One year after he competed in the Leadville Trail 100 mountain bike race and decided to return to competitive road cycling, Lance Armstrong has completed the first season of his second comeback.

When Armstrong decided to return, he stated his reasons as two-fold: he missed the competition and he wanted to further the mission of his cancer foundation.

In my 20 years of following Armstrong's career I've never had reason not to take him at his word. He's been forthright in interviews. And when asked about him, I always answer that although I've been around him often and interviewed him one-on-one a few times through the years, I don't really know the guy.

But ego, bravado, behind-the-scenes negotiations, personal life and peloton intrigue aside (and there's plenty of it), I like Armstrong.

I respect him for what he accomplished during seven Tour de France titles and I likewise respect him for what he achieved on the bike this season. I respect him for the millions of dollars his foundation is raising.

It's unlikely, he'll dominate cycling again. But by his performances, seven wins in mountain bike and road races, 12th in the Tour of Italy and third in the Tour de France, his competitive comeback was an unqualified success.

And with competitive success came further exposure for his foundation. As such, that component of his comeback was also an unqualified success.

But Armstrong, soon to be age 38 and now a father of four, also had third reason to return. It's not a disparaging remark, but I believe Armstrong during his 3 1/2 years away from the peloton missed the limelight. He missed press conferences. He missed journalists and the fans and the controversy. I think he thrives on it.

During much of his first seven-year Tour de France reign, Armstrong had times when his public relations handle
rs were so protective and so curt with the media, it was detrimental to Armstrong's cause.

This time around, Armstrong took a different tact. He still had his media favorites, but he quickly figured out he could get more of what he wanted cooperating with the media than he could with adversarial relationships.

During a January phone interview last February prior to the Tour of California, Armstrong told me he wanted to be more "transparent."

Via his Twitter account and videos (particularly during the Tour of Italy), Armstrong was more than transparent. In short, he changed media policy whether the media wished to admit or not.

It wasn't too long ago, the mainstream media viewed blogs as fluff. Now, every media outlets proudly promotes its blogs.

Likewise, traditional editors once scorned the notion of quoting someone via what they said in an email or Twitter blurb. Armstrong changed that. He did the same with video. As one example, he interviewed teammates (and competitors) between Tour of Italy stages.

I can't think of another sport in which an athlete has brought the public into the "locker room" (the Astana team bus) or invited a competitor to join the fun.

There were lapses to the "new and improved" Armstrong, although he nevertheless still seemed in perfect control.

Remember the outburst with Greg LeMond last September at Interbike in Las Vegas How about Armstrong unloading on Irish journalist Paul Kimmage during the Tour of California in February pre-race press conference in Sacramento? Neither moment was exactly the new "Mellow Johnny."

But both exchanges showcased examples of Armstrong's stature in the sport. Kimmage and LeMond put themselves into the spotlight during public occasions, but the spotlight still shined the brightest for Armstrong via his replies. He made his accusers look silly.

And so Armstrong's season is over. His quest for competition and his desire to spread his foundation's mission has overwhelmingly succeeded.

Lance Armstrong is back in the center of the cycling universe. It's where he likes it and it likes him.