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Outside Magazine, July 2005
Excerpt from Outside magazine's interview with Lance Armstrong on newsstands now
- photo by Cliff Watts
Two months after this year's Tour, Armstrong will turn 34. Many great athletes fail to go on and have interesting second acts, but his chances seem better than most. For one thing, he's already had a second act, and his aura--the idea that here's a man who enjoys still being alive against all odds--surrounds him convincingly.
Q. You'll be changing professions at some point.
A. "I'll obviously stay involved with the team for the remainder of its existence. Many of the sponsors, I have long-term deals with...There's just a whole bunch of other stuff I want to do. I want to go ride my motorcycle on my ranch. I want to go kayak the Pedernales down to friggin' Lake Travis...Maybe I'll run for governor...Not in '06, though. I drove Sheryl by the governor's mansion last night on the way home from dinner. It's a nice mansion. Nice place, nice house--I hate the word mansion, but it's a nice house. Well, it's next to work, next to the capitol."
Q. How would it feel to lose?
"I don't want to lose. At all. It's a hard race; you suffer a lot. It's a long race, so it's long suffering, which is worse than suffering. Now, having said that, if I train hard, and if everything equates the way it should in terms of my preparation, and I know that I'm where I need to be--if somebody beats me, hey, you get beat by somebody better. That's sport."
Q. What do you think about the course this year?
A. Only three uphill finishes, only one long time trial. Kinda not so hard, but maybe not bad for a guy who's getting older. You've got other mountain days, but they're not so tough. You've got Courchevel [stage 10], which is tough, and big mountains before it. Then you come down around the bottom [of France] and you've got "Pla-d’Adet [stage 15], which I won in 2001...and then you've got the long time trial, which, you know, you use all our experience and hard work and technology. Tuck and go.
To read more, check out the July issue of Outside magazine on news stands now!
Outside’s Ultimate Tour de France issue also features an excerpt from the new book "Lance Armstrong's War", profiles of the toughest riders and teams, a look at the family tree of U.S. Postal Alums, our chronicle of the all-time mightiest moments in the history of the Tour, and much more - details here at Outside Magazine.
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