Get angry, Alberto.
No athlete converts anger into motivation better than Lance Armstrong. Besides being the greatest endurance athlete of our time, Lance has the unique ability to take anger and turn it into 450 watts of power for six hours up the toughest mountains in the Pyrenees and Alps. He is the King of Anger Management as racing tool.
Armstrong feeds on his anger and there’s no situation he hasn’t turned to his advantage: cancer, chemo, infertility. Ulrich & Basso, muck-racking journalists, divorce, drug testers, collarbone screws — anyone or anything that gets in his way. He is a self-motivational expert. Cartoon steam doesn’t blast out of his ears but that force goes right to the pedals.
After team-mate Alberto Contador broke with team tactics and attacked in stage 7, it was evident Armstrong was furious. That’s like dumping napalm on a fire. Like giving a super-hero his favorite energy boost.
So the question becomes, is Contador angry? Because he better get angry real fast or he’s on the second step of the podium, wearing a jersey that isn’t yellow. The cycling world will find out soon what’s inside Kid Contador — what makes him tick; what drives him.
The final week of the Tour de France is about energy–what’s left in the tank, finding a way to push yourself when the reserves are long gone. Armstrong has his motivation: he’s angry. He’s have his Lucky Seven; he’s close to becoming the Eight Wonder. We’re about to discover what makes Alberto Contador go.
Right now Armstrong has Conyador locked in a Nietzche half nelson– “what does not destroy me, makes me stronger.” For Contador, climbing Ventoux is a piece of cake. The real mountain he has to conquer is Lance Armstrong.
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