Brief but interesting look at the way this elite athlete's body works. 6,500 - 10,000 calories a day!!

Lance Armstrong - Anatomy of a Champion (http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5289509/)

His training methods are simply unbelievable...

Read his two books "Its Not About The Bike" and "Every Second Counts"

I really believe that there is not one single athelete in the entire world present or past that works harder....Its hard to say that and not sound like you're exaggerating, but read the books and tell me what you think.....

One more thing I wanted to mentions...he attributes his incredibly high VO2 max to his ability to recover from cancer. FYI...my VO2 gets tested once a month and hte highest i've EVER been able to achieve was 55.5...that was Lances VO2 when he was sick and sedentary, unbelievable, no?

I think that Lance might be a mutant. That dude is awesome and now he's wearing YELLOW! GO LANCE!

Speaking of Lance, I find this year's Tour just plain disappointing. How on earth could all the "big contenders" be so unprepared for the race?

The 2004 Tour started and ended last Friday. Armstrong destroyed everyone on that first real mountain and it is pretty much over now. Heras, Ullrich, Mayo, what the hell is up with these guys? Did they not know that Armstrong was training like crazy all year? Hamilton was - I think - the only real threat to Armstrong but like usual he crashed and ruined his chances.

The 2004 Tour started and ended last Friday.

It ain't over till it's over. And Ivan Basso is giving him a good run for his money.

However, I do agree that Ullrich and Heras are a huge disapointment.

Hate to be a naysayer, but it is POSSIBLE that he's doping and has not yet been caught. I'm not just shooting crap - Greg Lemond, three time tour winner, is fairly convinced that Lance is using illicit chemicals.

It would not surprise me if they eventually find that he has been. That said, until he's prooven guilty I've no problem giving him the benefit of the doubt. He's undoubtedly a stunning athlete, and I'll enjoy seeing him get 6th place. I wonder if he'll come back next year and keep going until he loses...?

I was pretty amazed to see him destroy a 9 minute lead in only two days. Even hearing some of the comments from his competitors you can tell that they are a tiny bit demoralized. I mean, they "know" that they can't beat him, so it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy to some degree.

To respond to the doping thing...

It certainly seems by his performance that he is doping to many even in the cycling world...but isn't it possible that he's just the Michael Jordan of cycling...that no one was ever better and perhaps no one can ever be better? That seems a possible reason for LeMond's accusations. I also want to ask this of those who accuse him of doping...for a man who has had all kinds of needles, catheters, and knives shoved in his body, a man who's had brain surgery, a testical removed, and enough chemo to nearly kill him, why would he take drugs? The drug they accuse him of taking is EPOs, but yet he has never ONCE tested positive for them (they randomly test him even in the off season and they test him after every race stage as well)...this isnt a Barry Bonds situation where you look at a guy who was small and hittin' a good number of dinger to a guy who got HUGE and hit a bunch more dingers...how has lances body changed? Has it? They talk a lot about his endurance, but he's been cycling since he was a kid, and he was a world class cyclist before he had cancer. I think what it comes down to is that 1) We've never seen anyone perform like Lance in the history of organized endurance sports 2) He's had cancer w/ a 99.9% chance of death, survived, and STILL performs to that level 3) There is rampant jealousy along with disbelief from the French who don't want to see Americans succeed in THIER sport, and from the cycling community (such as LeMond) who is in disbelief at how much his former friend has been able to overshadow LeMond's career.
I'm sorry to write so much about this, and this wasn't aimed at you Skroob...I just think that when accusations are out there, the average person seems to be skeptical. As a race fan, a Lance fan, and someone w/ a pretty good knowledge of both I thought these points shoudl be made so people see the "other side" of the doping allegations.

This doping thing is getting old.

I am quite sure that Armstrong *did* take drugs long time ago. Just notice how he never said that he never took them, he always says that he never did or will "test positive".

Also, like Lemonsong said it is hard on the "European cycling nations" that an american is going to break the biggest record in cycling.

On the other hand, Lance is still very very far from becoming the best ever in cycling. Eddy Merckx, the Cannibal is - in my opinion - the biggest cyclist ever. World amateur champion at age 18. Won 5 Tours, 5 Giros and one Vuelta. 3 times World (pro) Champion. Broke the 1 hour record at held it from 1972-84. 7 times Milan - San Remo winner, 3 times Paris - Roubaix, 5 times Liege - Bastogne - Liege, etc. One of only 2 riders (Stephen Roche being the other) who did the cycling Grand Slam (Tour, Giro and World Championship in the same year). He had a total of 445 professional victories. He was absolutely crazy, he would attack all the time, non stop and just eat up his competitors (hence his nickname). In 1969 he won all 3 of the major jerseys on the Tour.

If there is a cycling god, Eddy Merckx is the one.

This doping thing is getting old.

I am quite sure that Armstrong *did* take drugs long time ago. Just notice how he never said that he never took them, he always says that he never did or will "test positive".

Also, like Lemonsong said it is hard on the "European cycling nations" that an american is going to break the biggest record in cycling.

On the other hand, Lance is still very very far from becoming the best ever in cycling. Eddy Merckx, the Cannibal is - in my opinion - the biggest cyclist ever. World amateur champion at age 18. Won 5 Tours, 5 Giros and one Vuelta. 3 times World (pro) Champion. Broke the 1 hour record at held it from 1972-84. 7 times Milan - San Remo winner, 3 times Paris - Roubaix, 5 times Liege - Bastogne - Liege, etc. One of only 2 riders (Stephen Roche being the other) who did the cycling Grand Slam (Tour, Giro and World Championship in the same year). He had a total of 445 professional victories. He was absolutely crazy, he would attack all the time, non stop and just eat up his competitors (hence his nickname). In 1969 he won all 3 of the major jerseys on the Tour.

If there is a cycling god, Eddy Merckx is the one.

Eddie Merckx was doping.

Well, first of all, *everyone* used to dope in cycling. Even Indurain was quoted once that "You cannot finish the Tour only on lemonade".

It is only relatively recently that the UCI takes doping pretty seriously and doping really decreased in pro cycling.

On the other hand, the doping charges against Eddy were dropped in 1969 (the year he was suspended during the Giro).

*double post*

Well, first of all, *everyone* used to dope in cycling. Even Indurain was quoted once that "You cannot finish the Tour only on lemonade".

It is only relatively recently that the UCI takes doping pretty seriously and doping really decreased in pro cycling.

On the other hand, the doping charges against Eddy were dropped in 1969 (the year he was suspended during the Giro).

I was just joking. :D I agree that Eddy is the king of cycling.

Hey is an amazing athlete, but beyond that a genetic freak... this has allowed him to get to where he is... superhuman :p

Why does Lance dominate?

1. Work ethic. Here's an example: The Alpe d'Huez time trial is today. Lance rode it 4 times in one workout session for an estimated grand total of 10-20 times. No other rider is mentioned as having rode it even once in preparation
2. Lemonsong touched on it when he mentioned LA's VO2 Max. Lance has an abnormally high aerobic capacity but so do most world class cyclists. However, he enhances that by his training and work ethic.
3. His ability to produce less Lactic Acid than normal. This is a huge advantage. He is able to push harder and tires less than the normal rider.
4. He has survived cancer. In his books he discusses how he views the TDF as a way to shake his fist at cancer and say "I am still here!" He rides for other cancer survivors and those still fighting. He carries that with him.

One can argue whether Lance is the greatest cyclist of alltime. One cannot argue that Lance is the greatest TDF rider ever.

Read his books, esp his first one and you will begin to understand why the TDF is symbolic of so many things for Lance. Apart from it being the Super Bowl of cycling, there is special significance both personally and professionally.

The CSC team (in its entirety) were at L'Alpe d'Huez earlier that year memorizing the route. They rode it several times. Lance has however, had the most runs up the route in preparation.