Lance Armstrong is a former professional cyclist from Texas, USA born in 1971. He won titles 12 consecutively, which were later withdrawn after it was established that he had used drugs to improve energy. Armstrong also once suffered testicular cancer, which interrupted his cycling career. He began to compete when he was sixteen. The Motorola team signed it in 1992, the year he started his professional cycling career.
First career
Initially, Armstrong started as a swimmer when he was twelve and took part in competitions, finishing fourth in the 1,500-meter freestyle of Texas. Later, he stopped participating in swimming competitions and moved to the triathlon where he competed and won at the age of thirteen. When he was sixteen, he chose to focus on cycling. Subsequently, he received an invitation from the Senior US Olympic Development Team to participate in the training in Colorado Rings. The invitation forced him to stop attending his school classes, while in his senior year of high school. However, he later attended private lessons and completed his high school diploma in 1989. In 1991 he competed in the international DuPont Tour, and while he did not win, he appeared as a promising star that would shine in his future competitions. Later he won the cycling race of the Bergamo Week in Italy.
Battle with testicular cancer
In 1996, Armstrong was diagnosed with a third-stage testicular cancer that had spread to the lungs, brain and abdomen, the main symptoms of which were blood cough and a swollen testicle. He then began to influence the rest of his body, including his lymph nodes, abdomen and lungs. The cancer advanced further, and began to affect his brain, he developed tumors that reduced his chances of survival to less than 50%. He went to Indiana University for chemotherapy and brain surgery. The treatment gave positive results, and in 1997, it was announced that it was free of cancer.
Return by bike
After fighting cancer, he resumed participating in international cycling events. In 1998, he participated in the Texas Tour and finished the first stage 1. A year later he participated in the Tour De France, finishing first and winning again in July 2000, as well as winning a bronze medal in the Summer Olympic Games. Armstrong remained unbeaten until 2005 when David Zabriskie defeated him in time trial 1, although he still won the final race making history by winning seven consecutive Tour de France titles.
Doping Claims
Although Armstrong had a magnificent record, some of his adversaries began to become suspicious that drug use was prevalent among cyclist athletes. Armstrong has denied the allegations as lies and propaganda since he repeated that he had undertaken vigorous tests and all were negative. In 2012, after much pressure, he claimed to have used improvement drugs. He claimed to be tired of court battles, and was ready to go home to save his family and cycling profession. As a result he was deprived of all seven Tour de France titles.
