i looked up his age (52) because he looks rough in that photo. and his wikipedia photo popped up and is too funny to not share
even reading the full interview where he admits it's "cool" that competitors are friendlier, he comes across as emotionally dysregulated and unable to emotionally connect with guys who aren't fueled by toxic competition. which, i mean, steroids lmao. way to play to type, i guess.
it reminds me of how John McEnroe was controversial on the very polite tennis court for being verbally abusive and whatnot towards umpires and ultimately used that notoriety to become a sport commentator, write some books, and have many appearances in media poking fun at himself. but i think that's the difference between some guy who gets heated + talks shit during high pressure/elite play vs a guy who jacks himself up on roids.
Any time I think about Lance Armstrong, I think about all the fuckin articles written about him jerking him off for his GROUNDBREAKING training program and GENETIC FREAK SUPERLEGS, and him entertaining these journalists telling them about his amazing routine etc. Meanwhile he's just injecting steroids and pretending to be superman.
I sometimes think of how between biking and gardening back in the day, I really tanned like a lizard. I was out in the sun for several hours a day, but I was always hunched over. Thankfully I got Slavic ancestry, so I tan pretty well by white standards.
he definitely looks like a 52 year old that has health problems, like a lifetime of a poverty diet, smoking tobacco, and generally overworked without routine doctor visits. he doesn't look like a literal multimillionaire former elite endurance athlete, with a personal chef and lots of time for cardio and recovery... unless he had some cosmetic work done to his face that is giving me mickey rourke vibes. he looks 62 to me.
health problems, like a lifetime of a poverty diet, smoking tobacco, and generally overworked without routine doctor visits
That describes most people around 52 I know. Also the most likely explanotion on why he looks so weird is simply sun damage from cycling outside. For example Rafael Nadal is 35-40 and looks like a god most of the time but every time the camera zooms in on his face he looks 65