How does Alex Zulle feel?

Now I don't follow competitive cycling, I own a bike....it's in the shed somewhere...but I'm not a fan of cycling. I thought Bradley Wiggins was alright until I watched a documentary about him, now, hmm, not so much. But I've found myself asking today 'How does Alex Zulle feel?'
Some of you won't know who Alex Zulle is, I don't really have a clue myself. Wikipedia will tell us he's from Switzerland, he's 44 and his nickname was Perro Loco.
Now you may be wondering what the relevance of all this is, well in 1999, Alex Zule, came second in probably the most well known cycling race in the world, 'The Tour De France'. Beaten by.....well Wikipedia will tell us 'no one' but (un)officially he was beaten by Lance Armstrong, the first of Lance Armstrong's 7! victories in the competition.
As I said at the start, I know nothing about cycling, in fact this blog was nearly written about Erik Zabel, but I did a little research
Many people will have different opinions about Lance Armstrong, no one can claim that recent admissions haven't effected their opinion of him, but is he really as bad as some would have us believe
Ok, so he didn't win the Tour De France 7 times, he probably didn't win lots of things, but then lots of people haven't done what he hasn't done...stick with me.
What a lot of people also haven't done is what he HAS done. He has inspired thousands of people to start cycling, he gave hope and determination to thousands of cancer sufferers who felt that if Lance Armstrong could beat it and go on to do what he had done then they could too, his profile has helped to raise over 500 million dollars!!! for cancer research/awareness.
He has 'finally' been honest with everyone and with that has had to tell his children that he is not the hero that they thought he was, his fans that he was a cheat, been banned from any sanctioned sporting event for life, and lost his dignity and self respect
The definition of cheating is to gain an unfair advantage over your opponent, and he argues that he was merely levelling the playing field....maybe that's true, maybe we'll never know. But what I do know is he has still achieved more in his life than many of us could hope to achieve in their lives.....just something to think about.
Oh and I went to see Django Unchained tonight....it's very good
Bye bye for now

Since its become apparent that most people just look at the pictures, here is Tom Daley with something other than diving on his mind, why you should always read to the end before making assumptions and why you should never give up as you may just be closer than you think










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