No matter your opinion on his personal character, Lance Armstrong is the baddest-ass bike racer of all time. There are maybe five other people alive today who know the ins and outs of road-bike stage racing better than he does. Which is why there were so many fans of Lancesindependent podcast, called Stages, in which he weighed in as an insider-turned-permanent-outcast on the strategy, grit, idiocy, mayhem, beauty, drama, and athleticism that is the Tour de France.

At least five million fans downloaded the Stages podcasts that Lance dictated from home. Thats a massive audience for U.S.cycling in the post-Lance-racingworld. Like it or not, Lance was once again singlehandedly making cycling cool again in America.

Intrigued, the organizers of the Colorado Classic, Americas newest stage race, whichkicked off August 10, partnered with Lance to issue podcasts from a custom Airstream at the races. The organizersformer ski shop guys from Colorado with a huge love of cyclingtold the Denver Post that they were blown away at the potential audience they could reach with Lances help. Naturally, Lance would get paid for his work.

Thats when, after fielding calls and emails from Lances many detractors, the United States Anti-Doping Agency informed race officials that, Under the World Anti-Doping Agency Code, an ineligible individual [Lance] may not have an official role in relation to a sanctioned event such as the Colorado Classic. In other words, if Lance so much as workedat a bake sale at theevent, they'd shut itdown faster than you can say erythropoietin brownies. Without UCI, WADA, and USADA backing, there is no high-level professional bike race. Understandably, the race organizers quickly broke their ties with Lance.(Lance has decided to still cover the Coloradorace via Stageshe's just not getting any money for it. The first dispatch went live Thursday.)

USADA, in its attempt toplacea gag order on LanceArmstrong,trampledon the spirit of the First Amendment. And inthe process, it did everything in itspower to quash cycling in the U.S., a sport that needs every bit of help it can get.

That last bit is the bigger issue:Why wouldthe UCI engage in such flagrant self-immolation at a time when bikes sales are down worldwide, independent bike shops in America are struggling, and interest in bike racing in the U.S. is as thin as a Team Sky muscle calendar?Baseball has loads of stars, so even if its morally wrong to banish Pete Rose, it can afford to do so, economically. As much as many of us would like to deny itmyself includedcycling in the U.S. only has Lance. Hes the sports only household name. He brought the cycling boom in the late 1990s and sustained it through the aughts. And now he might just be able to staunch the bloodletting. Let him.

Maybe Lance Armstrong upsets your sensibilities and you dont want to hear him commenting on the rebirth of clean cycling. Its understandable. He did wicked things to good people and the black mark he left on the sport is indelible. But, as an American, he has a right to both earn a living and speak his mind. Hes also charismatic, and if given a chance,just might win over his detractors and help make cycling relevant to a wider audience than weekend racers.

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In Defense of Lance Armstrong and His Freedom of Speech - Outside Magazine