Lance Armstrong surprisingly enters Ojai race, places 15th
Associated Press | 11 Apr
OJAI, Calif. - Word spread quickly that Tour de France champ Lance Armstrong was a surprise entry in the Lemire Memorial Grand Prix cycling race, joining stunned competitors at the starting line just minutes before it began.
"Do you see him?" one man asked.
"Is that him?" asked a teenage girl clutching a camera.
And there he was on Sunday afternoon. Wearing a light blue and white jersey and a yellow "Livestrong" bracelet, the six-time Tour de France champion took his place with others for the 90-minute criterium race through rural Ventura County.
The crowd roared as announcer Dave Towle welcomed Armstrong - Racer No. 120.
"I've been lining up at races since I was a kid, and I still get that nervous feeling in my stomach," Armstrong told Towle. "I just love it. It's great to be here."
It is extremely rare for Armstrong to race in the United States.
"He has probably done only a handful in the last five years," Armstrong friend Dave Lettieri said. "Showing up at a non-pure professional race is very, very rare for Lance or anybody of that caliber because of the risk of crashing or injury."
Armstrong telephoned Lettieri after arriving in Los Angeles on Saturday and asked if there were any races in the area.
"I said, 'I have the perfect race for you in Ojai,'" said Lettieri, who put Armstrong's representatives in touch with Ojai race organizer Bob Fisher to talk about the possibility of Armstrong entering the event.
They asked if there would be things for Armstrong's children and his rocker girlfriend Sheryl Crow to do during the race. There's a Jolly Jump and climbing wall, Fisher said.
The last question posed to Fisher was how much it would cost to enter.
"I told them we would cover it," Fisher said, learning at about 9 p.m. Saturday that Armstrong was in.
"We tried to keep it hush-hush, but it's hard when it's something like that," Fisher said. "People found out."
Joan Welborn got Armstrong's autograph before the race began.
"This is the best day of my life. That is something that I can take with me to my deathbed," the Ojai resident said. "My friends go to France to watch him race in the Tour, and I didn't even have to leave Ojai."
Armstrong - who placed 15th and donated his $350 in winnings to the Garrett Lemire Memorial Foundation - was about to leave in his black BWM when he shook the hand of another familiar face: Recently retired NBC-TV News anchor Tom Brokaw, who happened to be in town and watched the race.
