Open Letter To Lance Armstrong

Dear Lance,

Welcome back to the sport of triathlon. It's good to see you back to your roots!

You don't know me at all. However, we did share a few laughs over a beer at the Bermuda International triathlon back in the late 80's. Good times!

I noticed last night on Twitter that you and your Nike brethren Simon Whitfield had a bit of  "discussion" about drafting in triathlon. Since you have been away from the sport for many years, I sense that you have missed many of the great drafting debates that has lead us to where we are today.

After you left triathlon for cycling, triathlon grew tremendously, particularly at the Elite/Professional level. The International Triathlon Union( ITU) was formed and the first World Cups and World Championships were held. It was becoming apparent that the gentleman's and sportsman's agreement to not draft on the bike, and to treat it like an Individual Time Trial in cycling, was not working out so well any more. This was due mostly to the size of the race fields and the competitiveness of the athletes. It was becoming harder and harder to enforce the no-drafting rules. Self policing was not working. Putting a number of Drafting Marshals on the course was also having limited impact.

The situation reached it's nadir in the early '90's, when with penalties, disqualifications, appeals to deal with after each big race, it was hard to know who won and who placed where. The arguments and discussions after-the races were over would seem to go on for ever. We would not even know who won or who was on the podium, until well after the race was over( hours!)

At the time, Triathlon had started a quiet campaign to be included in the Olympic Games. Then President of the ITU, Les MacDondald had been advised that if the sport were to be taken seriously by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), one thing thy had to do was to clean things up so that the athlete across the finish line first in most circumstances, was the race winner. The IOC does not like messy things and triathlon at this level had become a bit messy. So the the ITU, in their wisdom, after much discussion and consultation, said, fine: swim, bike and run however, you want in all three sports and the first athlete across the line is the winner. That's simple, clean and easy to understand.

Obviously, this meant that drafting on the bike would now be allowed, in ITU level racing for Elites/Pros in their races. It did change the dynamic and the strategy of the racing. The swim became much more important - a few seconds now mattered. The bike, was admittedly different in philosophy, but became more strategic. Physiologic demands were not that much less, but again different now - it became more like a bike road race. And the run was always the same - of high importance, if for no other reason than it was last!

It did simplify the racing and the officiating for this level of racing dramatically. The IOC liked what they saw and by the late '90's, the sport of triathlon was accepted into the Olympic Games, and as you and just about everyone knows, Simon Whitfield won the Gold Medal that first Olympic Games triathlon in dramatic fashion in Sydney, in 2000.

The previous is obviously all about Elite racing at the ITU level. All Age-Group racing and Pro/Elite racing in longer races, particularly the World Triathlon Corporation's world wide series of Ironman and 70.3 races are still contested under the "old" rules of no drafting allowed on the bike. In the Pro ranks, which are now for the most part separated from the Age-Groupers, the old gentleman's agreement with a bit of "help" from race officials, still seems to work. Field sizes are small, and there is often lots of road and room to work with. I have worked with your good friend Jimmy Riccitello as a Drafting Marshal in the past, and today's Pro Triathletes get the rules - they push the limits of the no-drafting rules right to the edge, as the best athletes tend to do in any sport, but they rarely go over. It's actually beautiful thing to see at a race like Ironman Hawaii with 20 - 25 of the best triathletes all strung out with exactly 10m between them in a 250m long legal pace line out on the Lava Fields

The story back in the Age-Group ranks in many big triathlons is a bit muddier, and less clear. Back there, it's really a question, of numbers and physics. If you stood at the exit to T1 in any big, 2000+ athlete Ironman at about the 60 - 70 minute mark of the race ( something that I would urge you to do when you have a chance), when massive numbers of triathletes are literally flooding onto the bike course you would know what I am getting at. The no-drafting rules are clear, but at times and places on the bike course, the rules are asking the athletes to do something that is physically impossible to do! There is simply not enough room on the road, for them all. Drafting back here, can be a real problem. Officials try and do what they can, but they can't be everywhere on the bike course all the time. Back here there needs to be some give-and-take on the part of both officials and athletes to try and work it out and make it a fair race for everyone, but it can get messy. It's accepted now that passive or inadvertent drafting may happen. Good race officials like Jimmy, know what to look for - for the athlete, who is purposly drafting to gain advantage. It does go on.

The great drafting debate in the sport of triathlon can get quite heated. Just go to the Slowtwitch Forum and put the word, "Drafting" in the forum's search function, to get a sense for this. It's almost as lively a debates about what's better, clinchers or tubulars, or which frame is more aerodynamic!

It's not about which format or style of racing is better. There is room, a reason and respect for both in Triathlon. Perhaps, not exactly the same but in cycling - you were a Stage Race specialist, who re-defined the approach to the biggest stage races like the Tour de France. Whereas, say, a Tom Boonen, will focus on one day cobbled classics of the spring. Both of you are great cyclists!

Hopefully you have found this helpful. Again, welcome back. Best wishes with the training and the racing on your road to Kona. It will be great to see you on the starting line there in October.

Best regards,

Steve

P.S. If you are considering adding another Ironman race to your resume this year, I would highly recommend Ironman Canada. It's one of the original five Ironman races and is truly iconic in the sport. The bike course is a beaut, and the course record for it is one that I am sure only someone with your credentials could bring down!

Being Out There

My friend Jimmy Riccitello wrote a great blog recently that summed it up really well. In short, the really great athletes want to be out there! The subject of that blog was Lance Armstrong and the fact that despite ferocious winds, Armstrong was out on the Ironman Hawaii bike course doing what he loves to do - riding his bike. Riccitello, called it desire!

In fact Armstrong makes this clear in the very first chapter of his first book, "It's not About The Bike", that there is nothing he would rather be doing, than being out there on his bike!

With the recent huge growth in recreational endurance sports, strangely, this is the dirty little secret, that never seems to get addressed. That regardless of the weather, how you feel, your hectic schedule, or whatever, there is nothing else you would rather be doing, than being out there doing what you love to do.

The great athletes rarely have to be told what to do. More often they need to be told what not to do - when not to train. When not to go too hard or too long. I recall the round of interviews several years ago with coach Brett Sutton, when the great Chrissie Wellington broke out and started on her magnificent run of long distance triathlon dominance. Sutton who was coaching Wellington at the time, was getting poked and prodded for his "secret". Sutton's best line in several of those articles was: "I have to have strong biceps with athletes like Chrissie - to hold them back!"

The picture at the top of this blog, was taken on a damp, cold and foggy day a few weeks ago. When I got up in the morning I really did not feel like riding. Yet, I prepped myself and the bike, and headed out. Fifteen minutes into the ride, I realized I had a grin on my face - this is what I wanted to be doing. This is what I really loved to be doing. Out there riding my bike!

Reflecting back on my own "career" as an endurance athlete, with the help of age and a better perspective, I have come to the conclusion that I was a better trainer than racer. I wanted to be out there, doing it, whatever it was, as much as I could. There is no doubt in my mind that I probably left some of my best performances on the training track or road and not in real races. Yet, I realize also that I would not have experienced the modest "success" that I did achieve, if I truly did not love being out there!

I don't mean to discredit anyone here, but when I engage with modern endurance athletes, the questions all seem to be about everything else, but that love of being out there and that desire. It's all about the gear, the graphs, the numbers, the program . . . . etc They seem to want the results, and to move forward, but what seems lacking from the questions I get and the discussions I am involved with and listen to, is that, love of being out there and that desire.

The bottom line is that if you have the love and the desire, the results will come!

Do you really love being out there?

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Lance Attacks

Wow! The racing has barely begun but the fireworks has already started. At the pre-race press conference for the Tour of California, their was an exchange between Paul Kimmage and Lance Armstrong that has to be seen to be believed.

Now to set this up properly, one needs to know that Kimmage is a former Professional cyclist himself and is an award winning sports journalist who currently writes for the London Times Sunday Magazine. He is perhaps best known for his book, Rough Ride, which was one of the first books ever written that really exposed the behind the scenes drug use in Professional cycling and the hard life and indeed rough ride, that is the life of a professional cyclist. Kimmage has been an outspoken critic of drug use in cycling and is a bit of an outlier in the sport since he retired from racing and wrote the book. But much of what he talked about in Rough Ride has proven to be true, as the years have gone by, and rider after rider either was caught using drugs, confessed or retired with controversey swirling around them.

Then their is Lance Armstrong - his story is well known and his comeback out of retirement has many people again focussed on the seven time Tour de France Champion. In a radio interview last fall when he learned of Armstrong's return, this is what Kimmage had to say: "The Cancer of the peloton has returned. It has come out of remission". Have a look at the exchange between Kimmage and Armstrong:

http://velonews.tv/?articleID=2591

Ironic that another big anti-Armstrong proponent, Greg Lemond introduces the news-clip on the VeloNews web site!

It's an extraordinary exchange. In particular, it shows Armstrong at his best, when the heat is on and backed into a corner, is when he takes his performance, be it on the race course or even in a press- conference, to another level. I am guessing that most other athletes under similar circumstance would be absolutly dumb-founded, but Armstromg takes it all in stride and does not miss a beat - even making the whole thing a bit of a joke. Indeed, the look on George Hincapie's face to Armstrong's right is telling - he doesn't know what to make of it all!

The season has barely started and already, the stakes and the excitment is at a high-level. Bring it on!

Lance 2.0

Lance Armstrong is back! This is old news now, but this seemed to sneak-up on everyone - maybe even Lance himself. After being on the sidelines for three years the seven-time Tour de France Champion, thought that he could and should get back into top level professional road racing. Like most of what Lance does, once the commitment was made - he and everyone else around him in his entourage of supporters, sponsors and handlers was full-on, into it. How else to explain Trek re-firing up the whole division of the bike company, devoted solely to Lance's needs. This division had gone dormant after Lance's departure from Professional racing in 2006. Ditto for Nike. They announced several years ago that the company was getting out of cycling - now, they have jumped back in.

Even Lance himself, never one to leave any stone of physical and organizational prep unturned, has whipped himself into amazing shape in a very short period of time to take on the rigors of a Pro Road Race season. His long time coach, Chris Carmichael, claims that Lance is in the best shape that he has ever seen him in, this early in the year even at age 37. And the fitness numbers bore this out at the recently completed Tour Down Under in Australia. Lance acquitted himself very well - was always in the race. Never seemed to be struggling. Even was away in some key break-aways and played an animated role in those breaks. "Just testing the legs", said Lance. His legs looked very good.

Of course, this being Lance Armstrong there is bound to be controversy. One would think that a Seven Time winner of the worlds greatest bike race would be unanimously embraced and hailed as the world's best cyclist - but this is not the case with Lance. His dominance of the Grand Boucle has had somewhat of a polarizing impact on followers and fans of professional bike racing. True, a majority, think that he is the greatest, but there is a minority who think that Lance's obsession with the the Tour de France leaves him as a one-trick-pony in the ranks of the great cyclists of all time. Then there is the fact that an American kept winning, year, after year after year . . France's National Tour, at a time when U.S. and French relations were perhaps at an all-time low. Finally, there is the dark and sinister world of Performance Enhancing Drugs(PEDs). The naysayers argue, "How is it, that one cyclist could have such an absolute and complete domination in the World's most competitive bike race beating all other cyclists, many of whom, after the fact, have been found to be using PED's". It's a good question and Armstrong has been adamant that he has never taken anything. It's true that no one was tested more in competition and out, than when Armstrong was at his best. There are no positive tests, and while there is a whirl-wind of accusations, it's all based on, at best, very circumstantial evidence. This time around Lance is going the extra mile on this and employing a third party testing regime that will go even beyond that of the UCI, WADA and the individual races that he will contest.

There is also the melodrama of Lance's new team - Astana. He comes back to the Pro road ranks and into the team of his former team manager for all his past Tour de France wins, Johan Bruyneel. Lance, claims, "There is only one manager that I could ever ride for and that's Johan." Fair enough, but Lance is injecting himself into, perhaps the strongest stage-racing Pro Road team on the planet with huge Stars such as Alberto Contador and Levi Leipheimer - Contador won the Tour de France in 2007 and won the Tours of Italy and Spain last year. Leipheimer finished 3rd in the Tour de France in 2007 behind Contador and has legitimate claims and possible aspirations of winning The Tour de France himself. This all sounds good - a strong stage-racing team. Lance should fit right in. His experience could play a valuable role. However, Lance has hinted that he wants to take a run at the Tour of Italy and the Tour de France victories himself. This is a bit of a different dynamic than when Lance raced for the US Postal service and Discovery teams. Those teams were built completely, and absolutely around Armstrong. No one, on any of those teams had aspirations beyond 100% support of Lance and securing the Tour de France Yellow Jersey for him. The Astana situation is very different. Something that Lance has never really had to contend with since his early, pre-cancer days in the sport - open competition within the team and the team will then support the best rider. This is the other classic model of Pro Team, stage-race strategy. Sometimes it works, and other times it does not! Bernard Hinault had a change of heart mid-way through the Tour de France one year. At the outset, he said he was riding for Greg Lemond. However, at some point he started riding for himself, and took some of the team's riders with him. Now Lemond had enemies within his own team!! Last year at the Tour de France, the support-the-best-rider strategy worked for CSC and Carlos Sastre won the Tour de France.

The stage is set for an interesting year of Professional Bike Racing. Personally, I'll admit to being a long-time fan of Lance Armstrong. Like many others I had a Lance Moment years ago, when by sheer chance, I ended up seated beside him at a triathlon race reception and prize ceremony back in his triathlon days, of the late 80's. We shared a beer and chatted briefly. I am sure that he has absolutely no recollection of the encounter! However, triathletes around the world have duly taken notice that Lance has made some hints that after this cycling comeback is done, perhaps as soon as 2010, he may make a return to the sport that first gained him notoreity - triathlon. He picked a rather interesting private training camp location, just prior to going to the Tour Down Under - the Kona coast, home of the legendary Ironman Hawii - and Lance spent a fair amount of time riding along the Ironman Hawaii bike route on the Queen K Highway.

Whatever happens this year, his return to racing will be good for the sport. Already, there are way more people paying attention to the sport this year, then in the previous few years, indeed, since Lance first retired. With the recent drug scandals in the Pro Cycling, sponsors had been backing away and teams had been cutting budgets. With more eyeballs on the cycling events, be it on the course or on the TV, that will be good for the sport as that's what attracts sponsors. I know that I am not alone in saying that I have a renewed level of interest in watching the Tour of Italy, the Tour de France and the other races that Lance will be contesting this year.

Finally, to borrow from the title of his first book, Lance himself says that, this is not about the bike! This is about raising awareness for the scourge of Cancer around the world. He says, that is his ultimate goal here - get people to donate more and governments to put more money into cancer research. Addressing the the naysayers and the Livestrong cancer initiative all in one fell swoop, this is what Armstrong had to say in a recent interview in Outside Magazine:

"some of these people are so immature. I've got bad news for them: I'm coming. I'm coming [back] on behalf of eight million people who are going to die around the world this year, and I think that's a noble reason to get back on my bike. The people that bitch about it and say all these bad things, they view the Lance Armstrong Foundation as a sham, and pardon my French, but f*#@ them. I've got no time for that. My intentions are pure, and, as I said, it's not stopping."

Say what you want about the man. He's always been an outstanding and forth-right interview! Bottom line, he has probably done more for fund raising in the area of cancer research and awareness than anyone else. Lance has revolutionized the world of non-profit fund raising. And that's a good thing. Indeed, it would appear that it's not so much about the bike this time around!