Arrrrgh they had his manager person on the news this morning, talking about how he'd been with him since he was 18....through the cancer, etc, and now he has 3 kids...how he was Lance's confidant, manager....etc etc, and all I could think was...Wow....what an achievement...so you were there while he decided it'd be a good idea to cheat on the wife that stood by him through cancer....you're a real stand up guy.

My FWH happened to be watching the TV too, and I said "Eww I can't stand him." He said "Who?" I said "Lance Armstrong" He said "Why?" I said "Because his wife stayed with him through his cancer ordeal, and then he dumped her for Sheryl Crow" He said "Oh...".

-Caren

***He was on the news because he's attempting the Tour De France for the 7th time or something, and then he's going to retire, I went on his website, but apparently boinking Ms. Crow is more fun than updating the website, it hasn't been updated since 2004.

-Caren

My family follows the Tour religiously every summer, and they don't seem to like him much because he is a very agressive competitor. I haven't seen the Tour since I left Europe and my fav. cyclist retired, but my family says he won't stop to tend for a co-competitor if they have an awful fall and even when he is already the winner. He will elbow his way around big groups, and he is just very rude to most people.
But like I said I haven't seen him myself, so I don't know.

I only like atheletes when they exhibit a good sense of sportmanship and act like good people overall. It is still unclear to me if he was still married when he started dating Ms Crow, but if he was, it is just disgusting.

Yeah....I think he's a jerk too. In the eyes of tinsel town he's such a great guy. Sorry, but I don't think a man who would do that to his family is a great guy. tour de france???? GAG ME! My STBX and his OW probably love him. GAG GAG GAG

LMAO Tree...you crack me up!!!!!!!

I laughed when you said your STBX probably loves him......I know that your STBX is the root of all evil, so you're probably right LMAO

-Caren

I am not a personal friend of Lance Armstrong but have worked with those who are and the divorce, apparently, was mutual as both were involved in some form infidelity during the marriage. Both Kirsten (with whom I also don't know) and Lance, according to friends, are very strong personalities and had differing visions as to where life was taking them. A lot of the strain, I am sure, related back to Lance being gone training/racing a good chunk of the year. He still, however, is very passionate/loving towards family much like he holds a lot of passion for sport. His apparent arrogance goes along with his driven personality but he certainly has a right to be after all that he has accomplished in the sport. Any unkind acts shown on tv is probably the media's attempt to blow something small out of proportion as they tend to do this to stars. It is my belief that the root of Lance's frustration and unsportmanlike conduct in the past relates back to false accusations about drug use and also claims that his cancer meds helped his performance which is just plain ridiculous. I am very inspired by the amount of charity work he does with the Lance Armstrong Foundation and while I would have liked to see him work things out with Kirsten, I do not judge him for where he is at with Sheryl right now. I did have the opportunity to talk to his coach Chris Carmichel last week and Lance was dealing/grieving with a lot of personal issues relating back to his divorce which hurt his training a bit (I certainly can relate to this). He has since had a great month of training which has Chris confident about his 7th run at the Tour de France title. I will be one of many who will be cheering him on next month.

Cheers,

Muels

By SCOTT DEVEAU
Tuesday, June 14, 2005 Updated at 3:25 PM EDT
Globe and Mail Update

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20050614.wlance0614/EmailBNStory/Sports/

Lance Armstrong is not superman.

The six-time Tour-de-France champion is not a genetic freak and if he didn't train the way he does, a high school cyclist could compete against him, according to the author of a new study published in the June issue of the Journal of Applied Physiology.

The American cycling phenom will compete in his final Tour de France this July. Not a moment too soon, because the study claims to have discovered the secret to Mr. Armstrong's success.

"There are many stories and myths about Armstrong," Edward Coyle, a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, said. "Some people have the opinion that Lance is superhuman - that he does not fatigue. I can assure you he's just as human as anybody else."

Mr. Coyle's study, which tracked the cycling champion from the age of 21, when he was just turning professional, to the age of 28, with his first Tour de France victory, included his cancer diagnosis, surgery, chemotherapy and recovery.

"Our main goal was to study someone over a long period of time," Mr. Coyle said, adding prior to this study there were no reliable, or believable, explanations for what allows someone like Mr. Armstrong to improve from a competitor, to a national champion, to a world-class competitor over the course of a number of years.

When it comes to Mr. Armstrong's apparent superhuman strength, there were many myths to bust and Mr. Coyle, who studied the cyclist from 1992 to 1999, believes the data he collected bursts them all.

Mr. Armstrong's exceptional career, Mr. Coyle said, is more a testament to hard work and determination than anything else.

Mr. Coyle said his data disproves the myth that Mr. Armstrong's body changed after his battle with cancer. The theory, which Mr. Coyle said is purely speculative, was that Mr. Armstrong's chemotherapy shaved some size off his upper-body, improving his performance.

According to the Mr. Coyle's study, just eight-month after his chemotherapy treatment, Mr. Armstrong's proportions returned to what would be expected from a highly trained athlete during a period of detraining.

The other myth busted by the data, Mr. Coyle said, is that the Mr. Armstrong is genetically predisposed to the sport.

"Is he a genetic freak? Although I've not yet been able to determine what that means, he doesn't have a third cycling leg or something like that," Mr. Coyle said.

Mr. Coyle, who heads the Direct Human Performance Laboratory at Texas, studied two other cyclists with the same proportions and physiological potential, and were competing at the same level as Mr. Armstrong at one point.

"I asked Lance once why they weren't as good as him. It was because they didn't have the motivation and the willpower to compete," Mr. Coyle said. "If Lance didn't train the way he does, if he was just an average fit kind of guy, a high school cyclist could compete with him."

There is however a training model that has been developed from the data, which isolates what differentiates Mr. Armstrong's performance from that of his competitors during the 21 phases of the Tour de France. The secret is a combination of long-term training and a planned weight loss just prior to the race.

Riding for up to eight hours a day over the course of seven years, when combined with a planned 7 per cent reduction of body mass and fat prior to the Tour de France, led Mr. Armstrong to 18 per cent increase in power per kilogram output, and an 8 per cent increase in muscle efficiency.

"One per cent [muscle efficiency] separates first place from last place. Eight per cent is a phenomenal improvement," Mr. Coyle said.

While the study did not specifically test for performance enhancing drugs, Mr. Coyle said neither muscle efficiency nor power per kilogram output would be effected but such drugs.

However, Mr. Armstrong's reduction in body mass is specific to his Tour de France success.

It is widely known that Mr. Armstrong is one the best climbers in the world. He normally takes his lead in the hills of the race. Being lighter, combined with a very high muscle efficiency, helps Mr. Armstrong muscle up the hills faster than his competitors, Mr. Coyle said.

The training model is now being used by other cyclists, he added, but it remains to be seen if any of them will be able to achieve the world class status of Mr. Armstrong by following it.

He didn't meet Sheryl Crow until after the (mutually agreed upon) divorce was filed.

cause his wife stayed with him through his cancer ordeal
His (now ex) wife could not have stood by him through his "cancer ordeal" because he had already completed chemotherapy three weeks before they even met. They did not start dating until 6 months later and were married 11 months after that.

Lance and Sheryl were not involved in a relationship at the time he was divorcing his then wife...Lance and his EX wife are still friends and raise their children together...lance did not commit adultery with Sheryl while married to his wife!

Lance is a good man!