Update: Sept. 8 — “Lance Armstrong coming out of retirement in 2009?”
Two of the best obliterated the field in the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race in Colorado on Saturday, with David Wiens pulling away from Lance Armstrong near the finish for the win.
In spite of the loss, it shows that the 7-time Tour de France winner is still in incredible shape. With all the travelling, speaking engagements, high-profile dating, etc., 36-year-old Armstrong finished within 2 minutes of the now six-time Leadville winner.
The same can be said for the fitness level of 43-year-old Wiens. Last year he held off a challenge by former mountain biker and Tour de France competitor Floyd Landis. VeloNews said Wiens' victory this year was 13 minutes faster than last year's course record that he set against Landis, who fell during the race.
Although he finished second, Armstrong beat the next finisher by a half hour.
Earlier Armstrong said that he planned on finishing in the top five, maybe an hour or so after Wiens. Once he got out on the course, however, the adrenaline and overarching competitiveness must have taken over.
The two escaped from the group on a climb at the halfway, and took turns pacing each other. Near the finish, Armstrong told Wiens he was through, according to VeloNews. Said Armstrong later:
“At the end I realized I was totally cooked … I haven't done a 7-hour ride in four and half years.”
Armstrong also crashed near the end of the race, sporting some scrapes as he finished.
Armstrong was to ride a 26-inch Trek Top Fuel 9.8 full suspension mountain bike in the Leadville 100. It's under 23 pounds. Wiens was expected to ride a German-made Rotwild carbon fiber full suspension bike.
Armstrong stayed in the Aspen area a couple of weeks to train for the race with his coach, Chris Carmichael, and acclimate to the elevation. The race starts at about 10,000 feet and surpasses 12,000 feet on the climbs.
This was the first competitve bike race that Armstrong has finished since he parked his bicycle in Paris at the end of the Tour de France in 2005. Since then, he's run in two New York City Marathons and a Boston Marathon.
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