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Lance Armstrong Profile
Lance Armstrong was born in Plano, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas, and was raised by his mother, Linda Mooneyham. He began his sporting career as a triathlete, competing in seniors' competitions from the age of 16. It soon became clear that his greatest talent lay in racing bikes.
After competing as a cycling amateur, winning the US amateur championship in 1991 and finishing 14th in the 1992 Olympics road race, Armstrong turned professional in 1992. The following year he scored his first major victory as he rode solo to win the World Road Championships in Oslo, Norway. His successes continued with Team Motorola, with whom he won stages in the 1993 and 1995 Tours de France and several classic one-day events. He won the Tour Du Pont for a second consecutive time in 1996, and was ranked the number one cyclist in the world. Later in 1996, however, he abandoned the Tour de France and had a disappointing Olympic Games.Then on October 2, 1996, Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer that had metastasised, spreading to his lungs and brain. His doctors told him that he had a 50 percent chance of survival. After his recovery, one of his doctors told him that his actual odds of survival were considerably smaller (one even went as far as to suggest three percent), and that he had been given the 50 percent estimate primarily to give him hope.
Armstrong managed to recover after invasive surgery to remove his right testicle and two brain lesions, and a severe course of chemotherapy left him with burns on the inside of his skin. The standard chemotherapy for his cancer would have meant the end of his cycling career, because a known side effect was a dramatic reduction in lung function; he opted for a more severe treatment that was less likely to result in lung damage.
While in remission he resumed training, but his contract had been cancelled by his Cofidis team. He was eventually signed by the newly formed United States Postal Service Pro Cycling Team, and by 1998, he was able to make his successful return in the cycling world marked by his fourth place overall finish in the Vuelta a España.
Armstrong's true comeback came in 1999, when he won his first Tour de France. His final lead times over his closest competitor have been over six minutes every year except for 2003 and 2005, when he finished 1h:01m ahead of Jan Ullrich, and 4h:40m ahead of Ivan Basso. In addition to his 7 overall victories in the Tour de France, he has won 22 individual stages and 11 time trials; which in effect contributed to his team winning the team time trial three times (2003–2005).
With cancer taking him to the brink of death and back again, Armstrong developed the Livestrong wristband during the summer of 2004. The band was part of the Wear Yellow Live Strong educational program, intended to support cancer victims and survivors and raise awareness about cancer. The colour yellow was chosen for its importance in professional cycling, especially as the colour of the yellow jersey of the Tour de France. It was reported that in May this year over 50 million Livestrong wristbands have been sold worldwide.
With the history books rewritten, and cancer defeated, Armstrong announced his retirement from professional cycling moments after winning his seventh Tour de France this year. With this being his seventh consecutive Tour de France victory he had set a new record for both the number of total Tour wins as well as consecutive Tour wins.
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