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Lance Armstrong is reportedly coming out of retirement to compete yet again in another Tour de France in 2009. This is exciting news to bike racing fans everywhere, but it may also be somewhat of a disappointment to the riders he will be competing against as they may perceive that this legendary riders entry will overshadow the event itself. No matter what the perception of Lance Armstrong competing for an 8th Tour title, his entry into the race will definitely provide a big boost in both interest and viewership for the 2009 Tour de France, especially for Americans.
It’s been 3 years since Armstrong retired from competitive cycling, and as a cancer survivor he has been as dedicated to raising awareness of this disease as well as raising money to help find a cure as he was a relentless competitive rider. Lance Armstrong has been the superstar of professional bike racing with his unprecedented 7 Tour victories, and since his departure there has yet to be a new rider that has captured such attention for this sport. The question on many peoples’ minds will be whether he can actually win this race at the ripe old age of 37?
Another element in this comeback is to silence critics that have accused Armstrong of using performance enhancing drugs, even though he has never tested positive before. To help dispel any assumptions to contrary, Armstrong will have a film crew documenting his training and blood testing throughout the course of the run-up to the 2009 Tour; we assume that this will eventually be packaged into a DVD with the profits going towards the Lance Armstrong Foundation.
It really doesn’t matter whether Armstrong actually wins the Tour de France in 2009, as his entry is more than enough to draw international attention to the race, and a renewed interest in competitive cycling from Americans. As well as the attention his entry will draw, we may be in store for some very heated competition that will truly make for an interesting race in 2009. We welcome Armstrong’s re-entry into the world of competitive cycling, and have great hopes that next summer in France will be exciting for cycling fans.
