Lance Armstrong - The Return of the King

Lance Armstrong's competitive bug has gotten the best of him; it appears that after watching 3 unconvincing winners of the Tour de France grind out 3 unconvincing wins, Lance has decided at 37 years of age he can still teach them how it's done.

The fact he is making Jean-Marie Leblanc (Ex-Tour Director) and his band of merry French men aggravated, comes as an added bonus for the feisty Texan.

Lance is tired of the hushed accusations and is determined to prove it was his heart, skill and iron will that made him the winner he is.

Armstrong has decided to put his body and will to the test, to silence France's sports daily L'Equipe and all others who have openly challenged his integrity as a competitor by continuously questioning his performances and raising the doping issue.

Holding true to the "Don't Mess with Texas" slogan, Lance has managed to put the cycling world in a catch 22, where no matter what the outcome of his reinsertion into competitive cycling is, they loose.

Here's a look at a couple of possible outcomes:

  • Lance returns and wins at 37, making current competitors appear soft and unworthy of being noticed as soon as he retires again; a group of young competitors who lack the talent and drive to defeat a man who though not in his prime thoroughly outdoes them.
  • Lance returns and is caught doping, cycling looses its biggest star and an already disillusioned public becomes even more disenchanted with the sport.
  • L'Equipe is thrilled with the outcome and tells everyone "we told you so" in French.
  • Lance returns attempts to compete and fails miserably, his image as an unbeatable champion takes a hit, and the currently dissatisfied cycling fans loose a shinning star and a legend and become even more apathetic to a sport that has lost most of its original luster.
  • So it appears that no matter what the outcome of his attempted return is we will see a lot more of Armstrong's grin in the paper over the next few months, while the head honchos of the sport fret about what the sport will become once the spotlight is off him and on them again.

As we await the result Cyclone Armstrong will have on the Pro Cycling world BetSportWeb.com is offering odds on what you believe will be the outcome of Lance's return:

Will any of the following occur as a result of Lance Armstrong's return:

He will win his 8th Tour de France5/1
He will be discovered doping*20/1
He will win the Tour by a margin greater than 10 min15/1
He will be forced to retire from the Tour for exhaustion**15/1
He and Jean-Marie Leblanc will get on a fist fight on national tv100/1
He will admit to dating Carla Bruni-Sarkozy20/1
He will not be allowed into France50/1
He will announce he is retiring on the Podium of his 8th win1/2
He will race for the BetSportWeb.com cycling team1/50

*Wagers will not be graded till the doping is confirmed with a 2nd test

** Must start the Tour De France 1st

Note: Results will be graded at the end of the 09 Tour race

by Scott Rivers