Lance Armstrong: Cyclist, Philanthropist, and Texas Governor??

Where has this story been hiding??

Lance Armstrong recently held a press conference anouncing that he was coming out of retirement to ride in the 2009 Tour de France.  This isn’t that big of a surprise, and I have already covered this issue-but now it seems that 7-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong may be eyeing a bid for Governor of the state of Texas in 2010.

A new article in Men’s Journal talks to Lance Armstrong about his political goals.  He says he is eyeing either the position of state Governor or a seat in the Texas senate.

From the article Citizen Lance in Men’s Journal:

Armstrong’s high-profile cancer-research advocacy is completely genuine, but he hasn’t lost his competitive drive or desire to push things to the next level. Our money is on a bid for the Texas governor’s mansion in 2010, which will be empty that year, though he’s also considering a Senate seat. “You could argue that you’re far more effective as a Texas governor than a senator,” he muses. “Plus I don’t want to be in DC half the year because of my kids.” Then his eyes twinkle. “I don’t know what’s going to happen with all this, I reckon I really don’t,” he says, all humble charm and down-home candor. He leans in a bit. “I do have a hunch.”

Lance Armstrong has not formally announced a bid for political office, but, this seems to be a pretty serious consideration.  Men’s Journal even goes on record to talk about what kind of politician Lance would make.

To my knowledge I have not ran across a similar article discussing the political ambitions of Lance Armstrong.  This could tie in with why he has suddenly taken a bigger interest in getting back on the cycling circuit and returning to his prime-time ways.  Don’t be surprised to see Lance Armstrong make a political bid in the very near future.

Check out the rest of the Citizen Lance article.  It is a pretty good read about another side of lance Armstrong that many of us probably didn’t know.