There have been many rumors about why exactly Lance Armstrong and Sheryl Crow really split in 2006. Sheryl herself gave an interview last year, comparing the end of her relationship with Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt’s, saying that she and Aniston had done the dumping: “For both of us, the perceived idea is that, in our big relationships, we both got dumped. Believe me, this is not true. Neither one of us has ever gotten dumped. No one ever knows what goes on in relationships.” Sheryl’s statement contradicts several new reports coming out of Lance’s camp, though. Earlier this month, part of Lance Armstrong’s new book came out, and Lance seems to be saying he dumped Sheryl over her biological clock. Something about her being baby crazy, and he’d had enough.

Now this latest report from The National Enquirer, who seems to be quoting from another book about to be published about Lance. They claim that the real problems in the relationship began when Lance realized Sheryl had bad mojo for his cycling events. Lance’s manager even spoke to Lance about Sheryl being a distraction:

When singer Sheryl Crow became too distracting for cycling superstar Lance Armstrong, he dumped her like a bag of bricks!

[Lance] put the brakes on their 2 1/2 year romance after his coach confronted him about the relationship, according to the blockbuster tell-all: “Lance: The Making of the World’s Greatest Champion”.

“Training for his final Tour in 2005, Lance wanted Sheryl with him,” revealed a publishing source familiar with the upcoming book.

“But in a rare confrontation, Lance’s coach Chris Carmichael told him that he discerned something disturbing in the raltionship that was distracting and could impact his performance.”

“He suggested Lance not bring Sheryl to training camp in the Alps and the Pyrenees. He expected a negative reaction, but Lance said he was thinking ‘the same damn thing.’ Without Sheryl with him, his performance improved and he went on to win his last Tour.”

On the heels of victory, Lance asked then 44-year-old Sheryl to marry him. But they split six months later and he publicly blamed her ticking biological clock for their breakup.

[From The National Enquirer, print edition, June 1 2009]

Personally, I don’t really give a crap. This is a relationship that ended three years ago, and both Sheryl and Lance look petty and immature by continuing to talk about it and write about it. But if I am pretending to care, I’d say all breakup theories have some merit. Sheyl was/is smart enough to see when her relationship was going off the rails, and I could see her pulling the plug. On the other hand, I could totally buy that Lance is an emotional douchebag who promises the world to his girlfriends and never delivers, dumping them when stuff gets too serious.

Lance Armstrong and Sheryle Crow are shown together in 2004 and 2005. Credit: PRPhotos