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Lance Armstrong: I'm an athlete and that's all
espn.com ^ | March 25, 2003 | ESPN.com

Posted on 03/25/2003 1:40:32 PM PST by RetiredArmy

Armstrong: I'm an athlete and that's all

From: The Associated Press; Posted At ESPN.com, March 25, 2003

MADRID, Spain -- Lance Armstrong will worry about his team's safety this summer during the Tour de France if the United States is still at war with Iraq.

The four-time champion said he would be concerned about his U.S Postal team as it rides each day through the mountains and countryside.

"Two-hundred kilometers (124 miles) of road without barriers cannot be kept under control,'' Armstrong said Monday on Catalan regional television.

"I don't represent one side or the other, but I do represent a sponsor'' of the war, the Texan added.

"I'm an athlete and that's all,'' he said. (Is he not an American?)

Armstrong has overcome cancer to win his Tour de France titles. If he wins a fifth straight race, he will tie the record of Spain's Miguel Indurain, who won from 1991-95.

Armstrong is in Spain for the Catalan Week race.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Front Page News
KEYWORDS: lancearmstrong; war
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To: ambrose
Thanks. I was just about to go off when I read your post; you're absolutely right. We need to be consistent.
21 posted on 03/25/2003 2:00:00 PM PST by Howlin
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To: RetiredArmy
Get over it. He's just trying to stay focused on the Tour.

Can't someone say someting that sounds neutral without people taking it as "unAmerican?"

22 posted on 03/25/2003 2:04:35 PM PST by al_c
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To: pittsburgh gop guy
I read somewhere that he lives and trains in france for most of the year. Makes trips back to the States only for TV/PR appearances.

You read wrong. His French is rotten and if you know where to look you can see him training in Austin most of the year.

23 posted on 03/25/2003 2:04:37 PM PST by HoustonCurmudgeon (Compassionate Conservative Curmudgeon)
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To: Freebird Forever
Boycott France? They'd enjoy that. Winning the Tour again is what will really piss them off.
24 posted on 03/25/2003 2:05:15 PM PST by 12B
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To: Prolixus
He gets a great deal of press coverage in Europe. Bicycle athletes have a much higher profile in Europe then here in the U.S.

I speak French and follow bicycle racing mainly by reading offerings in that language. (I used to race and am an avid bicyclist.)

It would be flat impossible for Lance to not be pressed to comment about the war considering his nationality and high profile over there.

He is playing it smart. Silence over there often gives the press and public artistic license to fill in the blanks themselves. As usual, Lance is playing things smart, and no doubt he thought out his stand quite carefully before he made it.

Lance is no Eddie Merckx, but considering he is where he is dispite having suffered cancer is a minor miracle.

I hope he wins a fifth Tour this year, and I believe he is smart and strong enough to do so.
25 posted on 03/25/2003 2:05:44 PM PST by Spangler
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To: krb
Well said.
26 posted on 03/25/2003 2:06:26 PM PST by al_c
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To: HoustonCurmudgeon
"You read wrong. His French is rotten and if you know where to look you can see him training in Austin most of the year." C'est vrai. (That's true.)
27 posted on 03/25/2003 2:07:22 PM PST by Spangler
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To: RetiredArmy
Velo News - March 24

The five-day Setmana Catalana is the second race of the year for four-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong, who finished safely in the lead group. Armstrong expressed his worries about the war in Iraq to the Spanish daily El Periodico.

"I do have fears because of being an American, I'm not going to deny it," said Armstrong, who repeated his apprehension of climbing up narrow roads lined with fans under little or no supervision.

"For example, on Thursday I'll be climbing up to Pal and there are certain to be people on the roads. The people will be close to me and they could have contact with me," he said. "That's one of the differences between my sport and others like football or Formula One. People are in contact with the cyclists but not footballers or F1 drivers. ... People must make a clear distinction between sport and politics. I'd like it if cycling fans could make that distinction."

28 posted on 03/25/2003 2:08:33 PM PST by concentric circles
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To: RetiredArmy
"Then maybe he should have just kept his mouth shut now and said nothing at all. Why speak up now?"

He was answering an interview question. Not answering a question when you are asked is rude.

I think he is smart for not spewing his political views on TV. I wish more celebrities would follow his example.

People who think they are experts on everything just because the happen to be famous make me ill.

29 posted on 03/25/2003 2:08:36 PM PST by monday
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To: Howlin
Yup. If I want tips on how to ride a bike, I'll check back to see what Lance Armstrong has to say...
30 posted on 03/25/2003 2:08:43 PM PST by ambrose
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To: RetiredArmy
If you do a search under Lance Armstrong, you can find the March 10 Guardian article where he states that he is against the war in Iraq.
31 posted on 03/25/2003 2:10:50 PM PST by modendrite
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To: RetiredArmy
>I don't know about you folks, but I was a Lance Armstrong fan. This really bothers me.

Yeah, it bugs me, too,
but remember that these days
athletes are pretty

uneducated,
and have no hope for money
other than keeping

corporate sugar
daddies happy. Desperate
and dumb say dumb things.

32 posted on 03/25/2003 2:11:07 PM PST by theFIRMbss
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To: optik_b
I really will fear for his safety at this year's Tour De France.

IIRC, there were some concerns over his safety last year, before the whole Iraq mess boiled over. I definitely remember hearing that Lance was booed by a LOT of the French. Apparently the uselss, slimy Frogs are getting tired of having an American win "their" race.

33 posted on 03/25/2003 2:13:09 PM PST by CFC__VRWC (Note to Tom Dashcle: If I want your opinion, I'll ask Chirac for it.)
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To: al_c
Can't someone say someting that sounds neutral without people taking it as "unAmerican?"

Not on this forum. There are some really bloodthirsty folk here.

34 posted on 03/25/2003 2:13:55 PM PST by ArrogantBustard
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To: gridlock
I literally just spit water out that I was drinking when I read your post...blood doping?? hahaha
35 posted on 03/25/2003 2:15:46 PM PST by My Favorite Headache (Which one will lose? Depends on what I choose or maybe which voice...I ignore.)
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To: TADSLOS
LMAO
36 posted on 03/25/2003 2:16:40 PM PST by My Favorite Headache (Which one will lose? Depends on what I choose or maybe which voice...I ignore.)
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To: RetiredArmy
I don't know about you folks, but I was a Lance Armstrong fan. This really bothers me.

It bothers me too.
BUT...I'll give Armstrong the benefit of the doubt for now. Seeing how his team sponsor
is the United States Post Service, he MAY be "playing it cool" under advisement from
his contacts at the USPS.

This may be why he's taking a non-committal tone in public -- so that by the
time the Tour comes around and Iraq is liberated, Lance, his team and the USPS
will simply be subjected to the usual sniping in the French press/media.

I doubt that Armstrong is "The Fourth Dixie Chick".
37 posted on 03/25/2003 2:16:51 PM PST by VOA
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To: RetiredArmy
By way of a little context, here are two recent (but pre-war)statements by Armstrong, both made while he was racing in Spain.

* * * *

Armstrong limbers up with broadside at Bush

William Fotheringham

Monday March 10, 2003

The Guardian

Lance Armstrong, who is close to George W Bush, has told the president that he is opposed to war in Iraq. "He's a personal friend of mine but we've all got the right not to agree with our friends," said Armstrong.

The two Texans have a close relationship. Bush has appointed the cyclist to his presidential commission on cancer, has received Armstrong several times at the White House and phoned Armstrong almost immediately after he won his fourth Tour last July. But Armstrong is also famously independent-minded.

"I think we ought to consider the opinion of other strong nations," he added. "Entering in a unilateral way into the war is an error. But he has got all the information, he's the president and my opinion doesn't really matter. I'd always opt for a peaceful solution and not for a war."

Armstrong was speaking during the Tour of Murcia in southern Spain, his first build-up event to his attempt to win a fifth successive Tour de France. Showing signs of form already, he came close to his first win of the year yesterday in the final time-trial stage.

Armstrong was only 2sec behind the stage and overall winner, Javier Pascual Llorente of Spain, in the 12.9km (eight miles) individual contre-la-montre around Murcia.

It could well be that, when Armstrong rides the Tour in July, his country will be at war and he accepts that there could be threats to his personal security. "That is one of the consequences of war. I don't know if it would cause me problems, in the Tour de France for example. I hope it won't."

* * * *

And this, an interview found on Armstrong's own website, also dated March 10, 2003

Did you have any problems with the Spanish / Euro media? We read a few interviews you did that seemed pretty upbeat and focused mainly on cycling.

- No, no real problems at all. The only slight problem is that I was doing media stuff every night and that gets stressful. It's funny, you'll have a guy that just stands around and expects a 20 minute interview and will wait till he gets it. On the other hand you have other media outlets who call Jogi - our press manager - and schedule stuff weeks in advance. With the demand these days these are the ones I do and not the others. There's just not enough time in the day for every one of them.

I got lots of war questions which are making me more and more uncomfortable. Their position is "Well, you're the President's friend, so what can you tell us?.." I suppose at the end of the day athletes should be athletes and not diplomats or politicians. While I've told them I hope we can avoid war (who doesn't want to??), know this: I support the President and our troops 100%.

38 posted on 03/25/2003 2:20:32 PM PST by DSH
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To: Freebird Forever
I know he's a fellow Texan and all, but if he's not boycotting france, he's not worth my time.

If I'm not mistaken, Lance use to own a house in France and stayed their often to train. But, when the French got all in his face over dopping and such, it pissed (no pun intended) him off pretty good. I've heard he sold that house and now owns a residence in Spain.

39 posted on 03/25/2003 2:22:59 PM PST by the_devils_advocate_666
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To: RonF
And all it would take is one nut to throw a stick into his spokes while he's on a downhill to get him seriously injured or even killed.

heh, heh, heh..... You said "one nut"..... heh, heh, heh

40 posted on 03/25/2003 2:23:21 PM PST by gridlock (This tag line printed with soy based electrons on 100% recycled post-consumer ether)
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