Lance Armstrong - About The Legend
Lance Edward Armstrong was born on the 18th of September 1971 and is possibly the greatest cyclist ever. In terms of Tour de France wins he is unquestionably the greatest.
Armstrong won the Tour de France a record breaking seven times and is the only rider to win the race several times. Armstrongs record breaking achievement saw him smash the record of Miguel Indurain, Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Jacques Anquetil.
October 2nd 1996 saw Armstrong, then aged 25 was diagnosed with stage 3 testicular cancer. The cancer spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain. By the time Armstrong visited his doctor, the cancer was already spreading throughout his body and he was immediatly rushed for chemotherapy. At one stage, Armstrong chances of survival were around 30%.
In July 1999 Armstrong set out on his quest to win the Tour de France and by the end of the race he had taken 4 stages including the prologue time trial. However Armstrong wasn’t done proving himself just yet. Many said that he had an easy race due to a lack of competition. Jan Ullrich was injured and Marco Pantani didn’t ride didn’t ride due to drug allergations.
In July 2000 both Ullrich and Pantani were on the startline next to Armstrong. Armstrong won the tour and Ullrich finished in second place. This marked the closest gap between Armstrong and Ullrich and sparked the beginning of their rivalry.
Between 2001 and 2005 Armstron went on to win the tour a further 5 times.
Armstrong returned in 2009 and finished 3rd at 5 minutes 24 seconds behind the race winner.
Not only is Armstrong the greatest cyclist to ride in the tour de france but he is also the founder and chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer research and support.