Lance: It's not about the bike......it's about the truth!

My passion for the Tour de France began in the 1980s when I began to understand and respect the tactics and sheer physical power and endurance needed to complete the tour. This was underlined with the great Miguel Indurain, one of the greatest ever tour cyclists. Indurain was a master of the hills and the time trials and everyone thought after 6 tour victories that we would never see the same again and then.........along came Lance!

This was a fairy story in the making, a romance, a thriller made for the movies....which I am sure it will be one day..probably starring Lance as himself. Reading Lance's books it becomes clear that laying on the hospital bed he ignited a determination to not only survive but to achieve something no other cyclist had ever done. We respected him, admired his inner strength, accepted him as a role model and became in awe of his achievements in winning seven Le Tours. He then had the audacity to retire and run the New York marathon in sub 3 hrs and then return to the Tour and finish second !

Throughout all of this Lance set up Livestrong the charity that supports cancer research. Millions of people around the world bought the yellow wristband and supported the charity in raising millions of dollars for cancer victims, research and promoting the cause. Put simply Lance Armstrong was a hero. Enter David Walsh, the Sunday Times journalist and the man driven to proving that Armstrong was a cheat. His report 'Lanced - the shaming of Lance Armstrong, explains in full the long journey he undertook to expose the undercover drug use that Lance and his team were involved in. Walsh's article has gone a long way in providing evidence for the cycling authorities to strip Lance of his titles. Throughout it all Armstrong himself has denied the accusations, never has he reached the stage of taking his accusers to court. Now we are told Lance is to be interviewed on the Oprey Winfrey show. What do we want to hear ? The truth? A parody of the truth? Excuses ? A full blown confession? I'm not sure what I want......Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times, at a time most cyclists and most teams in the tour were using drugs to enhance performance. Do I want to lose a hero ? Do I want him to miraculously describe that he was telling the truth and that it has been a conspiracy. What I do know is that following the interview there will still be questions unanswered and still doubts about the whole sensational story.......but. I am scared as to what it might all do for Lance and his family and the fact that regardless of what may have happened this man recovered from his death bed and won the tour de france seven times.