Six time Tour de France winner, Lance Armstrong, has decided to call it a day.
This article from cyclingnews.com says, Six-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong will retire on July 24, one day after the Tour de France. At a press conference in Augusta, Georgia today, 33 year-old Armstrong announced that he would not be continuing for another year, confirming his statements earlier this year that “four months, and it’s over.”
Armstrong said today, “I have decided that the Tour de France will be my last race as a professional cyclist. July 24 will be my last one after 14 years in the professional peloton. Having said that, I’m fully committed to winning a seventh Tour.
It’ll be sad to see him go. While he hasn’t always endeared himself to all, he is certainly a great cyclist and a great example of courage.
Even if you know nothing about cycling, it’s worth grabbing a copy of his book, It’s Not About the Bike. The book tells the story of his courageous comeback from cancer after doctors had given him very little chance of living, and virtually no chance of hopping on a bicycle again. He proved them wrong by not only getting back on his bike, but by winning the Tour de France more times than any other man in the event’s history.
Posted by Rodney Olsen
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I admire Lance’s courage, but I have to admit my admiration of him took a major hit when he left his wife and kids to go shack up with Sheryl Crow. I don’t know the context of the divorce — maybe it was the culmination of a lot of things over a long period of time — but it would be nice to say that a guy who beats cancer to go on to win the Tour de France multiple times could figure out how to reconcile with his wife.
On the other hand, keeping a marriage healthy and cohesive is probably harder to do than the Tour de France…
I agree Robert. I was very dissapointed when I heard that he was leaving his wife. I guess it’s hard for me to come to terms with the fact that we’re all fractured people. My heart sinks whenever I hear of a marriage ending.
I’m sure that Lance would be a very intense person to live with and that wouldn’t have made things easy for them.
I think the cause of the divorce was Lance’s intensity in training. He was probably gone away or immersed in at-home training probably 10-11 months out of the year. What’s ironic is that he’s retiring so shortly after the breakup of his marriage.
You have to wonder, if he quit a couple years ago, would they still have gotten divorced? In his book (great read!) he seemed to be keenly aware of the trouble his schedule caused.
Was it the fame that came with winning so many Tour’s?