Will Lance Armstrong win the prologue?
Lance's LEGACY
In final Tour de France race, world's most revered cyclist begins quest for 7th straight win
Ron Kroichick, Chronicle Staff Writer
Saturday, July 2, 2005
Today, as he begins chasing his seventh consecutive Tour de France title in a small town on the Atlantic seaboard, Lance Armstrong also begins to put the final touches on his sporting legacy.
It is a legacy at once triumphant, compelling and clouded by skepticism.
Armstrong, who has said he will retire from competitive cycling after this year's Tour, stamped himself as one of the greatest cyclists ever -- surely the greatest American cyclist ever -- by stringing together six victories in the sport's premier event. His success and celebrity have given cycling the kind of widespread, magazine-cover attention unimaginable in the United States only six years ago, when his epic streak began.
Off the bike, Armstrong's impact on the fight against cancer is similarly staggering. First he conquered the disease -- he was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996, and tumors spread to his lungs and brain -- and now the Lance Armstrong Foundation pours millions of dollars into cancer research and patient support. His yellow LiveStrong wristbands have become ubiquitous -- more than 50 million have been sold (at $1 each) since their introduction 14 months ago.
Armstrong's legacy also includes lingering suspicions in a sport long known for its culture of performance-enhancing drug use. He has never tested positive for banned drugs and repeatedly has denied using them, but a former masseuse and former personal assistant have leveled doping allegations, and one company, spurred by those accusations, challenged its obligation to pay Armstrong a $5 million bonus for his sixth Tour win.
Against this multi-layered backdrop, he now hops on his bike one final time, hoping to achieve a rare feat in sports: walking away at the height of dominance. Armstrong, 33, insists this is his farewell, even if other athletes who towered over their sports the way he does -- such as Michael Jordan in basketball -- could not resist the temptation of a comeback.
Even if he falls short of a seventh Tour triumph, Armstrong has etched a unique place in American culture.
"There are a lot of great athletes who have done a lot of great things, and Lance fits into that category," said Jim Ochowicz, the San Francisco-based board president of USA Cycling who signed Armstrong to Team Motorola in 1992 and has long been involved with Armstrong's teams. "But he also fits into the category of cancer survivors. Most people know someone in their family, or close to their family, who didn't make it. Connecting those two dots says a lot."
American success story
In Armstrong's case, the connection elevated him to fame transcending his sport. He visited with President Bush, landed on Wheaties boxes and Sports Illustrated covers and wrote a book that reached the best-seller list.
Armstrong also ranks No. 28 among U.S.-based athletes in annual income, earning nearly $18 million in 2004, according to this week's Sports Illustrated. That breaks down to about $500,000 in salary and winnings and $17.5 million in endorsements.
Oh, and for good measure, his girlfriend is a rock star (Sheryl Crow).
By bursting into public prominence, Armstrong has changed his sport in myriad ways. Andy Lee, spokesman for USA Cycling, traced the increase in world-class events in the United States -- including the inaugural Tour of California, scheduled for February 2006 -- to Armstrong's success.
Josh Kadis, marketing director for the Northern California/Nevada Cycling Association, said the group's licensed membership had climbed from 2,100 to 3,100 in the past three years, an increase he attributed largely to Armstrong. Kadis also has anecdotal evidence.
"When I started riding in high school, I had a lot of explaining to do -- why I was shaving my legs, why I was wearing tight pants," Kadis said. "Now, I have to explain to people how they can start racing and where they can join a team."
Said Mike McCarthy, a Marin County resident and two-time Olympic cyclist: "Lance has kind of legitimized cycling to the general public. And his success has opened a lot of doors for American (professional) cyclists."
Armstrong's influence stretches beyond making European teams more respectful of promising Americans. He also changed the way top cyclists prepare for the Tour de France: Once, they competed in numerous events in the months preceding the Tour, but now most contenders spend their time training, not racing.
Six wins and all, Armstrong's habit of avoiding other major events has stirred criticism in the European cycling community. Ben Jacques-Maynes, a San Jose-based pro cyclist, understands why Armstrong focuses almost exclusively on the Tour, but he also sees the impact on Armstrong's legacy.
"That's the reason he won't be viewed as the best cyclist ever," Jacques-Maynes said. "He would be a more complete champion and more accepted in Europeans' eyes if he won other events. ... It's a Catch-22, because the Tour de France is the only race Americans watch."
Cycling insiders say Americans are also more reluctant than Europeans to believe the persistent doping rumors shadowing Armstrong. The rumors have become a steady companion in recent years, punctuated by last year's publication of "LA Confidential: The Secrets of Lance Armstrong." The book quoted Emma O'Reilly, a former U.S. Postal Service team masseuse, as saying Armstrong had used illegal, performance-enhancing drugs.
Another former employee, onetime personal assistant Mike Anderson, claimed he had discovered steroids in Armstrong's bathroom. The scrutiny grew when Michele Ferrari, an Italian doctor and longtime Armstrong adviser, was convicted last October in Italy of "sporting fraud" and malpractice. Ferrari was acquitted on charges of distributing banned drugs to top cyclists. After that, Armstrong severed ties with him.
"There have been accusations every year," Dan Osipow, spokesman for Armstrong's Discovery Channel team, said Friday from France. "Lance has done everything he can to prove his innocence. ... There are ex-employees who are jilted. Every relationship doesn't end on a positive note."
The allegations created an unusual move by SCA Promotions, a Dallas company that paid Armstrong a $1.5 million bonus for his 2002 Tour victory and another $3 million for his '03 win. He was scheduled to land an additional $5 million for winning last year, but SCA withheld its payment in the wake of "LA Confidential."
Bob Hamman, the company's CEO, said in a phone interview Thursday, "A substantial amount of background noise, articles and information kept surfacing that we felt we should investigate further." The case is scheduled for arbitration Dec. 12 in Dallas. Hamman said a confidentiality order prevented him from discussing the case.
Armstrong's vigorous legal response to SCA mirrors his approach to others who have questioned his success. Dr. Prentice Steffen has said he was fired by the U.S. Postal Service cycling team in 1997 because he refused to prescribe illicit substances. Armstrong joined the team soon after Steffen's dismissal.
Since then, Steffen has occasionally voiced his belief -- based on conversations with former Armstrong teammates, he said in an interview this week -- that Armstrong uses banned drugs. Steffen said Armstrong had called and threatened legal action after Steffen made his opinion public in 2001.
Story 'is fiction'
"I believe the whole Armstrong persona is fiction," said Steffen, now the physician for a Denver-based cycling team and assistant director for the department of emergency medicine at St. Mary's Medical Center in San Francisco. "I don't think he's a nice guy, and I don't think he ever was. I don't think the cancer changed him. It's a nice story, but it's fiction. It's marketing."
Amid these conflicting views of Armstrong, his empire remains strong. The Lance Armstrong Foundation opened in Austin, Texas, in 1997, with one part-time employee and one grant. Now, the foundation has more than 50 full-timers and 100 grants and has donated $14 million to cancer research and survivorship programs.
Armstrong can continue these efforts once he steps off his bike, but the future of American cycling is less certain. There are talented young Americans on the scene, including Santa Rosa's Levi Leipheimer, but Osipow acknowledged the Discovery Channel team would turn to a non-American rider to try to win next year's Tour.
Armstrong's legacy, as diverse and complicated as it might be, will carry the sport only so far. As Jacques-Maynes said, "How many Joe Publics could identify a Discovery Channel cyclist other than Lance?"
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