Armstrong Makes History
Learn more -He is a one-name phenomenon now, his celebrity needing no family name.
Even in America, where drivers of massive vehicles get all nervous when they see a bicycle legally sharing the road with them, people know one cyclist by his first name. Lance.
It helps that his last name is robust and legendary-sounding, the heritage of a stepfather he came to detest. This personal fury is part of his legacy of motivation. Lance Armstrong.
He showed Jordanesque vengeance Friday when he chased down a cyclist who had crossed him. And Saturday, Lance showed Ruthian dominance in acing the 34-mile time trial to win his fifth stage of the Tour. And barring some grotesque change of fortune, Armstrong will swoop down the Champs-Ilysees today, winning his sixth consecutive Tour de France.
He now is suggesting he may not race the Tour next year in order to compete in other events to add to his dossier as one of the great champions of cycling. But Lance Armstrong already has made his mark.
In this age of worldwide television and Internet and sponsorships, even Americans know Lance Armstrong, partly because he was given a 40-percent chance of surviving testicular cancer. They know him for his foundation and his commercials to fight cancer.
Americans also have heard the rumors coming from that gallant three-time American champion, Greg LeMond, that the sport is chemically abetted, yet Armstrong has had no problems with increased drug testing in recent years.
He showed his wrath Friday when he bolted ahead to stall an escape by Filippo Simeoni, who has testified that one of Armstrong's advisers, Dr. Michele Ferrari of Italy, furnished Simeoni with illegal drugs.
In the big picture, Lance knows that six Tours may be enough for now. He also observes the rules of European tradition and will never claim to be better than Eddy Merckx, who came to visit him in the States when Armstrong's life was in the balance.
Even one of his best friends, Bob Roll, the former Tour rider and Outdoor Life Network sage who rode with Armstrong in North Carolina as he recovered from cancer, has deferred.
"Eddy Merckx is, quite simply, the greatest bike racer of all time," Roll wrote in "The Tour de France Companion."
"The Belgian's list of victories is staggering," Roll added, referring to how Merckx won the Tour five times but also the Giro d'Italia five times, the Vuelta a Espana once and the world championships three times.
Merckx was known as the Cannibal for the way he ate up opponents and topography, but in 1975, while Merckx was trying for his sixth Tour victory, a villain punched him in the kidney during a stage. Merckx finished second.
Likewise, Armstrong never will say he is better than Bernard Hinault, known as the Badger for his ferocious ways, nor will he say he is better than Jacques Anquetil or Miguel Indurain, all five-time champs.
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