Lance has done it again, how come he does not get the respect he deserves in America?  This guy is not only a great athlete but he is also a great human being, some thing you cannot say about most American athletes.  Does an athlete have too be a big asshole too get any respect in the United States?  Lance has proven he is the best ever, best of all he really pisses off the french and other euro trash. This is a great story, and America can use all the great stories it can get right now!

For the same reasons why soccer isn't as big in America.

If it's not mainstream media and pounded into our heads everyday, it isn't popular.

Besides Bikers and soccer players for the most part show great respect and sportsmanship towards one another, so the possiblity of a bench clearing brawl is unlikely, so in turn american's don't like it.

Don't even get me started on the money reasons.

Lance Armstrong is one of the worlds greatest CYCLISTS! That is to say he can compete with anyone on the cycling front, but can he compete with any professional NBA player or just about any other pro level sport? (NO).  Lance is a cyclist pure and simple, so no way can you say he is the greatest athlete  ever.   But you can say he has some of the best endurance of any athlete ever.    

I too am a cyclist and would love to be able to just a little of what this man does but, alas, I have neither the time nor the energy to even THINK about doing what he does.

CBS reported on Sunday that the win in the Tour de France pays about  $500,000.  Lance Armstrong was giving ALL of it to his team mates and support staff.  Not only a superb athlete but a generous team player!

Its a Tour tradition to share the prize money with the team.  Without the team, the lead rider would not be on the podium.  Tyler Hamilton got a second in the 2002 Giro D'Italia and as I understand it bought $10,000 worth of Oakley watches, had them engraved "Gracia" and gave them to 20 teammates.

The team suffers and rides for it's lead rider.  When that rider wins, they know that their win rest in large part on their team's support.

Oh, and Lance ROCKS!

When are we going to start the Frog bashing on this thread?

What makes Lance Armstrong the "greatest ever" when other riders have won more consecutive Tours de France?

I believe that only Spain's Miguel Indurain has won more Tours consecutively (5). No other American has won four in a row; very few Euros have won four in a row. And no one has won even one after surviving cancer!

Armstrong may not be the greatest all-around athlete ever, but he's definitely the stuff of legend. Like most endurance athletes, of course, he can't compete every other day and therefore put his enormous talents on display often enough for the American public (with its discouragingly minute attention span) to appreciate him. Plus, he choses to focus on the TdF and doesn't race in many other events during the year leading up to it. Of course, the great thing about it is that it doesn't really bother him. He faced death once and walked/rode away to become a better man--as well as husband, father, son, human.

(Edited to add a word for clarity.)

Lance is a friggen beast.

Can you think about the achievement 4 god damn times. What are the odds?

Lance is a all around good guy too.

I love it when America is on top and beating people at their own game, it's even sweeter WHEN IT'S TIME AFTER TIME AFTER TIME !!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

imo, eddy merckx was, possibly, the greatest cyclist "ever". unfortunately, steroids assisted his career.

a "modern day" cyclist cannot be compared to a merckx. eddy rode, and won, almost everything, in his day. a modern tour rider is groomed only to ride the tour...to win it.

not the vuelta. not the giro. not the classics.

back "in the day" a team leader rode as many races as his health would permit...and sometimes as long as he could throw a leg over!

lance, like lemond before him, is a specialist. nonetheless, his athletic prowess ranks him as among the best ever to turn the cranks.

dolomite, after jalabert's epic solo victory in the mountains this year, we cannot bash the french too hard! lol!

never forget, the french gave us louison bobet! jacques anquetil! bernard thevenet...bernard hinault...laurant fignon...cristophe....and thousands of other great racers.


next year will be the 100th anniversaty of le tour. if lance can do 5 victories, there will be no question as to his status among the "campione del campiones".


dugster, i have pondered your question since 1972. i remember sitting tranfixed to the tv and watching a scrawny kid named george mount drive the pace in the montreal olympics road race...lap after lap, george pounded out a tatoo up that mont...with a smile on his face! back then, a yank dragging the peloton up that grade was looked upon with disbelief by canadian and european cycling. george's stars and stripes jersey was an amazing thing to see at the front of that field.

ever since that day, a mainly ignorant or uninterested american public has largely ignored the accomplishments of the last 30 years of american cyclists.

i find this very sad. afterall, if one knows the history of cycling, one would know that the united states was a cycling power in the 1890's up to about 1925.

a few of us can appreciate lance armstrong's abilities and efforts.

btw, if you see kurt harnett, tell him i said hello!

Here in California thin men that wear tight shorts and ride bicycles are called homosexuals.





Not that there is anything wrong with that[;)]

Sgtar15

"Here in California thin men that wear tight shorts and ride bicycles are called homosexuals."

dugster, therin lies your answer, i believe.

Ya! Well I still think Lance is the greatest when you combine the whole package; 4 wins (1 win is a monumental accomplishment and make's a career in racing), Cancer-Chemo, clean (I believe Lance is clean,and I do not believe most racers in the Tour de France are clean), and the fact that he is a good guy, beside Tiger Woods I cannot think of another American Athlete who even comes close.

And as for the Homo aspect of cycling, analogizes could be made about every other sport too:

Football - shoulder pads (too make the waist look small) & little short tights).

Hockey (best sport ever!) - Garters & stockings

baseball - Oh my pinky is hurt, I will have too miss a month or two.

Basketball - Well, lets not go there!

btw, CAMPYBOB I will say hello to Kurt if I see him, we Canadians Love Kurt and I see him from time to time, but do not know him personally.

Is Lance the greatest ever??? Even the frogs say...

[img]http://www.cix.co.uk/~tcs/french/frog.gif[/img]

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