A Welcome Act of Modesty
Posted by
Dawn
A news report claims that Lance Armstrong, who basically owns the Tour de France to a degree that is getting embarrassing, has announced he will move on to other events after beating the crap out of the other competitors this year. Armstrong is now one of only five people in history to have won the Tour five times, and after he wins this year (as he will certainly do, barring some disaster - he currently leads by more than 4 minutes, and is one of the top few in history in days leading and in single-stage victories), he will be the only person ever to have won 6 Tours.
He is only 32 and will continue to compete; he could very likely win the Tour again, pushing the record even higher, but he chooses not to out of respect for the other champions.
Explaining why he said Armstrong, 32, will not ride in the Tour again, the official said Armstrong saw no point in going for a seventh victory, especially out of respect for the four other riders who have won five times.Armstrong wants to set a record for Tour victories, the official said, but he does not want to appear to be rubbing in any superiority over the feats of Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.
Apparently the decision isn’t final, but this seems characteristic of Armstrong, given what little I know of him from the press. I think it’s charming to see someone deliberately pass up an opportunity for self-aggrandizement - and to embellish his already-guaranteed place in history - simply as an act of courtesy.
Good riding, Lance.
UPDATE (7/25):
Armstrong has now won his sixth Tour de France.
Apparently, the story mentioned above was premature. Armstrong has now indicated he will race in at least one more Tour, though perhaps not next year. It partly depends on what his new sponsors want him to do - they may not want their most visible team member to drop out of the highest-profile event.
How exactly is being patronized going to make the other champions feel better?
Comment 7/23/2004