Lance Armstrong

Seven time Tour de France and cancer survivor, Lance Armstrong, is thirty-eight years old. Who cares? you might ask. Exactly. Armstrong is an extremely successful athlete, cancer activist and model citizen in every sense of the word. But when he posed for Outside magazine, the editors tried to make sure everyone knew exactly how old he is.

When Armstrong posed for the magazine’s cover, he wore a plain navy t-shirt.When the cover hit stands,however, the shirt pictured worn by Lance reads “38. BFD.” Translation = 38. Big F**king Deal. Outside magazine added this graphic as a response to many people’s doubts that Lance Armstrong is still young and strong enough to win another Tour de France.

It is often customary for magazine editors to push the boundaries of what stars will do during photoshoots. More sensational images mean more press and readers. Lance was, however, extremely offended by the Photoshop job. He tweeted “Just saw the cover of Outside mag w/ yours truly on it. Nice photoshop on a plain tshirt guys. That’s some lame b******t.”

Outside magazine responded by saying they typically do not consult their cover stars about the final images. In the end, Outside owes Lance an apology for portraying him in a way he was not aware of. This was an unfair move on their part and hopefully Lance will use this as motivation to win another impressive Tour.