The Tour de France and Lance Armstrong

The Tour de France is considered by many as the most enduring sporting event, requiring cyclists to cover a distance of around 3500 kms over 21 stages. Covering the length and breadth of France, 10 flat stages, 7 mountain stages, 1 medium-mountain stage, 2 individual time trials and a team time trial, tests each rider in terms of stamina, tactics, conditioning, recovery and many other aspects.

Over the years, there have been greats such as Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Migual Indurain. However, the one name that stands out, is that of American Lance Armstrong, record 7 time winner of the Tour de France. Armstrong, world champion at the age of 21, won his first Tour de France stage in 1993 and later repeated the feat in 1995. He was forced to retire from the 1996 tour after the 7^th stage, due to illness. Later that year, Lance Armstrong was diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer. The cancer had spread to his lungs and brain. What followed, were 2 years of a fight for survival against cancer, where he underwent brain and testicular surgery along with extensive chemotherapy. Many thought it was the end of his cycling career. However, they were proved wrong.

In January 1998, Armstrong started engaging in serious training for racing, eventually moving to the US Postal Service team. In the next 7 years, Armstong and his team went on to create history under manager Johan Bruyneel. Prior to 1999, Armstrong had a poor record in the Tour de France, having a best finish of 36^th overall. However, he went on to win his first Tour de France in 1999 by a huge margin. In the year 2000, started 6 years of arguably the most fierce rivalry in Tour de France history, that between Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich. Even Ullrich could not match up to Armstrong, as he kept on winning one Tour de France after another.

In 2004, very serious allegations were made against Lance Armstrong regarding the use of performance enhancing drugs. The same followed in 2005 and 2006, when there were allegations that his urine samples taken during the 1999 tour showed presence of a banned drug, erythropoietin. However, Armstrong cleared all allegations, always maintaining that he was innocent. In the mean time, he went on to win the 2004 tour with the US Postal team and 2005 tour with Team Discovery, making it his seventh win. In addition to 7 Tour de france wins, he has won 22 individual stages (11 time trials) and 3 team time trials. After the seventh victory in 2005, Armstrong announced his retiremnt for professional cycling.

Lance Armstrong has always been involved with charity and social work. In 1997, he founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which supports people affected by cancer. Ten years later in 2007, he along with Andre Agassi, Muhammad Ali and few others founded Athletes for Hope, a charity which helps professional athletes to volunteer and support the community. In 2000, he also wrote his memoir, Its Not About the Bike ( My Journey Back to Life), telling us about his career, the 1999 Tour de France win and the things that matter most to him.

Things did not end there. Having made one comeback already in his career, it was time for the second. In September 2008, he announced his return to professional cycling, with an aim to participate in the 2009 Tour de France. He wanted to come out of retirement to raise awareness of the global cancer burden. But he had to get in shape for it and hence took part in the prestigious Giro d’italia and the Tour Down Under. 4 years after retirement, there were questions whether he would be able to pose a serious challenge and go for an 8^th win. Although he did not manage to add to his seven wins, he finished third, becoming the second oldest rider to stand on the podium.

The name of Lance Armstrong will always be remembered, not only as one of the greatest cyclist ever, but also as a human being who has faced everything in life – success, disappointment, survival, greatness and even allegations. Lance Armstrong is without doubt, one of the greatest.