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Is this a serious article, just lost a lot of respect for this website, he doesnt just ride a bike bro...its a 2,200 mile race over 23 days....lets see Lebron James do that. I am not saying I am a huge bike racing fan, but what the guy did is impressive and i'd say to ride that far takes some athletic ability, and just an "average athlete" doesnt win seven Tour De Frances, heck Lebron James hasnt even one a championship.

Have you ever tried to ride a bike for longer than 3 minutes? I doubt it. You probably cant top 12 mph if you gave it everything you had. Pro cyclists will race for 23 straight days, 100+ hours and AVERAGE over 25mph. That being said, bike racing is a whole hell of a lot harder than you give it credit. Please rent a bike, find a race and enter it this summer. Then maybe you will understand how hard out sport is. LeBron James? Come on, basketball takes talent?

haha, this is the dumbest thing I've ever read...I've raced before and I've played several other sports too (football, basketball, etc) and cycling is definitely the hardest most mentally challenging sport out of all of them.

I love the name, we need more of that around here.

Basketball takes talent? Wow, that's audacious and it didn't even come out of our mouths.

who is the author of this article? dave? seriously. what an idiot.

yeah get rid of this dave guy and find a real writer

I love it when you say ''he does something that most people are capable of doing at the age of 5''.
What??? I'd like to see you ride your bicycle at an average speed of 30 MPH for 23 days, going up the fearsome mountains. I doubt you'd eve survive it.
The Tour de France is the HARDEST, MOST DIFFICULT, MOST GRUELING sporting event in the world.
Any one who finishes it deserves credit, let alone someone who wins it... SEVEN TIMES!

the only good things that come out of france is wine and women.

i would like the valuable seconds i lost in my life back after reading this article

Again hate all you want, Lance Armstrong does not deserve to be put in the category with the best athletes of all time, like I said before I have no problem saying he is one of the most dominant athletes in his sport, but come on......he would not be able to compete in any other sport, maybe long distance running, or the ironman challenge.

Greatest athlete in terms of stamina, but at 5' 9" 160 lbs, he would get dominated by skill position players that play in the MLB, NBA, and NFL, who all have superior strength, speed quickness, and agility.

Try to think of it like this.....someone tells you that you are going to be drafting a team for an athletic competition consisting of the sports baseball, basketball, football, hockey, soccer, tennis, cycling, and boxing. Now throw all of the great athletes from those sports into a large drafting pool and put yourself on the clock. I dont know what you would do, but I know there are hundreds I would take before Lance Armstrong if I were put in this position.

well lets see if there was cycling as a category i would pick lance first cause that's an automatic win then you can go to draft the other athletes...come on D.C. you are better than this

Dave there is no competition like that, lets get real man....the guy is the best EVER at his individual sport, a pretty gruling sport...being the best ever at a certain athletic competition would make you a great athlete.

I mean seriously? Not just ANYBODY can hop on a bicycle and complete the feat that this guy has done 7 times! If it was a 100-meter ride "let's-see-who-can-ride-faster" competition, then yeah. I wouldn't group him in a series of amazing athletes. But for the fact that, that ISN'T what happens, for the fact that they're biking thousands and thousands of miles over a short amount of time against hundreds of other bikers seeking to destroy you at speeds that a car goes without being completely turtle-slow, sorry. I'm going to have to disagree. Lance Armstrong is one of the greatest athletes of this, our time.

Dave is comparing Apples to Oranges. Nobody is doubting Lebron's talent as a Basketball player, or as an athlete. Lebron is good as what he does. Lance is good at what he does. Dave's comparison of sport is faulty.



What's Dave's beef anyway? His one other article bashes Emmitt Smith. Whether or not his opinion is correct, what is Dave's complex with professional athletes? Perhaps he got picked last during grade school basketball.

Who knows.

I guess the whole deal with this website is to "take the gloves off," stir up controversy and get a few hits, but this guy is horrible... Crappy writing just to sell out for a few
dollars. The pros, playing whatever sport, will always be better than him. Maybe he knows this.

I agree he probablly got picked last

he is an extrodinary athelete. how many people acn have the balls to ride down the rode at 30+ miles an hour. when ur really riding forreal all u have to save u if u fall is a helmet. u fall u are gonna be messed up. more cordinate? faster? stronger? lebron might be stronger. other than that they are prolly only even. u cant say lebron is better athelete. they play two totally diff. sports.this dave ass is just going but the normally cycling stereotype. he needs to just crawl back in his whole and shut up. stop ragging on real atheletes.
next he'll be saying football atheletes are atheletes at all.

Wow, this has nothing to do with me being insecure about my abilities as an athlete. First point, Lance Armstrong(when he was riding), Michael Phelps, and Tiger Woods all dominate their respective sport more than anyone else in sports today, am I impressed with what they have done, yes. Do I think they are deserving of being called the greatest athletes on the planet, no. The point im trying to make is that theses guys are the most impressive at what they do, but just because you are the best at one individual sport does not make you a great athlete. Now will I EVER in my life be able to beat Lance Armstong in a cycling event, NO! I am confident in saying that the people who have been posting on this message board who have any athletic talent in their bodies would be able to beat Armstrong in a game of basketball, hitting in the batting cage, playing a pickup football game, playing a game of tennis, or playing a round of golf, yes I am. Call me an idiot, thats fine, but I can guarantee you that I will never consider a golfer, a swimmer, and a cyclist the greatest athletes of our time.

This is getting out of control. Maybe you should use the term 'physical specimen.' The fact that you just threw Tiger Woods name out there is absurd. Tiger might be the most dominant and best athlete EVER.

As Kenny Powers woud say "I don't try to be the best at exercise, I try to be the best athlete"

Dave you are a retard. You have no idea what Lance has gone through physically, mentally, and emotionally. And riding in the Tour de France is not as easy as it looks.

I just saw thisarticle and couldn't believe it. This Dave guy has no idea what he is talking about. Lance is by far one of the best athletes of all time. He has talents that when combined, most people couldn't fathom. His body processed oxygen better than almost everyone in the world. He has the mental focus that is required to endure endurance cycling. I was a pretty good road rider when I made it a priority, and I can tell you that it's not just about peddling a bike. in longer races, you have to be physically and mentally strong and be able to moderate your output so as not to bonk before the race. Also, there are a lot of team tactics that can play havoc on the competition.

There is NO other sport in the word that lasts as long as races such as the tour. Even the guy who finishes last is an exceptional athlete. People think that if they had one of those $5000 bikes, they could ride with the best also. That simply isn't true. It's the engine (legs) and the mental toughness that sets cyclist apart.

dave, u r an idiot, lace armstrong is the greatest athlete who ever lived, he climbed 13km mountain roads with an average gradient of 10 degrees faster than anyone else could, that is so stupid to say that he isnt one of the best athletes in the world, and im a cyclist as well, u r saying 5 year olds r the ones who ride bikes not 20 year olds, i know plenty of twenty year old cyclists that could prove you very, very wrong i reckon u r just jealous that you arent a big succes like lance armstrong is, get over the fact that u r wrong

Lance is definitely one of the greatest athletes of all time. It's really impossible to compare athletes from different sports. One athletes sport may require power and other like Lance's, endurance and stamina. Dave says that NBA and NFL players are stronger than Lance, of course they are, they are all over 6 feet tall and weigh over 200 pounds. Guarantee however that only a select few if any could go throw what Lance does training wise, and I hate to even throw this in there but, overcoming three types of cancer and being able to do what he does is simply unfathomable. Also, its not like Lance is just some scrawny ultra-marathon runner, the guy is built and is remarkably strong for his size. And Dave, yes i rode my bike when I was 5, i also played football, baseball, and basketball. Am I the best athlete ever? One more thing, each and every athlete is different, they train for their specific sport, usually a kid will play basketball, football, and baseball because playing each can help benfit the other. That just doesn't work for an endurance athlete. Well i'm done chirpin'

He had to have taken some kind of performance enhancers. I wouldn't call him one of the greatest athletes of all time, are you kidding me? As Kenny Powers says, "I don't try to be the best at excercise, I try to be the best athlete" The only reason I might respect this guy a bit is because I heard he is not religious. Other than that, anyone can juice up and ride a bike fast.

That's exactly what's wrong nowadays. If there is an amazing athlete that excels in their sport, there's always someone out there saying they used performance enhancing drugs. You could easily say that about every NFL, MLB, hell even NBA. Lebron is so dominating, i think he juiced up. I don't really think he did but thats my point. Lance gets tested an unbelievable amount of times. So, what you're saying is that if i take steroids I can be the next Lance Armstrong? Impossible.

I think everyone has missed the point to this, and that is my fault.......but he is the greatest cyclist of all time.......take that however you want it.......Im not trying to take that away from him....are his feats of endurance impressive, yes.......but that does not make him one of the greatest athletes.....and if you believe it does, you might as well throw everyone that has climbed to the top of Mt. Everest in your list of greatest athletes.....because that is undeniably one of the most "physically, and mentally challenging events on the planet"........something that I have heard over and over from everyone that has come to Lance's defense.

Again im not saying hes not an athlete, what im trying to say is there are thousands of people that are better athletes than he is.

All of those "thousands" of athletes that you claim are better than Lance are, for the most part, greatest ONLY in their singular sport. Basketball skills DO NOT transfer to a ride in the Tour, and Lance wouldn't be on anyone's starting five. You're comparing apples to oranges, and doing it badly!

Ted Williams was a great athlete AND a great fighter pilot, mostly because the skill set used in baseball is also very useful in flying a fighter! But would he be able to do a SINGLE stage of the Tour? I sincerely doubt it! His body simply doesn't process O2 the same way that is REQUIRED to be a top-tier cyclist. But do we demean Ted because he can't ride a stage in the Tour? No. We recognize that he was one of the best IN BASEBALL, and leave it at that.

I suggest you prepare a list of the top ten in EACH sport, instead of trying to make cross-sport comparisons! Everyone, except you, appears to recognize the fact that skill in one sport does not mean skill in ALL sports! Can you see Ali in the saddle for 5 hours? He wouldn't last 30 minutes!

Admit it, Dave, you dropped the ball on this one and you're not man enough to admit it. Go back to your parents' basement to write some more inane articles. What about the best WoW player as the best athlete in the world???

I know what you're saying...idk I guess its just really a hard subject to define, its basically a personal opinion kind of thing. There really isn't a way you can gauge who is the best athlete of all time. Unless somebody comes up with some kind of "super formula" to calculate certain things, but who knows. Good argument though.

Before you spout off and crap all over Lance, I really think you need to define a metric. Even if you define a metric poorly at least you have something to measure against.

Why don't you remove Lance from the equation altogether and waste time spouting off about why LeBron James is more magical in the way he runs 90ft at a time instead of Alex Rodriguez running the 90ft? You aren't here telling us A Rod is better than LeBron because most anyone would look at that and say it was a stupid comparison. IT IS AND SO IS THIS WHOLE SUBJECT. SHUT YOUR PIE HOLE AND GO BACK TO BEING FASCINATED BY THE NASCAR GOMERS DRIVING IN CIRCLES!

To the last person that posted, your right, lets remove lance from the arguement altogether, because if he was running that 90 ft against LeBron and A-Rod he would get dominated, because he is no where near the athlete that LBJ and A-Rod are......all I was doing with my statement about LeBron was pointing out one of the multiple thousands of cases that apply to my arguement, Lance is great at what he does, so is someone that dominates in table tennis, or someone that dominates in cross country running........but that does not make you one of the greatest athletes on the planet, stop taking what im saying out of context......

And as for determining a metric, I cant do that, because of people like you that will only look at this topic from your point of view.

Another instance: You are on a playground playing pickup sports(completely unbias) and you have a variety of athletes to choose from(regardless of the event.) Would you really take Lance with your first pick? Again, there are thousands of athletes that would be more beneficial to you in this situation. I hope you would take Lance, because your team would get the shit kicked out it.

Now is this scenario likely, of course not.........

But look at this topic from another perspective, which is exactly what I was doing when I wrote this article.........

Lance is blood doping with his own blood like he did before... He's using 02 carriers and effective PEDs not on the banned list because almost nobody knows they exist. He uses Dr. Michele Ferrari as his doping doctor who is the best in the business.

I say if Lance rode the Tour or Giro totally clean he would never finish even in last place... Riders who fall behind the pack in the mountains are time cut based on 8% of the winner's time after crossing the line.

At best he'd be 50-75 places even if everybody was totally clean and there was no doping. Lance's highest ever undoped VO2 max (max amount of oxygen your body can use) was 82ml per kilo. It takes higher than that to even finish the Tour in the top 50! In fact, some have seen low 90s without blood boosters like EPO, Actovegin (which US. Postal was caught with in 2000), HemAssist and other drugs that boost red cell volume in the body, allowing it to carry more oxygen to feed ATP production which the muscles use as fuel.

Lance is not the greatest talent cycling has seen... He has talent but if everybody was clean he never would have been top 50 against the current generation. Lance was a super responder to drug=therapy and if you look at the improvement he suddenly made as an under-23 rider in the early 90s it coincides with the clinical approval of r-EPO.

Lance is also an ass as a person and has not really done anything for cancer research. The 300 million he has raised is peanuts compared to the US congressional budget per annum.

I hate Lance because he uses the cycling industry and media as tools to jack his own ego and reverence. And many American sports fans have eaten this BS right up.

Wow, thanks for the in-depth comment. Never knew most of that information.

Let me be the voice of reason here. As someone who actually understands the sport of cycling let me tell you that Lance is NOT the best cyclist of all time, he is not even the best cyclist of his time. He is the best Tour De France rider of his time and arguably of all time. Le Tour is for cyclists that have amazing aerobic endurance, not anaerobic endurance and power like LeBron, Kobe, NFL players, and such. If you took a great cycling sprinter from the Tour like the young Marc Cavendish or Aussie Robbie McEwen, they could play soccer, tennis or be solid running backs as they have most of the skill sets required. If you took a velodrome track sprinter from the Olympics they would have enough muscle mass to be a linebacker or even a defensive end.
Hopefully everyone, "David" especially, sees that this is a silly thread and just shows a lack of understanding on everyone's part, Lance worshipers included. Just because the Tour De France gets all the press does not mean its the real pinnacle of the sport. Try watching the Tour of Flanders next year.

This better athlete argument is like the kid in 6th grade that told you "my dad is better than your dad." Dumb.

@Daver

Keep in mind I'm strictly making reference to Lance Armstrong, and your right I dont know that much about cycling, however, I do know enough about the sporting world to realize that Lance Armstrong is not nearly the athlete that everyone portrays him to be......and before you call me uneducated you should take into consideration that Marc Cavendish, and Robbie McEwen are both under 5' 9" and weight less than 150 pounds and you claim they would be "solid running backs" not a chance.......find me a running back that is 150 lbs( you wont find one.) For that matter find me any tennis player who competes at a high level that weighs 150 lbs( you will be lucky to find more than one.) You call what I'm saying "silly" and then you make a statment like that?

@Colin G

No, whats DUMB is the fact that a large audience of people believe that Lance Armstrong is one of the greatest athletes of this generation.

They are that light because of the sport they compete in keeps them very underweight. Both would be much heavier without all the riding, which keeps them at least 2lbs lighter than usual. McEwen weighs more than 150 except during the Tour, when everyone is freakishly skinny. There have been many great sprinters taller and heavier(mario cipollini) who also would be great at the above mentioned sports. With all do respect, you are still trying to discuss a sport you don't understand.
Regarding Lance and all other Tour Champions, anything requiring aerobic endurance mixed with technique, they would excel. Again, a bit silly to compare them. Why disparage one sport at the expense of another? Is Nadal less an athlete than LeBron just because he is small? Why even think about that?

By the way, the Tour of Flanders was on Versus in April

I meant to say 20lbs lighter.

Yes, your physical appearance makes a big difference.....and Yes, Nadal is less of an athlete because of his size.......LeBron has potential to do more in any situation you put him into because of his physical makeup.

Now just because he has more potential does that mean he is going to perform better.....not necessarily, I want to make it clear im looking at this from more than one perspective......but size and strength have an impact on performance

Would we be talking about LeBron if he was 6' 200lbs? He would not have nearly the potential, or make as big an impact on the game.

Size does matter.....look at any sport that has a draft. Players are drafted based on potential, and overall size and shape is a big determining factor.

And to answer your question "Why even think about that?" Because it would be stupid not to..... consider this.....if you have two people that have the same agility, same speed, and same coordination, but one person is 6 inches taller and weighs 30 more pounds than the other.

Who would you rather have? In most scenarios you are going to take the person with more size, its a rare thing to see a great skill set matched with an exceptional frame.

Daver, im just going to put it to you like this....im not trying to knock down cycling, but im also not willing to give it as much respect as some of the other major sports.....why? Simply because there is not as much athleticism required for cycling in comparison to most other sports.

You can disagree thats fine, and you can throw all these cycling facts at me that I wont understand, and you can keep taking what im saying out of context......

But seriously, when you are in competition, a cyclist hardly utilizes the upper body, and stamina is the key requirement........

Obviously it is unproductive to talk when one person has little to no facts, but here is my last rejoinder. First of all let me correct you again regarding cycling, upper body plays a HUGE role in any sprint finish and most technical decents or rough roads. In fact it may be more important than legs for providing power, stabilization, not to mention making adjustments in fractions of seconds to avoid nasty crashes. Regarding size and strength trumping all other skills, there are positions in sport where size can help, but in those same sports size can be a handycap. Example, point guards, baseline tennis players, offensive soccer players. In fact most sports will reward mobility and agility at least as much as size. I would take Nadal any day over Lebron in your wacky all sport challenge. According to your logic the worlds strongest man competition is the pinnacle(Lebron would be crushed here by the way, even if he spent five years training). Again silly stuff, just enjoy each sport and position instead of knocking others, especially when you are ignorant of most facts.

Ok, you dont make any sense....and the fact that you just tried to tell me that the upper body is nearly as important as the legs in cycling proves to me that you are trying to find some sort of rebutel that supports your arguement.....and again you did not fail in taking what I said out of context, this debate was never about cyclist that sprint, and I never said that size and strength trump all other skills, I stated that it helps performance when you have a similar skill set and you are bigger and stronger than the next person.

And as for you putting these words in my mouth "according to your logic the worlds strongest man competition is the pinnacle" The guys that participate in this event have very little mobility or coordination....never would I put someone with these qualities in my list of finest athletes.

Clearly neither one of us is going to say the other has a good point, although I do agree with your statement about size being beneficial to certain positions in certain sports.....but in doing so it supports my arguement that size and strength are helpful in performance, sports are evolving to support more size and strength....a 6' point guard is no longer the standard, today 6' 2" to 6' 4", the offensive soccer players used to be 5' 8" to 5' 10", now most of the best offensive players in the world are over 6'.......

And the fact that you really believe that Nadal would beat LeBron in head to head competition.....only leaves me confused.....removing tennis and basketball from the equation, what gives Nadal an advantage? Guarantee you Lebron will cover more ground, guarantee you LeBron will be stronger, guarantee you LeBron will jump higher, guarantee you LeBron has potential to do more than Nadal in the majority of situations you could put them in.....

And again I cant believe you said upper body is arguably as important as legs for cycling.....maybe in the instance that you were able to draw up that does not apply to the original arguement.....yes, but you cant tell me if I were to go on a message board and ask 100 people that are avid cyclist to tell me what part of the body ( upper or lower) is more important to success.....that the vast majority of them would say they are equally important......I might not be the most knowlegable person to talk to about cycling, but I know the lower body is more important to success.

"a cyclist hardly utilizes the upper body, and stamina is the key requirement…….."


you obviously have no idea even hat you just wrote. Everything about this statement is wrong, proof you have no idea about anything. Good day.

Thought this was fitting for this topic of discussion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6zj5nhASk0

@Daver

Alright prove me wrong, what coordinated movement does a cyclist do with his upper body?

And since you seem to know everything about cycling, what is the key requirement?

David,

you may have just been trying to create some discussion. however, anytime you make a statement that a cyclist riding in the TDF is doing something that 5 yr olds can do, you lose all credibility. that is like saying that all lebron is doing is putting a ball through a hoop.... even my 3 yr old can do that on his fischer price goal. keep to the facts and lose the absurd rhetoric and you may find less of an uproar. truth be told, your argument is supported when talking about whether cyclists are all around athletes. but lets not mistake that a 5 yr old can do what professional cylcists can do. that said, if you know of a 5 yr old that has ridden from San Diego, CA to Columbus OH in 23 days in the hot of summer.... i take bake everything : )

@Kameron

Never did I say a 5 yr old could ride in the Tour De France, I stated that almost everyone at the age of 5 can ride a bike....sorry if you interpreted that the wrong way, maybe it was a bad choice of words.

This article and subsequent comments may have been the most retarded thing I have ever read on in the internet, and that is saying a lot.

Def not getting into this argument but damn, you people are scary stupid (not all the posters). First, Dave you idiot, if you want to make any sort of point why not define what you consider an athlete to be, is there a formula? No, right. And your comparisons have zero credibility. It's like saying "this orange I am eating is not the best apple I have ever had", seriously, that retarded.

Oh and here is the definition: A person possessing the natural or acquired traits, such as strength, agility, and endurance, that are necessary for physical exercise or sports, especially those performed in competitive contexts.

ok, now you can make some sort of rudimentary analysis based on that definition. I'd say based on endurance factor alone, Lance, could have been in his day (and perhaps still) one of the greatest athlete's ever

If I had a dollar for every stupid thing I have read by some uneducated moron on the internet I would not be responding to this article.

This article is rediculous. Dave is not a very bright fellow. Tour riders are definately some of the most athletic people on the planet. I am an avid cyclist and I can ride pretty well. On a good day I might average 20 MPH for 100 miles. I have invited some "athletic" friends who are into the "ball sports" to try cycling. Although they can play games pretty well none of them have been able to even come close to riding the bike well enough to keep up for 10 miles let alone 100 and I am no where near the rider those "tour" boys are.

It puzzels me why some people think being good at sports like ____ball (you fill in the blank) are the real measure of being athletic. Most those sports hardly even get your heart rate up. Besides real men don't play with balls.

Hey Dave just so you know the upper body plays a huge part in cycling. Try supporting your upper body for hours on some handle bars that are lower than your seat. Try holding your head up for hours so you can see the road without your neck cramping. It takes incredible stamina and strength. When you go into a steep climb your whole body is working to get up the hill.

Coordination is also very important. Try riding 20+ MPH in tight formation with your front tire inches away from the rider you are drafting. Try leaning into a sharp turn while peddling and shifting. And don't forget the mental part of the game. The strategy and timing of making your moves in the pack or to sprint for the lead.

Also don't forget to include XC cycling in here. When dealing with riding off-road it is all about total body fitness. You are using upper body as much as lower just to keep the bike on the trail and over and around the obstacles.

I think Dave needs to ride with some cyclists and get educated.

"Try supporting your upper body for hours on some handle bars" - um yeah, my Grandma does that walking around all day in her walker, congratulations.

Wow, I have to thank all the "avid cyclists" who have graciously donated their time responding to this article.

Not only have you provided me and my friends with comic relief with your over analytical perspective about competitive riding, but you still fail to see the true point behind this article.

Cycling does not require exceptional talent. I can burn 3000 calories in 3 hours on an elliptical machine. Does that make me a better athlete......no it does not. It does not help me to run faster, jump higher, improve my hand eye coordination, or promote any other skill that real athletes depend on.

The truth is that you were never good enough to play real sports, so you had to settle on something that did not require talent. Get a life, and get off the road, not only is it dangerous, but you look like a complete tool every time you make a hand gesture informing me of your next move.

Speaking of these avid cyclists, I almost got into an accident today because of one of these cycling assholes! Get your god damn toy off the road!

From Ireland here. Anyone who thinks, especially that Dave idiot is a stupid biased american fool who hasn't a rats ass whats he is talking about, THAT cycling is not a real sport needs to have his head examined by a fully qualified psychiatrist. American football, baseball are two sports that are etched into the american psyche. These sports are not taken seriously in Ireland, Europe and by the vast majority of the worlds population. Sure they require fitness, strength, stamina and skill as do most sports. There is one thing missing from the ingredient of this so called argument and that is of mental strength and will when every sinew and muscle in your body is stretched to its limits. This goes beyond limits beyond fitness only what cyclists and endurance athletes including boxing running rowing , high altitude mountaineers for example experience. to cut the point short its those who have the greatest mental strength to keep going that make the greatest athletes size does not matter. what sets lance armstrong apart is his tremendous will to push the limits of his ability at lactic threshold and above for long periods of time plus his natural athletic ability incredible resolve absolute and determination to succeed. Endurance athletes are the best athletes in the world. AS a cyclist myself who cycles 100 plus miles on a regular basis i can testify to this. cycling is without doubt the toughest sport in the world and has offered a great stage for the bold and brave, many have performed from coppi to lemond, kelly and roche, hinault and merckx, bartali and indurain and somewhere close to the top of this tree comes lance armstrong. Recovery is an important part of sport . the build up of free radicals in the body in all of cyclings races especially the three week tours the tour the veulta and the giro is something very few people could cope with. the ability of these riders to keep going day after day coping with incredible physical and mental exhaustion takes more than anybody could ever imagine unless they try it for themselves it is amazing. a testament to the human spirit overcoming adversity.as the saying goes never judge a man until you have walked ten miles in his mokasins. I RECENTLY SPOKE TO A PROFESSIONAL CYCLIST WHO TOLD ME IT TOOK HIM full month to recvover from the giro.

I could shoot a basketball when I was five, I could throw a baseball when I was five, but it doesn't mean that I could do them professionally. Study the sport, take note of the tactics, jockeying, pure physical talent in bike handling, etc. and you'll eat your words. Or, you can continue to eat your illogical and absent minded ramblings.

i could catch a ball and then throw it at the hoop when i was 4 and a half so that must discredit LeBron for the title of greatest athlete, along with every football player and baseball player. um.... well tiger woods, no,no he was swinging a golf club when he was like a few months old so no Tiger, lets see.... well i guess that leaves us with Earl Anthony, hes the top bowler the PBA has ever seen. he wins because lets face it, theres no way a five year old could have the strength and coordination to get a ball off the shelf, up to the line and roll it down. There you have it dave-the-douche, through your incredible insight and remarkable intelligence, we have finally settled who is the GREATEST ATHLETE OF ALL TIME!!!!!!!

Armstong was a triathelete before he was a cyclist. That means he can beat Lebron in swimming and running. Ok, so that's 3 things. He's also currently a ranked mountain biker. So that means he's riding over rocks and stuff. Not athletic? Let's continue. The tour defrance is not simply a matter of riding in a straight line faster than everybody else. If you've ever paid attention you'd know it's a strategy sport that requires a captain and different riders with various jobs. Stamina alone does not win races.

Dave, you may be one of the most uneducated men I have ever heard from. If you seriously think that professional cycling is not an true athletic venture then you are a perfect example of how prevalent idiots are on the internet.

Look Dave, I can see you're really upset about this. I honestly think you ought to sit down calmly, take a stress pill, and think things over.

When the author of this parody piece can ride a bike at 30MPH for more than 5 minutes on level ground, then he might be able to claim that Lance isn't an athlete. The best I've managed is 22MPH, and 48MPH down a very steep hill (riders on TdF routinely reach 60-70MPH on roads that HAVE NO GUARDRAILS. Miss a turn and you're taking a 500' dive to the bottom of a rock-strewn gully.

Here's 5 random sports for the Lance/LeBron Challenge:
1) NYC Marathon
2) 1-man Luge
3) Downhill Slalom
4) 100m Freestyle
5) Iditarod

Wanna lay odds on who will win? My money's on Lance for ALL of them.

IMHO, this guy is nothing but a punk who couldn't push a bike past 15MPH. Oh, by the way, lots of 5-year-olds can dribble a basketball.

"Here's 5 random sports for the Lance/LeBron Challenge:
1) NYC Marathon
2) 1-man Luge
3) Downhill Slalom
4) 100m Freestyle
5) Iditarod"

5 Random sports? That's the most ridiculous random 5 sports ever. Iditarod? Should they race around a track in trucks too? Even if you wanted to go with odd sports, why not tennis, cricket, fencing, boxing?

Another point that must be made is that if LeBron were given the opportunity to properly train for each of these events, he could potentially win.

Lebron James VS Lance Armstrong in a triathlon. Just going on a limb here but I bet Lance Pancy destroys DESTROYS Lebron. Swimming / Running / Biking - no way lance would dominate the bicycle portion so thoroughly that the other "events" wouldn't matter. Baseball / Football / Basketball are not "pure" sports or the only sports for that matter. I bet Georges St Pierre could take Lance Armstrong and Lebron James in a fight, at the same time does that make him the better athlete? Of course not!