Tour de France leader Lance Armstrong will appear in a
Parade magazine cover story in "the next few months" and be
the subject of a made-for-TV movie produced by Bud
Greenspan, and his agent Bill Stapleton is "buried in phone
messages," according to Chip Brown of the DALLAS MORNING
NEWS. Stapleton said when Armstrong was "ready to come back
to cycling" after his bout with testicular cancer "teams and
endorsement opportunities ... slammed the door in our
faces." More Stapleton: "[Armstrong] used to say, 'When I
make a comeback, every one of these 'No' answers, we'll
remember.'" But Brown writes that "these are new days" for
Armstrong, as Citibank and German computer company BrainLab
are "interested" in having Armstrong as an endorser.
Oakley, which "picked up" Armstrong's health insurance --
"after he was dropped" by French cycling team Cofidis --
Nike and Giro Sport Design "stayed with Armstrong" during
his illness, and the USPS "now looks brilliant" for signing
him to a $200,000 per-year deal to ride for its team. The
USPS agreed last week to a new two-year deal with Armstrong
with a "base pay" of $1M and "incentives that could pay him"
$2M if he wins next year's Tour de France. Stapleton said
that Armstrong "will earn in excess of" $2M from team and
endorsement deal incentives if he wins the '99 event (DALLAS
MORNING NEWS, 7/20). Armstrong was interviewed on NBC's
"Today" and wore a USPS- and Visa-branded shirt (NBC, 7/20).
