Lance Armstrong's coach, Chris Carmichael, contacted us after his star pupil's recent training stint in Kona. The 37-year-old cycling star, absent from the professional circuit for three seasons, rejoined the peloton to finish the early season Tour Down Under in workmanlike fashion, about 20 spots from the top.

This is as cycling fit as Armstrong has ever been in January, on course, says Carmichael, for his first-ever start in the Giro d'Italia.

Triathletes often wonder whether Armstrong may wish to complete the circle and end his professional career the way he began it, as a triathlete. Among those in a position to know, Carmichael comes closer than anyone ever has, in this video, to answering this question in the affirmative.

Armstrong, "Junior" to his fellow pro triathletes in the late 80s and early 90s due to his world class abilities at the age of 15, never focused on the Ironman distance. But he did travel to Kona to watch the Ironman, at least once, in 1989. Now, after 20-plus years in the world of professional cycling, he's back riding in Kona, and the Ironman again piques his interest.