Lance
Armstrong: Perhaps on his way to winning an
unprecedented
eighth Tour de France, the American
is
raising French hackles as strongly as ever.
Liberation,
France
The 'Good Fable'
of Lance Armstrong
By Fabrice Rousselot
Translated By
Sandrine Ageorges
July 7, 2009
France - Liberation - Original Article
(French)
The Tour de France loves a
good tale. One of heroes who climb improbable passes in pain and sweat. What
could be more beautiful, therefore, then than the comeback and fanfare
surrounding the American prodigal son? The one who has built his reputation on
the strength of his calves and his character. Lance Armstrong, of course, of
whom it has been said a thousand times that he returns to continue as the
spokesman for a battle against cancer that he himself has defeated.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
Perhaps this is his most
beautiful victory. We would like, of course, for this lovely fable to end
there. We would like to stick to this official version, if only for the good of
the sport. But then, it has been a long time since the bike began destroying
its own myth. How can we talk of Armstrong without dwelling on the heavy
suspicions of doping that hang over his head? How can we evoke the Grande
Boucle [the Great Loop - a nickname for the Tour de France] without compiling
a list of those false champions who, every year, get their spokes caught in
tests for illegal substances of all kinds? Who has actually posed the question
of the timeliness of Armstrong’s
return
to a race, the image of which is already quite damaged? No one. Simply because
the spectacle has taken over the sport. Better a good old American show on the
roads of France and Navarre than an anonymous caravan of unknown cyclists in
need of a television audience. Not long ago, last February, Lance Armstrong
entered the Tour of California. An open competition sponsored by Amgen, a
leading producer of EPO [Erythropoietin]. Not the
type of story that necessarily contributes to the legend of cycling …
CLICK HERE FOR FRENCH VERSION
[Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
July 7, 5:35am]
