Lance Armstrong has never been one to over-race himself. Last year he rode competitively for only 21 days before winning his fourth Tour de France, and his 20th place in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege, nothing special in itself, was nevertheless a clear signal that the fine-tuning for a fifth consecutive tour victory, equalling the record set by Spain’s Miguel Indurain in 1995, was going according to plan. At least on the cycling front.
A decade ago the eighth stage of the 80th Tour de France, a somewhat modest 184km Sunday schlep from Chalons-sur-Marne to Verdun, ought to have been etched in vivid detail in my mind, for it was on July 11 1993 that the young and largely unknown Texan, then 21, won his first stage in the world’s greatest bike race.
Ten years on, and with Le Tour about to celebrate (no doubt in the best possible taste) its 100th anniversary, Armstrong is poised to chase down a victory that will place him on the podium of the all-time greats who have won the race five times — Belgium’s Eddy Merckx, Indurain and the two Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault. Incidentally, no Frenchman has won it since Hinault in 1985.
Alas, I can remember little of Armstrong’s initial success that afternoon, for everyone was either looking forward to the next day’s individual time trial at the Lac de Madine, and speculating on whether Indurain could continue his domination, or sympathising with the ill-fated Alex Zülle who had been sent crashing to the tarmac by a camera-wielding, overenthusiastic spectator whose jacket became lodged in the Swiss rider’s wheel.
At some point after the finish of that stage Armstrong, who was later to blow up most horribly in the Alps, was asked, somewhat crassly, where he placed this particular cycling step compared with his namesake’s first step on the moon. ‘Mars,†replied Armstrong.
As we have learned since, men are from Mars and women from Venus. ‘Vive la différence,†as the French would say. But not the PR and advertising men — at least not in the case of Lance and his wife, Kristin. A little less ‘difference†and a good deal more togetherness is what they are looking for in France this year.
The Armstrong marriage is a crucial part of the Lance Armstrong myth, for they met when he was recovering from testicular cancer, and Kristin is credited with persuading him to continue his riding career.
With four Tour de France victories, enough money to fill every vehicle in the pre-race publicity caravan, and with three children, including twins, the Armstrongs became the epitome of the all-American success story. It was the perfect sporting package.
But this year it all began to go wrong, and a trial separation was announced — Armstrong allegedly giving his wife the news on Valentine’s day. The American popular press jumped on the story, and there was much wailing and gnashing of teeth. Now, with the tour’s prologue fast approaching, an attempt is being made make a happy epilogue out of marriage. Lance and Kristin are back together again.
Cycling is used to cover-ups, although these are more usually centred on the illicit marriage of body and drugs rather than anything blessed in heaven. Two of Armstrong’s probable rivals for this year’s race seem likely to be Germany’s Jan Ullrich and Italy’s Gilberto Simoni, both of whom have had, to put it mildly, their problems with the testers.
Simoni famously blamed the double discovery of cocaine in his system on a visit to the dentist and, more improbably, a bag of boiled sweets brought back by his aunt from Colombia.
One morning 10 years ago, about half an hour before a stage was due to start in the Pyrenees, I remember walking into town and seeing Indurain, totally on his own, tootling past in his yellow jersey as if he were about to set off on a private picnic.
These days Armstrong is rarely seen, spending his time before a stage in his own huge bus, surrounded by a barrier and with two guards on the door. Such is fame in today’s sporting world. Indeed Kristin Armstrong has blamed her husband’s fame for the difficulties the two have faced.
Perhaps the marriage will yet be saved. If it were, at least for this year, so would the massive endorsements based on the Armstrong family myth. —