What a bunch of hogwash.......maybe you should pick a new sport or sit around and watch re-runs of I love Lucy or something........the worlds a changing place.
Lance is similar to Tiger Woods, he concentrates on the big ones. You can't compare eras. I'm sure CDC or T-Mobile didn't decide Lance would win. Lance won because he is the best. His teammates know it and don't mind paying their dues. I didn't notice Lance's teammates around when the going got really tough, it was just him and Ivan with Jan just behind them about to have a heart attack. Lance may not have won 7 TDF's in a row if he had went for it in other races, similarily if Merckx had saved himself for the big one he may have won 10 in row. You just can't say. They are/were both incredible riders. Maybe Merckx was ahead of his time and didn't have the competition that exists now?
Rod (I like em both, but don't badmouth either) Kronenberg Fort Collins, CO
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> Merckx is similar to the time in which he rode. Yes it is true that
> Armstrong has won more TDF, but at the expense of something very
> important. I feel that Armstrong won by the miracle of corporate control.
> Teamwork seems different now than before. Corporate headquarters decides
> who is going to win, and the engines dutifully block from behind while
> others carry Armstrong up to the front, being careful that no team member
> accumulates as many points as dear Lance. Technically Lance Beat Merckx's
> record, but who would you rather have dinner with? Who's picture is on
> your office wall? Who inspires you? The answer for me is Merckx because he
> won using a different set of rules (unwritten). Merckx won so many more
> races because he in effect was working for a living, having to win many
> different races to piece together a winning athletic persona. Lance peaks
> just once a year, and perhaps has done it in a way (modern
> pharmaceuticals) where he actually appears to be older than his mother!!!
> Lance is an American, but instead of pride, I feel shame... Shame for the
> kind of world that we have created. Armstrong is a good representative of
> that world, but I still prefer a time in bicycling history that reaches
> back to Merckx and the way he looked, and the way his bikes looked, and
> the way I looked at him when I was young.
>
> Garth Libre in Miami Fl.