I don't follow cycling, but recognize that it is a global sport and am impressed by what Lance accomplished. He also gave a lot of for it, though (family). Heck, since it is official now, I guess I'll raise my next beer and offer a cheers to old Lance. One of the most impressive sport feats of the last 100 years (and who cares about sports before then?).

My favorite part about his victory this year is that he said that he was going to spend the next few days on the beach "with a beer, having a blast." Hopefully it's a good beer.

Yes, this is truly impressive. Not only the 7 titles but the battles in his personal life as well. It was interesting to hear past champions such as Miguel Ingurian talk about his success but they refuse to call him the best ever.

quote: Originally posted by southerncoronas Yes, this is truly impressive. Not only the 7 titles but the battles in his personal life as well. It was interesting to hear past champions such as Miguel Ingurian talk about his success but they refuse to call him the best ever.

I don't think you will ever no who the best ever is. IMO you really don't need to know because they can't be compared There are a number of riders who are great. The 5 time winners, Eddie Mertz who wore the yellow Jersey for a total of 112 days, Lance who wore it for 83. They were all great for their time. It would be impossible to compare some of the early riders with the modern day riders. The tech, training and bikes are so much more advanced today. Lance certainly overcame great odds and challenges to do what he did. Add to that the things that he has done to raise money for cancer research. I heard that 15 million livestrong bracelets have been sold to date. Yes Lance is a great athlete. More than that he has done much to help others. Which is a mark of true greatness.

quote: Originally posted by Upstate Dave <blockquote id="quote"><table width=90% cellpadding=10><tr><td bgcolor=FFFFCC><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote: Originally posted by southerncoronas Yes, this is truly impressive. Not only the 7 titles but the battles in his personal life as well. It was interesting to hear past champions such as Miguel Ingurian talk about his success but they refuse to call him the best ever. </font id="quote"></td></tr></table></blockquote id="quote"> I don't think you will ever no who the best ever is. IMO you really don't need to know because they can't be compared There are a number of riders who are great. The 5 time winners, Eddie Mertz who wore the yellow Jersey for a total of 112 days, Lance who wore it for 83. They were all great for their time. It would be impossible to compare some of the early riders with the modern day riders. The tech, training and bikes are so much more advanced today. Lance certainly overcame great odds and challenges to do what he did. Add to that the things that he has done to raise money for cancer research. I heard that 15 million livestrong bracelets have been sold to date. Yes Lance is a great athlete. More than that he has done much to help others. Which is a mark of true greatness.

I couldn't agree with you more Dave. And that's pretty much what the former champions were saying. Still, he does have the record (7 straight) and did battle the cancer the way he did. Many thought he wouldn't live, let alone race again, let alone win 7 Tour De France. Amazing.