Boulder Report: Kentucky man wins essay contest and to ride with Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France Boulder Report March 31, 2009
Buzz Over Lances' mystery guest rider The rumor is that Mr. Seven Times who is coming back for an eighth will have a very special guest. Lance's people aren't talking, but we are.
by Joe Lindsey
It started as a quickie post on the NY Velocity site - unsourced, unconfirmed, and about as believable as a campaign ad. A certain bike racer known for more Tour de France wins than any other cyclist was pondering a limited-engagement comeback, racing for free in an attempt to silence persistent questioning about whether those first seven Tours were won clean.But the rumor gained some serious traction today when VeloNews expanded the story and confirmed NY Velocity's scoop that a mystery rider will be riding a desigated leg of the tour with Lance as result of winning an essay contest.Though still relying on anonymous sources, VeloNews' Neal Rogers added some detail. Out of thousands of entries, Lance Armstrong himself chose the entry of a 55 year old cyclist from Kentucky who will join with Astana and race for one day in a once in a lifetime opportunity.The lucky winner, Mike Barrow, of Elizabethtown Kentucky was quoted as saying, " This is simply unbelievable, it's really a dream come true." Barrow, who has little racing experience is expected to do very well on the downhill sections. He offered encouragement to other ordinary cyclist to follow their dreams and said, "Just remember, it's not how you ride, but how you ride in." Lance said he welcomes to opportunity to ride at the back of the pack for a while with his new best friend from Kentucky.The National Cycling Confederation said that while this certainly is unusual it is sanctioned and could potentially go into the record books. Also, VeloNews hedged the rumor bet a little by allowing that other rumors are that Armstrong would race mountainbikes or try cyclocross. And finally, I'd remind everyone that we've been here before. In the fall of 2005, Armstrong threatened to end his merely days-old retirement as a way to counter the charge made in l'Equipe that an independent analysis had found EPO in old urine samples from the 1999 Tour. "I'm thinking it's the best way to piss the French off," he said at the time. On September 15, 2005 just two weeks later, he rescinded his threat, saying, "There is no way I would get a fair shake," he declared, "either on the roadside, in the doping control, or in the lab, or in the hotel, or in the food."Maybe that's all still true and this is a rumor gone amok - Armstrong's spokesman Mark Higgins did not respond to a request for comment. Maybe it's a calculated PR move designed to distract attention from his love life and put the focus back on his athletic achievements and, in turn, his anti-cancer advocacy. We won't have to wait long for an answer on this rumor. Vanity Fair reportedly has a piece on the comeback to appear in its next issue. If the comeback happens, it will supply sportswriters with all kinds of storylines. But it's a huge risk for Armstrong. Even assuming that Armstrong has the motivation, that Contador doesn't bail to Katusha and attempt to become the latest pupil to challenge his master, and that Armstrong's preparation is spot-on and he doesn't suffer another crash in the runup to the Tour, there's no guarantee he'll win. If the goal is to prove the doubters wrong by winning clean, what does it say if he finishes 12th?Posted at 04:10 PM Permalink TrackBack Subscribe to this blog's feed
