Lance Armstrong Montage

Lance Armstrong retired officially yesterday, indicating he will not ride the Quiznos Challenge or Tour of California in 2011. Lance won seven Tours de France, was a world champion and served as an inspiration for millions of cancer survivors while raising money and awareness through his foundation. Today, forget just for a moment the drug accusations and the federal investigation. Wasn’t it just fun to watch him race? Yes, I believe it was. The Bohunk can admit that there is an awful lot of indication of wrongdoing, but nothing has stuck yet. So, regardless if you hate Lance, or love him, and you probably aren’t in between, enjoy a few pictures from his amazing career….

A young, world champion Lance Armstrong and American Tour champ Greg LeMond…This may be the only friendly conversation the two ever had.

A grainy look at Lance on the brink. One of his later chemo treatments in the mid 90’s.

Sestriere in 1999: The attack that won him
the Tour and made him the best climber in
the world over Marco Pantani.

The Look: 2001, Lance takes a peep at rival Jan Ulrich. Lance went; Ulrich could not.

Lance won his seventh tour in 2005, and retired shortly after.

Comeback 2.0 resulted in a third at the Tour and, as Lance often said himself, it was a lot more work.

Crashes marred 2010, including this one at the Tour of California, the same day Floyd Landis began his campaign against Lance in the press.

We will leave Lance here, on his way to 23rd place at the Tour in 2010, but still riding well even at 38 years old.

(More) Proof: World Going To Hell Via Hand Basket

Saxo-man Contador cannot believe the Tainted Beef Story worked…see you at Algarve, Pistolero.

In cycling, typically, once a rider is suspended, an appeal is asked for by the rider, upheld, handled poorly over  a long period of time, then denied. Alberto Contador got his one year ban overturned, effective today and meaning “El Pistolero” will be eligible to join in for the Algarve racing event in Portugal later this week. It also means he’ll be there for the Giro d’Italia, the Tour de France and all the warm up races Tour contenders frequent in the months of April, May and June. So much for “zero tolerance”. The ruling completely ignored the evidence of plasticizers in Contador’s samples, which cannot be explained away by the old stand-by, tainted beef. This story is too old and, now, too frustrating, to continue on with. Barring anything dramatic, like a judicial admission of corruption or something thoroughly juicy, you will indeed see Contador in Italy and France this season, and, no doubt, contending for the podium in both events. You will. You just, my Dear Readers, will.

Tour of California: Dope as Hell

The Amgen Tour of California has quickly become the US’ top stage race. Drawing the likes of Levi Leipheimer, Lance Armstrong, Michael Rogers and a host of international cycling giants, it is already a fixture for top pro teams, especially those leaning heavily on American sponsors, like Garmin and RadioShack. The ToC will be drugged tested by the US Anti-Doping Agency, a connection that will withdraw power from the International version which had tested the event, and many others worldwide for the past two decades. The ToC drew heavy criticism in its inaugural year, 2006, by not testing for EPO, a blood boosting drug that was extremely prevalent and popular throughout the ‘90s and early 2000s. Amgen, the title sponsor of the ToC, is a pharmaceutical company that produces EPO and other drugs meant for cancer and other medical uses. The USDA will begin out of competition testing for all of its entrants 90 days before the races start on May 15th.  

HTC’s Tony Martin, the 2010 winner, enjoys Cal-eh-fornia Gurls and the sweet, tingling sensation of victory.