Lance Armstrong was born Lance Edward Gunderson September 18, 1971. He has never been reunited with his estranged father. Armstrong won the TDF 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 TDF, 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 TDF 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 TDF. 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 TDF 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.

His much-touted return was more hype than anything else. After some strong showings in varous races throughout Europe in 2010, it didn't appear Lance had the same fire. Once the 2010 TDF began, it was quickly apparent that a new generation of riders would dominate the race. Following some mechanical issues and a fall at the base of the Col de la Ramaz, Armstrong was no longer in contention. While it is always sad to see a former champion fade, Lance is clearly responsible for cycling's popularity stateside.