Armstrong's final podium comments?

Pretty good comments from the podium in what was the only time in TdF
history that a person was allowed to speak from the podium. Wonder if he
asked for it or if they offered him a chance to speak.

comments about Basso and Ullrich omitted
"For the people that don't believe in cycling, the cynics and the skeptics:
I'm sorry for you, I'm sorry you can't dream big and I'm sorry you don't
believe in miracles. But this is one helluva race. This is a great sporting
event and you should stand around and believe. You should believe in these
athletes and you should believe in these people. And I'm a fan of the TdF
for as long as I live, and there are no secrets. This is a hard sporting
event and hard work wins it, so Vive le Tour, forever. Than you."

Wonder what got him thinking about these 'skeptics and cynics'? I'd think
he'd have no trouble ignoring those that say things like 'cycling is not a
sport; cyclists are not athletes'. That's so dumb as to not be worthy of
justification.

jj

Jet wrote:

Pretty good comments from the podium in what was the only time in TdF
history that a person was allowed to speak from the podium. Wonder if he
asked for it or if they offered him a chance to speak.

comments about Basso and Ullrich omitted
"For the people that don't believe in cycling, the cynics and the skeptics:
I'm sorry for you, I'm sorry you can't dream big and I'm sorry you don't
believe in miracles. But this is one helluva race. This is a great sporting
event and you should stand around and believe. You should believe in these
athletes and you should believe in these people. And I'm a fan of the TdF
for as long as I live, and there are no secrets. This is a hard sporting
event and hard work wins it, so Vive le Tour, forever. Than you."

Wonder what got him thinking about these 'skeptics and cynics'? I'd think
he'd have no trouble ignoring those that say things like 'cycling is not a
sport; cyclists are not athletes'. That's so dumb as to not be worthy of
justification.

No, I think it's clear that Armstrong was referring to the drug issue,
the various blanket accusations against pro racers, the innuendo that
has permeated the sport and nearly brought it down in '98. (*)

Whether Armstrong asked to speak or was offered the opportunity, I'm
sure Tour director Jean-Marie LeBlanc (sp?) really liked what he said.

(*)The people saying "cycling is not a sport" are clowns, not cynics -
and usually they are the print-media equivalent of usenet trolls - i.e.
they're saying what they are saying just to get a rise out of people.

Mark

wrote in
:

Pretty good comments from the podium in what was the only time in TdF
history that a person was allowed to speak from the podium. Wonder if
he asked for it or if they offered him a chance to speak.

comments about Basso and Ullrich omitted
"For the people that don't believe in cycling, the cynics and the
skeptics: I'm sorry for you, I'm sorry you can't dream big and I'm
sorry you don't believe in miracles. But this is one helluva race. This
is a great sporting event and you should stand around and believe. You
should believe in these athletes and you should believe in these
people. And I'm a fan of the TdF for as long as I live, and there are
no secrets. This is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it, so
Vive le Tour, forever. Than you."

Wonder what got him thinking about these 'skeptics and cynics'? I'd
think he'd have no trouble ignoring those that say things like 'cycling
is not a sport; cyclists are not athletes'. That's so dumb as to not be
worthy of justification.

jj



I don't think he was refering to people who say "cycling is not a sport".
He was refering to those who think that all cyclists use dope to compete
(like Laferty). I think he was saying that you have to believe that the
best athletes in cycling are as good as they are because of the hard work
they put into their sport.

On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 19:25:30 -0400, wrote:

Pretty good comments from the podium in what was the only time in TdF
history that a person was allowed to speak from the podium. Wonder if he
asked for it or if they offered him a chance to speak.

comments about Basso and Ullrich omitted
"For the people that don't believe in cycling, the cynics and the skeptics:
I'm sorry for you, I'm sorry you can't dream big and I'm sorry you don't
believe in miracles. But this is one helluva race. This is a great sporting
event and you should stand around and believe. You should believe in these
athletes and you should believe in these people. And I'm a fan of the TdF
for as long as I live, and there are no secrets. This is a hard sporting
event and hard work wins it, so Vive le Tour, forever. Than you."

Wonder what got him thinking about these 'skeptics and cynics'? I'd think
he'd have no trouble ignoring those that say things like 'cycling is not a
sport; cyclists are not athletes'. That's so dumb as to not be worthy of
justification.*

Er...he was likely talking about people who go on and on about doping


jj

Er...he was likely talking about people who go on and on about doping


jj


Interesting. I just thought he was promoting cycling. I think you may be
correct, however.

"Jet" wrote in message
...
Pretty good comments from the podium in what was the only time in TdF
history that a person was allowed to speak from the podium. Wonder if he
asked for it or if they offered him a chance to speak.

comments about Basso and Ullrich omitted
"For the people that don't believe in cycling, the cynics and the
skeptics:
I'm sorry for you, I'm sorry you can't dream big and I'm sorry you don't
believe in miracles. But this is one helluva race. This is a great
sporting
event and you should stand around and believe. You should believe in these
athletes and you should believe in these people. And I'm a fan of the TdF
for as long as I live, and there are no secrets. This is a hard sporting
event and hard work wins it, so Vive le Tour, forever. Than you."

Wonder what got him thinking about these 'skeptics and cynics'? I'd think
he'd have no trouble ignoring those that say things like 'cycling is not a
sport; cyclists are not athletes'. That's so dumb as to not be worthy of
justification.

jj

jj,

The skepticism and cynicism isn't about the legitimacy of cycling as a
sport. It's about doping and the legitimacy of the athlete's performances.

I was impressed with Armstrong's remarks, too. If they were "off the cuff,"
they were pretty sharp for someone who had every right to be dead on his
feet. It's just a bit curious to me that, in his final appearance as a pro
cyclist, he put the focus on doping with his parting remarks. And I wished
he's done something to single out Johan for recognition. I'm sure in
Lance's mind, he's lumped in there with the team. But still ...
--
Bob C.

"Of course it hurts. The trick is not minding that it hurts."
T. E. Lawrence (of Arabia)

"Keith" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 24 Jul 2005 19:25:30 -0400, wrote:

Pretty good comments from the podium in what was the only time in TdF
history that a person was allowed to speak from the podium. Wonder if
he
asked for it or if they offered him a chance to speak.

comments about Basso and Ullrich omitted
"For the people that don't believe in cycling, the cynics and the
skeptics:
I'm sorry for you, I'm sorry you can't dream big and I'm sorry you
don't
believe in miracles. But this is one helluva race. This is a great
sporting
event and you should stand around and believe. You should believe in
these
athletes and you should believe in these people. And I'm a fan of the
TdF
for as long as I live, and there are no secrets. This is a hard
sporting
event and hard work wins it, so Vive le Tour, forever. Than you."

Wonder what got him thinking about these 'skeptics and cynics'? I'd
think
he'd have no trouble ignoring those that say things like 'cycling is
not a
sport; cyclists are not athletes'. That's so dumb as to not be worthy
of
justification.*

Er...he was likely talking about people who go on and on about doping

LA indicated he wished he could have delivered his remarks in French
(but his French wasn't good enough) - I think his remarks were clearly
not addressed to an international or American audience, but directly to
the French. It's their event and I think he wants it known he thinks
they have been, as a people (if one can make such a generalization), too
harsh in their criticism and suspicion of drug use in cycling.

-S-



jj

"Jet" wrote in message
...
Pretty good comments from the podium in what was the only time in TdF
history that a person was allowed to speak from the podium. Wonder if he
asked for it or if they offered him a chance to speak.

comments about Basso and Ullrich omitted
"For the people that don't believe in cycling, the cynics and the
skeptics:
I'm sorry for you, I'm sorry you can't dream big and I'm sorry you don't
believe in miracles. But this is one helluva race. This is a great
sporting
event and you should stand around and believe. You should believe in these
athletes and you should believe in these people. And I'm a fan of the TdF
for as long as I live, and there are no secrets. This is a hard sporting
event and hard work wins it, so Vive le Tour, forever. Than you."

Wonder what got him thinking about these 'skeptics and cynics'? I'd think
he'd have no trouble ignoring those that say things like 'cycling is not a
sport; cyclists are not athletes'. That's so dumb as to not be worthy of
justification.

jj

Can someone post the entire speech? (CBS' coverage started with "I'm sorry
for you..." so I missed the first part of that sentence that made the rest
of it make sense). I'm interested in what he said about Basso and Ulrich,
and any other things that came before the paragraph above.

Thanks!

Mark

Mark Janeba wrote:
(*)The people saying "cycling is not a sport" are clowns, not cynics -
and usually they are the print-media equivalent of usenet trolls - i.e.
they're saying what they are saying just to get a rise out of people.

The day before the Tour, local talk radio dudes were running on about
"that's not a sport," or "What God-given talent does Lance Armstrong
have?" It's a ball-centric station, so for a while I was duped but I
finally decided that they were just trolling. Despite loving to talk
about golf (among other things), they're usually fairly smart by
radio-geek standards.

--
--
Lynn Wallace http://www.xmission.com/~lawall

Conservative dictionary:
Judicial Activist: n. A judge who tends to rule against your wishes.

"Jet" wrote in message
...
Pretty good comments from the podium in what was the only time in TdF
history that a person was allowed to speak from the podium. Wonder if he
asked for it or if they offered him a chance to speak.

comments about Basso and Ullrich omitted
"For the people that don't believe in cycling, the cynics and the
skeptics:
I'm sorry for you, I'm sorry you can't dream big and I'm sorry you don't
believe in miracles. But this is one helluva race. This is a great
sporting
event and you should stand around and believe. You should believe in these
athletes and you should believe in these people. And I'm a fan of the TdF
for as long as I live, and there are no secrets. This is a hard sporting
event and hard work wins it, so Vive le Tour, forever. Than you."

Wonder what got him thinking about these 'skeptics and cynics'? I'd think
he'd have no trouble ignoring those that say things like 'cycling is not a
sport; cyclists are not athletes'. That's so dumb as to not be worthy of
justification.

jj

Probably those folks at Marlboro that want to fool everyone into thinking
that Michael Schumacher is some kind of an athlete- eg. you can still be an
athlete and smoke

Laz