Lance Armstrong
Created | Updated Jun 25, 2002
Born September 18, 1971. He lived with his mother, Linda, who was single for most of Lance's life. He grew up in Plano, Texas. His athleticism was apparent at a early age. He won the local Iron Kids Triathlon at age 13. At age 16 he was a pro triathlete. During his senior year in high school he joined the olympic development team in Colorado Springs, Colorado. In 1989 he qualified for the junior national championships in Moscow. By 1991 he was the U.S. National Amateur Champion, and he remained an amateur competitor through the 1992 Olympic games in Barcelona. He was also extraordinarily cocky and arrogant especially by european standards. He secured his place in U.S. racing history with his victory in the 1993 $1,000,000 Thrift Drug Triple Crown (and the TDS Classic in 1994), then winning the 1995 Tour Du Pont, and being named the 1995 Velo News American Male Cyclist of the Year. He scored a dramatic and heartfelt stage 18 win at the 1995 Tour de France in honor of his fallen teammate, Fabio Casartelli who died in a previous stage. He also took it upon himself to help the wife of his fallen teammate and her young child. There is also a statue where he died now. In 1996 he was doing awesome, then in October he was forced off the bike because he felt horrible groin pain. He had testicular cancer. His odds were horribly slim. He had a testicle removed, two tumors from his brain and had numorous golf ball sized tumors in his chest. He then went on to chemotherapy where he took the most aggressive drug therapy posible. He was also screwed over by the French team Cofidis who he was going to be starting a new contract with. He found he was without a job and withot insurance. He sold off a great deal of his personal assets. Amazingly he survived. In 5 months he was actually back on the bike. He the founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation. The LAF raises funds for cancer research and survivorship. In 1999 he rode for the United States Postal Service which was a young American team. They decided he would be the captain of the team and they won the Tour de France he has won it in '99, '00, and '01. He will be attempting to win it yet again this July. The TdF is probably the most grueling sporting event in the world. The average rider expends an average of 10,000 calories per day for the entire race which takes up most of the month of July and cover a great deal of France. On may 8, 1997 he married his wife Kristin. There first child was Luke, and last year they had twin girls. Most of this onformation was from his website, www.lancearmstrong.com and his book It's Not About the Bike.
