Here’s one accolade Lance Armstrong might not be so proud of: Texas Monthly’s annual Bum Steer of the Year Award.
Austin’s Armstrong made international headlines this year when he was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles due of doping allegations. “It’s something we wrestled with, for sure, but I don’t think anybody can really argue [with the fact] that there’s been a spectacular fall from grace for one of our heroes here in Texas,” Monthly editor-in-chief Jake Silverstein tells KUT News.
“If there is anyone who doesn’t know why we chose Lance Armstrong as Bum Steer of the Year Award," Silverstein says, “I guess I would say, ‘Welcome back from your long trip abroad, or the hole in which you’ve been hiding for the past year.’”
A caricature of Armstrong in his signature yellow jersey graces the cover of this year’s Bum Steer issue. Armstrong had graced the cover four times previously for his accomplishments. Seven other Texans, including Anna Nichole Smith and Governor Rick Perry, have also been celebrated on the cover, to return as Bum Steer honorees. But Armstrong is the only Texan who was featured wearing a halo.
“So he is,” Silverstein says, “as usual, in a class by himself.”
