Thanks to Lance Armstrong, Lawrence has gone a little loopy over “la course de bicyclette” known as the Tour de France.

“Everybody, that’s all we talk about is the tour,” said Randy Breeden, president of the Lawrence Bicycle Club, which has 200 members. “We watch the stages during the day, maybe two or three times a day.”

And with Armstrong — the five-time champion from the United States — apparently ready to claim a record sixth consecutive Tour de France victory, interest in the race is moving beyond Lawrence’s sizable community of hard-core bicycling fans.

Televisions in bars are tuned to OLN, the cable network showing the race. Viewing parties are planned. And longtime cyclists suddenly find themselves being called up to explain the tour and race tactics to neophytes.

“Just casual people who know I’m a bicyclist will ask me what’s going on,” Breeden said. “The tactics in bicycling are very complicated. … I do a lot of explaining of that. It takes a couple of years to understand all the rules.”

A lot of fans

Lawrence has a ready-made fan base for the race. In addition to bike club members, City Hall has an advisory board devoted exclusively to addressing the concerns and wishes of bicyclists. And Lawrence was named a “Bicycle Friendly Community” in 2000 by the League of American Bicyclists.

“Almost any college town is going to have a fair amount of people who are active, both as students and as a young adult,” said Dan Hughes, owner of Sunflower Outdoor and Bike Shop, 802 Mass. Lawrence “is one of those communities where you can hop on a bike and in five or 10 minutes be on a low-traffic country road.”

But he said Armstrong, who survived cancer before winning his first tour in 1999, has created more interest in the sport. In late June, Hughes put on a “Tour de France for Dummies” seminar at Sunflower that drew 50 people, a mix of longtime bicyclists and new fans.

His shop has sold hundreds of “Livestrong” yellow bracelets, with proceeds going to fund cancer research through the Lance Armstrong Foundation. A full-color banner featuring Armstrong’s photo hangs from the three-story Sunflower building.

“There’s a bit of a bump there,” Hughes said of local interest in the sport. “More than anything, it’s people you would never see on a bike coming in and being excited about the sport.”

He added: “It’s amazing to me how far down this Lance Armstrong phenomenon has permeated.”

Growing interest

At Free State Brewing Co., 636 Mass., the front entranceway has a Tour de France display that includes a yellow jersey signed by Armstrong. The television above the bar stays tuned to race coverage most of the day.

“We get people coming in to watch and we get people calling in to ask, ‘What happened today? I haven’t had a chance to see,'” said owner Chuck Magerl, a fan of the tour since the early 1970s.

“It’s piquing the interest of our current customers, and we do see more interest day by day as Lance is in the news and taking over the yellow jersey,” added Alex Hamilton, the brewery manager. “We’re fans down here and we love it.”

Lawrence resident Ben Coles doesn’t have much time to watch the tour; he spends too much time on his own bicycle, riding 400 miles a week.

On the Street: Have you been watching the Tour de France? (7-21-04) More articles on the Tour de France Tour de France Web site Lawrence Bicycle Club

But he said, before setting out on his Wednesday morning ride, that he could tell Armstrong is piquing interest in casual fans.

“It raises awareness of the sport,” Coles said. “Cars are more friendly.”

Hype and fluff?

Tonight, Kief’s Audio & Video at 24th and Iowa streets will stay open after closing hours for a viewing party of OLN’s evening race coverage, from 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Greg Schroeder, the store’s general manager, said he expected as many as 50 people.

“Most everybody here are cyclists,” he said. “It gives us a place where many people can come and sit around and watch it together.”

Breeden said he was glad the sport was getting a higher profile, thanks to Armstrong. But, he said, some cyclists are bewildered by expanded media coverage that includes stories about Sheryl Crow, Armstrong’s rock-star girlfriend.

“One thing we have noticed is there has been a lot more hype, a lot more fluff to draw the average person,” Breeden said. “The average cyclist gets a little irritated with that.”

The race ends Sunday in Paris.