After many long months of anticipation, seven time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong returned to professional cycling road racing on Sunday in a prelude to the Tour Down Under.
The 51 kilometre Criterium around the city of Adelaide was called the Cancer Council Classic and was a preliminary battle to the first stage proper which takes place on Tuesday.
High Media Interest
Perhaps predictably media interest in Armstrong's comeback has been huge and has brought the world's attention to a race that is normally only of interest to the cycling community's specialist media. And then only because it is the first race of the season.
2009 is different though. Armstrong has brought with him unprecedented media coverage of the race with regular reports featuring in mainstream media as well as in-depth analysis of his return gracing the pages of the specialist press.
Controversy Never Far Away
Controversy, as well as the world's media, is never far from Armstrong and his return appears to be no exception. At his comeback announcement in September, Armstrong, who during his domination of the Tour de France was one of the most dope-tested athletes in the world and never returned a positive sample, promised to answer critics who have questioned his past performances by announcing an anti-doping programme to be run by US anti-doping expert Don Caitlin. All results would be fully transparent and would be posted on the internet, promised Armstrong.
On the eve of his comeback race however, no such postings have been made despite the insistence that the programme is very much up and running. Armstrong assured reporters in Australia that the anti-doping programme “is formalised [and] underway..It's the most comprehensive anti-doping plan in the history of sport and I'm proud of it,” before confirming that a member of Caitlin's team had visited him in Australia to carry out the latest test. We must wait to see the results.
Meeting the Awareness Goal
Armstrong has repeatedly stated that the reason for his return to the sport is to increase global awareness of cancer - indeed the bike he is riding in Australia displays two important numbers – 1274 (the number of days since his last appearance as a professional rider) and, more importantly, 27.5 – the number of people, in millions, that have died of cancer since that day. He has committed to ride prominently to help in this aim.
And he was good to his word at the Cancer Council Classic, riding at the front for the majority of the race with apparent ease, until the closing stages.
The race was won by the experienced Australian sprinter Robbie McEwen riding for the new Katusha team. McEwen will wear the Tour Down Under leader's jersey on Tuesday's first stage. Armstrong eventually finished in 64th place, but with all the media's cameras and microphones pointing his way, he has surely tasted early success in his bid to increase global awareness of cancer.
References
Observer Sport, Jan 18th 2009
Giles Belbin - I am a part-time freelance writer with a regular series in a UK County magazine. I have a love of many sports but my particular passion is ...
