Hey, Lance!

I've probably mentioned before that I hate Lance Armstrong. I hate that everyone in American immediately thinks "Lance" when they see a bicycle. I don't care about the doping allegations. I don't care that his absolute steamrolling of the Tour de France seven times in a row. I just find it entirely obnoxious when people yell "Hey, Lance" to me when I'm riding. Not that it happens to me that often any more. It's just really obnoxious. Lance Armstrong is not the only cyclist ever. He didn't invent cycling. "But he won the Tour-day-France like seven times!" Yes, that he has. But he was a specialist. Lance Armstrong, and his entire team, geared their whole season towards winning that one race. Anything else for the entire team for those seven years was training for the Tour.

The reason I bring it up? Yesterday, team Astana confirmed that Lance Armstrong would be their star rider for the Tour de France. That is, assuming the team gets invited this year. Personally I think it's messed up that Armstrong is leading the team, while Contador, who won two years ago, and Levi Leiphammer, after all his fuss about not getting to ride last year, have to work for him.

Also I think (and partially hope) that Armstrong will get his ass handed to him, and good riddance. On the other hand, another round of Lance-mania could be a good thing for cycling in general. Either way, we'll see what happens next July.