Lance Armstrong comes out of retirement!

spudstr04 · Post by **spudstr04** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 8:06 pm

ESPN is reporting that 7 time Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong will come out of retirement to race in the 2009 Tour next Summer. I am a huge fan and this will help draw more interest in the sport. I loved watching the Tour when he raced in them in the early 2000s. I wish him the best and hope he can have a good showing. I believe he's something like 37 years old.

GSPODS · Post by **GSPODS** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 8:17 pm

ESPN is also reporting the moon is made of green cheese ...

In all seriousness, Lance Armstrong is better at cycling than most people will ever be at anything. If he wants to run the Tour De France again, I have no doubt someone would be glad to have him on their team.

Given what Armstrong has been through personally, I would never say that he can't conquer the odds.

hailskins666 · Post by **hailskins666** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 8:56 pm

Lance Armstrong comes out of retirement!

why? did he suddenly grow a pair? ROTFALMAO

Countertrey · Post by **Countertrey** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:34 pm

hailskins666 wrote:
Lance Armstrong comes out of retirement!
why? did he suddenly grow a pair?

Harsh.

BearSkins · Post by **BearSkins** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 10:06 pm

Is there not some sort of controversy with him and the Tour anyway to do with steroids? I vaguely recall some sort of cloud of suspicion hanging over him at the time.

Countertrey · Post by **Countertrey** » Mon Sep 08, 2008 10:57 pm

BearSkins wrote:Is there not some sort of controversy with him and the Tour anyway to do with steroids? I vaguely recall some sort of cloud of suspicion hanging over him at the time.

There were allegations, never substantiated, that he used erythropoetin... which causes extra production of red blood cells... a useful thing if you are in an endurance sport.

It's a cut throat sport... and it's not without it's share of sour grapes, and attempts at subterfuge. It's also not without it's share of cheaters. But there are plenty of clean athletes...

JansenFan · Post by **JansenFan** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 12:27 am

Countertrey wrote:It's also not without it's share of cheaters. But there are plenty of clean athletes...

Of course, they're all in the back of the field. :-"

murray · Post by **murray** » Tue Sep 09, 2008 7:12 am

Countertrey wrote:There were allegations, never substantiated, that he used erythropoetin...

There is little doubt that he used EPO. He had 6 frozen samples from his 1999 victory (which was before a test for EPO existed) test positive in 2004.

If you are interested in reading about Lance's shady past, check out this website:
http://www.investigatelance.org/home

I think a return is a bad move on Lance's part. He is held in very high regard by a lot of people, and has done a lot with his "Livestrong" foundation. However, he is about to open a can of worms.

Reports about his return are linking him to team Astana. Astana is currently the team of Contador, who won the Tour last year. He was not allowed to defend his title this year because his team was not invited to the Tour as a result of an Astana rider doping during the 2007 tour. I certainly hope that Contador is not forced into a role of servitude for Armstrong's comeback.