“Cycling notebook: Lance Armstrong to continue the fight”

---

Cycling notebook: Lance Armstrong to continue the fight Posted: 11 Aug 2010 10:36 PM PDT Lance Armstrong had planned to "lay low" in August after his final Tour de France, but he has instead been heavily scheduled, even visiting Houston Wednesday afternoon to speak at the National Business Travel Association convention. Over lunch at the George R. Brown Convention Center, he re-told the story of his battle with cancer and how fighting the disease will again becomes his major life's work now that he's really retired from big-time racing. Armstrong did not address his current problems with the feds caused by the charges from former U.S. Postal Service teammate Floyd Landis that he used performance-enhancing drugs and encouraged others to do the same. The closest Armstrong came to the subject was to say, when questioned by the moderator on another subject, "You can't always believe what you read in the newspapers." Armstrong has decided not to defend his Leadville 100 mountain-bike race championship this weekend, admitting he's still trying to recover from injuries – particularly a badly bruised hip — suffered during the Tour, when he fell hard several times en route to a 23rd-place finish, nearly 40 minutes behind the winner, Alberto Contador. "My body," he said, "just didn't recover the way it used to." The audience of more than 1,000 greeted him with a standing ovation and frequently applauded his remarks. One attending delegate, Peter Murao of Los Angeles, caught Armstrong's attention because he was wearing a yellow jersey replica, which Armstrong jokingly asked him to return – and later signed for Murao back-stage. Asked if his perception of Armstrong had changed because of the fallout from Landis' accusations, Murao replied: "The truth's the truth, and I have no idea what it is. There are a lot of allegations out there. It doesn't diminish the things he has contributed to his Livestrong organization." Murao lost his mother to cancer. Yanks No. 1 Lawson Craddock, who will be riding for Armstrong's Under-23 team – Trek-Livestrong - next year, was disappointed about not claiming the rainbow jersey in the time trial, and he had also hoped for better in the road race at the UCI World Junior Road Championships in Italy over the weekend. But the Houston rider and his American teammates still made history by finishing No. 1 in the UCI Junior Nations Cup rankings for the first time ever, nosing out Russia and Australia. The ranking is based on combined results over seven 2010 events. The Americans' previous best was fourth in 2009. The 18-year-old Craddock was the highest-placing American in both racing disciplines, winning a bronze in the time trial and crossing 14th in the road race. The latter was more impressive than it may sound, considering he crossed just a couple seconds behind the winner, France's Oliver Le Gac, after being an integral part of a chase group that reeled in the breakaway leaders in the final two miles. Craddock is competing in the individual pursuit Thursday in the World Junior Track Championships in Montichiari, Italy. He's the reigning U.S. national champion in that event, as well as in the time trial and the road race. Colorado gets race A second major U.S. stage race will be held in Colorado next summer and  Lance Armstrong, who was one of the driving forces behind the new event, has at least left the door open for his participating, saying: "Never say never. Not having done the Tour (de France) and not trained like (the Tour riders have), do I want to jump in? It's not that easy. Would I like to? Yes. Would I be fit enough? Probably not. But we'll see." To be called the Quiznos Pro Challenge, the race is set for Aug. 22-28, 2011., Although the exact route hasn't been mapped out – Armstrong, who has a home in Aspen, will take a major role in the process - it will remind cycling old-timers of the Coors Classic, last held in 1988. After the race was announced, Armstrong led a celebratory ride through Denver's streets sporting what he called "the most controversial jersey in cycling." That's the black "28" jersey that Tour de France officials refused to let him and his RadioShack teammates wear on the final stage into Paris July 25. The figure honors the 28 million people fighting cancer. Big changes Saxo Bank boss Bjarne Riis may have lost his best two riders, Andy and Frank Schleck, but Riis has compensated handsomely after signing Alberto Contador away from Astana. With the Schleck's departing for a new Luxembourg-based team – not RadioShack, as had been surmised last summer - Riis needed to make a splash to ensure his team would stay afloat as it seeks new sponsorship funding. Acquiring the three-time Tour de France champion accomplished that and then some. Armstrong called the Riis-Contador partnership "a formidable pairing." Tour de Pink Sept. 19 The sixth annual Tour de Pink is set for Sept. 19 at Prairie View A&M with rides of 12, 23, 47, 63, 80 and 100 miles offered as options. Participants are required to raise $100 minimum for the Pink Ribbons Project to fight breast cancer through awareness and education programs. There will be Survivor/Novice tune-up rides scheduled each of the preceding four Saturdays. Go to tourdepink.org for more information. dale.robertson@chron.com Five Filters featured article: "Peace Envoy" Blair Gets an Easy Ride in the Independent. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

You are subscribed to email updates from Content Keyword RSS To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now.	Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610