The other day, Lance Armstrong was watching the Milan-San Remo race on TV, pacing around the house, unable to sit down. His girlfriend, Sheryl Crow, posed this question for him: ‘‘You can’t even sit down. How can you retire?’’It was a reasonable question. Won’t this most driven of athletes go stir-crazy after a month of retirement and start looking for a local race, just to feel the pack strung out behind him one more time?‘‘Five years?’’ Armstrong suggested tentatively yesterday as he announced his retirement from the sport after this year’s Tour de France. He meant he could see himself showing up for a friendly race at age 38 just looking for some weekend recreation. Other than that, he’s done.He has been done for a couple of years, since his marriage started to unravel and he realized he would need to be in Austin, Texas, much of the time if he wanted to participate in the lives of his three children, whom he shares with his former wife.He was asked if he was pushed to this decision by the former assistants who offer drug suspicions about him, the book and the lawsuits, the random catcalls and threats, the crush of the mob that has reached hysterical levels. He did not say no. He merely snickered and said: ‘‘Nobody likes death threats. I’m still here.’’He will still be the favorite in July, when he goes after his seventh consecutive Tour de France. ‘‘No. 7 doesn’t have the cachet of 6’’, he admitted. ‘‘But I still love what I do.’’ This retirement means there is limited time to observe one of the greatest and charismatic American athletes, ever. The Tour de France breaks good riders, sends them slumped over, beaten, back to the hotel in the team van. It is conceivable that its steep climbs and time trials and three weeks of torture could demoralize a man who wants to be a soccer dad, a morning waffle maker.How can he push himself through the Pyrenees when the end is so close?‘‘That desire to go out on top’’, Armstrong replied. ‘‘That’s a big deal to me. I still kill myself on six-hour bike rides and come back wasted. One final one, and then I stop.’’He makes no guarantees about what will happen at the tour. He spoke of Jan Ullrich of Germany, who could not stay with him in recent tours, and said: ‘‘No promises. There are 200 other cyclists who want to win it.’’One clunker of a Tour de France should not embarrass Armstrong, but his champion’s pride could keep it from ever happening. ‘‘I’m absolutely concerned’’, he said about losing. ‘‘But it is fear that gets you up early. ‘What happened?’ I don’t want to face these questions.’’He praised his childen and his mother, Linda Armstrong Kelly; his sporting director, Johann Bruyneel; and his girlfriend of over a year, Crow, whom he called “the queen of rock ’n’ roll” and a good bicycle teammate.Somebody asked Armstrong if Crow was a good cook. He smiled and said, ‘‘She can order pizza and make reservations with the best of them.’’ He thanked his other family, an estimated 10 million cancer patients. He still claims that European suspicions of his possible use of illegal substances stem from his being ‘‘a guy who wasn’t supposed to live.’’He lived. He inspired millions. He has won six tours. And even with his palpable need to stay home, he still talks like a man with one more tour in him.(The New York Times)
