10 Reasons to Love Lance

The first five would be enough for me.

swap #6 for: Letting Pantani take the stage win - the last race Elefantino ever won.

Did he let Pantani win ? If there´s one thing LA can´t do it´s sprint , with a cadence that high how do you go faster except by changing gear ? a no no in a sprint .
LA did , however get very stroppy about Pantani not helping after , to the point of calling him a " [censored]-stirring sob " on live tv at the end of the stage because Pantani had gone for a long one and forced US postal to chase unaided . ( think the stage was eventually won by Virenque ) .

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by el Inglés
Did he let Pantani win ? If there´s one thing LA can´t do it´s sprint , with a cadence that high how do you go faster except by changing gear ? a no no in a sprint .
LA did , however get very stroppy about Pantani not helping after , to the point of calling him a " [censored]-stirring sob " on live tv at the end of the stage because Pantani had gone for a long one and forced US postal to chase unaided . ( think the stage was eventually won by Virenque ) .

Oh yeah, he let Pantani win - Lance obviously sat up at the line (but it was RIGHT at the line). Seemed like a nice gesture at the time but Pantani didn't see it as such; it's not the same when you sit up for a guy who's trying to make a name for himself as when you sit up for a guy who's already won major tours. I think Marco thought that the gesture was meant as a thank you for helping Lance take some time on the stage (and Marco would not "help" Lance do anything) but Lance thought (at the time) that it was a gesture of respect since he didn't need the stage win for himself.

The pissing match between those two was kind of painful to watch.

The pissing match between those two was kind of painful to watch. [/B][/QUOTE]

Too true .
But they do say that sport , like cards and making love , is a great revealer of character .

Quoted post said:

swap #6 for: Letting Pantani take the stage win - the last race Elefantino ever won.

the last race Pantani won isn't the Carpentras-Mont Ventoux stage (stage 12) you guys are talking about, but the Briançon-Courchevel stage (stage14), with these standings:

1. Marco Pantani (Ita/Mercatone) 5h34:46
2. Jose Maria Jimenez (Spa/Banesto) +41s
3. Roberto Heras (Spa/Kelme) +50s
4. Lance Armstrong (Usa/Us Postal) +50s

Unlike the Texan, Pantani's pedigree as a cyclist was evident from Day 1.
The lost years of 1992-1996 in the Texans career are damning in my opinion.

You cant be serious whith a "Did Lance let Pantini win" debate....the better man won up that hill half fit and it [censored] Lance off and nearly cost him the tour. That stage where Pantani took off and Lance chased was a stroke of genious by Marko, he had no chance of beating Lance as unfitt as he was so he did a suicide that Lance was stupid enough to fall for (self aditted "Amature mistake"😉 Geez I wish Marko had riden 1999 and 2001 fit...I'm not 100% sure he would of beat Lance but it would have been a hell of a race....

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by Fixey
You cant be serious whith a "Did Lance let Pantini win" debate....the better man won up that hill half fit and it [censored] Lance off and nearly cost him the tour. That stage where Pantani took off and Lance chased was a stroke of genious by Marko, he had no chance of beating Lance as unfitt as he was so he did a suicide that Lance was stupid enough to fall for (self aditted "Amature mistake"😉 Geez I wish Marko had riden 1999 and 2001 fit...I'm not 100% sure he would of beat Lance but it would have been a hell of a race....

Pantani never was a great respecter of reputations - what he did to LA, he also did to Indurain.
He was absolutely fearless - and that's the problem with the peleton now - they fear LA.
Pantani would just let rip.
Even look at the people who opposed Indurain : Riis, Jalabert,
Chiappuci, Bugno, LeMond, Roche : they would never quake like this lot who oppose LA.
Ullrich is positively timid around LA.
They need to adopt the Hinault attitude - let rip and **** the begrudgers !

Quoted post said:

Originally posted by limerickman
Pantani never was a great respecter of reputations - what he did to LA, he also did to Indurain.
He was absolutely fearless - and that's the problem with the peleton now - they fear LA.
Pantani would just let rip.
Even look at the people who opposed Indurain : Riis, Jalabert,
Chiappuci, Bugno, LeMond, Roche : they would never quake like this lot who oppose LA.
Ullrich is positively timid around LA.
They need to adopt the Hinault attitude - let rip and **** the begrudgers !

Both Mayo and Vinokurov attacked him with wanton abandon last year, first time since Marko and what happened? he had his worst tour to date....
"If I can convince him that I am better than him, then I indeed am..."

And if Vino and J.U were in the same team and then Beloki hadn't crashed so terribly then he wouldn't have won.

1. By winning the TDF, he has inreased the profile of cycling in the U.S., thus leading to more media coverage of the sport. Actually, its more like he has increased the media coverage of the TDF, or more accurately, coverage of Lance Armstrong at the TDF. But anyway, I’ll take what I can get.

2. He is not a child molester. As far as we know.

3. His ridiculous comments to [censored] Pound made me more aware of WADA’s activities and efforts to control doping. Go WADA!!

4. He is banging a rock star. Cool.

5. He is banging a rock star, raising the profile of cycling in the U.S., and possibly leading to more media coverage of the sport (or rather of the TDF, or rather of LA at the TDF). See Item #1.

6. His amazing cancer recovery to becoming the TDF champion story has redeemed the TDF after the horrible scandals of the 1998 tour threatened to destroy the reputation of the tour.

7. He is a billiant media strategist having cast a beautiful mythology around his “all-american - poor kid - overcoming cancer - scoring blond trophy wife - scoring beautiful blond offspring despite no testicles - TDF champion - banging a rock star” life. Its an inspring story for all the little childrens. See? If you work hard enough and are genetically gifted with a high VO2 max, you too can overcome cancer and bag Sheryl Crow even without testicles!

8. He does a convincing job as a boxer in that very cool Nike commercial.

9. He hasn’t killed anyone. Yet.

10. Will probably manage to finish his career without the taint of drug scandal and without having failed a doping test. Thus maintaining some integrity for a sport increasing dogged by scandals.

DiabloScott said:

swap #6 for: Letting Pantani take the stage win - the last race Elefantino ever won.

this is the reason that i dont like LA on a personal level. Yes, he did let Pantani win. LA beat him on the climb and was heading toward the finish to pulled back at the last minute. Not only did he let the Pirate win but he showed all spectators that he (LA) had clearly won before he pulled the lowest of the low strokes.

Pantani totally lost respect for him at that point (as did i) and in my opinion he showed that he is no sportsman.

PS, its an old thread by i just found it and had to comment.

1. Great story. Coming back from cancer, even if just to live a normal life, that's awesome.
2. Also got my fat butt off the couch and on a bike, and I've lost 30 lbs and ride 30-40 miles a day. Thanks for the inspiration Lance!
3. One of the few athletes out there that hasn't committed a crime or gotten busted for starting a fight in a club somewhere. He's clean, and he is likeable on those merits alone, not couting his lack of doping in the sport.
4. His LiveStrong campaign has really pulled in a lot of money for cancer research, and he is an inspiration for millions who are suffering from the disease.
5. I've watched him race, and I don't care what anybody says, he's doing things by skill alone that is making him win. I don't even see how doping would add to his handling of the race itself. He and his team are great at strategy, and they work really hard to put Lance in the right place at the right time. He always seems to know the route better than most riders, and he has good instincts for how races develop, and is a natural leader in the peloton. His form and aero position are 'perfect', and no doping can improve that.
6. He's from the USA, and Texas!
7. He likes his fans
8. He likes all-black muscle cars
9. He learned French
10. He knows how to win