Why He's No. 19

In 1999, he was named the American Broadcasting company Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year. In 2000 he won the Prince of Asturias Award in Sports. In 2002, Sports Illustrated magazine named him Sportsman of the Year. He was also named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005. He received ESPN's ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, and won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award in 2003. Armstrong retired from racing on July 24, 2005, at the end of the 2005 Tour de France, but returned to road racing in January 2009 season.

Back Stage

Lance Armstrong (born Lance Edward Gunderson on September 18, 1971) is a retired American professional road racing cyclist. He won the Tour de France—cycling's most prestigious race—seven consecutive times, from 1999 to 2005. In doing so, he beat the previous records of five wins by Miguel Indurain (consecutive) and Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Jacques Anquetil. Previous to this achievement he also survived testicular cancer, a germ cell tumor that metastasized to his brain and lungs in 1996. His cancer treatments included brain and testicular surgery, and extensive chemotherapy. Armstrong's athletic success and dramatic recovery from cancer inspired him to commemorate his accomplishments, with Nike, through the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a charity founded in 1997. The foundation's yellow rubber "Livestrong" wristbands, first launched in 2004, have been a major success, netting the foundation more than $60 million dollars in the fight against cancer, while helping Armstrong become a major player in the nonprofit sector.



The team's sports director, Belgian ex-cyclist Johan Bruyneel, was involved in all of Armstrong's victories. The Italian coach Michele Ferrari has also coached and advised Armstrong along with help from rising young coach Pete Aldred. Armstrong revolutionized the support behind his well-funded teams, asking his sponsors and equipment suppliers to contribute and act as one cohesive part of the team. For example, rather than having the bike frame, handlebars, and tires of a bicycle designed and developed by separate companies with little interaction with each other, his teams adopted a Formula 1-style relationship with sponsors and suppliers, taking full advantage of the combined resources of several organizations working in close communication. The team, comprised of Trek, Nike, AMD, Bontrager (a Trek-owned company), Shimano, Giro and Oakley, collaborated for a well-coordinated and technologically cutting-edge array of products. The approach has since become the standard in the professional cycling industry. The sport of professional cycling has a reputation for doping—the use of performance enhancing drugs—with prominent individuals and in some cases entire teams being disqualified. Armstrong has continually denied having used performance-enhancing drugs and has described himself as "the most tested athlete in the world". Throughout his career only one test showed indications of the presence of doping products: in 1999, a urine sample showed traces of corticosteroids, but the amount was not in the positive test range. He later produced a medical certificate showing he used an approved cream for saddle sores which contained the substance. Armstrong met his wife, Kristin Richard (Kik), in June 1997. They were married on May 8, 1998, and had three children: Luke, born in October 1999, and twins Isabelle and Grace, born in November 2001.



The couple filed for divorce in September 2003. Kristin Armstrong cited several reasons for the dissolution of their marriage, including her husband's rapid rise to celebrity, his comeback from cancer, and their constant movement between multiple homes in different countries. Armstrong began dating singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow some time in the autumn of 2003 and publicly revealed their relationship in January 2004. The couple announced their engagement in September 2005 and their split in February 2006. According to Men's Journal's July 2006 cover story, Armstrong had struggled to grapple with Crow's breast cancer diagnosis on February 20, 2006, but, after talking almost daily for a while, they have again gone separate ways. Armstrong owns a house in Austin, Texas, as well as a ranch in the Texas Hill Country. Neighbors of his ranch property claim that Armstrong inadvertently polluted a local swimming hole when he was creating a dam on his ranch. One neighboring family says the problem has existed for two years and that "you only have so much patience". Armstrong says he is investigating the best way to fix the problem. Armstrong is a fan of The University of Texas Longhorns college football program and is often seen at events and on the sidelines supporting the team. Lance Armstrong has stated that despite the difficulty he had in the 2006 race, he would like to do the race again in 2007.



On February 12, 2007, Armstrong officially announced his decision to enter the November 4, 2007, ING New York City Marathon. In August 2005, Armstrong has hinted that he has changed his mind about possibly entering politics. In an interview with Charlie Rose, that aired on PBS on August 1, 2005, Armstrong pointed out that running for governor would require the type of time commitments that caused him to decide to retire from cycling. Again on August 16, 2005, Armstrong told a local Austin CBS affiliate that he is no longer considering politics. "The biggest problem with politics or running for the governor—the governor's race here in Austin or in Texas—is that it would mimic exactly what I've done: a ton of stress and a ton of time away from my kids. Why would I want to go from pro cycling, which is stressful and a lot of time away, straight into politics?"

Forcaste

He is the only individual to win seven times, having broken the previous record of five wins, shared by Miguel Indurain (consecutive) and Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Jacques Anquetil. He has survived testicular cancer, a germ cell tumor that metastasized to his brain and lungs, in 1996. His cancer treatments included brain and testicular surgery and extensive chemotherapy, and his prognosis was originally poor.