The Armstrong comeback

[Hont]

Now that it's over (for the most part), I dug out the original Vanity Fair article that announced Armstrong's comeback. Here are some quotes. Judge for yourself how successful the comeback was.

“I’m going to try and win an eighth Tour de France.”

“We’re going to be completely transparent and open with the press. This is for the world to see”

“I can come with really a completely comprehensive program and there will be no way to cheat.”

“I won seven Tour de Frances, fair and square.”

And not forgetting the famous quote from Lance Armstrong - The World's Greatest Champion...

"I'll kick their asses. The Tour was a bit of a joke this year. I've got nothing against Sastre … or Christian Vande Velde. Christian's a nice guy, but finishing fifth in the Tour de France? Come on!"

 

[Noodley]

His comeback has forever added to my childish amusement as, in a Phil Liggett stylee, I shall now shout "And there's Lance Armstrong" at anyone wearing red/black, red/grey, black/grey/red on a bike....

 

[johnnyh]

by the very fact that you are bothered to post anything about it, the come back has been hugely successful and raised awareness of all things Armstrong/Livestrong.

 

[Shadow]

what comeback?

retired sports stars should stay that way - retired.

it's like returning to a previous boy/girl friend - ill-advised and usually ends in tears!

 

[DavieB]

Nothing wrong with a last hoorah , in any sport.

Professional sportsmen love the job, the challenge and the adulation they receive it must be like a drug and very difficult to quit. True very few sportsmen come back and achieve the success they did first time round, but im sure they enjoy their last bow. I doubt people will remember Armstrong for failing to win an 8th tour, he will be remembered for winning 7.

 

[rich p]

Nothing wrong with a last hoorah , in any sport.
. I doubt people will remember Armstrong for failing to win an 8th tour, he will be remembered for winning 7.

or for being exposed as a drugs cheat which may yet happen.

 

[zimzum42]

I'm no fan of Armstrong but not doing well this year is no shame. He came 20 something, pretty amazing really for anyone...

Big Mig didn't do so well after winning his 5. Granted, he didn't come back from retirement or make any big scenes, but no one thinks of his failure to win 6, they think of the 5 he won...

I'm sure guys like Rominger and Zulle wouldn't hesitate to trade the 'shame' you think Lance must be enduring for just one win in the tour...

 

[Chuffy]

His comeback has forever added to my childish amusement as, in a Phil Liggett stylee, I shall now shout "And there's Lance Armstrong" at anyone wearing red/black, red/grey, black/grey/red on a bike....

I also point at pensioners in invalid carriages and shout, in a Murray Walker style - "AND THERE GOES SCHUMACHER!!"

 

[badkitty]

by the very fact that you are bothered to post anything about it, the come back has been hugely successful and raised awareness of all things Armstrong/Livestrong.

Oh behave yourself Johnny!

The only awareness it raised was of how much of a conceited deluded ar$e the man is.

It made me cringe. It was just sad. I wish he'd gone quietly.

Oh, and Livestrong y'all!

 

[Tim Bennet.]

I think this year, Armstong was so scared that a positive test would nullify all his previous TdF wins, that he did not 'prepare as thoroughly' as he had done previously.

That's why there was such a marked drop off in his performance. He wasn't the oldest rider in the peleton but the others made more of a show. If it wasn't for Sherwin and Liggett being fully paid up cheer leaders in his fan club, no one would have noticed he was riding.

The shirt incident was a final sad episode from the man who has consistently refused to realise the TdF is actually bigger than him, if not actually bigger than his ego.

 

[Hont]

I was really referring to the success of his comeback in pure cycling terms. There's no doubt that he has raised the Livestrong profile.

And indeed, I agree that ten years down the line no one will care what happened during the comeback - albeit that the podium last year was a remarkable achievement given his age and how long he was out of the sport.

However, in terms of what he set out to achieve in cycling at the start of the comeback - shown by his quotes - I have to consider it a failure. He didn't kick anyone's ass (no victories at all), he didn't win an 8th tour, he wasn't transparent - he never explained the questions over his blood values in the 2009 tour - and if he hadn't been back in the sport, would Landis have tried to blackmail him with the result that his entire career is now under under federal investigation?

 

[rich p]

I was really referring to the success of his comeback in pure cycling terms. There's no doubt that he has raised the Livestrong profile.

And indeed, I agree that ten years down the line no one will care what happened during the comeback - albeit that the podium last year was a remarkable achievement given his age and how long he was out of the sport.

However, in terms of what he set out to achieve in cycling at the start of the comeback - shown by his quotes - I have to consider it a failure. He didn't kick anyone's ass (no victories at all), he didn't win an 8th tour, he wasn't transparent - he never explained the questions over his blood values in the 2009 tour - and if he hadn't been back in the sport, would Landis have tried to blackmail him with the result that his entire career is now under under federal investigation?

That about sums it up Hont.

Don Caitlin - where are they now?

 

[yello]

his entire career is now under under federal investigation?

Point of order: whilst I am no fan of Lance Armstrong, his career isn't under federal investigation. It's the use of public funds by the US Postal Service cycling team. Of course, the results of that investigation might well be made available to UCI (for them to do nothing with!) and may or may not pertain to individual members of that team but Armstrong himself is not specifically under investigation.

 

[montage]

His comeback has forever added to my childish amusement as, in a Phil Liggett stylee, I shall now shout "And there's Lance Armstrong" at anyone wearing red/black, red/grey, black/grey/red on a bike....

My bike was red and black before his was!

 

[Hont]

Thought that it might be interesting to re-open this thread two and a half years down the line, given what was said in the Oprah interview.

And also worth it just to see that two years ago an Armstrong thread would sometimes not even make two pages.