Tour de France 2009

Armstrong may exit RAGBRAI for Tour

Lance Armstrong was riding with presidential candidate John Edwards at RAGBRAI on Wedensday, where he also appeared on Hardball (look for “Lance Armstrong plays Hardball”) (and had a RAGBRAI rider propose marriage). Armstrong and Hardball host Chris Matthews will co-host the Presidential Candidates Cancer Forum in Cedar Rapids August 27th (Democrats) and 28th (Republicans).

And what does Armstrong make of the ongoing Tour de Farce? Armstrong told Matthews it shows that cycling “has done more than any other sport ... It shows the controls work.” Note that his appearance was before the Rasmussen withdrawal.

Bike Hugger's got a post by Hed Cycling's Andy Tetmyer on building Armstrong's LiveStrong RAGBRAI bus. The Postal Bus it's not: It's a modified 1979 schoolbus, with storage for 12 bikes and seating and gear space for 12 riders, and a Texas-sized barbecue grill out on the back deck (All bus photos).

Current news reports suggest Armstrong will leave Iowa tonight, and head to France, where Discovery Channel could have riders finish as high as 1st and 2nd. That would be a perfect time for the team to announce a new sponsor, as well -- if they've been able to nail one down.

He'll also keynote an event for Kids on Bikes in Colorado Springs August 9th.

Armstrong picks Ullrich as Tour "big threat"

BBC SPORT | Armstrong hails Savoldelli form

In an audio interview with Eurosport, Lance Armstrong said he's facing an "especially strong" field in the 2005 Tour de France.

Apparently, Discovery Channel has 7 members of its Tour squad nailed down: Armstrong, Azevedo, Beltran, Hincapie, Popovych, Rubiera, and Savoldelli, with 2 spots still to be determined.

Next up is the Dauphiné Libéré, starting Saturday, expected to be Armstrong's final tune-up for the Tour in July.

"Jan is the big threat," Armstrong told Eurosport. "He's the one who wakes me up early every morning. He says he wants to beat me in the Tour de France.

"Well, this is his last chance."

Ferrari's case nears end

procycling.com | Ferrari "The Myth" risks sentence

Prosecutors have presented their final arguments in the case against Italian sports doctor Michele Ferrari, suggesting a 14-month sentence and a 1-year suspension from medicine.

Of more interest to American cycling fans:

One interested observer of the Ferrari case, the performance guru’s most famous client, Lance Armstrong, is currently embroiled in a legal battle of an altogether different kind. After the revelation that Armstrong is suing insurance company SCA Promotions for withholding payment of a $5 million bonus, SCA is now vowing to donate all interest generated by the outstanding fee to the American Cycling Federation.

Sources close to procycling have indicated that, under the supervision of SCA Promotions legal representative Chris Copton, private investigators are currently working hard in Europe to compile evidence against Armstrong.

SCA have confirmed that their reluctance to pay Armstrong owes to suspicions that he may have used performance- enhancing drugs. Armstrong has always firmly rejected any such accusations.

It's a hell of a time to be a US cycling fan.

Atlanta Olympics TT photo gallery - Men's

In celebration of the Athens Olympic Time Trials later today, here are some photos from the Atlanta TTs in 1996. The time trial is great for spectators: All the riders pass by multiple times, the crowds are smaller than for the road race, and the follow cars make it very easy to ID the riders.

The Atlanta Olympics marked a watershed in cycling, as Miguel Indurain won his last major race during the time trial. He had just lost the 1996 Tour de France to Bjarne Riis, and his countryman Abraham Olano took silver. Great Britain's Chris Boardman was the bronze medalist. Spain's terrific showing led to about a 45 minute delay in the medal ceremony, since IOC czar Juan-Antonio Samaranch had decreed that he would personally award any gold medals won by Spaniards.

Here's Indurain:

Olano:

And bronze medalist Chris Boardman:

Competing for the US were Steve Hegg, then of Chevy-LA Sherriffs, and Lance Armstrong, just a few months from discovering his testicular cancer (Armstrong is warming up):

   

Here's Bjarne Riis, the Great Dane, riding in the invisible yellow jersey the reigning Tour champ radiates:

Here's France's Laurent Jalabert, but what's with the face?

And I wonder what ever became of this guy?

Axel Merckx, Roger Hammond to join Discovery?

VeloNews.com | Merckx, Hammond  to Discovery; Indurain: Armstrong deserved No. 6

Belgian newspaper Het Niewsblad reports that Axel "son of Eddy" Merckx will join Discovery Channel (formerly US Postal) for the 2005 season.

Britain's Roger Hammond, currently riding for Mr. Bookmaker.com, is also reportedly joining the US-based squad.

Merckx previously rode for Motorola alongside Lance Armstrong, back when they rode bikes from Eddy Merckx.

They'll join Armstrong and Ukraine's Yaroslav Popovych, who signed a 3-year contract with Tailwind Sports earlier this week.

That finish line story? Puh-leeze....

ESPN.com | Tour de France boosts little-known network, but must explain blunder on final day

The entire US press seems to be piling on to this story, suggesting that OLN blundered on the last day by not showing Armstrong cross the finish line during its live broadcast.

I've seen several comments that fall into the "typical French anti-Americanism" mold, but I think it's a lot simpler than that: There was a race going on, and Armstrong wasn't in it.

For the live coverage, OLN was given a TdF feed provided by French TV, which was focused on the action in the day's stage (and there was a surprising amount of that). In the tape-delayed broadcasts, OLN was able to supplement that footage with its own, and showed Armstrong's finish.

The sting of OLN's delayed finish was lessened somewhat when OLN executives learned Tuesday that Sunday's conclusion provided the nine-year-old network with its highest ratings ever. Three times during the race, OLN broke viewership records, according to Nielsen Media Research.

OLN was watched by 1.37 million viewers during the race's final stage, Nielsen said. On a typical day this year, the Outdoor Life Network is watched by an average of 56,580 viewers -- barely enough to fill a baseball stadium. The network is available in 60 million homes, a little more than half the country.

What will OLN do if Armstrong skips the 2005 Tour, or when he eventually retires?

Harvey says he doesn't necessarily wake up in a cold sweat thinking of future tours with Armstrong on the sidelines.

"We are the home of professional cycling on television," he said. "We love the fact that Lance has brought so many eyeballs and attention to the sport of cycling. But it's not just Lance."

OLN made a conscious effort this year to highlight some of the other American riders and explain the sport to viewers, he said.

"We're prepared" for a tour without Armstrong, he said. "We know the day is going to come."

Simeoni to laugh last?

Yahoo! News | Armstrong foe Simeoni questioned over Tour incident

Apparently, investigators want to determine whether Armstrong's on-the-road attacks to keep Simeoni out of an attack rise to the level of intimidating a witness.

The investigators grilled Simeoni for three hours about what happened when Armstrong chased down an early attack by the Italian on the 18th stage of the Tour earlier this month.

--snip--

Investigators are considering whether to open legal proceedings against Armstrong for sporting fraud, violence, and intimidation of a witness.

Particularly damning, it would seem, was Armstrong's "zip the lips" gesture.

Also:

The Daily Peloton: Rebel with a cause?

Daily Peloton offers an indepth look at Simeoni, his involvement with Michele Ferrari, and the lawsuit against Lance Armstrong. Careful -- you might wind up liking him.

More on Armstrong's Giro plans

globeandmail.com | Italians call on Armstrong to ride in the Giro d'Italia

Italian organizers are encouraging Lance Armstrong to race in the 2005 Giro d'Italia.

“To give more weight to his career, Armstrong absolutely must ride the Giro, also for the affection he has for Italy,” said Franco Ballerini, a former professional rider and current coach of the Italian national team.

Armstrong has never raced the Giro, because its scheduling, in late May and early June, makes it difficult to reach a fitness peak that includes the Giro and the Tour. Riders who compete in both, like Gilberto Simoni, often have very weak Tours de France.

Interestingly, following the Simeoni business at the Tour, not all Italians are so enthusiastic. The Globe and Mail quotes Claudio Chiapucchi, who finished on the Tour podium 3 times:

Chiapucci said Armstrong “behaved liked a baby” with Simeoni.

“The Texan leaves me indifferent and it would be that way also on the streets of the Giro d'Italia,” said El Diablo — the devil — as Chiapucci was known in his competitive days.

Italian cycling president Gian Carlo Ceruti also denounced Armstrong's treatment of Simeoni as “unsportsmanlike.”

However, 1984 Giro winner Francesco Moser said having Armstrong at the Giro “wouldn't be bad, especially since he lived in Italy when he rode for Motorola and he had a great friend like Fabio Casartelli,” referring to Armstrong's former team and teammate, who died in a fall at the 1995 Tour.

Alfredo Martini, Italy's national cycling team coach from 1975 to 1997, said Armstrong could ride both the Giro and the Tour.

“A champion like him, with a team as strong as his, could do it easily,” Martini said.

Armstrong has already done some research, riding the Mortirolo in the Italian Alps in May.

US vs. Them: The tiresome conventional wisdom on Armstrong

Tour De Lance - The international press snipes at America's superhero

Susan Daniels checks in with a quick review of international coverage of Lance Armstrong's 6th Tour de France victory. She pulls four stories out of hundreds that she accuses of "sour grapes," explaining that with:

"Maybe it's not national but personal," speculated Alastair Campbell in the London Times. "[A]nti-Armstrongism, anti the fact that he keeps winning their game. They respect him. They admire the way he came back from cancer. They see in him a strong character who has devoted his life to their Tour. But Chirac's France wants French winners and, if it can't have them, other Europeans. But Americans? Non, merci."

I think this whole line, which I've heard repeated a lot over the last 3 weeks, is total, 100% hokum. There are many Americans looking for reasons to be pissed at the French right now, and they'll happily hoot and holler about what a fine stomping Lance Armstrong gave those Frogs, wooooooiiieeee!

As far as I can tell, French attitudes to Armstrong are as complex and nuanced as American fan reactions to baseball stars or other athletes. Nobody hates Roger Clemens because he's from Texas; if they do, it may because of his tantrum with Mike Piazza, or because he swiped a Cy Young from a pitcher they were pulling for.

If a French cycling fan wants to boo Armstrong because they think it's time for new blood in the race, well that's part of sports, and doesn't really mean squat in the geopolitical milieu.

Sally Jenkins online chat

washingtonpost.com | Tour de France: Future of Lance Armstrong

Sally Jenkins was Lance Armstrong's co-author on both books. She's also covered the Tour de France for the Washington Post, where she did an online chat yesterday concerning Armstrong, doping, the future of US Postal, Sheryl Crow, Armstrong's kids, and what he'll do next year; all topics that have come up right here over the last few weeks. Jenkins (unsurprisingly, I guess) has no kind words for Greg LeMond.

Here's an excerpt on doping:

Crofton, Md.: Don't you think that Lance Armstrong's run in the Tour de France is more about his impact upon the sport because he really believes that "every second"  does count. It is one heck of a motivator to be told you have the big "C" and your chances to become immortal are really tied to a defining memorable event as opposed to anything else. That is precisely why I do not believe that he uses any drugs - he is afraid of that image being tarnished. Do you agree? - CSP

Sally Jenkins: He once told me, two years out from chemotherapy, how poisoned the cancer and the chemo made him feel, and that he was just starting to feel "clean again." I've never forgotten that, and how seriously he said it. For that reason it's very hard for me to believe he'd put anything dangerous in his body. I've said it before and I'll say it again:
I believe in Lance Armstrong as a man and as an athlete. He beat cancer straight up, fair and square, and I believe he has won six Tours exactly the same way.
Also, I love him as a friend.