Armstrong Pedals For Medal America’s Leading Bicycle Racer Rides Hard To Reach Atlanta

It’s raining, and the Motorola cycling team has ducked into a borrowed motor home to prepare for the day’s 5 hours of racing.

Outside, a crowd of 200 is pressed against the door, walls and windows. One kid pounds on the side of the trailer. A knot of teenage girls calls out through an open window. Adults clutch race programs and pens. Murmurs of excitement can be heard every time the door swings open.

They all want one thing: Lance Armstrong.

It’s the same everywhere as the 1,225-mile parade that is the Tour DuPont snakes its way through six states before ending today in Kennesaw, Ga. For 12 days, nearly every homemade sign, every yell, every show of affection and admiration is saved for the 24-year-old unmarried millionaire who has made a name for himself by riding a bike faster and farther than just about anybody else.

So young, so wealthy (his digs in Austin, Texas, are worth $1 million) and so good. And in a sport where champions don’t reach their maturity until their early 30s, so full of potential.

He has owned this year’s DuPont, having built a seemingly insurmountable lead of 1 minute, 58 seconds in the prestigious race. In his mind, it’s a mere warm-up to a July 31 gig on the streets of Atlanta.

“The thing about the Olympics,” he says, “is that they’re being held in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States of America.”

Those who have watched Armstrong’s career say they’ve never seen him stronger.

“He’s the guy who’s really got the potential to win the Olympic Games in the road race,” says his friend and mentor, Olympic coach Chris Carmichael.

Carmichael has seen a big change from the teenager who was a two-time national sprint triathlon champion in 1989 and 1990 and then became a professional racer after a poor performance in the 1992 Olympics.

“He’s more emotionally mature and has accepted the sport of professional road racing,” Carmichael says. “He understands his responsibilities.”

Carmichael points to the rider’s sponsorship of the Lance Armstrong Junior Olympic Race Series as a sign of gratitude for what cycling has done for him. The race series highlights cyclists ages 10 to 21 in regional competitions.

“NBA players, NFL players should look up to Lance Armstrong and say, ‘I want to be like that,”’ Carmichael says. “He goes beyond just being a good bike racer.”

Armstrong has accepted the role as ambassador for the sport during the Tour DuPont, where he signs autographs, poses for quick photos, endures the tumult of the crowd.

“I’m a little uncomfortable with it,” he admits on the morning he was sequestered in the motor home. “Right now, they expect you to stand in the rain and sign autographs. But if you choose not to, they think of you as some arrogant athlete.”

Arrogant is an appropriate phrase to describe Armstrong the rider. But his brashness is what makes him a champion, says Carmichael.

“If I’m going to go into a war - which is basically what a bike race is - do I want my companion, my brother in arms, to be mild-mannered and sedate?” he asks. “Or do I want someone who says, ‘Let’s go in there and kick some butt.’

“Like everything in life, a great asset can also be a great detriment. But I like that attitude. I like that aggression that spurs Lance on.”

Fans seem to like it, too.

“That’s what people love to see - him rip people’s legs off,” says Motorola teammate Bobby Julich.

“Without Lance Armstrong, cycling in America would be less popular than it is today.”

Julich turns to Armstrong and says to him, “I don’t think you can get much more popular.”

Just wait until this summer.