It was apparent to me as Lance Armstrong fended off attack after attack in the Alps that he was the prohibitive favorite to wear the Yellow Jersey of the Tour de France all the way through to Paris. I began to think about the next move in Armstrong’s athletic career, specifically about whether he could return to competing in triathlons at an elite level.
Lance refuted this notion in an interview he did Outside Magazine for their July 2005 issue:
Any idea of going back to triathlon?
No. Listen, I am going to do a triathlon, and it’s called Luke, Grace, Isabelle. Those are the three; that’s enough. My first priority is just to be there for my children as much as I can.
In spite of this seemingly definitive answer from Lance himself, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I asked Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen what they thought of the idea. I had the good fortune of being invited to participate in a Rest Day conference call arranged by OLN and here was what I asked:
Dave Aiello / OperationGadget.com: First of all, thanks for for doing this. It’s a terrific opportunity for all of us who didn’t make it to the Tour.
Do either of you think that Lance Armstrong will ever compete in an endurance sporting event covered by the media again in the future? I think the potential interest in his participation in something like Ironman Hawaii, both from a sponsorship and a viewership perspective, would be significant.
Liggett: I can only repeat what Lance said to me in September and what he also said at the press conference {at the Tour de Georgia} in April…. One thing’s for certain, come Monday he will never race a bike as a professional bike rider again.
He will never go back on that decision. He said that’s it. He said that you may see him in a local bike race somewhere deep in Texas for the sheer fun of it…. He’s the sort of athlete … that cannot come to the event half ready, half fit, and with the thought of just riding for the heck of it.
Therefore although he would have great ability and of course he has proven ability in triathlons, even at the Ironman distance, because he would immediately think of the preparation involved, of the regime that has to be lived, and… he can’t go through all that again. It would be stepping back into a professional sport. So, I don’t think he will.
I think he will do his charity rides because he can do those on one leg just for the fun of it, but he will never go back to a professional status again.
Sherwen: I agree with Phil on that. The thing about Lance Armstrong over the last seven years that we’ve always thought that because of the way he approaches his preparation for an event like this, one day or another he’d get up and say, “I don’t want to do this anymore.”
Not because it’s physically demanding because physically I think he could race for a couple of more years. But I think his training is a lot more mentally demanding than any of us could ever imagine. When he comes to the Tour de France, his physical performance is probably a lot easier than when he’s actually training.
Compound that with the fact that I think he misses his kids an awful lot. I think that’s one of the major parts of his decision to stop doing the sport.
Keep in mind that he’s been a pro athlete since about age 14 on the triathlon circuit. He’s been at the top of the professional cycling sport for a long time.
I think it’s a magnificent decision that he’s made to ride the Tour de France one more time and to retire on the final day. That is instead of going on to riding a couple of exhibition events in, for example, in Holland where he goes nearly every year or in the United States. I think if he can retire on the 24th of July at the Yellow Jersey at the Tour de France that would be the best retirement that I have ever seen in the sport of professional cycling.
I was one of many journalists who had the opportunity to participate in this press conference. I was really impressed with the consideration that Paul and Phil gave to each person’s question, and their willingness to work through some technical difficulties that made the call a bit harder than it otherwise would have been.
It was a big thrill to be able to talk to them, and I sent several other questions to my contacts at OLN that I hope to get answered as well. If I hear anything further, I’ll let you know.
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