Quote Originally Posted by JAG
I think this just goes to show how obvious it is that Lance Armstrong used drugs. Let me get this straight, he could beat into 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th cyclists who were not only incredibly talented but were also on drugs, by huge margins even when much older - not to mention the fight back from... Cancer - yet he was never on drugs?!

Oh come on. He clearly was, just like it was obvious some of the other hard hitters were, it has been a big time problem for a fair few years now.
As Big_John intimated, some people are just genetic freaks. As a young man, a sports science clinic measured the ability of his blood to carry oxygen - it was the highest level they ever recorded

He was a world champion at 22 (youngest ever!)

As a teenager he was a champion triathlete, competing against grown men. One of the big parts of his success post-cancer was all the "triathlete muscle" weight he lost, which is blatantly obvious looking at pre and post cancer pictures of him. Cycling up Alpe d'Huez is a damn sight easier when you're 14lbs lighter

He is a very angry, very driven man. Reading his books was very similar to reading Roy Keanes book, they both have a deep-rooted desire to prove others wrong and a will to win that keeps them going when the hearts of other men would fail.

He had a very, very good team. Riders that would be team leaders on other teams, were reduced to being domestiques on US Postal/Discovery

He's been lucky, by his own admission. Avoiding crashes when rivals haven't and the like.

Cancer changes people. My dad has fought 4 bouts of Cancer in the last 5 years, and I have seen with my own eyes how it changed him. Already quite a focussed and determined man, he became even more so (my dad that is).

When all is said and done, the Tour is an endurance sport. As a former cross-country runner myself, I know they are about heart, desire, determination and willpower as much as they are about heart rate and lung capacity. His first few victories he beat the opposition that bad that all he had to do after that to do was match his rivals until they gave up realising that resistance is futile as it were. My favourite Lance moments are those when his rivals challenged him, attacked him, and Lance would just respond, match them, stay with them, almost taunting them with a "is that all you got?" Inside he may have been hurting like hell, but he never let them see, always looked cool. The only exeption would have been his 5th win, when he really struggled.