Well, to begin... this is my first post since the Tour, and I had enjoyed writing on here, but I had all but given up simply because the only people reading this who understood were my sisters. But I have recently had an encouraging message sent to me, commanding me to update. So - I will try to keep up, because I do actually enjoy it.
So here's the Lance Armstrong rant I've been wanting to make for a long time:
Lance Armstrong should not return to cycling. The peloton was dominated for many, many years by US Postal Service/Discovery Channel, under the system of an entire team sacrificing itself for one rider. While this method works, it leaves little to the imagination while watching, and the winning outcome of Lance on top was usually assumed. It was boring.
Since the end of the Discovery era, several teams have not only grown in strength, but also in leaders. My favorite example/favorite team is Team CSC Saxo Bank. With the absence of Discovery power, CSC has become free to take over in their own right. However, the significant change, most especially in the Tour de France is that the team doesn't have just one leader - but they are a team of leaders. This past year, Carlos Sastre, Andy Schleck and Frank Schelck all had legitimate claims to the Yellow Jersey (especially the Schlecks, but oh well), and let's not forget Fabian Cancellara and the hard work that Jens Voigt puts in day after day.
Now, let's address the "American" aspect of this. All over US news media is the hearalding of Lance's glorious return - finally, the American public can get behind cycling again because they know the rider. That is absolutely pathetic. There are so many other good Americans who ride, and get little to no recognition because they aren't Lance. The demise of Discovery Channel has paved the way for teams like Garmin-Chipotle and Columbia to break through and dominate American races, and on those teams are great American riders, in addition to the European riders. Americans need to get behind Christian Vande Velde, Danny Pate, and my favorite Dave Zabriskie. (Not to mention Levi is on Astana, but I don't like Levi) These American teams are going to suffer among the American public, because a return of Lance Armstrong will overshadow them greatly. And these are teams who prove that they race clean, when Discovery simply avoided the subject.
And speaking of riding clean. I have always believed Lance rode clean (but I thought other riders did too - and was proved wrong), and a lot of this is about Lance trying to prove that he can do it clean, and has offered to post his blood results online (I believe). So does that mean that this "new" attention to riding clean mean that his previous races were possibly not?
And last but not least, Lance Armstrong is claiming that he is doing this for cancer. Bull. This is a typical Lance Armstrong ego trip. Disgusting.
And I'm not even a Lance hater... but just quit already. And I hope he gets eaten alive by the Schlecks next year.
5 comments:
:) :) :) LOVE IT, but I would like to add a few notes here... First, I believe that George Hincapie needs to be added to the list of Americans that need to be shown some suppot, he worked his ass off day after day, and tour after tour to make sure that Lance got what they were there to claim... I think George deserves way more attention than he gets! Second, Lance has fallen out of the hollywood spotlight! He is nolonger seen dating which ever Olson twin he was with, and he hasn't been in People Magazine in a while, atleast not that I have seen.... POOR LANCE! He is just doing this for the media attention now that he is not America's favorite athlete....we will give that title to Michael Phelps. I'm really sick of the whole, "I'm doing it for cancer" thing. Yeah what he went through was horible and what he has done is so great, but how many times can he use that as an excuse for attention?? I feel bad for Contador, he probably had his eyes on the tour next year, and now he has to work to help Lance... wouldn't want to be him! God, I hope that Frank and Andy can take him down next year, or better yet, it would be funny if Astana didn't get invited again! They refused the previous winner this year, why can't they refuse a 7-time winner next year? Probably wont happen, but it would be funny!
don't you think that it makes it more exciting? to see if he can actually win it. If not, that opens it up to American's trying to beat him, and prove that maybe, Christian was a proven leader all along. It gives other riders more of an opportunity to see if they can beat him, and maybe disprove that lance was actually clean. Who knows. But I think it will just spark a lot of people's motivation to start training harder than ever before and make for a more exciting tour.
Dear Demander,
Thank you for making my sister do this, it gives us all a chance to rant too :). Yes it will be exciting, but i dont wanna have to watch him dominate another tour! i have seen it too much and the past 3 years have been fun with out him! I saw that someone on the OREC group said it would be cool if Ulrich came back too! I would love to see that showdown agian! Oh yeah, and i hear that Landis may be making a comback next year?? Thoughts anyone??
i 100% agree with amanda! i was typing all the same stuff out...then i realized that it was the exact same as she had said... especially about michael phelps. If he does ride with Astana, he will win regardless of how he rides. Astana has so many good riders that will drag him along. It would be nice to see Jan come back for a final battle...and about Landis... i hope he does come back, ride clean, and ride well!
-Sarah
Just read on Velonews that Jan is not interested in coming back :( It would have been nice to see him and Lance again.
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