Lance Armstrong will be "joining the Colorado Classic bike race next week," but instead of competing, he will be "peddling his new daily 'Stages' podcast from a studio-outfitted Airstream trailer," according to Jason Blevins of the DENVER POST. Armstrong and Texas-based radio host JB Hager "debuted 'Stages' for last month’s Tour de France from studios in Austin and Aspen." The podcast was "downloaded more than 5 million times during the month-long race, ranking it in the top 10 on iTunes in July." Armstrong: "I really didn’t know what to expect and there was really no pressure for it to be well received. The end result pretty much blew me away." Blevins notes organizers behind the Colorado Classic, a four-stage race that hits Colorado Springs, Breckenridge and Denver, said that there was "one predominant factor that eclipsed Armstrong's potentially polarizing presence." Tournament organizer Ken Gart said, "Five million downloads. We were blown away by that. He, without a doubt, has the biggest audience in cycling" (DENVER POST, 8/3). In Colorado Springs, Nathan Van Dyne notes "Stages" received "80,000 unique Facebook viewers each day" during the Tour de France, "peaking at No. 2" in iTunes' sports category. The podcast will "start Aug. 9 and run all four days" of the Colorado Classic (Colorado Springs GAZETTE, 8/3).
