Armstrong: 40 years are nothing
Movement is demonstrated by walking and that is what Lance Armstrong is doing, who, at 40 years old and one season after leaving professional cycling, continues to compete at the highest level... and doing very well.
Neither the investigation carried out by the FBI against him in the United States for doping, nor the repercussions that this matter has had in Europe have managed to undermine one of the key aspects of his entire professional career: his mental strength. He could be living off the income, dedicated to his children and his family, controlling his business, which has an important component in cycling, but the instinct of competition gets the better of him.
Last weekend he ran the Xterra Triathlon World Championship, a modality that consists of 1.500 meters of swimming, 29,5 kilometers of mountain biking and 9,8 kilometers of running. A heavy fall in the mountain-bike test prevented him from getting into the top ten. He finished in twenty-third place.
The race was won by Austrian Michael Weiss. The Alava Eneko Llanos finished third.
Lance achieved the third fastest time in the swim and fifth in the bike event. He was in the lead when he had a bad fall, which prevented him from winning and hurt him in the foot race. He broke the helmet: «I don't remember such a bad fall in my entire career as a cyclist nor that I had ever broken my helmet. When I got up I was a little dazed. "I lost several minutes," said the Texan, who ran wearing clothing from Livestrong, his Cancer Foundation. He became the leader of the test. Then came the fall.
A week before the test he had said that “I'm just a retiree who rides a bicycle. Without the blow I'm sure I could have been higher in the classification, but it's the price you can pay when you race.
The truth is that the competitive streak, which he had never lost, had already been recovered with the fifth place he achieved in the Utah triathlon, which counted towards the United States Championship. It had been 23 years since he had participated in a triathlon. In his second test, in the town of Tempe (Arizona), he won.
Media flurry
Armstrong's presence on the small island of Maui was a revolution, since many news media traveled to that town to follow his developments. The race organizer was delighted since this media interest will bring him more sponsors.
Conrad Stolz, who has been organizing the event for 16 years, said that “there have been more cameras on the course than trees. "I'm delighted to have him run my test."
Armstrong has returned to his origins since his beginnings in the world of sport were precisely in triathlon, where he became one of the best young people in his country. On two occasions he managed to become United States champion in 1989 and 1990, when he was 18 and 19 years old. Even when he left cycling he did not lose his meticulousness when preparing for competitions.
To improve in running, he contacted Alberto Salazar, a historic marathon runner who won the one held in New York three times. Salazar commented that Lance told him: "You have to get him to run a marathon in 2.30. If I achieve it, in a triathlon event I can do 2:55, which would allow me to be with the best.
The photographs show Armstrong much thinner than when he was riding a bicycle. We must not forget that after testicular cancer with metastasis that forced him to give up cycling, he returned to the professional world ten kilos less than he weighed before suffering from that disease.
Source: Diariovasco.com
