Lance’s comeback and the triumph of his brand

A god on the bike, a font of hope for cancer patients, Lance Armstrong is a force as a brand.

 

Yet as Michael Phelps towers over sport, as Brett Favre defies middle age, as the presidential campaign burns up any remaining celebrity oxygen, Lance has been in the shadows. Now he is coming out of retirement to pursue an improbable eighth Tour de France victory, and more importantly, “raise awareness of the global cancer burden.”

 

Lance is as astonishing as a brand as he is an athlete. Along with Ali, he’s one of the few world-class celebrity athletes to successfully reposition himself as a humanitarian, and no one’s done it more effectively. Nonetheless, he’s far from pristine. Rumors of performance-enhancing drugs have dogged him for years, and he’s a little rough around the edges – a bit of a cutthroat on the bike, a stereotypical ugly American in Europe, and what was up with Ashley Olsen?

 

Since complexity makes good characters and nobody messes with Texas I guess, he gets a pass on the personality stuff. The drug rumors, however, are an undeniable flaw on the otherwise golden brand. So, consistent with his perfectionism, he’s reportedly pledging to have himself drug-tested constantly in cycling career 2.0 and be transparent with the results. You can believe he’ll follow through: other cycling teams have started doing the same and are building brands as certifiably clean sportsmen. (How about NFL linemen next? Naw, that wouldn’t be any fun.)

 

Lance’s transcendent brand draws obvious power from the enormity of his cause and the sincerity of his pursuit. But the subtler lesson from Lance’s personal brand revival is the same one he demonstrates on the bike. Never rest on your laurels, don’t go quietly into obscurity, and as good as you are, believe you can always get better.