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Lance Armstrong Returns To Professional Cycling

Lance Armstrong's planned 2009 return to professional cycling draws renewed attention to a sport that reached its highest peak in general public interest during the period (1999-2005) when Armstrong won 7 Tour de France titles.

Before we examine the effect of Lance Armstrong's return to professional cycling, let's shed some perspective on the nature and challenge of what he has previously achieved.

For starters, winning even a single stage of the Tour de France is a major accomplishment in the career of most pro cyclists. The preparation and training necessary to put yourself in a position to win even one stage in the Tour is mind-boggling for most people. Professional cyclists train well over 10, 000 miles a year. Daily training rides often last from 3-6 hours per day. When a cyclist tells you he or she is "at the office, " that generally means they are pedaling their bikes on one of these long rides. Cyclists often train with a team, but many also ride long solo hours.

It also requires years of racing experience to succeed as a professional cyclist. The risks are great. Crashes are common in the life of most cyclists. Broken collarbones, wrists and even broken vertebrae can result from the impact of flying off the bike. Many crashes are caused by interference or collision with other cyclists, but accidents can happen when riders lose concentration or reach "technical" sections of the course such as quick bends after a steep hill. Flats, bike malfunctions and road debris can all cause accidents as well. These hazards and risks only multiply at the high speeds at which a pro bike racer rides, which often averages over 30 miles per hour.

The most common "badge" of tragedy among cyclists is road rash or scraped skin resulting from falling off their bikes. This is one of several reasons why bike racers shave their legs and arms, to prevent hair from getting locked into healing scars.

To decrease these risks and maximize opportunities in an event the size of the Tour de France, a rider such as Lance Armstrong depends on his teammates for protection, guidance and energy conservation during each stage of the race. The lead rider or General Category leader on each team receives protection by teammates who act as a shield from wind and other riders. They also deliver food and water. You might consider the team "GC" leader the queen bee and the rider's team the "worker bees."

All these riders have to be supremely fit to accomplish the mission of guiding the General Category leader to their best effort. That's why Lance Armstrong always gives credit to his team when he rides to victory. But in his comeback with the bike team known as Astana, Armstrong may not necessarily be the team leader. That honor goes to a Spanish rider named Alberto Contador who won the Tour de France when he last rode the Tour in 2007. Then this team was disbanded and Contador joined Astana. But the Tour de France banned Astana from participating because of doping infractions in 2007. That meant the 2007 Tour de France winner could not defend his title in 2008. Another Spaniard, Carlos Sastre, won the 2008 tour for a powerhouse team called CSC.

If all this sounds a bit complicated, it is. Professional cycling has been caught in a fight for its own reputation. Performance-enhancement drug cheats have impacted nearly every major race. For years the Tour has been conducting drug tests after every stage and many riders have been thrown out of the Tour de France for using performance-enhancing drugs. Because of his ascendant performance for years in the Tour de France, Lance Armstrong has been the #1 target for drug testing in cycling. He has never tested positive for any illegal drugs in all his years of professional cycling.

But let's take a look at his history and what it means that he is now returning to race his bike again.

Lance Armstrong was 27 years old when he won his first tour. That age is considered the prime of a cyclist's life, the point at which the strength of youth and years of training combine to make one capable of winning something like a major bike race.

Armstrong made it his practice to prepare specifically for the Tour de France. He leveraged his success to help build a team each year that could best support his effort to be the winner of the General Category at the Tour. As we've said, no rider could likely win the tour as a solo rider. In a bike race that extends more than 2000 miles in 21 stages through wind, heat and over mountain stages, lead riders need to draft behind teammates in order to save energy for competitive stages where race strategy and course conditions combine to deliver opportunities to create time gaps over competitors.

Armstrong's ability to will himself to success may be his ultimate best advantage. He's just plain obstinate on the bike and refuses to give in. Yet during his 7 tour wins even Armstrong made mistakes from which it was difficult to recover. He forgot to eat and drink enough on one stage and "bonked, " which means he ran out of physical fuel. During one intense climb a woman accidentally hooked his handlebars with a strappy purse. Down went Armstrong. These events added drama to his victories. But his ability and will to persevere are what made him a legendary cyclist.

But in 2005 Armstrong thought he'd had enough of the bike world. Having amassed a record 7 consecutive Tour de France victories, Lance Armstrong officially retired from the sport of professional cycling.

Then he banged around for a couple years running marathons and worked on his successful Lance Armstrong Foundation (LAF) which raises money for cancer research. Armstrong turned up in the news frequently because his Livestrong brand is a highly positive and much imitated approach to recruiting people to a cause. Livestrong bracelets (those little yellow ones) are nearly ubiquitous. Now there are bracelets in every color of the rainbow for various causes. The Livestong brand even has its own line of clothing and shoes at Nike. And it's all pretty cool stuff.

The Livestrong web site evolved into a giant community of people going through cancer and people determined to help them. Now the site gives advice about all kinds of health issues from diet to exercise and lifestyle.

One of the nebulous facts about cancer, though, is that you never know where it might hit you. Even the healthiest people sometimes come down with cancer. How many times have you heard someone say, "I can't believe he/she got cancer. They're so healthy."

That relates to the stated reasons why Lance Armstrong is going back into professional cycling, to use his fame to raise awareness about the need for cancer research worldwide. Lance will use his persona to drive fundraising to help find cures and preventions for cancer.

There are apparently some people in the greater cycling community who wish Lance would not make a comeback. The Tour de France seems to have had a love/hate relationship with the American cyclist. Some French cycling fans were bitter that the American was so effective preventing French and European riders from winning the Tour de France.

Current stars in the sport respectfully admit that Lance deserves to come back and race his bike if he wants. After all, a number of cyclists banned from the sport for doping are on the comeback trail. Riders such as Ivan Basso and Floyd Landis, who have finished 2nd and 1st in the Tour, respectively are also returning to ride this year after time serving bans for suspected doping.

There are certainly people who suspect Armstrong also of cheating by using drugs like steroids and EPO (a blood oxygen enhancer) to win. Armstrong has denied these allegations and has been subjected to extensive, intrusive testing for years. There is no evidence that Armstrong ever cheated, but there have been thinly veiled accusations toward Arrmstrong about doping by the likes of American 3-time Tour winner Greg LeMond.

Professional cycling is a big soap opera and like many pro sports, highly dependent on personalities like Armstrong to drive its money machine. When a rider wins a stage in the Tour it really is a commercial triumph for the team sponsors. Riders are expected to zip up their shirts in time for the photo opp at the finish. Bike riders are festooned with logos, just like NASCAR. Brand promotion fuels fandom. That's why Lance Armstrong rode for teams sponsored by Motorola, then US Postal Service and finally Discovery Channel.

Now Lance Armstrong, his foundation and the Livestrong organization form their own brand. He will be riding for a team called Astana, but truly Lance Armstrong will be riding for his the expansion of his legacy. It all starts with the Tour of Amgen in California in February 2009. Armstrong hopes to use that stage race and others to prep for the Giro Italia and ultimately, the Tour de France. It's a big challenge on a very big stage, but Armstrong has a big heart and some of the fastest legs in the business. We'll see if age and time off have slowed the hardest working man on a bike.

Sources: VeloNews magazine