Lanced: The Shaming of Lance Armstrong Read Online Free PDF Page A

because sports people want them to change."
     
     

Puzzling silence of an inspirational fighter
    David Walsh
    June 11, 2000
    "
    The exploration of his fear, his defiance and his occasional despair is an absorbing journey
    "

Occasionally you come across something that gets your attention and locks it in a vice-grip. Lance Armstrong's recently published book, It's Not About The Bike - My Journey Back to Life, does it. It is an extraordinary story of a cancer survivor and, as the title suggests, it hasn't that much to do with Armstrong's prowess as a cyclist. The final third of the book deals with the Texan's win in last year's Tour de France but the climax of the story came long before that.
    The life and times of Lance Armstrong are the stuff of heroism. Linda Mooneyham was 17 when she gave birth to Lance, but soon split from her husband. Linda and Lance grew up in a Dallas suburb, as much soul-mates as mother and son. Linda was a worker and a fighter, qualities she passed on to her son.
    Life was hard at first but wherever she worked, Linda got on. Lance was a tough kid, a natural athlete with tremendous endurance. By the time he was 15, he was looking to make money in triathlons and within a year, he was doing that. As soon as he realised he could make it as a professional, cycling became his sport. Wherever Lance went, he travelled with his eyes wide open.
    He rode the Tour de France in 1993 and fulfilled an ambition when winning one leg of the three-week race. His victory on the 114-mile leg to Verdun was staggeringly assertive and, at 21, he became the youngest ever winner of a Tour stage. As well as raw strength and endurance, Armstrong was plucky. He didn't wait for his chance to come on the sharp hill before the descent to Verdun that day, he created it.
    The kid genuinely had something. Later that year he won the world championships at Oslo, going again where no 21-year-old had gone before. The extraordinary promise of that first year was not fully realised over the following three seasons. Armstrong rode well in the one-day classics and established himself as one of the best in that metier but he did not win as often, nor as big, as was expected.
    In September 1996, Armstrong discovered he had cancer. Testicular cancer, lung cancer, lesions on his brain that required surgery and doctors who lied that he had more than a 50/50 chance of surviving. Armstrong's reaction to the diagnosis, his decisions on the treatment that best suited him and his fight against the illness are magnificently told.
    He tells of the conversation which followed the news that he would need brain surgery: "I was tired, and in a state of disbelief. It made me blunt. 'You'll have to convince me you know what you're doing', I said to Scott Shapiro, the surgeon.
    "'Look, I've done a large number of these', Shapiro said. 'I've never had anyone die, and I've never made anyone worse'.
    "'Yeah, but why should you be the person who operates on my head?'"
    "'Because as good as you are at cycling, I'm a lot better at brain surgery'."
    The clarity of the insight enriches the book. Informed of his illness, Armstrong buys all the cancer books, reads them and begins to fully understand the mental and physical condition that he is going through. The exploration of his fear, his defiance and his occasional despair is an absorbing journey.
    Always, there is the feeling of Armstrong's senses being sharpened by the fear of death. Worried he wouldn't survive himself, Armstrong's concern for other cancer sufferers grew and would lead to him setting up the Lance Armstrong Foundation which in a short time has achieved much in the fight against cancer. Armstrong's successful fight against his illness is inspirational. The cancer community has a brave and extremely tenacious advocate.
    There is, however, one bit I don't get. Where was the intelligent and the sympathetic Armstrong during last year's Tour de France? Armstrong's victory in the race came 12 months after