Lance Armstrong has recently announced that he will come out of retirement to train for the 2009 Tour de France. This decision comes as Lance Armstrong has just turned 37 years of age. He has a legacy of 7 wins in the Tour before retirement in 2005.
His decision follows deliberation with his close acquaintances; “after talking with my children, family and closest friends, I have decided to return to professional cycling.” But, why the comeback - 4 years after retirement? Lance vows that is “in order to raise awareness of the global cancer burden.” The record-breaking cyclist himself has suffered from testicular cancer.
While no-one doubts this noble cause, Lance Armstrong is racing to win. Bill Stapleton, Armstrong's lawyer, himself remarked that “we're not going to try to win second place.” Others have felt that he is racing in order to bury countless allegations his other seven wins were not clean.
Armstrong has managed to keep in shape after his retirement. He partook in the Boston and New York Marathons, running in times of sub three hours. With regards to cycling, he travelled to Colorado to take place in the Leadville Trail 100km Mountain Bike race, finishing second overall.
It is thought the cyclist has drawn alot of inspiration from the recent Beijing Olympics. He notes that in the games, older athletes were just as capable as younger ones; citing Dara Torres, a 41-year old silver medallist in swimming, and 38-year old marathon winner, Constantina Tomescu-Dita, as successful examples.
Armstrong feels that age is not a barrier to sporting glory, but concedes that his "back gets tired quicker than it used to" and he gets "out of bed a little slower" than before. Despite this, he feels that when on the saddle, he feels "just as good as before."
If Armstrong were to win the Tour, he would be the oldest winner since 1922, back when Firmin Lambot won aged 36.
