14 DAY TRIAL // Lance Armstrong represents for the world of cycling what Pele does for football. Of course, there were players like Maradona, Platini, Cruyff or Romario? But everyone must admit that, beyond reasonable doubt, Pele was the greatest of them all.
It's the same in cycling. Sure, you will say that there were also Eddie Merxt, Fausto Coppi or Greg Lemond, but still, it just seems like Lance Armstrong has outcome all of them. I don't know exactly why. Maybe because of his experience in facing death due to a horrible disease - a testicular cancer - that he monopolized every cycling fan's memory. Because, let's face it? Before he was diagnosed with this horrifying disease, Lance was not making anyone turn his or her heads.
Consequently, maybe it was his story that fascinated us and made us believe that he truly is the greatest cyclist of all times, and if you add up all the 7 Tour de France wins, that's a fact. But, if you think that he didn't race in any other Tour around the World, you might feel differently. Still, he had a target, and he shoot perfectly? He said more than five tours, and he made it seven! Would he have done it in Italy or Spain? Maybe. But, we'll never know?
However, there's one more aspect that I want to stress about Lance Armstrong. As every champion in his time, he isn't treated with the respect he deserves. I assume you all know about the allegations that have been recently proved wrong about him using banned substances in the 1999 Tour.
Yeah well... let's think about that for a second. The French newspaper that accused him had no real proof in order to 'fire on the greatest champ' of the competition. Let's think logical here. Lance's victory in 1999 was, maybe, the less astonishing of all. There was no great story about him winning the first tour of his carrier. Why use EPO then, and not in the big clashes to come? For example, in 2000, when he had several trouble with Pantani. Or in 2002, when he barely managed to get a good climb in the whole Tour, winning only the time-trials.
If it were that easy to use EPO, why not use it in 2003, when all of his competitors were forming an alliance against him? He must have needed it then, since no one could have been there for him, but his teammates. So, it's clear? it's illogical.
First, why would Jean-Marie LeBlanc want an American to take over the Tour? It's highly unlikely that the Tour organizer had no idea about what happened in 1999. Why didn't they reveal "the information" then? As the 'L'Equipe' is concerned, they were always against the American, which is mostly unethical, since they 'threw doubts on Armstrong' almost on every edition of the Tour. Still, despite all of that, he managed to break through. And yet, neither Jean-Marie LeBlanc, nor 'L'Equipe' have released one statement in which they were to admit they were wrong.
Most importantly, Lance Armstrong was the only champion whose era was full of doping scandals. Despite all that, he always maintained his attentiveness, and fought as much as he could against every allegation brought upon him. Even now, after one year from his retirement, he still takes a strong position in terms of doping: "I wanted to clear my name, but also to show that many of the procedures in doping scandals are not the way they're supposed to. I hope that this is a good lesson for the drug-commissioners inside the sport", said Armstrong right after a private investigation firm 'looked into his case'.
So, again, why is Lance Armstrong the best cyclist of all times? Because he has overcome cancer, doping scandals, media envy and, more importantly, everyone else's desire to beat him. And he didn't just do it one time? He has been doing it for the last 8 years. If that's not a great champion, I don't know who is...