One cyclist's hope for his hero, Armstrong: Race clean

<p>So, Steven Cozza was asked, what if Lance Armstrong failed a drug test? What if the biggest domino in pro cycling was to fall? We know what the French would think. But what would Cozza think?</p><p>“I’d be disappointed,” said Cozza, a rising star in the sport, who graduated from Petaluma High School in 2003. “But it wouldn’t be a shock.”</p><p>Cozza, on the phone Monday from Atlanta, waiting to catch a plane to Barcelona for a competition, then paused. It was the pause that could only be followed with something less than happy.</p><p>“Then again,” he said, “I’ve had to change my mind about a lot of my heroes. In fact, about all of them have tested positive except him (Armstrong).”</p><p>Imagine Cozza circling the wagons with his heroes. The circle gets smaller and smaller, to where only Lance Armstrong is left. Imagine Cozza not wanting to look, but he can’t help himself. After all this, Lance Armstrong and ...</p><p>“I really looked up to him,” said Cozza, 23, who rides for Garmin-Chipolte.</p><p>Armstrong recently announced he was returning to professional cycling in 2009, an announcement that, depending on your point of view, was met with either applause or derision. Many of the riders who shared the final podium with Armstrong as he won a record seventh consecutive Tour de Frances have tested positive for steroids. Armstrong has tested clean.</p><p>For Cozza, the issue is not complicated at all. It involves looking in the mirror. He wants to be able to do that without cringing.</p><p>“I want to be proud of my life,” he said. “Yes, a lot of guys who were dirty made a lot of money. But it’s not about the money. It’s about having integrity. About having a conscience. It’s about morality.”</p><p>It’s about ideals, but when lifetime security is involved, ideals often evaporate in front of the image of multiple homes, multiple cars, multiple boats, multiple servants. Creature comforts offer a more tempting lifestyle than resting comfortably on your ideals.</p><p>“But you have nothing to be proud of if you cheat,” Cozza said.</p><p>Ah, but look at my mansion, the cheaters would say. And my yacht. And my winter home in the Caribbean.</p><p>Cozza? I got the sense he would rather live under a bridge eating saltines that being a faster cyclist through chemistry.</p><p>“We are blood-tested weekly,” he said. “The blood testing, it’s starting to scare a lot of riders. There are always going to be riders who cheat but the percentage is going way down. Lance came along in an era that was very corrupt. It created a lot of damage for cycling. That definitely hurt his reputation.”</p><p>Armstrong’s returning is either an act of courage, to try to win the Tour de France at 37 after being away for three years, or a mid-life crisis. Maybe raising millions for cancer doesn’t offer the same thrill as winning a premier event in a country that loathes him.</p><p>“It kind of shocked me when I heard it,” Cozza said. “I never would have expected for him to come back to racing. He’ll have no problem making the adjustment. Yeah, it’s going to be tougher for him now that he is three years older. He’s not going to be as strong as he once was. But he was so much stronger than everyone else back then anyway that he’ll still be strong enough.</p><p>“Win? Yes, Lance definitely can.”</p><p>Steven Cozza wants to be proud and guilt-free of what he’s done in cycling. And he’s praying he’ll always be able to say the same thing about Armstrong. But if Cozza can’t, then it’s been one heck of an acting job by Armstrong all these years. Armstrong would deserve an Oscar for it. And a back-of-the-hand slap from Cozza, if he so chooses.</p><p>For more on North Bay high school sports, go to Bob Padecky’s blog at padecky.pressdemocrat.com. You can reach Staff Columnist Bob Padecky at 521-5490 or bob.padecky@pressdemocrat.com.</p>