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Comeback kid
Lance Armstrong, 36, announced he is coming out of retirement and plans to compete in the 2009 Tour de France as a way of raising global awareness in his fight against cancer.
Citing the slow pace of last year’s Tour and the rush from last month’s Leadville 100 race, Armstrong decided it was time to return.
“This kind of obscure bike race, totally kick-started my engine,” he told Vanity Fair in an exclusive interview, referring to the lung-searing 100-mile mountain bike race through the Colorado Rockies. “I’m going to try and win an eighth Tour de France.”
Armstrong said full details of his comeback will be announced Sept. 24 at the Clinton Global Initiative in New York.
Topic: Sports, WorldMagBlog
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back to top15 Comments to “Comeback kid”
I’m bothered by this whole concept of “coming out of retirement” when folks leave a sport or profession in good health, alert mind etc. What were Lance, Brett Favre etc all THINKING anyway? No one can get commercial endorsements as a “former” anything these days. Chalk it up to short attention spans.
I was in Dallas and was surprised to see Drew Pierson (Cowboys footballer, not DC political/gossip columnist) doing a plug for a bank.
As far as I know, Garth Brooks is still “retired” too, no?
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I guess Lance has figured out a new way to beat the PED/doping tests.
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“This kind of obscure bike race, totally kick-started my engine,”
He said the same sort of thing about the Tour de Georgia too…
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I have often wondered about the same issue that Sawgunner mentions. Few athletes seem to have the grace and sense to retire at the top of their form.
Again, one of the athletes I admire the most (though he probably played a little longer than he should have) is David Robinson. He is a serious Christian. That’s fine. He seems to find useful things to do to keep himself occupied and able to give up sports like a sensible person.
Considering the kind of cancer Armstrong had, I wonder if he gets “saddle sore.” On the other hand, maybe it’s an advantage.
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Few athletes seem to have the grace and sense to retire at the top of their form.
I think it’s great when an athlete retires at the top of his game, but that’s not necessary the way it should be done.
It’s equally great to see an athlete stick with a sport even when he’s past he prime, simply because he loves the game and he’s getting paid to do what he loves.
I can completely understand how one day and athlete like Armstrong or Favre can say, “You know, I’ve given everything I have to this sport, and it’s time to move on” and then a little down the road thinking, “Well, I’m still capable of playing at an elite level…why shouldn’t I get back out there and keep doing what I love.”
I assume retirement feels different to different athletes. Many are probably content with the change of pace, and some probably find that they miss the competition more than they imagined.
I just think it’s hard to criticize somebody for changing his mind and returning to a sport that he is still fit enough to do.
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This means PattiSue (Mrs. StuBob) will be watching the Tour again next year. Fortunately, I’m not the jealous type. I do wish she wouldn’t ignore me while she’s watching, though.
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Yawwannn
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#2 Lester,
He figures he has finally got them all out of his system adn no one else is doing them now so he would have a fair chance.
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I could have sworn a 41 year old American was swimming in the last Olympics and winning medals even though she was old and this was her second time that she came out of retirement.
Didn’t a 39 year old woman win the gold in the marathon.
Maybe old women are better at this than men but Farve looked pretty good last week when his team won for a tough old guy who hasn’t missed a game for a while. I’m sure it wasn’t about money for him or even fame. Like most men, he probably just never grew up and still loves to play kids games. This happens more often when you get good at something.
I think Jack won the Masters when he was pretty old too. That was great to watch but I bet it was better for him than me and he sure didn’t need the fame or money. Are you still going to be watching Tiger when he is 50 and trying to break Jack’s last record – if he still has one by then? I hope to live long enough to see it. I’m betting Jack feels the same way I do too.
It is a free country and if they want to come out of retirement, or retire, or tell you all to go to….. they can. Plus, it is none of you business. You don’t have to watch it but I bet you will anyway. You wouldn’t want them telling you what to do, how to do it or sniping at your choices – if they were legal. You can still be as stupid as you want and make a fool or hero of yourself any way you want – so long as you don’t hurt anyone else, break the law or eat llamas.
We will watch you too when you are old if you were famously good at something once upon a time
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I’m happy. If there is one thing you can say about Lance Armstrong, it’s that when he does something he’s totally dedicated to it. I can’t say I blame him for taking a break as he has the last 2 years. When your entire life revolves around one thing, sometimes you get tired and need to take a break to re-charge.
As for the doping allegations that some have hinted at on here, the fact is Lance has been tested more times than any athlete on earth, and as yet there have no positives. Most of the allegations have come from/via the French who have been highly resentful that a non-French person (particularly an American) has won “their” race and dominated it the way he did.
Of course, I have learned to “never say never” about any athlete. And it’s possible that someday we may find out that he wasn’t totally clean. If that day comes, he will have lost everything and his career and records will be ruined. And many people will be sad. But until that day comes, he deserves the presumption of innocence.
He may not (and probably won’t) win another Tour de France or Tour de Georgia, etc. But if he enjoys racing, so what? If he can qualify, let him race.
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I agree with Anlir about the doping allegations. We are talking about thousands and thousands of drug tests. What more can a cyclist do to prove his innocence?
As for his ability to win, I think he has a good shot. Armstrong is not going to return to the big races unless he is at the top of the competition. I hope he indeed returns to the Tour de France next summer…though it will be hard to know who to cheer for. I loved watching Vande Velde and the rest of Garmin Chipotle this past year, so it will be fun to watch an Armstrong-led Astana team also in the mix in 2009.
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RN: I always appreciate it when you mention David Robinson, as he has always been an incredible role model. I think that he retired at just the right time, and how many professional athletes finish with a championship?
Lance Armstrong is also one of the few who went out on top, and it seems to me that this latest announcement reveals that he misses being the center of attention. Without competing in another race, as a 7-time Tour de France winner he should have no problem raising global awareness in the battle against cancer.
Here’s hoping that our final images of Armstrong in competition are not similar to those of Michael Jordan as a Washington Wizard.
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Tychicus, thank you for an excellent post.
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I have the DVDs for every Tour that Lance won. Simply spectacular! The good thing about the DVDs is you can skip to the interesting parts!
Lance has lots of negatives when he is off the bike. So I say, keep him on the bike. Man can that guy ride! I love watching as other guys start to falter Lance turns up the heat! He motivates me to get my tired old hindquarters back out on the road.
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Yawn! Sorry, but I can’t help but be bored with yet another supremely gifted athlete who can’t stand being out of the spotlight for good.
I think he’s going to spoil one of the truly great careers with this ill-fated attempt.
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