Opinion: Armstrong needs to rescure fallen sport of cycling

Lance Armstrong needs to help the bike.

The bike that has meant so much to Armstrong, the bike that made him who he is today is hurting. At the highest levels, it’s descending in a spiral so fast that it’s becoming the laughingstock of the sports world.

On Thursday at The Broadmoor Hall, Armstrong, who didn’t give media interviews, told a room of more than 500 people that he wouldn’t have been able to make the impact on cancer awareness that he has without the bike, without the seven Tour de France victories, without the accolades that accompanied the achievements.

And Armstrong, a testicular cancer survivor, should be applauded for his efforts toward cancer research. The LIVESTRONG foundation has raised more than $60 million from the sale of the yellow “LIVESTRONG” bracelets alone.

Applaud the man for coming back to Colorado Springs and lending his name to the Kids on Bikes program, too. The mission of providing “new bikes, helmets and locks — and the freedom that come from them — to deserving children” would be a lot more difficult without him.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Clap. Clap. Clap.

Hopefully, Armstrong can fit the bike that made him back into his schedule. You see, with cancer, Armstrong can raise more awareness. He can raise more money for research toward a cure.

But with the bike, Armstrong can be an instrumental piece in fixing the problem. All it starts with is his saying something about it.

Nobody in cycling has a bigger name than Armstrong.

Even a couple of years past his last Tour de France victory, out of the limelight of cycling’s colorful peleton, Armstrong remains atop cycling’s food chain. Armstrong is still the world champ. Whether Armstrong wants to be, he is cycling’s biggest ambassador.

And sadly, Armstrong is cycling’s most silent megastar.

When the attention turns directly to Armstrong or those close to him, he speaks and protects.

At some point, Armstrong needs to address cycling’s problems and then do what he can to help fix them.

There’s rampant speculation about the past two Tour winners, Floyd Landis and Alberto Contador. Both are wrapped up in doping scandals. We’ll probably never know for sure, but the only reason Contador might have won the Tour was because Michael Rasmussen was kicked out of the race by his own team after evidence surfaced that he lied about his whereabouts during training.

Landis didn’t even ride this year. Neither did cycling superstars Ivan Basso and Alessandro Petacchi. Both were suspended.

T-Mobile, which amazingly is honoring its cycling sponsorship, kicked German rider Patrik Sinkewitz off the team after he failed a drug test. Then there’s Andrey Kashechkin, who tested positive for a blood transfusion and has been suspended by the Astana cycling team. He’s the second Astana rider suspended by the team. So a team with international talent will not be competing in any ProTour events this month.

What does Armstrong think about this?

The bike made Armstrong a rich and powerful person. Now that bike is disintegrating in a slimy mixture of performance enhancing drugs as we watch and as Armstrong says nothing.

The bike was there when Armstrong needed it the most. Now it needs Armstrong to stand up and say enough is enough.

On Thursday, Armstrong’s longtime friend and coach, Chris Carmichael, introduced him and said: “I think what makes Lance Armstrong special is that he’s not afraid to put himself in a position of potentially failing. ... He’s not afraid of failing.”

Armstrong is already in the perfect position. He remains the biggest name in his sport, its biggest agent.

Now he needs to say something and do something and become its biggest advocate.