No sooner had the news broken that Lance Armstrong would be joining up with his old mucker Johan Bruyneel at Astana, then race organisers started penning notes to the seven time Tour de France champ inviting him and the boys in blue to take part in their event. First up, it was the Tour of California and then our very own Tour of Britain.
Now, the cynics amongst you - and I know that you're out there - might think this is just a bit of well-timed bandwagon jumping. After all, this is one of the biggest sporting stories of the year so getting a link, any link, with Lance is a great idea. Personally, I'd love Lance to come and ride in the ToB – no Texan can truly say they've experienced all the world has to offer until they've spent a grey day in Burnham-on-Sea!! (No really, I wish the ToB all the best in securing Astana and Lance – it'd be fantastic to see Armstrong racing in Britain and further boost cycling's profile here.)
Anyway, if there is a bandwagon to jump on you can rest assured that I'm going to be on my pogo stick hitching a ride, so here goes:
Dear Lance
I cordially invite you to Sunday lunch at Spedding Towers here in Bath. It's an open ended invitation, so you can come on over whenever you fancy – just give me a bit of warning as I'll need to get the beef from the farm shop, and do the vacuuming and clean the bathroom. Anyway, hop in the Subaru and drop by. Or bring your bike, we could scoot on down the towpath to the Lock Inn at Bradford-on-Avon. I reckon you'd love the Boatman's Breakfast.
All the best
Rob
Now, I'll just sit by the phone and wait for my call from Lance...
