ride again, and decided to return to racing.
Cancer had reshaped his body, changing his muscular structure compeletely. He was no longer the heavy, top heavy ex-triathlete, but instead a lean, light cyclist. His new wieght and frame accomidated his sport incredibly. Combined with his body's unique ability to stay the build up of lactic acid in his muscles (to that of 1/4 the normal human) and maintain a freakish heartrate understress, Lance was made to cycle. But it he hadn't only changed physically, but mentally as well. Cancer had shown him the big picture of life. He wasn't invincible. He could be defeated. He was human.
The diseased matured him in more ways than one. He became a tactical rider, instead of his pre-cancer days of being brash, cocky, and reckless. He began to train, and while other riders were off playing during the winter months, Lance was busy riding in the rain, sleet, and snow (he actully rode L'Alpe D'Huez four times in one day). He was pouring over numbers and data, sleeping in an altitude tent, wieghing his food before he ate it. He became obessive about his equpiment, measuring, wieghing, testing...trying to find ways to shave off seconds from his time. He was one of the first riders to use windtunnel testing to improve his form, to test his data. Racing took on an entirly different meaning to him...it wasn't just about riding anymore.
In 1999 he won his first tour. People said it was a fluke. In 2000, he won again, taking the cycling world by surprise. Alegations of drug use began to surface, though Lance had denied using performance enhancing drugs vehnemently. "I've been to the brink of death. I've seen that reality. Why would I put something in my body that could possibly kill me?" Why work so hard to survive, only to take drugs that could kill you? It maked no sense, but the press and media didn't care. No one who'd been a sick as Lance could possibly make a come back as miraculous as he did. A cancer survivor couldn't compete unless he was taking something. He soon found himself the most tested athlete in the world, and each test came back clean. He had people knocking on his door at the break of dawn, telling him to piss in a cup. French reporters rummaged through his trash, searching for something to seal his guilt (he actually moved out of France due to harrassment from the French press and this year, a French TV channel tried to break into his hotel room). Despite finding nothing, people swore he was taking something that wasn't yet tested for.
They're right. It's called hard work. It's called determination. It's called will power. The media loves a failure. It makes a great story. To see Lance Armstrong go down for drugs would be the story of the year in sports. People have written books about his use of EPO. He's been smeared in the press. He's been spit on by fans. He's had death threats sent to him. The world hates heros, but they love to hate a liar. To answer them, Lance won again in 2001, 2002, and 2003...but the speculation continued to pour in.
However, Lance is unphased. If anything, anomosity seems to drive him to win even more. His attitude is stubborn, and there's a vengeful streak in him. Just ask Simeoni who learned first hand what it means to piss Armstrong off. He was denied a break-away when Lance chased him down personally and ushered him back into the pelaton this year. The two have a standing legal dispute, where Simeoni is suing Lance for calling him a liar after he told athorities that a certain doctor aquatience of Lance's was distributing perfromance enhancing drugs to athletes. Simeoni also told the press that he "only wanted Lance to come clean and tell the world the truth," insinuating that Armstrong himself does drugs(we might want to note that Simeoni was suspended for three months for using EPO himself). After bringing Simeoni back into the pelaton, Lance was thanked by many other cyclists (even laughed with Ullrich after the incident), who find Simeoni to be an unpleasant, self-centered competitor who likes to point fingers at other cyclists. Armstrong stated he was "looking out for the intrest of the peleton," when asked about his shocking move to riegn in Simeoni. Of course, the press took the story and smeared Armstrong, calling him a selfish champion who denied a lesser cyclist the opportunity to win.
All the bad press. All the assumptions. All the hatred seems to only fuel Lance's desire to win. He devours his opponants, bearing down on them like a powerful machine. When they see him coming they either pedal harder, determined to try to stay away from him, or they give up and fade away. Armstrong strikes fear into the hearts of other riders. So much that the other break away riders in the Simeoni inicident told Simeoni to leave the group and return to the pelaton. If Lance was going to stay on his wheel, they knew none of them had a chance of winning the stage. During the time trial of L'Alpe D'Huez, German fans spit loogies into Lance's face. They swore at him. Wrote "Fuck Lance" across the road. Drew pictures of needles and syringes with the words EPO. Lance won the stage, passing Ivan Basso. The next day, T-Mobile's German rider Kloden made a mad sprint for the win, followed by Ullrich and Lance's team-mate Landis. The stage win meant nothing to Lance, who was secure in his yellow jersey, but he later said "I remembered a few of those loogies in the face and thought to myself 'He's not winning this'." Eveyone thought Kloden had the win in the bag, even the commentators on television, but Lance made a massive sprint, closing the gap in a matter of seconds, and won the stage by a half length. "That win was for them," he said later, referring to the German's who behaved so disgustingly the day before.
Don't mess with the "Boss".
One needs to remember the history behind Lance and his European "friends," and perhaps we can see where a lot of his animosity and finger pointing began. The French love the second best. They enjoy seeing the suffering of their main men, such as Thomas Voeckler, who is undoubtably a courageous and amazing young man. Lance is virtuously unemotional while riding. He keeps his poker face the entire ride, and it appears he's not feeling any pain. He assures us that's not true, however. Also, the bad blood between himself and his old team, "Confidis" plays a part as well. After his first win during his comeback, he walked by his former team, who left him for dead, and said "That one was for you." To most Europeans, he's brash, arrogant, and typically "American", whatever that means. He speaks his mind and isn't afraid to complain if he feels something is unsafe or unfair. He's not afraid to fire insults back at those who attack him either. Finally, we have to remember that cycling is a European sport. Competitive Americans are virtually unheard of, but are now beginning to take a solid foot hold in the sport. It must be insulting to our neighbors to have their own sport ripped out from under them by us uncivilized, clumsy Americans. Not to mention the French haven't had a tour winner since the late 80's ( I would keep and eye on men like Voeckler, however).
Everything aside, Lance is an incredible athlete. The speculation will continue to roll in. Even the legendary cyclist Greg Lemond has publically stated he believes Lance to be a "doper". However, many shrug off Greg's allegations as jealousy, since Lance has upsurped his "legend" status by miles. Some top dogs just can't make room for new blood. Armstrong remains sturdy in his claims. Basically, he tells them to "Bring it on", he has nothing to hide, and I think we can see this in his actions. He's not afraid to draw attention to himself. He's handed over medical records. He's currently suing two authors in Europe for printing a book about his alleged "doping". He's angry. He's tired of it all. He's going to fight back inside the media's eye.
This year, he won his sixth tour. He made history. He's a hero for people all around the world. He's beaten all odds, from surviving a deadly cancer, to winning six Tours in a row. He's shown us what the human will is capable of, and that living can mean somthing if we...Livestrong.
His future is uncertain. He may or may not return next year to try for seven in a row. He has signed a three year contract with Discovery Channel. The US Postal jersey will retire this year. There will be no 2004 Olympics for him either, as he's stated he wants to go home and spend time with his three children. We can only wait and see what his next plans are, and wish him the best of luck in all he does.
Good job, Lance. We love you!
Posted by Zoso at July 25, 2004 11:36 PM