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Lance Armstrong: Unfettered and unfiltered - Part 1
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This week in Austin, the 2006 Discovery Channel team is enjoying its first get-together of the winter. Missing from the roster, of course, is the name of Lance Armstrong, who hung up his cleats after winning a record seventh consecutive Tour de France last July. A couple of weeks prior to the training camp, VeloNews met with Armstrong in Austin to record his parting shots on his 13 years as a professional cyclist.
The interview appears in the December 5 issue of VeloNews, which contains a special section looking back on Armstrong’s career. Included in the issue is a look at all of the VeloNews covers featuring Armstrong from 1991 to 2005, and stories from VeloNews contributors, including Samuel Abt of the International Herald Tribune and George Vecsey of The New York Times.
Following is the complete transcript of the interview, which is divided into two parts. This is part one, when a relaxed, but still ultra-busy Lance Armstrong, pulls no punches as he reflects on retirement, the Discovery team, the French, his toughest Tour challenges, his tactics, his life before and after cancer, helping cancer patients, tackling the doping problem, and the title sponsor of the upcoming Tour of California. He may be retired, but Armstrong is as passionate as ever.
VeloNews: You’ve been listed as a "rider (retired)" on the roster of the Discovery Channel team training camp in Austin. What are your feelings about that listing?
Lance Armstrong: I’m glad I’m retired. I’m enjoying the retired life. I’ve been too busy — and, actually, although I’m listed on the team roster for the camp I’m unfortunately going to be gone for about half of it. I’m trying to get out of some stuff so I can be there more. I look forward to it, although I’m not competitive and I have no intentions to ride alongside new guys or guys that are going for major goals in seven or eight months, or even less; but I still love to ride and if the guys are in town and I can be involved, I will absolutely chamois up and be with them. That’s still the thing I love to do, I try to ride every day. But I’m out of shape.
VN: And how do you see your presence helping the team at races next year?
LA: I don’t know how many races I’m gonna go to. I haven’t sat down yet with the team, or Discovery, or Johan [Bruyneel], and asked when they need me, when they don’t need me … or what I can do remote, either from the States by watching races on TV or watching the dynamic on the Web. My preference is to stay more Stateside.
VN: What do you want to do? What sort of advice do you want to give?
LA: I don’t think I have much to add. I just finished seven years with Johan, and I know what we had going. He’s fully capable … we’re just gonna sit on the phone and go "yeah, you’re right," "yeah, you’re right." That’s what we always did: "Great idea, Yeah, you’re right." There would be times where I would open my mouth and he would beat me to it, open his mouth and say the exact same thing I was gonna say. That happened so many times. Maybe they did clone people a long time ago, I don’t know. But he’s fully capable … I’m confident of that.
Now, the one thing that’s probably more true, that I won’t be able to sit still — I mean, even when I raced, I got excited and called Johan in the [team] car, and every time he said, "Look. You’ve gotta quit calling me in the car." I mean, it’s Paris-Roubaix and [I’m saying], "Don’t this, tell ’em that, what about this, what about that?" I mean, it was just [too much]. The next you know he puts his phone on silent.
VN: You have a unique legacy as the only seven-time Tour de France champion, something that’s going to last a long, long time. But that legacy was virtually ignored at the recent presentation of the 2006 Tour. Is that something that shocked you? Or did you expect that?
LA: Well, I wasn’t there. When I got called afterwards and was told, I have to be honest and say it really didn’t surprise me. If you consider all that had gone on and the attitude of L’Équipe and [Jean-Marie] Leblanc, and these bozos, no that didn’t surprise me at all. You know, the thing that was reassuring to me was that not only was Johan really offended, but apparently everybody was offended — outside of [French team directors] Marc Madiot and Eric Boyer, and Jean-Marie Leblanc and L’Équipe.
Everybody was like, "Wait, this is bullshit." But that’s okay. Honestly, John, I don’t care. I’ve got my seven Tours and they’re not taking them away. I’ve got everything that I ever dreamed of in cycling, plus a million more. I’m at home, I’m happy, I’m healthy, I’ve got my kids, I’ve got a full life ahead of me. And if Jean-Marie Leblanc snubs you in Paris? That’s a chapter out of "Who f---ing cares."
VN: People have said that most of those seven Tour victories have been "effortless," while you’ve often said that the rider who trains the hardest is the one who wins. Looking back, what have been your hardest efforts to win the Tour, and what were you thinking when you made those efforts?
LA :Certainly, 2003 was the hardest Tour, by far, as we all know. And the efforts that came during 2003 were also the most grueling, painful experiences of all seven years, of all the years of my career really. I mean the time trial there in Cap’Découverte when I literally wanted to step off the bike.
And, again, this relationship between Johan and I [was critical]. I mean, normally Johan says, "You’re doing great. You’re killing ’em. Keep it going." I don’t have a radio [transmitter] in the TT, so I couldn’t tell him, but I was saying to myself, "I just want to get off my bike. I can’t pedal anymore." And he said to me, without knowing what I was thinking, "Lance, just don’t stop pedaling." So, that’s how miserable it was.
The other years, although they appeared easier, they had extreme efforts when I was on the limit. More so in the earlier years, because they were explosive, 30-minute, maximum efforts: Hautacam [in 2000]; Sestriere [in 1999] was a short effort, probably 15 minutes; Alpe d’Huez in 2001, a long effort; all TTs are long, hard efforts but you have more control and can settle into a rhythm, and you know your threshold and you try to stay there. Joux-Plane in 2000, same thing, almost got off the bike [when I bonked]. But they weren’t effortless.
I understand that [comment], and not to go back to the French much, but for them that was so unappealing about my rides, that they were robotic, they were effortless, they lacked panache. Not something that they were used to. I mean, they loved the guy that gets on there with the "mask" and makes a big face and really shows that he’s trying hard.
But my attitude and perspective was that the same look that he’s got going, to show that he’s going hard, he’s not going that hard. Whereas I took it the other way and said, "I’m gonna look like I’m not going hard at all, because this is the day of modern cycling." The athletes all look at each other; the directors are in the car watching the race [on] live TV, looking at the favorites; coaches, trainers, friends, family are at home watching the race, looking … people know cycling, so they’re calling their guy at [say] Nikon, "Matty, he looked terrible, you’ve gotta go at him tomorrow."
So my approach all the time was look completely neutral and just keep them guessing. But neutral to strong looking, even if you’re having a bad day, just keep it looking really good. At least, keep a straight face. That was my approach.
VN: For instance, at Luz-Ardiden in 2003, when you fell, and almost fell off again, and then you were at the limit and knew you had to attack to gain time, what were you actually thinking once you got away, when you looked like you were in some sort of zone?
LA: Well, I still wasn’t great that day. I was good enough to get 10 seconds, 15 seconds, 20, 25, 30, and then 40, and at the top you don’t gain much because it starts to flatten out a lot. To bicycle uphill is multiple, multiple, multiple, multiple accelerations. I mean, the bike is constantly accelerating and decelerating.
Some days, you don’t feel those changes. Alpe d’Huez in 2002, even [the time trial] in 2004, it was constant acceleration up the hill. But that day [on Luz-Ardiden], although I made up time, I could feel the bike slowing down on me, so I was constantly having to keep it going. And I wasn’t that great that day. I was more desperate than I was good.
VN: Was there anything you were thinking?
LA: I didn’t have a set amount of time. I was just gonna go as hard as I could to the top. The one thing I was really thinking, because I was desperate, for the reason I was desperate was that it would have been really humiliating to lose the Tour on the last … second to last [mountain stage]. I didn’t want to go out that way, that year.
VN: Prior to your long winning streak at the Tour, and prior to cancer, you achieved some amazing victories for such a young rider — the USPRO, a Tour stage and the world’s at age 21, two overall Tour DuPonts, the Flèche Wallonne and San Sebastian classics. Is it true that the fame and relative fortune you made then was enough to satisfy your ambitions and that’s why you didn’t seriously consider trying to win the Tour de France?
LA: Yeah. Yeah, I was content with that mold of rider, focusing on those races, and obviously being paid well, still being a team leader, but also all those years [1993-96] going to the Tour and seeing the difference between me and the true Tour riders. No, I was fully content. I could have ended the career then. I mean, when I stopped in ’98 in Paris-Nice there, I thought, "Oh you’ve had a good career and did some good things." And even when I was sick [with cancer] and couldn’t find a team, I thought the same attitude that said, "Look, you’re doing a good job, you’re a team leader, you are winning classics, you are winning stages in the Tour," I thought that would have been enough to at least get me on a team in ’97, ’98, which it wasn’t. Except for one team. But that was the wrong attitude … obviously.
VN: Besides all your success you also had some upsetting losses, particularly in the early parts of your career, such as in Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the Amstel Gold Race, finishing second several times.
LA: Yeah, I’ve had a lot of seconds, even going back to [the Championship of] Zürich in my first year, my second big pro race. Second there, second at San Sebastian [in 1994], second at Paris-Nice [in 1996]….
VN: Did those defeats really hurt? And did it make you a better rider when it came to the Tour?
LA: You see, that whole idea about being upset by those losses and really going home and analyzing what went on, it would be totally different the last seven years. If that would have happened to me — well it did to me at times. There were times over the years, second at Amstel by half a tire and stuff like that, I was miserable. I mean, I was unbearable to be around. That was the difference in my approach pre- and post-illness. I mean, even if I’d lost by a tire length in a World Cup and got second, I would have thought going home in the van, that would have been nice to win.
But I can’t … and I’ve really, really grown to love this man … Jan Ullrich … but I still don’t understand why at the end of the Tour he can say, "Well, I got second. I feel pretty good about it." Now, I don’t understand that mentality. I’m not knocking Jan, I’m not knocking anybody that gets second, but it’s not my attitude anymore. It hasn’t been in the last seven or eight years. And perhaps it was because I was forced to think in a win-or-lose situation when I was sick. I mean, there’s no second place. You either win or you don’t. I mean, in the last eight years, I can’t think of a time when I was happy to get second, unless it was a stage in the Tour de France and you put time into a main rival — that was a bit of a win anyway.
VN: Now that your career is over, are there any secrets you want to share with us? Maybe about the world’s in Oslo, the ’99 Tour, or the ’03 Tour when you came into the race not well and with some problems …
LA: … with the crash in Dauphiné and the time between Dauphiné and the Tour was not a good few weeks.
VN: Were you having doubts about yourself then?
LA: No, no. I didn’t. I mean, the week before the Tour in ’03 I thought I was right on track. I did. I was wrong. But, we were never big…. I mean, we had strategic stuff that would go around, but I tried to be transparent in the end to the press and people that’d ask. Generally, I try not to sit there and sugarcoat things. I decided, no, let ’em know the way we are thinking, and the way we thought it had occurred.
I’ll have to think about [your question]. I’ve never hidden in the illness and, fortunately, never had to hide an injury. If we’ve got weaknesses within the team that we try to move around and hide, that’s the same that every team does. With our team, if somebody sees one of the key guys suffering then we’ll manage with that, and move them around in the rotation for that day — let them pull and work earlier.
VN: Helping cancer patients and raising money for their cause has become a huge part of you life. Do you have any special stories about your cancer work or patients, things that stick in your mind?
LA: I have a lot of stories. I mean, I get stories daily. Some of them are just on the street, some of them would be at the Ride for the Roses, some of them would be during Tour of Hope, some of them would be people that came to the Tour [de France]. But there are just literally thousands, tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of these stories that I’ve personally received from people. And that’s what they want. They want to share their story, they want to tell their story, and they want to know that I heard it. And I don’t really need to say anything. They just want to know that I listened.
And it’s been two things. It’s incredibly unfortunate that I have to listen to those stories, because it’s unfortunate that any of us have to listen to that story. It’s unfortunate that anybody had to listen to my story. The illness is unfortunate. But at the same time it’s incredibly inspiring — still. It always was, and still is today, to know that what I did on a bike made a difference to one or two, or 10 or maybe a few hundred people, however many people it affected.
There were many days where that was an incredible army to have behind you. In those days, they helped me overcome … and they still help me. Life is not as if I sit on a beach every day now, and have piña coladas, life is tough. There are still blows, and there are still tough moments in a lot of things. Even in cycling I still obviously listen to a lot of BS on a daily basis. But with fatherhood, with life in the neighborhood, you know, I still rely on them [cancer patients] as my teammates.
VN: You’ve always been outspoken about drugs. I can still remember the ’99 Tour, a year after the Festina scandal, when you won the prologue and said, "Remarks are made assuming we’re all doped. That’s bullshit. I’m here … to see cycling reassert itself and to reassure people that we are champions." And you gave a speech on the rest day at Le Grand Bornand, saying, "We can choose to do one of two things. We can try and break down a Tour de France that has been around forever, or we can try and repair it. Unfortunately, there’s still some people that want to see it go away. I’m not one of those people." You’ve always not pulled any punches in your statements, and you’ve even donated a lot of money to the UCI for drug-testing machines. If you had the choice, would you do all of this in exactly the same way?
LA: I did do all those things, and there are other things …
VN: … and people still question your motives for doing that, particularly people in Europe.
LA: You know, some of the most interesting stuff is that … for example the letter on e-mail I sent before the ’03 or ’04 Tour, really encouraging guys like [Tour organizers] Leblanc and [Patrice] Clerc, [the UCI’s] [Hein] Verbruggen and [Dr. Leon] Schattenberg, and Daniel Baal, who was then at [Tour organizer] ASO, and Johan, and a lot of people. I said, "Guys, you gotta do more. The gossip in the peloton is this, and we’ve got to look for this…." [It was] on a purely professional level with them … not a press release. You get so many bozos that want to give press conferences and press releases. That’s bullshit. That doesn’t work. All that does is ruin the sport.
The way to effect change is to sit down with the people in control and in charge, and say, "This could be happening…. I’m not saying it’s happening, but it could be happening, so let’s monitor it, let’s do something about it, don’t let it happen, because it’s going to lead to bad things for all of us."
And why did I send that e-mail if I’m the dirtiest f---er in the peloton? That’s ridiculous. Why would you spend money [for a testing machine]? Okay, yeah, people can say, "Oh, it’s like Al Capone buying police cars for the police force." Bullshit. I’ve done too many other things.
Now, I haven’t been — and I really respect her — but I haven’t been [world marathon record holder] Paula Radcliffe with a billboard up in the stands saying, "EPO cheats, get out!" and all these other things. And I think a faction of the media, and a growing faction, want that. They want somebody to stand up there and just strain to the high heavens that they’re clean and everybody [else] is dirty, and all you dirty guys get out.
I can’t do that. I don’t know…. I can get up there and say, "Look, I’m clean." But I can’t tell you what Jan Ullrich did. I can’t say what Ivan Basso did. I can’t tell you that, so why would I incriminate them, which is what these pricks do, on a daily basis? My approach wasn’t aggressive enough for them, but at the same time I had to split my approach between doing the right thing and protecting my sport. The sport that feeds me, feeds my family, feeds my children, feeds an entire industry back home, feeds fans, feeds tens of millions of cancer survivors around the world — you think I’m gonna get up and say that? Number one, I don’t believe it. Number two, I don’t think it’s good for us. Having said all that, if that’s a fight between my approach and their approach, we’re losing that fight. The world, especially the European world, the press world has chosen to just be sensational about it. Having said that, it’s not really my problem anymore.
VN: What do you think of Amgen [the inventor of artificial EPO] being the title sponsor of the Tour of California?
LA: I have to say I was surprised when I saw that announcement. But I wasn’t at all offended. I thought it was a ballsy move by them. Epogen, Aranesp and all of the things that they produce are great drugs. They are fantastic, they are lifesavers.
I applaud Amgen for supporting the Tour of California, in supporting cycling. Quite frankly I am offended by all of the uproar … and I wouldn’t be surprised if [Sunday Times sportswriter] David Walsh is there picketing. It’s that divisive.
At the end of the day, Amgen doesn’t make its living off of unethical athletes, it makes its living producing life-saving drugs. And I have to tell you, I have been a consumer of Amgen products as a cancer patient, and I can tell you they work.
I think it’s great. We have a brand-new event, which has as a multi-year commitment. It looks to be a high-quality event at a perfect time of the year, makes a great way to showcase our riders, and is a great opportunity for all the teams around the world to come in and use that as a preparation race.
As a fan of cycling, are you really gonna complain about that? We don’t have enough races [in North America] and then you get a great race with a good sponsor, then people get pissed off? No, I refuse to….
This interview will be concluded on Friday. — Editor
