Robert Chung wrote:
> David Off wrote:
>> There is a long interview with Lance in Le Figaro today
>
> http://www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/edition/genimprime?cle=20040605.FIG0011
My rough translation, i.e., errors are almost certainly mine.
On his current life:
"The main outlines of my life haven't changed at all. I still ride with
the same team, with the same guys. I still do the same job. It's true that
I have a new partner (Sheryl Crow), which can give the appearance of a big
change in my life, but it's not safe to trust appearances. When I went to
see the Lakers play, for example, the game started at 7pm. That still left
me time to train for 6 hours, to get a massage, to eat, and then go to the
game. I go there in a comfortable car, I walk no more than 200 yards, I
sit down, and I watch. At 11pm, I'm back home and in bed. It's possible to
do all this and still be a serious bike racer. A racer isn't someone who
trains and then spends the rest of the day in bed, only getting up to eat
before heading back to bed. I still take my job seriously and all these
questions will be answered in July.
"I no longer feel like I'm only a Texan. I'm now pretty international. I
feel good in Europe. I like the culture, the lifestyle. Much more so than
was the case 10 or 15 years ago. I'm not very nationalistic. Currently, I
feel like a mix of many countries, even though I'll return to the U.S. at
the end of my career mostly to take care of Lance Armstrong Foundation
business. It's doing better than ever and I still want to dedicate myself
to this cause. There will come a time when I'm no longer able to
participate in the TdF or the Dauphine--but the Foundation, that I can
always do. That's still an important part of my life.
"Today I feel like a normal healthy person, like someone who had never had
a life-threatening health problem. Every once in a while certain memories
surface, but little by little the fear of cancer recedes even if it never
totally goes away."
On his life as a racer:
"I'm progressing normally. I think that last year, I showed up for the
Tour a little too light. This year, I'm going to try to show up strong
without being too 'cut.' In the Tour, you lose a little weight during the
first week-and-a-half. How am I mentally? Excellent! You never know if
it's perfect, but I feel really good. Loose. Calm and confident. The last
few years we had goals for races like the Midi Libre and the Dauphine. We
don't have those goals this year. I'm trying to save everything for July.
"If I've done fewer races in Europe, I'm still as dedicated to cycling,
still just as passionate about it. When I'm back home my only link to
European cycling is the internet and I check it three or four times a day.
I look at the results, the photos. I read rec.bicycles.racing,
religiously. Never miss it. Sometimes I post there under a pseudonym,
'Heather Halvorson.' Because of my family situation my April schedule
changed. And, maybe it's for the better. April in the U.S. is different
than April in Europe. In Europe, at that time of year, it's still cold;
it's not always easy to train, to find big hills to climb. In California
it was incredibly warm. It was perfect!"
On his letter to the World Doping Agency:
"There are lots of professional riders. More than a thousand. Maybe too
many. During the year, I run across hardly more than 300. I feel closest
to them. In fact, the open letter to **** Pound wasn't just from Lance
Armstrong or my team. It was in their name--in our name. It was for our
sport. For everyone who makes it live. Did that make me closer to them?
For those I run across, absolutely. Will the letter have an effect? I
don't know. I recently read that **** Pound was still attacking cycling.
That might mean that my letter wasn't very good. Frankly, I'm not holding
my breath that someone like Pound will listen to me. The real reason for
that letter is that I thought that someone like him doesn't have the right
to run a PR campaign for himself. He has one of the most important jobs in
the sports world. His job is to do some walking, not just talking. That's
all I wanted to tell him."
On a record-setting sixth TdF win:
"The Tour is the only race in the world that really matters. I'm always
motivated by the fear of losing, by the idea of winning, by the desire not
to let my teammates down. I know what it means to reach the Champs-Elysees
five times with the maillot jaune. To see someone else climb onto the
podium wearing the yellow jersey, that'd be a nightmare (he grimaces).
It's a challenge, and I like it. The fact that all the great riders have
tried it and no one has been able to do it. That's the motivation. I think
the public likes this kind of challenge, that the folks on the side of the
road at the Alpe d'Huez like to say: 'that guy did it and I was there.' If
I'd been standing on the side of the road when Merckx won the Tour, I'd've
been proud to be there. I sense, in France, pretty good support from the
spectators. They say, 'Good luck for a sixth.'
"Six victories, is that out of reach? We said that about Indurain. In
1996, when he set out for the sixth, everyone said that the record would
stand for years, that no one would beat it. Less than 10 years later, I
find myself in his situation. Anything is possible. Maybe there's a young
rider out there, the greatest rider in history, who'll win 10 Tours. I
understand the significance of winning a sixth Tour, but I also understand
the significance of a single win in the Tour de France. That's why I'm
focusing everything on this Tour. The only thing that counts now is to
win. Everything that I've done up to now is a hole card. That gives me
experience. If I run into trouble, if I have a crisis, I know how to
handle it. But to have won five Tours doesn't give me any other advantage
than that."
