Perhaps no athlete has used Twitter to his advantage more than Lance Armstrong; his Twitter Army found his stolen bike, after all. Now, our hero Twitters his outrage at those who stole some his hair.
Actually it was a surprise doping test by Tour de France officials, who took blood, urine and hair samples in their neverending quest to prove Armstrong isn't on the up-and-up. Perhaps the biggest news here is that Armstrong said he was "surprised" by this. If you're a part of his Twitterati, you got these messages:
"Yet another 'surprise' anti-doping control. 24th one. This one from the French authorities. Urine, blood, and hair! Classic.."
"So I'm clear - never complaining about these tests. Def part of the job. Feel targeted? Of course. But anything to prove I'm clean. Onward."
Forgive me, but it kind of does sound like he's complaining. And as far as a cyclist proving that he's clean, it's been established that that's impossible; there are just too many loopholes. Armstrong should get used to the fact that as long as he races professionally, someone in a lab coat is going to be following him with a small glass jar.
Armstrong will compete in the Giro d'Italia in May, and will try for his eighth Tour de France title in July. Perhaps he'll reach the triple-figure blood test plateau by then as well.
UPDATE: Apparently they took "six clumps of hair" from Armstrong for testing, and he's still going on and on about it.
Lance Armstrong Twitter Feed
Armstrong Feels 'Targeted,' Hair Sample Taken [NBCSports]
Can Athletes Prove They're Clean? In A Word, No [ESPN The Magazine]