The Life and Times of Lance Armstrong

You see yellow wristbands everywhere that say “Live Strong”. Lance Armstrong is a phenomenon in the cycling world and he has probably done more for the popularity of cycling in the USA than any other athlete. His Lance Armstrong Foundation has raised millions of dollars to support cancer survivors all around the world. All this from a young man born on 18 September, 1971 in Plano, Texas.

At twenty, Lance Armstrong was already the US National cycling Amateur champion and at 22 years, he was already the youngest road racing world champion ever. Great things were expected of him in 1996 when he was ranked as the number one cyclist in the world and was a member of the USA Olympic team. However, in October, Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer which had spread to his lungs and brain. Cofidis his cycling team cancelled his professional contract.

Cofidis was to rue their decision when Armstrong made a return to cycling by winning the Sprint 56k Criterium in Texas in 1997. The US Postal team decided to sign him and he marketed the year by winning the Tour de Luxembourg, the Cascade Classic in Oregon and the Rheinland-Pfalz Ruundfarht in Germany.

In 1999, Lance Armstrong began the best ever cycling record. He won the Tour de France and dominated the race for the next 6 years winning a total of 7 Tour de France championships. He had become one of the legends of cycling ahead of such greats as Miguel Indurain, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Jacques Anquetil. Lance also founded the Livestrong campaign, to fundraise and support cancer survivors.

His success has not been without controversy. In a book by David Walsh and Pierre Ballester, he was accused of taking performance enhancing drugs just weeks before the start of the 2004 Tour de France. Even after being cleared of any drug charges, his success has been so dominating that he still has people who doubt him

It is not all a bed of roses for Mr. Armstrong. He divorced his wife, Kristin Richards who was with him during his cancer period. He later would break up with singer Cheryl Crow after announcing there engagement some five months earlier. After a few years out of the public limelight, Lance Armstrong came back in 2008 to try out the Boston Marathon. It was great seeing he was still fit enough to complete the Boston Marathon years after he had stopped competitive racing.

It has been said that the Tour de France is probably the most physically demanding human endurance race in the world. Lance Armstrong won it 7 times and can probably claim that during that period, even after fighting cancer, he was the fittest man in the world.

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