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Armstrong adds South African to RadioShack
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Mellow Johnny adds a new teammate. AP Photo/Christophe Ena
When Lance Armstrong goes for his record eighth Tour de France title next year, the 38-year-old Texan, who is about sort of becoming the Satchel Paige of cycling, added some youth to his Team RadioShack squad in 24-year-old South African cyclist Daryl Impey.
Impey signed a one-year deal with RadioShack and plans to ride with the team in the January 2010 Tour Down Under in Australia.
"I hope to start off in Australia," Impey told Cyclingnews, "but a big goal would be to ride the Tour de France with Lance and [Levi] Leipheimer."
Impey had raced for Team Barloworld, but sponsors decided not to support the team in 2010. Impey also broke two vertabrae in the final mile of the Tour of Turkey. He was shoved by Theo Bos, who received a one-month suspension. Impey finished the stage and won the overall title.
Sounds like the kind of guy Armstrong would want on his team.
"The pains and aches have passed," Impey said. "I did what the doctor said, and now my back and all the rest is 100 percent. When I go on training rides of five or six hours, there are no problems."
A younger rider could be a big help for Armstrong's team. Although he finished a more-than-respectable third in the 2009 Tour, his Astana teammate and eventual champion Alberto Contador showed more explosiveness in the mountains.
In case your wondering about the Satchel Paige reference, Paige was an excellent professional baseball player who pitched in the Negro Leagues. Only when baseball lifted its color ban was he permitted to play in Major League Baseball. According to the Negro League Baseball Players Association, his age remained a mystery until he retired in 1965, when he admitted he was an unheard-of 59. He is often quoted as saying, "If you didn't know how old you were, how old would you be?"
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