I’m sure this will upset a lot of people and I’ll
lose some friends/followers but so be it. I’m tired of everybody feeling the
need to tell me THEIR opinion yet I never seem to get one of my own. I’ve been
nice and quiet about it for a long time but enough is enough.
This poster has hung framed on my wall since
2000 and its never come down…nor will it…ever. Lance Armstrong single-handedly
changed the face of cycling. And before you quip about the doping, he was doing
things that set the new standard in cycling that had NOTHING to do with doping.
Which honestly is why I laugh when I hear people say that “There is no place in
cycling for Lance Armstrong”. Bitch, please! The reason the pro peloton runs
the way it does and teams train/race the way they do is ONLY because of Lance Armstrong.
Lance made the Tour de France (TDF) the priority of his and his team’s racing
year. Every other race was either training up to or prep for next year’s TDF
after. Lance and his team were the first to go and train on the TDF stages for
their training camp. They were the first to identify key areas of attack in
each stage and trained attacking/winning on them (i.e. when and where to make
moves, drive the peloton, launch guys off the front) as part of his “camps”. It was
Lance’s tactics that built the idea of “the blue train” and would use his team
to stay in control and break the peloton effectively time and time again, stage
after stage. Other teams recognized its effectiveness and have subsequently built
their teams to do the same. And let’s not forget the team time trial in the
TDF. Lance and his teams MADE it what it is. It use to be a sideshow stage to
the TDF but Lance and his team’s made it a legit, just as important if not more
stage in the tour. Its now recognized as “the” team event to win at the TDF.
Lance pushed the limits of bikes, both road and
time trial, trying to squeeze every bit of performance out of them while continually
dropping weight. If it weren’t for Lance, there’d be no Trek bicycles. Hell,
they didn’t even have a time trail (TT) bike until Lance went and repainted a
Litespeed Tri bike in Trek colors to race in his first TDF. Ever since then
Trek has been on the bleeding edge of road bike/time trial technology. Speaking
of…you know how EVERY brand has carbon fiber bikes and now they're affordable
enough that ANYONE can buy and ride one for themselves? Ya, thanks Lance for
that too. Wanna know how popular carbon fiber was in 1999 when Lance won his 1st
TDF…NOT AT ALL. All the major brands (I mean like Pinarello, Bianchi and the like)
were still on the aluminum band wagon and were poo-pooing carbon fiber. But when
carbon fiber started winning…they got on board.
Speaking of pushing technology, Lance looked to
squeeze every bit of performance out of EVERYTHING: Aero helmets? Lance worked
with Giro to make the initial shells high performance and after those
aero helmets had to also protect our melons…worked with them to get them as
slim, sexy and aerodynamic as possible...and the industry followed suit. Remember
when cycling jerseys were kind of form fitting and only made of 2 or 3 panels
of lycra? Ya, now there’s dimpled fabrics and “race cut” to not only have the
jersey fit better/wear better but also perform FOR you…ya, once again Lance’s
input. Carbon fiber soles in the bottom of shoes to make sure you get more efficient
power transfer from the foot to the pedal? Lance working with Nike's sports clothing team.. “Ski pole” style aero bars to
keep you stretched out more effectively in the TT position? Lance. Wrap around aero
shades that fit better under cycling helmets, are easier to maintain/swap and have a
wider range of lenses for specific environments? Lance working with Oakley. FRS and Honeystinger would've have never established a foothold in the market if it weren't for Lance trying, loving and putting his name to their brands. All
those companies leveraged his mind, his racing and his wins to build bigger or
even bigger, more successful companies that continue on today.
Remember when Alberto Contador “supposedly
attacked” Andy Schleck when his chain
broke and the peloton was in an uproar about that being poor sportsmanship? But
if you talk to all the other old school elite racers and commentators they’d be
the first to say “that’s just racing”? Ya, that’s because Lance built the idea
of the “patron” of the peloton and Lance never believed in attacking guys if
they had mechanical problems and such. Remember when Ullrich crashed and Lance
held up the WHOLE peloton in order to find out what happened and get Jan back
into the race so they could go head to head in the stage? That would’ve NEVER
happened before Lance enforced that type of thought and ethic in the peloton. That
idea of “sportsmanship” is still part of the peloton even after Lance has left.
And let’s talk about TDF races. There are
iconic images that are in the history of the TDF. Normally we got an image or
two every few races. Yes, the TDF is a big race and its practically all that
happens in France for the month of July but for the rest of the world it’s not
the pinnacle of races…not until Lance got there. With Lance, he said it was "the
only race there is" and after winning it time and time again, reinforced that statement.
And talk about memorable stages? Lance and Pantani scaling L’alp d’Huez, Lance
hands pointed upward winning the stage to honor fallen teammate Fabio
Casartelli (who’s son Lance has treated as his own and taken care of all these
years), the “look” when he blew Ullrich off his wheel, the "crash on the musette
bag", the cut across the corn field after Joseba Beloki crashed and Lance did
his best XC bike ride/carry, the “bonk” stage where he fought through it to
barely hold on, the rain soaked/on-edge time trial against Ullrich in which
Ullrich crashed in a turn and guaranteed Lance a win…to name a few. He doped?
Here’s a news flash…SO DID ALL OF CYCLING. I would have no problem condemning the
man if he was the only guy doing it and was blowing the doors off every racer in
cycling. That wasn’t the case at all. I have no problem if you want to put the asterisk by his and EVERY other cyclist of the time's name. But to think you can just "wipe the results" clean is ludicrous and childish.
And you can say whatever you want about him as
a cyclist and/or a person but the fact that he used his ”celebrity” as a platform to
heighten cancer awareness, he had the ability and audacity to call US leaders
and leaders around the world out about their not doing/spending enough on
cancer research and its cures, made the WORLD aware of the disease (in all its forms)
and what a gift survivorship is...puts him head and shoulders above most if not all celebrities, athletes and damn near every politician on the planet!
Lastly, for me personally, it was watching he and
his team's racing and wining all over Europe, his drive and determination and seeing
that poster everyday on my wall that gave me the motivation to get off my fat 245 pound butt and get back to training. After each stage of his Tours I went for a bike
ride. I watched his videos of all his Tours while spending hours on the trainer
(lots of hours). When I was having a bad training day or race day I thought of
how Lance recovered from the “musette crash” or the “bonk stage” to get me through.
I’ve been lucky to have a “look” moment a few times at running or triathlon
races and used it as motivation to pull away and finish strong (and ending up
placing or setting PRs in a couple of those races). Lance has continued to motivate
me to bust my ass training and racing. I went from a 245 pound, cigarette smoking, life
hating couch potato to a 170 pound lean, fit, relatively fast age group athlete
who’s raced 5k-10k-13.1-26.2-Sprint/Olympic (soon to be 70.3) triathlons, Duathlons,
Ultra Marathons and I’ll get back to my beloved bike racing this year.
So you’re entitled to your opinion and I’m
entitled to mine. You’ve all felt the need to tell me what you think and how
wrong I am for not throwing Lance under the bus. To every person that has felt the need to get in my face or tell me
an opinion without my asking I’ve never said anything other than “it’s your
opinion”...well, this is MY opinion. Cycling not only needed Lance…it still
does. He brought cycling to the forefront of the world not just the US. Speaking
of the US, Lance made professional cycling something kids and adults wanted to
do…and in HUGE numbers…a FIRST!!! Yes, I was lucky enough to see Greg Lemond in
person as he won one of his Tours but almost no one recognizes that name today.
I've also been lucky enough to actually meet and have conversations with Greg. But even at the height of Greg’s 3 wins he never garnered or generated as much
interest in the sport as Lance. Speaking of interest, one of the main reasons
Craig Alexander (by his own admission at a book signing I wrote about in an earlier
post) Chris Macca and the like of professional triathletes even wanted to do
Ironman Kona 2012 was they all wanted to race Lance. They all felt like he was "the guy to race". Because Lance was going to
race it, NBC was gonna extend their coverage to TWO hours and would show the
coverage not live but within a few weeks of the finish (a first for the BIGGEST
event in Triathlon). His influence carried over into a new sport and generated
interest. If you’re a fellow triathlete and don’t realize how much having Lance
race would’ve helped our beloved sport become a top tier event…you’re blind…and
dumb.
That poster ain't going anywhere anytime soon. I've had to listen to your opinion and now I'm finally sharing mine. So...feel free to unfriend, unfollow, unsubscribe me. I take no offense at all.
