Watching the 2009 tour de France was special this year for me. I enjoy the race itself, the coverage and the extreme effort and commitment it takes to compete in that event, but I also enjoyed this year’s event because the race saw the return of Lance Armstrong after being away from the cycling world for almost 4 years.
Now Mr. Armstrong is not everyone’s cup of tea and I appreciate that, but at the same time his story is remarkable any which way you tell it, and his return to the Tour this year had some folks happy and some rather skeptical. I chose to look at it strictly from an athletic performance standpoint. To leave a sport at your height, not engage in that competitive atmosphere for 3 plus years and to come back and still be among the top in the world to me is astounding. Being a decade older and more than some of his competitors and still able to finish in third place over all was inspiring to me.
Some may think because of his previous 7 wins that coming back would be and easy thing and that winning would be a fore gone conclusion, but that was not the case and honestly I find it a greater feat that he was more of a complete professional and knew how to handle himself over the three weeks better than most anyone in the race. He recognized there were some stronger competitors in the race and that he wouldn’t win without full team support and even with tension within his own team, he still played a team role.
His presence really controlled all that were in the race and for the sport his presence was completely impactful from TV revenues, ratings and the live crowds drawn to this year’s tour. Alberto Contador, this years winner, was strong and spectacular in his win, but to the men who took second, third, fourth and fifth I found their drive to be more inspiring and captivating than anything else and of course Mr. Armstrong’s performance seemed to be the catalyst for those other great performances this year.
The amount of attention Lance Armstrong can generate for his sport, for the fight against cancer with his Livestrong Foundation, for the pressure his being in that race applies to everyone else involved makes third place, this year, a first place finish. Learn more about the Livestrong Foundation at http://www.livestrong.org/.
Now Mr. Armstrong is not everyone’s cup of tea and I appreciate that, but at the same time his story is remarkable any which way you tell it, and his return to the Tour this year had some folks happy and some rather skeptical. I chose to look at it strictly from an athletic performance standpoint. To leave a sport at your height, not engage in that competitive atmosphere for 3 plus years and to come back and still be among the top in the world to me is astounding. Being a decade older and more than some of his competitors and still able to finish in third place over all was inspiring to me.
Some may think because of his previous 7 wins that coming back would be and easy thing and that winning would be a fore gone conclusion, but that was not the case and honestly I find it a greater feat that he was more of a complete professional and knew how to handle himself over the three weeks better than most anyone in the race. He recognized there were some stronger competitors in the race and that he wouldn’t win without full team support and even with tension within his own team, he still played a team role.
His presence really controlled all that were in the race and for the sport his presence was completely impactful from TV revenues, ratings and the live crowds drawn to this year’s tour. Alberto Contador, this years winner, was strong and spectacular in his win, but to the men who took second, third, fourth and fifth I found their drive to be more inspiring and captivating than anything else and of course Mr. Armstrong’s performance seemed to be the catalyst for those other great performances this year.
The amount of attention Lance Armstrong can generate for his sport, for the fight against cancer with his Livestrong Foundation, for the pressure his being in that race applies to everyone else involved makes third place, this year, a first place finish. Learn more about the Livestrong Foundation at http://www.livestrong.org/.
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