Lance on Oprah

[massbikebabe]

Rumor has it that Lance Armstrong and his hunny Sheryl Crow will be on the Oprah Winfrey show tomorrow Feb. 11 2005. Check your local listings. I guess the main topic is the success of the Livestrong bracelets.

karen

[Jennifer Gallow]

I can confirm the topic ... TiVo told me Lance was going to be on TV tomorrow.

[yogabear]

I have my vcr set to record Oprah

[luv2ride]

So I got home from work only to see 5 minutes of Oprah...but it was a good 5 minutes...Lance is going for #7 Yes he said he will do another Tour d'Lance.....I am jumping up and down and up and down....it's going to be a great summer!

[jobob]

I didn't see it, but according to reports he didn't say *when* he was going for a 7th tour. So it could be next summer. Just sayin'

[massbikebabe]

He didn't really commit to doing number seven this year...says he wants to see how it goes. I have to admit I really liked the interview. I have always thought of him as somewhat of a pompous a$$, however you have to give the devil his due, he is a good role model for young cyclists like my 13 year
old son. Most of the time when some of the "well respected" athletes give interviews I cringe at the grammer and their inability to complete a full sentence. AND what really drives me crazy is when they start out "I was jus hangin wit my boys"...makes me want to pull out my own tongue!!

karen

[caligurl]

yep... we already knew he'd go for #7... just not when... and we still don't know when... it's in his contract to do ONE TdF in the next 2 years....

so the wait continues....

[jobob]

I hope he does it this year simply because if he doesn't, odds are the TdF wouldn't be televised in the US - since gee, why would anyone care about the Tour unless Lance was in it?

[spazzdog]

Even if Lance doesn't go, Discovery may field a team for the Tour... they have to prepare for "life after Lance".

[MM_QFC!]

Yeah, I heard both he and Johan (Bruyneel) quoted as saying the final decision about Lance's plans to ride the TdF for this year, won't be made until early May. He said that his contract calls for him to ride the Tour again, but it can be this year or next. Guess we'll all have to wait...

Also, don't the new regulations (UCI?) mandate that teams have to race in all 3? So, whether Lance rides or not, Discovery has to field a team at the Giro, TdF and the Vuelta, as they are the "majors". They're also intending to contest at many of the Spring classics too, right?

And, isn't Lance also keeping quiet his decision on whether to make a run at the hour record too?

[jobob]

Oh, the Discovery team will absolutely send a team to the Tour, as Mary mentioned they have to as part of the new Pro Tour set up. I believe as part of the Pro Tour agreement they must participate in all 3 Grand Tours (TdF, Giro and Vuelta), and a variety of other events on the Pro Tour schedule - with or without Lance.

But the fact is, if Lance isn't competing in the Tour, odds are the coverage in the US would be significantly less than if he were competing, which is a shame. IMHO of course.