Lance Armstrong

[JimmyHAD]

The great man placed third behind Contador and Schleck with his usual class saying,
"I came here to do my best and I came across some guys who were clearly better than me," he said.
"I don't have any regrets. I got put out a couple of times, but considering my age and recent racing, it's not a bad performance overall."

As Contador's teammate he assisted him in some of the earlier stages to help him stay in the lead. At 37 years old to even compete in the tour is a victory let alone to place in the top three. Kudos to Lance. Here is the Velo News write up.

[jockeys]

yep, Lance is a true American hero! he beat cancer, humiliated the French for a decade now, and married a rock star. he's livin' the dream.

[e76549]

Third place is an amazing finish for Lance Armstrong who has not been in the Tour de France race for several years. He turns 38 in September and many of the 180 or so world class riders who started the race are much younger than Lance.

Not long ago Armstrong had a broken collarbone. It must have cut into his training time this year and it may have been causing pain that affected his performance, which makes his third place finish at his age all the more remarkable.

[turbine712]

Lance is a mighty competitor. The Tour is IMHO the hardest athletic competition there is. Yes the Ironman is a real tough one however the Tour is a beast of it's own. Riding through mountains and the duration of the race really tests a persons convictions. I tip my saddle to him.

[jleeg]

Lance was great. The Tour was great. One of the best in years! Did it make you all want to ride...............fast (if not uphill)?

[turbine712]

LOL no not uphill. My lungs and legs would die.

[Basset]

Great athlete, no question. But a doper, nonetheless. . . . IMHO, that is.

[mosley59]

Basset - nothing has ever been proven, just vague rumours. If I was to believe all the rumours I hear in my workplace/residence (one and the same), I'm apparently gay, secretly married, and an alcoholic, none of which is true. If you want to tag him with that epithet based on rumours, how about also including Contador who was rumoured to be implicated in Operacion Puerto (according to a Spanish judge, he's innocent, but that same judge has refused to release the blood involved to outside parties who could verify Contador's innocence, to protect Contador, according to rumours), or Jan Ullrich, or Sergio Paulinho (same deal as Contador), Alejandro Valverde, or even Rafael Nadal, all of whom have been implicated in the same doping affair.

Back on topic though, I loved watching Lance this year. I started following cycling in 2006, the year after he'd retired, so it was great to see the master back in action this year. I think his team was too strong this year for him to have had a realistic chance, since he had to ride as a super-domestique with little support from the rest of the team who were riding for Contador. Radioshack will be strong too, but I'd love to see him as team leader in one of the major races next year. I think riding the Giro AND the TdF so close together (and after a broken collarbone requiring surgery) probably drained him of a little energy he could have used to better effect had he been the Astana leader to get into yellow once more. Still, it was great to see him back and riding so strongly. I think my favourite moment was on Mont Ventoux when Andy and Frank Schleck attacked and Lance and AC pulled them back. He's still got the strength he used to, just perhaps not quite the kick to be able to launch a winning attack on a mountain stage against the big names any more. Will be looking forward to seeing the legend himself back next year.

[JimmyHAD]

If Lance had been doping they would have found it. There is no other athlete in any sport who has been so throughly scrutinized by people looking for it. Particularly the last few years before he had the layoff.

This tour, now at 37 placing third ..... if nothing else it proves the superlative man that he is and still drug free.

[Utopian]

Great athlete, no question. But a doper, nonetheless. . . . IMHO, that is.

If Lance had been doping they would have found it. There is no other athlete in any sport who has been so throughly scrutinized by people looking for it. Particularly the last few years before he had the layoff.

This tour, now at 37 placing third ..... if nothing else it proves the superlative man that he is and still drug free.

I consider the opinion of speculation of him being a doper to be ridiculous. People have continually speculated that he doped in the past, yet his performance this year, at his age, a few months after breaking his collarbone, after a 4 year hiatus, with the constant doping tests he underwent (over 50 test during the three week race), seem to me to prove that the man is perfectly capable of performing as a clean champion racer.