by Lisa Lynam

This article is a continuation of the interview with four-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong in the January 2003 issue of Runner Triatlete News. For the complete interview with Lance, please pick up a copy of the January issue of RTN. Subscribe to RTN today!

If the popularity of off-road events continues to increase like USAT South-MidWest regional president Brad Davison predicts, Austin's most celebrated citizen, Lance Armstrong, may get to live out his long term hopes to be a regular guy and hack around with the locals in the multi-sport scene.

The four-time Tour de France winner appeased local crowds with his appearance along with nine U.S. Postal teammates at the fifth annual Dirty Duathlon on Sunday December 8th at the Rocky Hill Ranch in Smithville, Texas.

"I think that it is important to me to contribute to the local scene. This is stuff that I'll do for the rest of my life. I will only do the Tour for another couple years and then after that I'll never do it, but these kinds of things I suspect I'll do hopefully until I'm an old man," said Armstrong after a come- from-behind win in a time of one hour, 36 minutes and 5 secondsd over the 3 mile run / 12 mile mountain bike / 3 mile run course.

His victory by a margin of 2:28 over Texas State mountain bike champ Jason Sager was not sealed until the second run when Armstrong was able to test his rarely used running legs to make up a 30 second deficit.

In an unfamiliar scene, Armstrong, wearing his Postal team uniform and his running shoes, lined up shoulder to shoulder with local multi-sport athletes of all abilities, and forged through the crowd of over 250 to tackle the tough uphill rocky fire roads. Top local triathlon runners like Rip Esselstyn and Brandon Marsh found themselves eating Armstrong's dust as the world cycling hero pulled into the transition area in second place in a time of 18:57, only 30 seconds behind leader Kevin Stankiewicz.

Sager, who has not lost a mountain bike race in four years, mounted his bike in ninth with confidence he could make up the 1:27 deficit to catch Armstrong. Then he was faced with his biggest challenge - asking if he could pass the cycling legend.

"Lance racing this course is like trying to drop a Ferrari in a grocery store. He'll just never get out of first gear. So I caught up to him. And what do you say when you want to pass Lance?" laughed Sager.

"Yeah, he blew by me," admitted Armstrong with a smile. "I just said 'well, we'll see what happens on the second run.' I tried [keeping Sager in view] for a little while. I sort of hammered into one tree and then decided I better pull back and take it easy," Armstrong said.

For the former national triathlon champ, saving it for the run proved to be a wise strategy, especially considering Sager's multi-sport inexperience. Knowing how to pace well for multi- sport events like these is critical noted Armstrong.

"When he passed me I thought maybe the race was over, but I think he gave everything on the bike. When I caught him on the run he was walking," claimed Armstrong.

"I knew it was going to be a rough run and Lance kept me motivated - nothing like having him chasing you down. I was fighting some stitches, so on these second runs I just have one speed. He caught up to me and I said 'good job.' But he knew what to do. He punched it. Getting second to Lance isn't so bad," Sager said after his second ever off-road duathlon. Sager won the national off-road duathlon event in Ruston, Louisiana in October.

Two former winners, triathlete and Xterra specialist Rip Esselstyn and Texas track and cyclocross champ Will Ross, placed third and fourth respectively.

Victor Pena was the only other U.S. Postal team member to complete the full duathlon. He finished ninth in a time of 1:51:05. Postie Dave Zabriske did not finish.

The other Postal cycling members opted to relay with local runners as a fun way to end their week-long camp in Austin. Familiar cycling pro, Floyd Landis, once a champion mountain biker himself, teamed with former University of Texas track star Adam Dailey to win the male relay division.

"This is my favorite kind of mountain biking where you don't have to climb very big hills. But there were a bunch of creek crossings and it was kind of muddy," said Landis, 27, who added that you won't be seeing him do any running or triathlon events.

"I don't like to run. I don't like to swim either. But needless to say that didn't go on here. I don't run at all and I didn't want to not be able to walk for two weeks."

Other Posties George Hincapie and Max Van Heeswicjk partnered with Steve Sisson and Adam Reiser for second and third respectively in the relay category.

Despite the Postal team apprehension about running, Lance wanted to reinforce his support for local events.

"I don't need to come out and do this. These guys [US Postal team] think I'm crazy for taking them out here to do this in Austin. But I think that is important to me to contribute to the local scene."

Shae Rainer reigned over the women's field to take her first off- road duathlon victory with almost five minutes over Kathy Duryea.

"The whole time while I was on the course I was thinking 'on the podium with Lance.' That was cool," said the 22-year-old UT student who recently recovered from shoulder surgery.