Cycling Legend - Lance Armstrong decides to retire after 2010 Tour de France
Lance Armstrong was definitely born to be an athlete. He was born in Plano, Texas and was raised by his mother Linda who was only 17 at the time. Lance began swimming and running when he was only 10 years old and began taking part in Triathlons by 13. At the age of 16 he was sponsored in various triathlons, making him a professional tri-athlete.
Soon, Armstrong contemplated on being a professional cyclist which was his most favourite sport and it was not long before he started training for it. The determined athlete proved he could do it and in no time Armstrong was ranked as the #1 tri-athlete in the under 19 group. As an amateur, he was considered to better than 5 professionals ranked that year because of his total points. By 1989-90 he became a national sprint-course triathlon champion. The very same year he stamped his mark by beating other professional cyclists by winning two major races, the Thrift Drug Classic and the First Union Grand Prix.
It was pretty obvious the young rider was soon to be an aspiring star and by winning the U.S. amateur champion in 1991 he proved it. He also took part in the 92’ Olympics representing the United States, finishing 14th. After the grand performance by the rising star many major teams set their eyes on him. Motorola was Lances’ first professional contract, and he did not disappoint the team. He won the Trophee Laigueglia in Italy and also contended in Tour of Ireland race.
Armstrong had won 10 stage races and other one day events by 22. He also won the U.S. Pro Championship and now was the youngest world champion in the history of road racing.
The stellar cyclist had a very encouraging career in 93’ as he won three titles: the CoreStates Race, Kmart West Virginia Classic and Thrift Drug Classic. Taking part in Tour de France which is considered to be the most prestigious race ended well, Lance landed at 62nd place. The very same year he obtained 1st position in the World Road Race Championship in Oslo, making him the youngest American to ever win that title.
The following year Lance took part in Tour DuPont and finished 2nd which left him extremely upset. He trained with vengeance for the next year, wanting to settle the score with his rival Viatcheslav Ekimov from Russia who came 1st. In 96’ repeating DuPont the frantic cyclist came hard and not only won DuPont but set a record of the largest margin of victory by 3 minutes 15 seconds.
Trouble only started for the star later that year in October, when he was diagnosed with stage 3 testicular cancer which had spread to his abdomen, lungs and brain. Armstrong began with vigorous chemotherapy and the doctors had said he only had a 65% chance of surviving, which soon dropped to 40% after doctors diagnosed him brain tumour as well. Fortunately the brain surgery and chemotherapy proved to be successful. Lance Armstrong was confirmed to be cancer free by 97’.
After Armstrong’s horrifying struggle, he stated he would come back and race again. Sadly nobody had confidence in him anymore and his current team “Cofidis” cancelled his contract and annual salary. He had a hard time trying to find a sponsor after his comeback but luckily the United States Postal Service team signed him up on a $200,000 per year contract.
The following year he was back in shape, and once again proving he was the best even after his struggle against cancer. He went on winning several titles which included the Spring 56k Criterium, Cascade Classic, the tour of Luxembourg and the Rheinland Pfalz Rundfardt.
In summer of 1999 the passionate and ambitious rider stunned the world. Lance participated in the exhausting 2,274-mile race “Tour de France” and surpassed all the riders, dominating them and finally won the race for the first time. Naturally rumours began to surface, everyone doubting that a person who had just fought cancer could have achieved this, but the frequent blood and urine test proved otherwise.
Lance Armstrong soon proved to be the world’s best road racer after winning Tour de France five times from 2000-05. After his victory in 2000 he had proved the critics wrong once again, who claimed his victory in 99’ was due to the fact there were no real professionals taking part in the contest, but it did not stop there as he continuously kept winning the prestigious race over the years. Lance won Tour de France once again in 05' but decided to retire that year.
Besides his professional career Lance has also written two best-selling autobiographies: It’s Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life and Every Second Counts. He also owns the Lance Armstrong Foundation for cancer which is now called LiveStrong. He held a City Marathon in 2006 raising half a million dollars for his Foundation LiveStrong.
In 2009 the rider made a comeback and wanted to participate in Tour De France, not for the money but to raise awareness for cancer, finishing the race by winning the Yellow jersey. Lance Armstrong made it official on his twitter page that he would be retiring for good “It's been a great ride. Looking forward to 3 great weeks," he said.
Lance Armstrong is no-doubt a world class act, his tremendous wins, battling cancer, going on tours bringing countless trophies; he made it all seem so easy. Lance will always be remembered as one of the most heart-pounding, striking professional cyclist ever to live.
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