Lance Armstrong was born Lance Edward Gunderson September 18, 1971. He has never been reunited with his estranged father. Armstrong won the Tour de France a record-breaking seven consecutive years, from 1999 to 2005. 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. In 1996, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer that metastasized to his brain and lungs. His cancer treatments included brain and testicular surgery and extensive chemotherapy, and his prognosis was originally poor. In 1999, he was named the American Broadcasting Company's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year. Armstrong retired from racing on July 24, 2005, at the end of the 2005 Tour de France, but on September 9, 2008, confirmed his return to competitive cycling. Lance competed in the Tour de California, Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy), and Tour de France as a member of the Astana team. He placed third in the '09 TDF with Alberto Contador taking the top spot.

Early Career
Lance started his sporting career as a junior triathlete at a tender age of 12. He later competed in adult triathlons often scoring better finish times than many seasoned pros. Armstrong turned pro at the age of 16 and became a national champion just 2 years later. He won his first amateur cycling championship in 1991 and competed in the '92, '96 and 2000 Olympics

Armstrong initially had an unremarkable tour career winning just a few stages in 1993’s race. He retired from the 1996 tour due to illness – a foreshadow of his future bout with testicular cancer. He returned to cycling in 1998, placing forth in the Spanish tour. In 1999, he won is fist Tour de France however many questioned whether he would have won with Jan Ulrich and Marco Pantani in the race. Both riders were absent from the 1999 race. Ulrich returned in 2000 and Armstrong beat him handily and so began one of the longest tandems in tour history: Armstrong taking the podium and Ulrich finishing second. So started an uninterrupted string of Tour victories until 2005 when he famously retired from cycling. Or so we thought…

In September 2008, Armstrong announced his return to cycling during a press conference at former president Clinton’s foundation summit in New York. He initially committed to an ambitious race schedule culminating with the 2009 Tour de France. Then things went horribly wrong. The French are rather different from North Americans in that they openly and routinely insult the rich and famous, often to their faces. It would be hard to imagine Armstrong getting raked across the coals on the Oprah Winfrey show yet French celebrities doing that country’s talk-show circuit must endure a degree of ridicule completely unheard of in the US. Thus it was no surprise to the Spyns team that Lance was given the same “star” treatment when he announced his return. No sooner had he made the announcement than the Tour’s director alluded to stricter anti-doping measures. Lance then became rather vague about racing in France. Unlike our competitors who panicked and focused almost exclusively on the Giro d’Italia, we at Spyns knew that Armstrong and the Tour would eventually reconcile for several reasons. First, the Armstrong Foundation was planning a summit in Paris following the tour and it would have been awkward to say the least to see Lance riding up the Champs Elysees…in a tour bus. Second, while the French loathe talking about money, an Armstrong no-show would cost the Tour tens of millions in advertising and TV licensing revenues. The Tour de France is a business after all. In short, Lance needed the publicity and Tour organizers wanted the money: reconciliation was imminent. Both sides met briefly at the Paris airport during an Armstrong layover and quickly realized they had more to gain as friends  than as enemies. Shortly thereafter, Lance announced his return to the Tour. Then came the broken collarbone, a bungled anti-doping test where Lance's results were negative but the tester alleged Armstrong left his sight. Oy vey. Lance did eventually race and placed a very respectable third with Contador topping the podium. In July 2009, Armstrong announced the creation of a new team with Radioshack as its sponsor. Floyd Landis is rumoured to be in negotiations to join. More news to follow...

Founded in 1997, the Livestrong foundation is dedicated to uniting the fight against cancer through prevention, screening/care, improvement in the quality of life of cancer survivors, and research. Since its inception, Livestrong has raised more than $250 million and has provided funding to over 550 organizations fighting cancer. Armstrong is the foundation’s Chairman and founder. 

A formerly subdued Armstrong has recently been talking up a possible Tour de France win this year. At at press conference in Australia, Armstrong had this to say: 

"Our No.1 goal is to win the Tour de France, it's one that for us as athletes (the team) is the most important race of the year, and for me as an individual athlete , it's the one I know and I love the most," Armstrong said. "I know what it's like to win the tour, I know what it takes to win the tour, I've got seven of them…but I'd like to have an eighth." “it won't be easy. As much as I can sit here and tell you how bad I want to win or that's our main objective, it won't be easy to do that at 39 years old up against young guys that are quick, and recover well, and can both time trial and climb. It's a tall order, but my motivation is intact and is completely pure and I wouldn’t be sitting here today if it wasn’t and also I wouldn't be sitting here if I didn’t' think I could do it – we'll put those two together and give it our best shot. "

Following Armstrong's 2009 collarbone injury, he was unusually subdued. Our clients also noticed a certain lack of fire. Before a serious collarbone injury, Lance's former nemisis Jan Ullrich seemed to think Armstrong was a contendor in 2009. In October 2008 he said, “I think he could win the Tour again. If he manages the challenge mentally, his body will also be up to it.”

NBC sports recently conducted an online poll and of the 1752 votes, 65% believed in an Armstrong win. Getting on the podium behind first-place teammate Contador must have been difficult for the 7-time TDF champion but it was a spectacular finish for the 37-year old Armstrong. How will he do with Radioshack? Difficult to say although Armstrong wasted no time signing former teammates like Levi Leipheimer to the "Shack" crew. Rumours abound that Floyd Landis is also considering a contract with Radio Shack. It should make for an interesting 2010 Tour de France.