Lance Armstrong coming out of retirement to race 09 Tour de France

[Zeste]

It takes ball to do something like this.

[Arbuste]

Originally Posted by Araxen

I don't expect him to do much. He did put on some weight when he was in retirement. Will he be able to rebuild that stamina needed for the TDF in a span of a year? It will be another great story if he wins it again and it will piss off a ton of frenchies.

Armstrong used to be quite popular in France. But then, he was labeled (right- or wrongfully, although you really have to be weird to believe he was 100% clean) as a cheater.
Now, even if he comes back, I'm not sure he'll be allowed to run the Tour de France. It might be seen as a step back in their hopeless fight against doping.

[Braen]

He is posting all his test results online. The team he is on has even more strict testing that even the Tour requires.

If he comes up doping, he would set back cancer research. I don't think he wants that on his head.

[Araxen]

I don't believe Lance ever doped personally. He has some genetic physical advantages that makes him the best cyclist to have ever lived with the proper training.

1. His heart is 30% larger than average; however, an enlarged heart is a common trait for many other athletes. His heart can beat over 200 times a minute and thus pump an extraordinarily large volume of blood and oxygen to his legs.

2. Big Oxygen Production - His VO2 max—a measure of the maximum amount of oxygen your lungs can take in. Lance has a VO2 max of 83.8 mL/kg/min — much higher than the average person (40-50)

3. Low Lactic Acid Production - When people reach exhaustion, their muscles build up Lactic acid, which causes the muscles to stop contracting. But Armstrong’s muscles produce about half as much acid as the average person’s muscles do when they get fatigued. This allows him to recover much faster than other people.

CTV.ca | Lance Armstrong armed with unique genetic gifts

Lance Armstrong : Heart : Lung: Running Machine

[Grooverider]

4. 40cc HGH

[Bloodget]

5- And more Mediclorien than Yoda himself!

[Ronne]

Originally Posted by Zeste

It takes ball to do something like this.

...

[Arbuste]

Originally Posted by Braen

He is posting all his test results online.

That does not mean anything. The tests are run by independent labs. Problem is, most modern drugs cannot be detected. Posting it on the Internet won't change a thing.

The team he is on has even more strict testing that even the Tour requires.

Astana? Are you fucking kidding me?

If he comes up doping, he would set back cancer research. I don't think he wants that on his head.

I don't know about that.

I'm not blaming Lance Armstrong in any way. He was doped in a sport where everybody else was. And all things being equal, he was the best. I really do not give a fuck about the guy. I only wish the whole situation were different.
It's extremely naive to think he was the best and the only innocent guy in the bunch. Especially when he was working with doctors incriminated in the past in doping scandals.

Oh, and EPO, among other drugs, does increase VO2max. I'm pretty sure heart size can be influenced by illegal drugs too.

[Braen]

Originally Posted by Arbuste

Astana? Are you fucking kidding me?

Acutally yeah. After they were cought the last 2 tours and suspended in the last Tour, they put in harder measures.

From Wiki:

Following the doping problems of 2007, the sponsors of Astana decided to replace Biver with Johan Bruyneel, the former directeur sportif of the defunct Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team. Bruyneel had the mandate to start afresh with the team, so he hired a number of former Discovery riders including 2007 Tour de France winner Alberto Contador and third place finisher Levi Leipheimer. Additionally, Bruyneel introduced the anti-doping system developed by Dr. Rasmus Damsgaard, Head of Information for Anti Doping Danmark (ADD). The anti-doping system was initially used by Team CSC starting in 2007

[Tuco]

You negative nancy downers can suck Armstrongs nut.

Go Armstrong Go!

I'd like to see a comparison between the unique traits of Michael Phelps to Armstrong.

[Brutul Tarew Marr]

Astana is a totally different team this year than the one that Vinokurov was busted on 2 years ago. The only similarity is the sponsor. Astana now is basically team Discovery Channel from 06. Same director and most of the same riders. They also implemented an internal testing program similar to the ones that Garmin-Chipotle, Columbia, and Team CSC started this year and they test considerably more rigorously than the authorities require. It was total shit that they didn't get to ride in the TdF this year because they were basically being punished for the crimes of people who weren't on the team anymore because they totally cleaned house in the off-season.

It's true that HGH cannot be tested for, but the most popular cycling drug, EPO can be (although not with 100% accuracy) and the new EPO, which the cyclists that got busted during this year's TdF thought was undetectable, actually has a marker molecule added by the manufacturer specifically so it will show up on drug tests. Based on the amount of controls, cycling is probably now the cleanest sport there is with regard to PEDs. That's not to say it's clean, but they do a hell of a lot more than any US pro sport.

[Warrian]

All of you faggots crying about doping remind me of the kids who would cry when they got owned in a FPS. "You're totally using a wall hack!", "Nice aim bot!", "WTF IS THAT PAK2 SHIT!?", etc.

[Arbuste]

People who headshot me in TF2 use aimbots. That's a fact.

Doping aside, I wonder why a guy like Armstrong decided to come back. I can't believe he needs money. He left at his peak, pretty much the best cyclist of all time. And whatever he wants, why then did he retire?
I can think of other great athletes who came back in a similar fashion, but usually, they were from team sports, and coming back for their team.

[Araxen]

He's prolly bored as fuck.

Heck, if he just comes back as a teammate to help Levi or Contador win the TDF it will be a major boost to the team that was already considered one of the favorites to win TDF next year.

[Brutul Tarew Marr]

He's not coming back to help Contador or Levi, he wants to win.

If you are really interested, the Vanity Fair article where he made the announcement is a pretty good read. Long, but I enjoyed it.

Lance Armstrong Rides Again: Entertainment & Culture: vanityfair.com