Tour de France joined the list of major sports events that have been affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The organizers announced on Tuesday that the world’s most prominent cycling race is now postponed indefinitely.

Tour de France was scheduled to take place on June 27th, and the organization committee intended to stick with the original date, hoping that the health crisis will be under control by then. However, this wasn’t possible anymore after the French government decided to ban all major public events until July.

The postponement, however, doesn’t mean that this year’s race will be completely canceled as Tour de France organizers said they are currently trying to find a later date.

“Given that it’s now impossible that the Tour starts at its planned date, we are consulting with the [International Cycling Union] to try and find new dates,” said the organizers in a statement.

Reportedly, there is also a suggestion for Tour de France to proceed without an audience if the public gathering ban remains in force. But considering that over a million people visit the event each year, this option remains unlikely.

In case that Tour de France doesn’t take place this year, it would be the first time since World War II.

The post Tour de France Postponed Indefinitely appeared first on SportzBonanza.

It is fair to say that under normal circumstances a man who rose to the pinnacle of his sport, won the most famous event in that sport seven times consecutively, and did so whilst beating cancer, would normally be held up as an absolute role model for others in life.

Lance Armstrong’s story, however, was not that simple.

Flickr

The Early Years

Armstrong started his career as a triathlete. It wasn’t until he turned 21 in 1992 that he moved into professional cycling. He had some minor success up until 1996 when he was diagnosed with a potentially fatal form of testicular cancer.

He took two years off from the sport while he fought and beat his cancer. He also founded the “Lance Armstrong Foundation” to assist other cancer survivors.

Hitting His Stride

Flickr

On his return to cycling, Lance joined the US Postal/Discovery team and met with astonishing success. He won seven back-to-back Tour de France titles between 1998 and 2005. He picked up a bronze medal in the Olympics. Then he retired from the sport for a second time at the end of 2005.

So far, so good but controversy was waiting around the corner.

Doping Allegations

Wikipedia

“The Sunday Times has confirmed to Mr. Armstrong that it never intended to accuse him of being guilty of taking any performance-enhancing drugs and sincerely apologized for any such impression.”

The allegations of Lance Armstrong using performance enhancing drugs were rampant during his career, but as The Sunday Times found in 2004, you can’t print rumor as fact.

From 1999 onward, Armstrong shrugged off allegations of doping at every turn and then in 2012, the United States Anti-Doping Agency found him guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs after all.

Armstrong would go on to admit that the allegations held some truth and refused to fight any of them in the public eye. This cost him $75 million in a single day when all of his sponsors dropped him simultaneously.

Does It Matter That Much?

Flickr

Jeremy Dorn told Bleacher Report that while Armstrong’s doping is indeed wrong, there were other more important matters to consider such as the work Armstrong’s charity had done, arguing: “no matter what you think about him, can we all agree that $500 million donated to charity for cancer research is inherently a good thing?”

Bob Denton, a cancer survivor agrees: “Really, compared to the life and death issues of cancer that Lance has embraced, cheating in the Tour is small potatoes.”

Caden Brody, also a cancer survivor, does not, saying: “We cannot deny he raised a lot of awareness and money for cancer. As a survivor, I commend that. Unfortunately, he undid everything, in many ways, by his sociopathic need to bully, win, play mind games, and he used cancer as a cloak to cover his sins. If he’d confessed ages ago in true remorse? We’re a pretty forgiving people. But this is a forced, ‘I still want to compete in something so I better apologize’ thing.”

Human Failings, Superhuman Achievements

Flickr

It’s probably fair to say that “Lance Armstrong the drug cheat” is hard to draw inspiration from. It is also fair to say that the man who beat cancer, won seven Tour De France titles and raised ha;f a billion dollars for good causes is more than just a drug cheat.

It is ultimately for the individual to decide whether to admire him or not. We are all human and we have all succumbed to temptation at some point in our lives; might it be best to remember Armstrong for the good he did rather than his human failings?

The post Should We Still Consider Lance Armstrong An Inspiration? appeared first on SportzBonanza.

Tour de France joined the list of major sports events that have been affected by the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The organizers announced on Tuesday that the world’s most prominent cycling race is now postponed indefinitely.

Tour de France was scheduled to take place on June 27th, and the organization committee intended to stick with the original date, hoping that the health crisis will be under control by then. However, this wasn’t possible anymore after the French government decided to ban all major public events until July.

The postponement, however, doesn’t mean that this year’s race will be completely canceled as Tour de France organizers said they are currently trying to find a later date.

“Given that it’s now impossible that the Tour starts at its planned date, we are consulting with the [International Cycling Union] to try and find new dates,” said the organizers in a statement.

Reportedly, there is also a suggestion for Tour de France to proceed without an audience if the public gathering ban remains in force. But considering that over a million people visit the event each year, this option remains unlikely.

In case that Tour de France doesn’t take place this year, it would be the first time since World War II.

The post Tour de France Postponed Indefinitely appeared first on SportzBonanza.

It is fair to say that under normal circumstances a man who rose to the pinnacle of his sport, won the most famous event in that sport seven times consecutively, and did so whilst beating cancer, would normally be held up as an absolute role model for others in life.

Lance Armstrong’s story, however, was not that simple.

Flickr

The Early Years

Armstrong started his career as a triathlete. It wasn’t until he turned 21 in 1992 that he moved into professional cycling. He had some minor success up until 1996 when he was diagnosed with a potentially fatal form of testicular cancer.

He took two years off from the sport while he fought and beat his cancer. He also founded the “Lance Armstrong Foundation” to assist other cancer survivors.

Hitting His Stride

Flickr

On his return to cycling, Lance joined the US Postal/Discovery team and met with astonishing success. He won seven back-to-back Tour de France titles between 1998 and 2005. He picked up a bronze medal in the Olympics. Then he retired from the sport for a second time at the end of 2005.

So far, so good but controversy was waiting around the corner.

Doping Allegations

Wikipedia

“The Sunday Times has confirmed to Mr. Armstrong that it never intended to accuse him of being guilty of taking any performance-enhancing drugs and sincerely apologized for any such impression.”

The allegations of Lance Armstrong using performance enhancing drugs were rampant during his career, but as The Sunday Times found in 2004, you can’t print rumor as fact.

From 1999 onward, Armstrong shrugged off allegations of doping at every turn and then in 2012, the United States Anti-Doping Agency found him guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs after all.

Armstrong would go on to admit that the allegations held some truth and refused to fight any of them in the public eye. This cost him $75 million in a single day when all of his sponsors dropped him simultaneously.

Does It Matter That Much?

Flickr

Jeremy Dorn told Bleacher Report that while Armstrong’s doping is indeed wrong, there were other more important matters to consider such as the work Armstrong’s charity had done, arguing: “no matter what you think about him, can we all agree that $500 million donated to charity for cancer research is inherently a good thing?”

Bob Denton, a cancer survivor agrees: “Really, compared to the life and death issues of cancer that Lance has embraced, cheating in the Tour is small potatoes.”

Caden Brody, also a cancer survivor, does not, saying: “We cannot deny he raised a lot of awareness and money for cancer. As a survivor, I commend that. Unfortunately, he undid everything, in many ways, by his sociopathic need to bully, win, play mind games, and he used cancer as a cloak to cover his sins. If he’d confessed ages ago in true remorse? We’re a pretty forgiving people. But this is a forced, ‘I still want to compete in something so I better apologize’ thing.”

Human Failings, Superhuman Achievements

Flickr

It’s probably fair to say that “Lance Armstrong the drug cheat” is hard to draw inspiration from. It is also fair to say that the man who beat cancer, won seven Tour De France titles and raised ha;f a billion dollars for good causes is more than just a drug cheat.

It is ultimately for the individual to decide whether to admire him or not. We are all human and we have all succumbed to temptation at some point in our lives; might it be best to remember Armstrong for the good he did rather than his human failings?

The post Should We Still Consider Lance Armstrong An Inspiration? appeared first on SportzBonanza.