Never a man to stay far from the headlines, former American professional cyclist Lance Armstrong has caused a flurry of debate on social media with his comments on the friendliness of today’s top stars.
Speaking in a lengthy interview on the Happy Endings YouTube channel, Armstrong drew comparisons between his rivalry with Jan Ullrich and the supposed friendships among today’s top stars, no doubt referring to the likes of Mathieu van der Poel and Tadej Pogačar remaining affectionate despite their sporting battles.
“It was way less friendlier in our generation,” proposed Armstrong. “This generation now, like these guys go hammer [and] race each other and some guy will lose. The guy who wins is waiting at the finish line, they’re fucking hugging it out.”
“I’m like ‘what? Are you just waiting there so you all can hug this out after you just lost?'”
Sharing this specific clip on social media on Thursday evening, Armstrong was unsurprisingly subject to plenty of backlash. The American has, of course, been stripped of his seven Tour de France victories, having admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs during his career.
The 52-year-old’s character has often been brought into disrepute not just because of his doping, but because of numerous accusations of bullying from various former teammates, staff and opponents.
Weighing in on how cycling has changed since he retired in early 2011, Armstrong seemed to preempt much of the backlash that would come his way.
“I’m not saying that our generation, that was the way to do it or that I was proud of [it],” he was quick to say. “I mean, I think it’s kind of cool to see [the friendships]. But it wasn’t like that for us, it never even crossed my mind.”
