Lance Armstrong, from cycling to real estate
- Thread starter steve
- Start date
steve said:
'Lance Armstrong' is a brand now - probably has been for some time. Cycling is just a means to an end for the guy, err, I mean brand...
An interesting move.
Having seen him up close at the Tour of Ireland - it would appear that the guy is looking at branding himself, as a celebrity, as opposed to being a cyclist.
He was nothing but pleasant while he was here.
I saw that for myself : he was prepared to sign every autograph, speak to everyone.
He was courteous, polite etc.
As TZ said, it's now about the brand.
Having seen him up close at the Tour of Ireland - it would appear that the guy is looking at branding himself, as a celebrity, as opposed to being a cyclist.
He was nothing but pleasant while he was here.
I saw that for myself : he was prepared to sign every autograph, speak to everyone.
He was courteous, polite etc.
As TZ said, it's now about the brand.
I disagree. I was at the first race he got to wear his Worlds jersey in, and he was the only cyclist talking to the spectators.
I was on a ride in Iowa ,along with over 20,000 riders and Lance mingled w the people all day.
That evening,in a small social setting put on by a donator to the LAF,again he was a class act.
I was on a ride in Iowa ,along with over 20,000 riders and Lance mingled w the people all day.
That evening,in a small social setting put on by a donator to the LAF,again he was a class act.
It's no great secret that Lance is interested in politics. He may be attempting to generate a war chest to finance a run at the gubernatorial elections in Texas & at the same time establish his 'business' credentials.
I'm not a fan of the man by any means (I hate the fact that he turned the T de F into the 'Lance show', the dope etc, etc) but he is one of the most interesting personalities in professional cycling (& any other sport for that matter) - totally driven, arrogant, conceited but one hell of a cyclist & I can't deny that Livestrong is doing good things.
I'm not a fan of the man by any means (I hate the fact that he turned the T de F into the 'Lance show', the dope etc, etc) but he is one of the most interesting personalities in professional cycling (& any other sport for that matter) - totally driven, arrogant, conceited but one hell of a cyclist & I can't deny that Livestrong is doing good things.
gtm said:
A lot of US based members do seem to think that he will run for political office.
He gets little or no coverage over this side, so I am curious as to how/why posters base this theory on.
Has he become involved in local politics in Texas?
Which political party is he a member of?
Curious.
I do know that our own cyclists here in Ireland have been approached numerous times to run for office.
Kelly, for example, has been plagued by various Taoiseach (Prime Ministers) to get involved in party politics.
Thus far he has refused to become involved.
Of course the local electorate would vote him in without a doubt but he has refused all entreaties.
limerickman said:
Just put 'Lance Armstrong Politics' into google - you'll get 2 million + replies & he's dropped enough hints. He'll be a republican - remember the cosy mountain bike rides with GW Bush? I suspect the new look cuddly, smiley, chatty Armstrong is to do with him training himself to cope with the rigours of campaigning.
Kelly was wise to avoid politics - I've heard that personally you couldn't meet a nicer guy but he can come across as a bit taciturn when a microphone is stuffed in his face. Roche'd be good at it though. Any english speaking cyclist who can charm the french into thinking he's wonderful & win the Giro whilst riding for an Italian team is clearly well schooled in the 'machiavellian arts'!
gtm said:
Good god. Did the google search as you suggested and yeah, I can now see where many posters are coming from regarding politics and armstrong.
It would appear that a career beckons for him.
Yeah, kelly has been pressured to run over here : wisely he has always refused saying that he would be no use as a politician.
Roche? Roche burnt his bridges in terms of a political career when he said (in 1998) that he would never raise his kids in Ireland given what he claimed was the level of teenage anti-social behaviour here.
He got rightly rollocked over make those comments!
. Still he's got the hotel & the eurosport gig to keep him busy. 
wolfix said:
Yup. Class a act.
It's being reported in this months ProCycling magazine that Armstrong stood up and "crowed" at a rival team during dinner at a hotel during the Tour. Armstrong was heard shouting at the unnamed team saying without any provocation:
"You want a rider?"
"you can take this guy...." gesturing at Contador.
The rival team sat in silence as did Contador as Lance stared him down.
(Stolen from WTB--err, I mean The Hog--from cyclingnews)
Bro Deal said:
Really?
Fark me : no wonder Contador and Armstrong were at each others throats.
Lance is yesterdays man.........Contador is da man at the mo.
An Atheist Republican? I don't know about that one...That's akin to a gay Republican...but I'm sure Lance could manage to spin that "little" issue to his advantage somehow...
tonyzackery said:
The situation is even worse now. After 2008, instead drawing the obvious conclusion that their party needs to be more moderate and inclusive, the Republicans have been purging members who don't pass extreme right wing muster. Limbaugh is still praising Palin and sees her as an asset for the party. They even torpedoed the chances of moderate Repubs in moderate states this year. It's hard to imagine them lining up behind a godless athiest. Heck, he is even more poorly educated than Palin.
