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American cyclist, Lance Armstrong, is going out on top. The fastest man on two wheels is retiring from cycling after winning his seventh straight Tour de France. He plans to spend more time relaxing and seeing his family. Here's a look at Lance Armstrong - the guy who's defeated cancer, the Alps and every other cyclist on the planet.
Lance Armstrong was born September 18, 1971 in Plano, Texas. His parents divorced when Armstrong was really young and Lance was raised by his mother, Linda. Lance Armstrong got his first bicycle when he was seven and started riding every day. Some days Armstrong would cycle all the way to Oklahoma and would have to call his mom to come pick him up.
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Eventually, Lance Armstrong was able to bike home himself and started entering amateur races. During his senior year of high school, he moved to Colorado to train with the US Olympic development team for cycling.
Lance Armstrong competed in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, where he placed 14th in the road race. After the Olympics, Armstrong turned pro and joined the Motorola cycling team. His pro career didn't get off to a great start, as Lance Armstrong finished dead last in his first race. But in 1993, Armstrong won the World Road Race Championship in Oslo, Norway and by 1996 Lance was the seventh-ranked cyclist in the world.
After competing in the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Armstrong started to feel tired and weak and couldn't race as well as he used to. Doctors told Lance he had cancer in his testicles. Lance Armstrong had one of his testicles removed and started massive chemotherapy. The cancer eventually spread to Armstrong's brain and doctors only gave him a 40 percent chance of surviving. That didn't stop Lance Armstrong from believing he could race again. Armstrong had surgery and several more doses of chemotherapy and was cancer-free by February 1997.
Lance Armstrong returned to competitive cycling in 1998, and in 1999 he entered the grueling Tour de France - a 2,274 mile race through the Alps. Armstrong dominated the race from start to finish and won the event by nearly seven minutes. Lance's amazing comeback from cancer made Armstrong a world-wide celebrity and an inspiration for other people with cancer. Since returning to competitive cycling, Lance Armstrong became the world's most dominant force on two wheels. He went on to win the Tour de France a record seven straight times! Armstrong won his seventh and final Tour de France by more than four minutes, cementing himself as one of America's greatest athletes of all time. |
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LANCE ARMSTRONG PICTURES |
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