But those are only his miles in competition. A pro typically logs at least three times as many miles in training, which means Lance has probably churned the cranks for more than 100,000 miles on the road to taking seven Tour wins. That’s not just a lot of miles, but a lot of physical grief, a lot of hard days riding alone. And that takes not only a physical toll, but a mental one.

Personally, I do think Lance could take another Tour. He has the physical gift of sheer power and endurance, something we can measure in a lab numbers (600 watts, sustained; 32-34 beat-per-minute resting heart rate, with a max of 201). And there are the race statistics. But none of these figures takes will and determination into account, and that’s where I think we have to take the man’s word.

It takes an enormous amount of willpower to be a professional cyclist. It’s not just the willingness to suffer, to go so hard your entire body aches from the effort in a race. It’s the willingness to forego that after-dinner beer, not just for a night but for 360 nights a year. It’s the willingness to go on thousands of solo rides, because nobody else can ride hard enough to train with you. It’s the willingness to be away from family, to devote yourself to your bicycle.

For a guy like Lance, coming in second at the Tour wouldn’t be a consolation. After seven years of dominance, anything less than first place is a failure. Personally, I think the man could win another one if he wanted to, and I think he’d probably agree it’s possible. But if he can’t will himself to do it everything else is moot.

Lance is a smart guy, and I’m sure he’s given the question of retirement a lot of thought. He loves to win, and I believe he’d much rather go out on top. He owns the record for Tour wins, and he’s forever changed the way riders will approach le Tour. He made the Tour a year-round pursuit, not just another race on the calendar, and for someone to own the race as he did that’s the kind of commitment it will demand. It’s going to be quite a few years before someone can do that, and can be backed by Lance’s pure physical gifts and an organization like his Discovery Channel outfit.

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The record isn’t out of reach—all records are made to be broken—but it is unassailable by anyone in the current generation of pro cyclists. It’s a mark anyone can be proud of, a legacy that will stand.

I’d love to see Lance go for it one more time, take the maillot jaune all the way to Paris once more. But if the man says he’s had enough, I say he’s deserved his rest. The only person qualified to say whether Lance should retire or not is Lance himself, and he’s already spoken.

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