Saturday, September 18, 2021
The legend’s brutal crash
How the US ignores Lance Armstrong
By Heiko Oldbod
The name Lance Armstrong is synonymous with doping and fraud. The American had won the Tour de France seven times – all titles were withdrawn from him. In retrospect, he wouldn’t change anything in his career, says Armstrong, who turns 50 today.
It almost seems as if his milestone birthday doesn’t even exist. As if Lance Armstrong had taken to heart the words of former President of the World Cycling Federation, Pat McQuaid, who said in October 2012 that the American “no longer has a place in cycling and deserves to be forgotten.” The Texan turns 50 today – but nothing about it can be found in the US media. No documentaries on television, no interviews or stories in the daily newspapers. Where is he celebrating? Who is he celebrating with? Is he even celebrating? The questions remain unanswered. One might think that America is simply no longer interested in the man who once said of himself that he made it from hero to zero – that is, from hero to zero.
What had they suffered with him when he was seriously ill with testicular cancer in 1996. His urologist, Dr. Jim Reeves, had given him a “20 to 50 percent” chance of survival – but only to give him some hope, he later admitted. Because in reality it was much worse for the patient Armstrong. And how had the Americans admired him when he won the Tour de France in 1999, less than three years after his last chemotherapy. And again in 2000. And also in 2001. A total of seven times in a row. Lance Armstrong was the global face of a sport. The Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps or Michael Schumacher of cycling.
Of course there had always been critics who accused him of doping. But Armstrong had never tested positive. At least never officially. But when, after the end of his career, more and more former team members broke the Omerta, this Mafia-like code of honor, testified against him under oath, when the American anti-doping agency USADA came to the conclusion in 2012 that Armstrong’s team had the “most sophisticated, professional and most successful doping program in sports history “, this Texan, always so bitter and heartless, knew that only a confession could save him from prison.
28 million people saw the confession
Armstrong admitted in a globally acclaimed TV interview in front of 28 million people at Oprah Winfrey that he had lied and cheated for years. Armstrong emphasized in the “HVMN” podcast last year that he could not change anything he had done – and added in the same sentence that he would not want to change anything. Typical Armstrong. Indifferent and arrogant. Still. At least it sounded like that.
He has learned a lot since 2013, he says. Armstrong had apologized to many whom he bullied, lied to, or made life hell. And he knows that there are still many whom he must ask for forgiveness. But overall he was “very happy” with his life, according to Armstrong. Everything was “a wild ride.”
He drives the mountains “as hard as it can”
His life today is calmer. Armstrong has five children, but the first three from his first marriage are already in college – and therefore away from home. The deeply fallen, former cycling star lives in Aspen with his long-time fiancée, Anna Hansen, and their two children. There, in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, he often meets up with friends for long bike rides.
The rides are more of a leisurely character and the other drivers are primarily amateur athletes. Still, he drives up the mountains “as hard as possible,” says Armstrong. Once at the top, he then checks emails or enjoys the view until the rest of the group has caught up and then they go on together. He also keeps fit by jogging. Sunday is always the day for the long edges, then Armstrong runs for two hours.
$ 111 million in damage – but still rich
Financially he is fine – or rather, fine again. He was just barely able to avert a US government claim for damages worth $ 100 million with a payment of $ 5 million. Due to legal fees, lost sponsorship money, repayments and other agreements, the total financial damage amounted to 111 million dollars, Armstrong told the TV broadcaster “CNBC” in 2018. The fact that he is still a millionaire is due to an investment of $ 100,000.
Armstrong gave this sum in 2009 to the well-known investor Chris Sacca, who had put the money into the then-just-founded start-up “Uber”. The online passenger transportation intermediary service is now valued at $ 72.5 billion. Armstrong did not want to tell CNBC how much his investment is now worth, but elicited “somewhere between $ 10 million and $ 50 million” and made it clear, “The money saved our family.”
Coffee shop, bike shop, celebrity podcast
In his hometown of Austin, Texas, he runs a coffee shop and a bicycle shop. And once a week, Armstrong chats with celebrities on his podcast. He has already had the well-known ex-basketball stars Charles Barkley and Chris Bosh with him – or actor Matthew McConaughey.
As a professional cyclist, he couldn’t stand it when someone was better than him. And sometimes he still thinks that way today, says Armstrong. For example when he sees that his podcast is only in third place. “Then I think, ‘who the fuck are the two podcasts that come before mine?'”. But overall he is no longer as fanatical as he used to be, no longer has this win-at-any-price attitude and also no you-or-me attitude. However, it was “a long process” and required “many therapy hours”, he emphasized in an interview with “NBC Sports” in spring 2019. And he “still has a lot of work to do,” said Armstrong.
Armstrong emphasizes that he cannot say anything about whether the current cycling is clean, because it is now too far away and has no inside information. And what would he do if asked if he would advise a cyclist to dope? He hopes, says Armstrong, that he will never experience this situation because he is the wrong person to talk to. But if it did happen, his advice had to be that it wasn’t a good idea.
.