reasons you support Armstrong?

turnip_flan

Urmmmmmmm I'm not an American and I think he is an inspiration. Why are you so hung up on him being an American? Just think he has to do two tours every year, one against the competitiors and one against the French press - must be worth a couple of extra tours really.

Next you'll be telling us we should all watch moody films about love triangles just to miss the American ones. Actually I quite like alot of French films except the 50% where girl A who is maried to B has an afair with C who in turn smokes alot and has a relationship with A himself. The other half are OK.

eduardoSC

truthfully, a little of both.
I became a fan of Armstrong because I bought my first road bike around the time he became a pro rider, and subsequently started paying attention to pro cycling. I thought it was great that an American rider might follow in Lemond's footsteps and make a dent in the European peloton. Yes, there were many Yanks riding by this time, but even 12 years ago Armstrong was clearly a special case and had enormous potential. Many saw Lance as the great American hope for cycling a long time before he got close to a TdF win.

Hmmm- which makes me wonder- is your question implying that it's wrong to support an athlete for patriotic reasons?

I don't see how it could be wrong; clearly the fans in Europe are driven by patriotism as much as - if not far more than - anything else. An ocean of orange shirts were screaming for a Basque rider, any Basque rider, to challenge in the Pyrenees two weeks ago (and were good and pissed that no one could). The Germans wanted Ullrich to make good, finally, and the Belgian riders wanted to have a good showing in the first two days while the Tour was in their country.

Wow, it seems as if lines between fans are largely drawn by nationality. Or should we believe that the French don't actually need a French Tour winner, but support every deserving rider regardless of nationality? Maybe the Giro isn't set up to have an Italian winner?

This is not to say that fans can't support and appreciate riders from different countries, but a lot of the cheering is obviously done by and for fellow countrymen.

So, sorry, but it seems natural for someone to want Armstrong to succeed if for no other reason than he's an American. It so happens that I like Ullrich, Basso, and Beloki too, and a number of other riders from many countries (my you Aussies are growing them strong these days); but throw an American rider into a race with an actual chance to win it, and I'll probably be supporting the American.
(It would have been cool if the American this year had been Tyler, though)

For what it's worth- my favorite rider of all will likely always be Jalabert- and I find it satisfying that he had several opportunities to outride Armstrong over the years.


but wait! See below..




I'd like to see your answer to this question, Paris-Boy

mojomarc

Hmmmmm.... My roommate in college was French Canadian, I played youth hockey in Quebec, and I never found this to be the case. If there's anyone they hate, it seems to be either Maple Leafs fans or Newfies.

turnip_flan

Looks like I CAN support him. Sorry Paris Boy looks like you've got to wait another year(s).

I can't wait to next years round of "but it eeeessssss imposssseeeeble for he is not French." Guess it will be the Aussies turn after that.

"Lance Armstrong has indicated that he will attempt to win a record-breaking seventh Tour de France next year."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/oth...ing/3940951.stm

Craig Walsh

So what?

There is no point in riding in a Tour that won't suit your preperation for le Tour and you are a major contender.

And guess what, Ullrich, Hamilton as well all focus on le Tour.

BTW I should like to say hi.

mojomarc

I think a big part of it is that times have changed, even since Hinault. Instead of being able to just race yourself into shape, the people who win the events are the ones who dedicate themselves to those sorts of events. Look at Ulrich--he tried to race himself into shape the last six years, and despite his huge talent, hasn't been able to beat someone who was just more dedicated to training specifically for the Tour. I have the feeling that it will become even more specialized in the years to come, as the amount of sponsorship money and endorsement contracts goes up. It's also not just an issue of specializing for an event, but it's even coming down to specializing for a specific aspect, as riders like Patacchi risk their finishing on the Tour simply to win sprints in early stages.

Think of it this way--if you were Hinault, but you lived in a time where the TdF winner could get $20m a year just off that win, then you can bet he wouldn't have taken any chances on training that would have permitted someone else to sneak in there for a victory. The stakes today are simply too high. Merckx would have been the same story. Even though he was a superior racer, the odds are that racing against riders today, Merckx would have had to concentrate more on the major events, and would have probably raced less as well. Furthermore, his style would likely be different, as his breakaways on early mountains would have been a far riskier strategy, and could thus cost him millions in endorsements if he failed.

It's almost becoming as specialized as baseball is, where you now have pitchers who are starters as always, but instead of just generalized relievers, you have long relief, medium relief, an closers, and each is considered it's own speciality with it's own training regimine. There's always been some of that in cycling with sprinters, climbers and time trial specialists, but I expect the rewards of victory on a given stage or type of hgh profile race will increase to the point where you'll have even greater specialization, and those that are good at them all like Merckx was will be competitive, but they will have some number of superiors in the peloton for each individual discipline.

Of course, I could be wrong, but it seems like we're well down that road now where anyone can afford to take the chance of stretching much beyond their specialties.


Hi yourself

Craig Walsh

Thanks for the compliment

I guess from you have said, one would say Merckx and Hinault are two the most all-rounded cyclists to have won the Tour 5 times or more?