Lance Armstrong Lance Armstrong, born in 1971, American cyclist, a record seven-time winner of the Tour de France, the most prestigious cycling race in the world and one of the most grueling contests in all of sports.
Publié le 10/05/2013
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Lance Armstrong Lance Armstrong, born in 1971, American cyclist, a record seven-time winner of the Tour de France, the most prestigious cycling race in the world and one of the most grueling contests in all of sports. A gifted rider, Armstrong possessed the rare ability to excel in both mountain racing and in individual time trials, in which cyclists race alone against the clock. Armstrong announced his retirement after winning his seventh consecutive Tour de France in 2005. Armstrong was born in Plano, Texas, and was raised primarily by his mother. A standout athlete, he was competing in and winning triathlons (races where participants must run, swim, and bicycle) by the age of 13. In high school Armstrong began to focus on cycling, and in 1990 he was invited to try out for the United States national team. With little formal coaching he finished 11th at the 1990 World Amateur Cycling Championships in Japan. One of the top amateurs in the world, Armstrong was one of the favorites in the road-race event at the 1992 Summer Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain. He finished a disappointing 14th, however, and decided to turn professional. Armstrong finished last out of 111 riders in his first professional race, the 1992 Classico San Sebastian in Spain, but he rebounded to finish second in his next race. In 1993 he emerged as one of the world's top riders, becoming the youngest cyclist to win the World Cycling Championships and capturing a number of other big races. He also entered the Tour de France for the first time and won one section, or stage, although he did not attempt to complete the race's entire course of more than 3,200 km (more than 2,000 mi). In 1995 Armstrong won the Classico San Sebastian as well as the Tour DuPont, the biggest professional road race in the United States. He repeated the wins in 1996, but in October of that year he was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer (see Testis), which had spread to his lungs and brain. Given no more than a 50 percent chance of survival, he underwent immediate surgery and chemotherapy. Battling back, Armstrong was declared cancer-free one year later. He resumed competitive cycling in mid-1998 and quickly returned to his old form with a number of top-five finishes and several victories. In a stunning performance, Armstrong dominated the 1999 Tour de France, winning four individual stages and wearing the yellow leader's jersey for most of the race. He finished first by more than seven minutes overall and became just the second American ever to win the Tour de France. Greg LeMond captured the race three times in the 1980s and early 1990s. Armstrong repeated as champion in 2000, 2001, and 2002, each time finishing the race more than six minutes ahead of his closest competitor. In the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, Armstrong earned a bronze medal in the time-trial event. In 2003 Armstrong fought off illness, several falls, and equipment problems to win the Tour de France by just 61 seconds, his smallest margin ever. Armstrong's victory made him the fifth cyclist in the history of the Tour de France to capture the race five times and the second to win all five consecutively (tying the record set by Spain's Miguel Induráin from 1991 to 1995). In 2004 Armstrong returned to the Tour de France in dominant form. He won five individual stages, a personal best, and again claimed victory with an overall lead of more than six minutes. Armstrong became the first cyclist to win the Tour de France six times, establishing himself as the most successful rider in the race's history. Not content with simply breaking the record, Armstrong returned in 2005 and won the Tour de France for the seventh consecutive time. Although Armstrong won just a single stage, the final individual time trial, he outmaneuvered his rivals and rode a strategically flawless race. For many observers, Armstrong's victory confirmed his status as perhaps the greatest competitive cyclist ever. Armstrong, at the age of 33, retired from competitive cycling upon crossing the finishing line of the 2005 Tour de France. Armstrong's autobiography, It's Not About the Bike, was published in 2000. Another memoir, Every Second Counts, came out in 2003. In 1997 Armstrong established the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to helping people with cancer battle the disease and live fuller lives. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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