Tour De Lance

[Lilith]

Amazing man but do you think after winning it 6 times straight it's boring? No real challenge anymore?

[gekkogecko]

Well, Lilith, tell us about the time you won it six times straight. Is it boring now?

Oh, wait, you were talking about the Tour-de-France, not about the Orgy-de-Florida.

[Steph]

Mr. Armstrong is designed for bike riding. His thigh bone is longer than the average man, his lung capacity is twice the size of the average man . . . his RPMs are 20 more per minute . . .

The record of five-time winner has been met. He's the only six-time champion in the most beautiful race in the world.

[Lilith]

Well I think that for some athletes, especially ones who are not into team sports, once you have mastered something repeatedly it looses it's appeal. I would think they would need to find a greater challenge. I know Mr. Lil was always seeking a better, bigger, tougher, race when he was a runner. Not because winning meant little, but because the challenge was what drove him in the first place.

And I've never won anything, much less 6 times. I was a cheerleader and took stats for the football team and track. More an observer than a participant.

[Steph]

I've biked for years, mountains & roads. Every biker dreams of the Tour. I figure Lance wanted to be a six-time winner. It's huge.

Now, he'll probably concentrate on other races & keep the sport even more interesting.

[fzzy]

I think that when you're the best in the world at something and you have been for awhile, then you have to find a way to challenge yourself that may be something different than what most can use. I think that last year his win probably was about conquering personal issues since he was in the middle of a divorce, etc. and this year may have been about doing something no one else has ever done .... that 6th win ... and he has to work in a way so he hasn't peaked yet for the year since it is an Olympic year and I'm assuming he's planning to participate there .... though I haven't followed things closely this year so I'm not certain of that. :)

[jseal]

Lilith

While I have not biked for 27 years - anyone who can beat Miguel Indurain has my absolute respect. Señor Indurain was a hero. Mr. Armstrong has done him one better.

[dicksbro]

Lance is amazing. I had heard that he wasn't sure if he'd try for number seven.

[rockintime]

AWESOME record by Lance. After winning his fifth, it seemed as though maybe his main competitors were catching up with him and another win would be difficult...he easily put that thought to rest with a truly dominating performance this year. Having attained the record now, though, I agree with Steph that he may focus on a new challenge.

[Vurginne]

I definitely see Lilith's point. After winning so many times, doesn't there need to be some sort of new challenge to motivate the person? Or maybe for Lance, winning the Tour de France never gets old.

This thread got me thinking of another consecutive winner. Ken Jennings on Jeopardy. The man has won well over 1 million dollars in over 30 episodes of the show and when the new season returns he'll start all over again. Isn't he getting bored? lol. Anyways, that's probably a topic for another thread.

~Vurginne~

[Nice Guy]

It does seem that he is having little to no trouble winning the Tour. That doesn't mean that he is always going to win it though. That thought could keep him in the race. Or he could do it to push the next generation of cyclists to work hard to try and beat him.

[ozfuzz]

Sports News


Armstrong doesn't come close to 'The Cannibal'
6:24 PM July 26

Lance Armstrong's record breaking sixth victory in the Tour de France has rightly drawn a host of accolades.

Not only has he become the first man in the event's 101-year history to win half a dozen yellow jerseys, he attained the feat in consecutive years.

Many have anointed him the greatest cyclist the sport has ever seen.

Put simply, he is not.

Just as Don Bradman stands alone when assessing batsmen in the sport of cricket, one man stands head and shoulders above all others who have thrown their leg over a bicycle.

That man is Belgium's Eddy Merckx.

Nicknamed "The Cannibal" for his insatiable appetite for victory and competition, he carved out a career that will likely never be seriously challenged.

At the age of 19 in 1964, he won the world amateur road title.

In 1967, he won the first of three world professional world titles. Armstrong has achieved the feat once, in 1993.

In 1969, Merckx contested his first Tour de France where he recorded the greatest feat in the sport's history by winning the yellow jersey, the King of the Mountains jersey, the green jersey and all three time trials.

Nowadays, no rider ever wins both the green and mountains jersey in the same Tour.

It is a record which will likely never be matched.

In other years, Merckx achieved the following:

1968 - Won Tour of Italy (also won King of Mountains jersey & green jersey)
1970 - Won Tour de France (also won King of Mountains jersey & eight stage wins)
1971 - Won Tour de France (also won green jersey) & world road championship
1972 - Won Tour de France (also won green jersey) & Tour of Italy
1973 - Didn't compete in Tour de France but won Tour of Italy (also won points jersey) & Tour of Spain
1974 - Won Tour de France, Tour of Italy & world road championship
1975 - Finished second in the Tour de France & broke the world hour record

In his career, he won the Tour de France five times (won 35 stages), the Tour of Italy five times (including 25 stage wins) and the Tour of Spain once.

No other rider can boast such an array of victories in the big three Tours.

Aside from winning the Tour de France yellow jersey five times, Merckx also won the King of the Mountains three times and the green jersey three times. Armstrong has never won either the polka dot (mountain) or green jersey (points).

In 1971, Merckx won 54 of the 120 professional races he entered. At his peak, between 1969 and 1973, he won 250 of the 650 races he contested. During his professional career, he won 445 of the 1,582 races he entered.

Nowadays, a cyclist like Armstrong rarely competes outside the Tour de France as he makes it his sole focus of the year.

Merckx used to race most of the year and often in most years, he contested both the Tours of France & Italy, as well as each of the one-day classics and many of the minor multi-stage events.

Merckx's dominance of other major races included:

Tour of Lombardy - won twice
Paris-Nice - won three times
Milan-San Remo - won seven times
Paris Roubaix - won three times
Liege-Bastogne-Liege - won five times
Amstel Gold - won twice
Tour of Flanders - won twice
Het Volk - won twice
Ghent-Wevelgem - won four times
Fleche-Wallonne - won four times
Tour of Switzerland - won once
Paris-Brussels - won once

Put simply, he was, and remains, a freak!

No cyclist has ever approached his record. It is a reasonable bet that nobody ever will.

Whilst Armstrong should be lauded for his achievement in winning a record six Tours de France, when it comes to the question of who is the greatest cyclist, Merckx wins hands down.

For mine, Merckx may well be the greatest living athlete, across any sport.
Source: ABC

[Irish]

Amazing man but do you think after winning it 6 times straight it's boring? No real challenge anymore?
As a former gymnast & basball pitcher & also a perfectionistI can tell you that
it depends,entirely,on the person.A perfectionist,is a pain,because you always think that you could do better!Ex:I still don't enjoy a stock car or motorcycle race,because you still think that you could do better! Irish
P.S.In some ways,perfectionism can be a curse.Just ask the mechanics that
worked for me!

[Catch22]

Next year he will have to do it with his hands behind his back while riding backwards.

[Grumble]

Lance is amazingly awsome, the endurance those cyclists have!!!

To win a Toure de France once is a magnificent feat, 6 times in a row, it is pretty mind boggling.

[Steph]

Rumour has it that he's now engaged to Sheryl Crowe. :)

[Irish]

Steph---I watched an Hr. long show, on Sheryl Crowes life,because I have
always liked her.For some reason,I was suprised at the long term,live-in
relationships,that she has had.The longest one,was with Owen ?,(can't think
of his name)(the Blond guy,that starred in "Behind Enemy Lines)& was in 2
movies with Jackie Chan!)She also went out with JFK JR,for a long time!
Irish
P.S.Just thought that you would like to know!