Armstrong comeback!

limerickman said:

The guys entire claim to fame ,was riding the TDF.

Its rather pathetic that the only real recognition that he can get from the TDF, requires him to come out of retirement and have to pedal 3,000+ kms.

All of the great riders, after they retired, were warmly invited back to the TDF to participate.
They presented jerseys to stage winners, were in sponsors cars, did commentary etc.

The nearest Armstrong can get to the race is by having to pedal it.
Speaks volumes.

I don't buy his excuse about raising cancer awareness.

But who cares...if that is all

Trev_S said:

One thing that strikes me with this (same with other teams employing 'anti doping' programs & doctors) is they are employed by the people to 'test' them.
They are now no longer an outside party but an internal part.
Who's to say the 'anti doping' programs are not in fact doping programs made to be within the limits &/or undetectable.

So is Armstrong employing Catlin to try and find him positive if he can?
How does the so called employed 'anti doping' thing really work.

Apparently you didn't hear the facetiousness spewing from my fingers when I typed my post. Your theory has in fact always been my theory, since the inception of these team "anti-(wink, wink) doping" programs . . .

The difference here though is that if I recall correctly Catlin was really on the ANTI side of the equation . . . so this gives Armstrong more credibility with HIS anti-doping program, BUT everybody has their price. 😉

Tim Lamkin said:

But who cares...if that is all

Obviously, it's him that cares, Tim.

grampi said:

Well, jhuskeys source has proven to be pretty reliable and if they had these deep discussions, then what else can it be? And I have heard from pro rider that Armstrong really wants to spread his influence( to have his word among TDF organizers). 🙄

I now have a better picture of what is happening and without getting into details lets just say that Jan does not want a repeat of 2006, so a few things will need to be ironed out.

It is about advertising $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Not bike racing for real/

Theater acts and silly themes for Phil, Bobke and Paul.

If Hulk Hogan were backed by Nike---he would mop the floor with Ulrich or Pharmastrong.

Vino is history. He is NOT TV Q rated.

jhuskey said:

I now have a better picture of what is happening and without getting into details lets just say that Jan does not want a repeat of 2006, so a few things will need to be ironed out.

Jan to win 2009 tour?

Ullefan said:

Jan to win 2009 tour?

Too many hurdles to cross to make any kind of predictions as yet. Lets see if he get to the training part first.
It is shaping up to be one hell of a reunion.

Ullefan said:

Jan to win 2009 tour?

If Johan puts him on Armstrong's and Contador's program and takes them off the program - yes.
Easily!

Andrija said:

If Johan puts him on Armstrong's and Contador's program and takes them off the program - yes.
Easily!

Ulrich had more talent than Armstrong. His doctors just were not good enough.

You would think that with Armstrong's celebrity, partnering with the UN or some other global organization on a worldwide cancer awareness program would make a lot more sense than racing. I would think that the UN would love to have him out there as a cancer ambassador. Why would he try to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, instead of working with existing cancer organizations worldwide. Why not do more to increase the efficiencies of his LAF than focus on racing. I just find the whole scenario rather strange. It just seems like a big ego stroke rather than anything else.

I also feel sorry for Contador. He shouldn't have to fight to be the leader on Astana. Johan is such a weasel.

It is all theater. The TDF is NOT sport.

It is opera on steroids and cow blood IVs.

C'dale Girl said:

Apparently you didn't hear the facetiousness spewing from my fingers when I typed my post. Your theory has in fact always been my theory, since the inception of these team "anti-(wink, wink) doping" programs . . .

The difference here though is that if I recall correctly Catlin was really on the ANTI side of the equation . . . so this gives Armstrong more credibility with HIS anti-doping program, BUT everybody has their price. 😉

Yeah I did actually :p
Mine was more a rhetorical question/comment and just as facetious.

sydsyd said:

You would think that with Armstrong's celebrity, partnering with the UN or some other global organization on a worldwide cancer awareness program would make a lot more sense than racing. I would think that the UN would love to have him out there as a cancer ambassador. Why would he try to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, instead of working with existing cancer organizations worldwide. Why not do more to increase the efficiencies of his LAF than focus on racing. I just find the whole scenario rather strange. It just seems like a big ego stroke rather than anything else.

I also feel sorry for Contador. He shouldn't have to fight to be the leader on Astana. Johan is such a weasel.

It's an ego circus with Armstrong as the Ring Master.

I'd say he takes the racing route because he is in his domain and can be king of the castle and still spread his word. The media will be all over him whereas just working in as an ambassador for the UN there wouldn't be anywhere near the amount of media.
Working in with the UN would be a lot more anonymous, the same way other well to do or well meaning people who want to help but do not seek accolades.

Armstrong can simply use his former glory and the media that it brings to his advantage and appears to have the need for publicity and power.

I feel sorry for Contador as well, likewise any of the other riders who get sucked up into the circus, or over shadowed because the circus is in town.
I hope Contador & other GC riders all kick his ass.

Cranky is an idiot!

If armstrong really was interested in raising the awareness of cancer he would not be wasting money and time racing bikes and would be doing the talk circuit, turning up on tv, generating press releases - basically using his reputation (which among the non cycling public is pretty good) to gain publicity. The fact that he wants to be on a bike suggests that he is more interested in publicity for himself than for cancer.

For me the most revealing part of Armstrong's press conference yesterday was the end of his exchange with Lemond. Lemond had the guts to stand up to Armstrong, questioning why the testing was only looking for EPO and testosterone, when it should be looking for spikes in Lance's power output (similar to the testing done at Garmin, I think). Catlin actually asks Lemond what does he think they should be testing for, at which point Armstrong interjects and changes the subject. If you had nothing to hide and really, truly wanted to show you were a clean athlete then you would be open to all kinds of testing. Instead Armstrong has hired a dope tester and said "look for this and this but ignore anything else." See the exchange below:

[img]cyclingnews.comJD 08Vlancepcon012tn.jpgOpen ↗[/img] "That is all irrelevant," LeMond responded. "It doesn't matter about T/E ratio but watts and power output..."

"I don't think it is irrelevant," said Catlin. "I dare say you know this business pretty well! Come with your ideas of what we should do!"

At that point Armstrong stepped in tried to move things along. "You've done your job," Armstrong said to LeMond. "We are here to talk about a couple of things, like the Global Clinton campaign and my comeback to cycling. It's time for us, everybody in this room, to move on. We are not going to go there, I appreciate you being here – next question."

Full article at:

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=features/2008/armstrong_interbike08

If Lance was serious he would not use private jet to travel and increase global warming! In a few years global warming will kill more people than all other diseases.

dope

mitosis said:

If armstrong really was interested in raising the awareness of cancer he would not be wasting money and time racing bikes and would be doing the talk circuit, turning up on tv, generating press releases - basically using his reputation (which among the non cycling public is pretty good) to gain publicity. The fact that he wants to be on a bike suggests that he is more interested in publicity for himself than for cancer.

Well actually, when you look at the attention Armstrong has gotten you can see this was a good move. The coverage for his announcement has been enormous, so just wait what it'll be when he actually gets back on the bike at the TdF. Even here where cycling is a small minority sport among the other minority sports Armstrong has been in the news so I can just imagine what the coverage in the US has been.
He can publish all the papers he wants but he still wouldn't get the same amount of publicity he's getting now. Besides, he probably isn't even half as good a writer as he's a cyclist.

AND then there's the advertisement value...The organisers of the Tour Down Under are drooling over themselves whereas the Californians have wet dreams about the coming Spring. Astana are guaranteed an entry to the TdF when they have Armstrong on board. Any sponsor would kill to get the place of Nike, Trek or SRAM. That's what Armstrong's market value is, like it or not 🙂

on drugs