Outside Magazine, Lance Armstrong Face Off Over Edited Cover

Usually the controversy over Photoshopped magazine covers comes over an unnaturally thin female star – but this time, it’s champion cyclist Lance Armstrong who’s unhappy with his cover look.

“Just saw the cover of the new Outside mag w/ yours truly on it. Nice photoshop on a plain t-shirt guys,” he Tweeted. “That’s some lame b***s***. #weak.”

The July cover of Outside features Lance in a blue shirt with “38. BFD,” mentioning his age and an acronym for “Big F****** Deal,” seemingly printed on it, with the cover text wondering, “His Age, New Rival, The Latest Scandal. Is This The End for Lance?”

A message on the bottom right of the cover does, however, indicate the tweaked image — “Note: Not Armstrong’s real T-shirt.”

The mag responded to Lance’s strong words with a message on its website – but did not apologize.

“We understand that our July newsstand cover, featuring Lance Armstrong, has caused a bit of a ruckus,” Outside’s editors wrote, linking to Lance’s Tweet. “Yes, it’s true that, following our cover shoot with Lance, we had some Photoshop fun on the T-shirt he was wearing. BFD. We cop to it right there on the cover… We wanted to create a provocative image and make a bold statement about the fact that, because of Armstrong’s age, many cycling fans are skeptical of his chances in this year’s Tour de France.”

The July issue is on newsstands on June 29. The 2010 Tour de France begins on July 3, when Lance will seek his eighth title.

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