With a chance to ingratiate himself to triathlon industry leaders, Lance opted for a snub. - On January 27th, Travis Tygart, CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, directed some poignant remarks at Lance Armstrong in his keynote presentation at the recently concluded 2014 Triathlon Business International (TBI) Conference. The title of Tygart's presentation - Brand Value and Protection: Anti-Doping After the Lance Armstrong Case Here are some excerpts (the entire presentation will be available soon. Like us on Facebook to learn when!) Apparently, after learning of Tygart's presentation, Lance contacted TBI executives, who, after careful consideration, made arrangements for Lance to come address leaders of an industry in whose good graces Lance claims he'd like to be. The announcement was made. People changed travel plans. But then so did Lance. TBI President, Jack Caress, reflected on how these events affected the TBI conference as well as Lance's standing in the triathlon community. As an editorial aside... We at Endurance Films were also geared up to change our travel plans for Lance. Mr. Caress had asked us to shoot the Lance interview, which was to be conducted by "The Voice of Ironman," Mike Reilly. In addition to the excitement of having some very exclusive video on an international hot topic, there was also the excitement caused by the cumulative buzz among the TBI attendees. Sure, the Lance thing is a sexy subject, but these are people who have a vested interest in the success of triathlon and, for better or worse, Lance is a polarizing figure who can bring attention to the sport. Call him what you will, a liar, a cheater, a crook (sociopath seems to fit, just watch his interviews), but everyone loves a comeback story. Wouldn't it be wonderful if that story was set against the backdrop of triathlon? Lance had a chance to speak to a group of people who have skin in the game. And he flaked. Of course, there's money to be made in the "Armstrong" brand so if and when he is able to get back in the game, people will jump on the bandwagon. I just hope that those people remember that Lance's actions with regard to TBI (and lets face it, everything else) demonstrate that he takes the industry for granted. So when he inevitably steers that bandwagon down the street of the triathlon industry, let's not go out of our way to fill the pot holes.