Legends of the Tour de France - Lance Armstrong, part 1.

[neuslach]

Armstrong is one of the best ever. Al those Italian and Belgian cyclingfans should admit that. But Merkx and Coppi or Pantani where also great riders. I am from Europe too, so its a bit rare for me too taht riders form the US or Canada taking over nowadays.

[slowspeed888]

@sandrodream1 pantani is dead! drug OD

[xxmdogxx1ify1]

armstrong is fucking inspiring end of story bitches

[VERANCO]

Eddy Merckx is the greatest ever.

Amstrong the greatest = a joke

[gooner5446]

thahkyou for making my 30yr hurt go away!!



[Vinnygil]

thats sad that that one guy died.. i mean he's a cyclist not a soldier or even somebody who plays a contact sport. his wife must have been shocked

[Marvusman41]

99.999% of people could never do what Armstrong did with perfect health. Most people can't overcome a common cold to go out for an afternoon run. This man overcame a body completely ridden with advanced cancer to win the Tour 7 times. Forget what it took just to bounce back physically after chemo and surgery what about mentally? When choosing the greatest athlete in any sport you must look and ask one question. Will it be done again?  Noone will ever do what he did under the same conditions

[z9di]

@Marvusman41 you have so right in what you writes!

[AlbinoAapNL]

armstrong said: Sorry, but 7 is way better then 5.

Armstrong is the very best!

[hillbillypetej]

What a person the best man iv ever seen got though cancer and wins 7 tour france

a true legend and a one off well done lance the best of best. loved waching him racing all the time he done the tour france.

[shadesparty]

I deeply respect Armstrong. But sometimes it is sad to see that people judge him as the best ever. People please understand that Fausto Coppi's two tour wins in those days are equal to Lance Armstrong's 7 wins. Just at the road condition back then, food, the incredible competition in his days. And........both times he also won the Giro D'Italia in the same year plus many other races. But still.....Lance is great!

[Drago110482]

Cycling Hall of Fame:

1) E. Merckx

2) B. Hinault

3) L. Armstrong

That s the way it is. Even Lance himself would tell you he isn the greatest ever by far.

[shadesparty]

@Drago110482 You are right to not put Armstrong nr.1. He is only nr.1 in most tour wins. But next to Hinault and Merckx, I would put Bartali, Coppi and Anquetile and Phillip Thys above him.

[Skyvvards]

merckx is better than amstrong :)

[shadesparty]

@Skyvvards You are almost right. I would say: "Merckx is way better than Armstrong".

[abejorromostachon]

He is a great cyclist, but not the greatest cyclist ever. You should look at some videos and statistics of some others, like Merckx, Anquetil, etc. and then make that statement.

[rshinsec]

@abejorromostachon Don't be a fool.

Michael Jordan is the best basketball player ever, none will argue this. He doesn't have the most championships or the most points.

Lance beat the best the world had to offer 7 years in a row, leaving the sport while still in his prime in 2005, while also losing some years of his prime to cancer. He IS the greatest cyclist ever. Stats can only show you so much.

[abejorromostachon]

@rshinsec

You obviously know more about basketball than about cycling.

First of all, it is important to say that Armstrong did not lose time because of cancer. He was not capable of winning the Tour before the disease, and his victories are due to the amount of weight that he lost during his treatment. He was good at time trials, but he was not a "general" cyclist... he had no chance on the mountains.

Lance won the Tour 7 times in a row, but he never won any important classics...

[abejorromostachon]

@rshinsec ... nor any other important stage races. He never broke the Hour Record, etc. Eddy Merckx: Records: Most career victories by a professional cyclist: 525. Most victories in one season: 54. Most stage victories in the Tour de France: 34. Most stage victories in one Tour de France: 8, in 1970 and 1974 Most days with the yellow jersey in the Tour de France: 96. The only cyclist to have won the yellow, green and red polka-dotted jersey in the same Tour de France (1969). ...

[abejorromostachon]

@rshinsec Eddy Merckx Tour the France: 5 Victories, 2 KoM, 3 Points Jerseys Giro d'Italia: 5 Victories Vuelta a España: 5 Victories Classics: Milan - San Remo: 7 Paris - Roubaix: 3 Liege - Bastogne - Liege: 5 etc. Clear enough? If you know a bit about cycling, you'll understand that you cannot say that Armstrong is the best just because he won 7 Tours. PS: He lost 11 minutes today against Contador. When is he going to retire?

[rshinsec]

@abejorromostachon There was probably a lot of really good competition 40 years ago huh?

He's not the greatest because he won 7 tours. He's the greatest because he won 7 tours consecutively after recovering from cancer in todays much more competitive cycling world.

Really, you're picking on a guy who has been involved in 4 crashes in 8 stages? Classy. This will be his last tour, but he won't quit unless he can't continue. If YOU are such an expert you would know that.