Quote:
Originally Posted by azmg
With all due respect BB, Lance was stricken with cancer prior to his cycling career being one of relevance. He has admitted that it wasn't until he contracted, treated and recovered from cancer that he was able to shed the body-weight necessary to truly be a competitive cyclist. Prior to his recovery he was a thicker, more muscular individual that you normally don't see winning bike races.
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Not true. Armstrong won the road World Championship at age 21. He also won a couple of stages in the TdF and some of the biggest races in the U.S. He was a very good one-day rider. (
Plenty of lesser riders were caught doping back then.)
When he lost muscle mass due to the cancer, he became a better climber (due to a more favorable strength to weight ratio that is more important in the mountains than the flats). You can't win the big tours (Giro, Vuelta, TdF) without being a good climber.
The notion that he wasn't good before the cancer is false. He just wasn't good in the type of races that the casual cycling fan cares about.