ARMSTRONG, LANCE

born September 18, 1971, Plano, Texas, U.S. American cyclist and two-time winner of the Tour de France. Armstrong entered sports at a young age, excelling in both swimming and cycling, and by the time he was a teenager he was competing in triathlons and swimming competitions. Before his high school graduation, the Junior National Cycling Team, part of the U.S. Cycling Federation, had recruited him. Armstrong competed in Moscow at the Junior World Championships and in 1990 won the U.S. Amateur Championships. In 1992 he turned professional when he joined the Motorola team, and one year later he became the second youngest man to win in world road-racing. Armstrong won stages of the Tour de France in both 1993 and 1995 but withdrew from three of four Tours he attempted from 1993 to 1996. After the 1996 Tour de France, Armstrong fell ill, and in October his physicians diagnosed testicular cancer, which had by that time also spread to his lungs and brain. He chose to take the risks of chemotherapy and surgery, as these were considered his best chances for survival. Months of treatments followed before he could attempt his comeback in a sport so demanding that some doctors questioned whether Armstrong's body could bear the strains of a three-week race like the Tour de France. Armstrong seemed unsure himself, dropping out of his first long race, the 1998 ParisNice weeklong competition, on the second day and returning to the United States to rethink his dedication to the sport. A few months later he was back in Europe and had won his first important race, the Tour of Luxembourg, since his cancer was diagnosed. Previously he had been a specialist in one-day races, but late in 1998, after a fourth-place finish in the three-week Vuelta a Espaa (Tour of Spain), he was persuaded to change his training regime and try to win the next Tour de France. On July 25, 1999, Armstrong became the second American ever to win the Tour de France, the sport's most prestigious race, and the first to win for an American team (three-time winner Greg LeMond had raced with European teams). Riding with the U.S. Postal Service team, Armstrong won the 3,630-km (2,254-mile), 22-day race, by 7 minutes and 37 seconds. During the Tour he fought allegations of doping because traces of a banned substance, corticosteroid, from a prescription skin cream he used for saddle sores, were found in his urine. The International Cycling Union (Union Cycliste Internationale) cleared him, but he continued to endure accusations of doping, especially from the French press. Thus, Armstrong felt his July 23, 2000, win of the Tour de France to be a vindication of his 1999 win and an answer to his critics. Armstrong won the 21-stage race 6 minutes and 2 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor. Apart from his racing career, Armstrong dedicated himself to the campaign for cancer awareness and established a foundation to further that goal. His autobiography, It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life, was published in 2000. Samuel Abt