I can appreciate his accomplishments but is it me or is he REALLYYYYYY full of himself? "One of the best riders Conan?" (read upset that Conan didn't call him 'the best rider ever'), "Even Gylenhall commented about you saying that" (cronie's are also brainwashed), "Yeah maybe you can fill in for McConahey since he's out of the country" (if I deem you special enough). Ugh, I thought he was arrogant before, but he was really over the top last night IMO.

Perhaps he was playing up the image in a comical way on a comedy show to get comical laughs? (nudge nudge, wink wink) Conan ain't exactly the Charlie Rose Show.

(Though Lance is usually pretty full of himself when at Charlie's table...)

I guess when you win 7 TDFs you get full of yourself. It is the people that suck AND are full of themselves that bother me.

Of course having one of the more organized and talented teams in Tour history didn't help him either.

it's a form of self deprecating humor.

And I bet you would have won 7 TDFs too with that team.

Not really. You have to insult yourself or in some way undervalue yourself to for it to be self deprecating. He did the opposite.

I saw Lance on Colbert Report, and he kinda shifted uncomfortably with a forced smile during the whole interview...

Nope, I don't happen to be a competitive bike racer. I do not recall having heard of anyone winning the Tour De France recently without a team though.

I am not saying he is not a great cyclist. I just think he might acknowledge those who helped get him to the top a little more but that is probably just wimp talk.

I didn't see the segment, but i read that he said something about being dropped by a messenger while riding in nyc. Did he really say that?

He did say that...Conan asked if when just riding around if people come up and want to race him. He said he's not that fast anymore to which Conan said "yeah right!" and then he said he was dropped by a bike messenger in NY.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's awesome that he has accomplished what he has in his career and for the sport. Conan was very genuine about his admiration towards Lance and even seemed a bit nervous as Lance gave him grief about not saying he was the best. Lance didn't come across to me as being self deprecating, being sarcastic, or intentionally meaning to be be funny by ribbing Conan. It came across to me like "I'm owed this honor and you should have worded it appropriately". I just felt like he was a little full of himself and it made me sad.

I doubt you win a TDF, much less seven of them, much less seven of them on the back of terminal cancer recovery, without having something of a big ego.

It's not always a bad thing. It keeps one alive, motivated and confident.

Wining a stage race like the TDF which is brutal isn't just about physical ability, but rather mental ability. If you doubt yourself you won't win and I don't care how great your team is or how low your body fat % is. When the competitors are so closely matched as they are in the TDF, it is about attitude.

if you read his book (well not HIS book but the one about him), he's always been cocky. otherwise he's a pretty down to earth guy.

The cocky attitude is similar to many doctors. Some people can't stand doctors because of it. But I totally get it. If you are going to be responsible for the second by second decisions that may lead directly to someone's life or death, you had better have a positive and arrogant attitude or you won't survive the job. Now, I am not saying riding a bike is anywhere near the importance of being a doctor. But the only way to be a winner in a brutal job, a consistant winner is to be an arrogant SOB.

I must have watched a different Conan interview. What I remember is that Conan called him the best in the world and Lance corrected him with one of the best in the world.

Actually, I thought he was a little less cocky than in previous inerviews.

You got it backwards......

Conan first called him "The best rider in the world" then Lance said "one of the best" then Conan said something else and Lance said "One of the best in Texas".

He was not being cocky. He was being modest. He also said he was not that fast anymore. Conan would say something Superlative and Lance would try to tone it down.

Cocky means you are acting as if you are one of the best, and you can't back up your words.
Lance is one of the best. He's allowed to be confident. He could ride us all into the ground at one time. And he proved it over and over again. Don't be so insecure that his confidence seems wrong. It's appropriate. But he was being modest anyway !!! Geez !!

Give the winner of more TDF's than anyone in the world permision to like it.

Cocky. . yep. . welcome to my profession as a pilot in the air force. To us, its just confidence in what we do. But to everyone else, we are completely full of ourselves. Whatever. . being 2nd gets you killed.. that's why i'm the best!! <sarcasm>

Actually there was a recent show on fittv about George Hincapie. He was being honored by his town with a "Hincapie Day" and Lance came to honor him and was interviewed. He was very plain about the fact that without George his own life would be very very different.

I put Lance right up there with Barry Bonds. Both of them are full of themselves, by far the most cocky, pretentious athletes ever. Rarely does the sportsworld have such socially arrogant individuals.