According to BikeBiz.co.uk Lance Armstrong has signed a lifetime deal with Trek at a dealer meeting held yesterday at Trek’s HQ in Wisconsin, USA. Armstrong told 2000 bike store owners and staffers, and Trek factory workers, that it IS about the bike, a Trek bike. Trek president John Burke said Armstrong would be a Trek “athlete for life.”
“If he never came along, if he didn’t ride the bike, none of us would be here today,” said Burke, reports the Wisconsin State Journal.
Lance Armstrong has signed a deal to permanently assist the company in the design and development of its road bike line. He was also gifted 7000 shares in the privately-held company, one thousand for each Tour de France win.
“You only want shares in good companies. And these are shares I’m happy to have ‘cos this is one hell of a good company,” said Armstrong, to cheers. Trek marketing spokesman Zapata Espinoza. a former MTB journalist, said:
“[Armstrong] has already started focusing on developing the new technology for the following tour. Lance is a bike geek. And that’s enabled us to do things we never thought were possible on a bike. He will continue to drive us as he has over that past few years.”
The Wisconsin State Journal reported that Armstrong said: “It is a lot about the bike. You guys make and create a great product. And the same bike that I ride is same bike you can buy in the stores.”
The $1m dealer meeting was to introduce Trek’s 2006 line of bicycles and accessories.
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Lance goes for a spin with Bush
According to various US media, Armstrong has recently asked George Bush for further cancer research funding. Apparently Lance personally asked US president George Bush for more money for research during the “Tour de Crawford” on Saturday. Although we doubt that Lance was troubled by Bush’s pace he obviously was a bit nervous about asking George W for a helping hand-out; “I’ve never asked someone for so much money before,” Armstrong said on This Week. Wonder if he half-wheeled him if he said no…
The pair rode their mountain bikes for two hours over 17 miles (27 km) around the president’s ranch in Crawford, Texas.
“That old boy can go,” Armstrong told ABC’s This Week. “I didn’t think he would punish himself that much, but he did.”
The pair were accompanied by a group of staff and secret service agents and a Discovery Channel TV crew. Everyone received T-shirts with “Tour de Crawford” and “Peloton One” printed on them and a pair of presidential red, white and blue cycling socks. Plenty of ‘Spinning’ there then, in more ways than one.
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