Comments on: ANTWERPSE SCHELDT CROSS, WORLD CUP AND INDOOR ZOLDER HASSELT CROSS, ARMSTRONG INTENDED TO START

By: Russell @ Upper Echelon Fitness

Russell @ Upper Echelon Fitness — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 23:40:06 +0000

It doesn’t necessarily matter if he races for free or not. He likely would race for free, though, since that’s his claim and the start money which seems big to cross racers is really not going to impact Lance. But, promoters pay riders to come to their events to bring in a crowd – they charge admission at these races. If Lance is there, the attendance will be probably be big already. So they wouldn’t need to pay as deep on start money for lesser known riders. Is this good for cyclocross? I doubt him racing some cross is going to end up on SportsCenter, but might bring more attention to it within the cycling community.

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 01:59:34 +0000

Let’s hope he’s racing for free. Although with the dip in the market he might be getting worried…

By: chris

chris — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 23:55:33 +0000

@ joel
i don’t think cross races will be broadcasted live, i was using that as an example of lances impact on the sport. lance is THE reason the tour is broadcasted live in the us now. and while cross will never reach the scale of road biking, a highlight on sportcenter might interest some people, and some people in a land of 300,000,000 is more than a handful.

By: joel

joel — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 21:43:40 +0000

chris – i dont care if hes stroking his ego or not. its just that i think thats what this is all about, more than anything else. i dont doubt that nys et al, or any of the rest of us have egos as well – i just consider this whole comeback thing a publicity stunt, and i respect it accordingly.

do you really think that lance showing up to a few token cross races for this one season is going to have a lasting effect on the sport, or whether or not cross will be broadcast live in the states? its a flash in the pan, a momentary distraction.

who knows, maybe hell race for free, no start fees, like matt mentions. thatll make the issue moot, i suppose.

By: Romulus

Romulus — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 18:30:15 +0000

I like to stroke my ego by leaving comments on eponymous blogs.

By: Michael Mann

Michael Mann — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:36:36 +0000

If (big if) we can take Lance at his word and he is doing it for the reasons he says, the Euro races should offer him a spot but not a dime of money – after all, he’s not making a living off this like the other guys are. If he needs to get paid, let Nike or his other sponsors pay him. That leaves the Euro cross budgets intact to pay the “real” cross racers, and Lance gets his winter training and his ego stroked (or not).

By: leif

leif — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 17:07:44 +0000

Isn’t it a bit like when Jordan played baseball? Or was it some other basketball player… It was all so unremarkable, and a little embarrassing.

By: Chris

Chris — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:49:07 +0000

first off. great blog.

i fall in the second camp.

did versus (formerly oln) have live tour coverage before lance?

i understand how smaller riders might get screwed, but lance is only doing a couple races and the long term benefits will help the smaller riders.

@ joel.
who cares if he’s stroking his ego? are you telling me boom, nys, or wellens don’t have egos?

By: joel

joel — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 02:26:08 +0000

why is he wasting our time with this silly attempt to prove himself, post-retirement, as more than a one-trick pony? granted, it was a pretty huge, awesome trick, but STILL…

i side with your first line of thinking, the one about screwing some smaller-name racers who truly love the sport, just so a guy who cant live out of the limelight gets his media attention. this isnt about boosting cross, this is about ostensibly boosting the livestrong/anti-cancer thing, but in my opinion, more about stroking his own ego.

im over the lance era. over it.

By: Matt E.

Matt E. — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 00:14:16 +0000

Maybe he will race for free….like he indicated when he announced that he was “coming back”.