Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition Page 1 of 2 Armstrong, Lance Encyclopæ dia Britannica Lance Armstrong born Sept. 18, 1971, Plano, Texas, U .S. Am erican cyclist, w ho is the only rider to have w on seven Tour de France titles (1999–2005). Arm strong entered sports at a young age, excelling in both sw im m ing and cycling, and, by the tim e he w as a teenager, he w as com peting in triathlons and sw im m ing com petitions. Before his high-school graduation the junior national team of the U .S. Cycling Federation had recruited him . Arm strong com peted in M oscow at the Lance Arm strong after w inning his Junior W orld Cham pionships and in 1990 w on the U .S. fifth consecutive Am ateur Cham pionships. In 1992 he turned professional Tour de France bicycle race, w hen he joined the M otorola team , and one year later Paris, July 27, … he becam e the second youngest m an to w in in w orld Pascal Rondeau— AP/W ide W orld road racing. Arm strong w on stages of the Tour de France Photos in both 1993 and 1995 but w ithdrew from three of four Tours he attem pted from 1993 to 1996. After the 1996 Tour de France Arm strong fell ill, and in O ctober his physicians diagnosed testicular cancer, w hich had by that tim e also spread to his lungs and brain. H e underw ent chem otherapy and surgery, w hich w ere considered his best chances for survival. M onths of treatm ents follow ed before he could attem pt his com eback in a sport so dem anding that som e doctors questioned w hether he could bear the strains of a three- w eek race like the Tour de France. Arm strong seem ed unsure him self, dropping out of his first long race, the 1998 Paris-N ice w eeklong com petition, on the second day and returning to the U nited States to rethink his dedication to the sport. A few m onths later he w on his first im portant race since his cancer w as diagnosed, the Tour of Luxem bourg. Previously Arm strong had been a specialist in one-day races, but late in 1998, after a fourth-place finish in the three-w eek Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), he w as persuaded to change his training regim e and com pete in the next Tour de France. O n July 25, 1999, Arm strong becam e the second Am erican to w in the Tour de France, the sport's m ost prestigious race, and the first to w in for an Am erican team (three-tim e w inner G reg LeM ond had raced w ith http://www.school.eb.com/all/eb/print?articleId=343162&fullArticle=true&tocId=9343162 11/13/2006 Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition Page 2 of 2 Lance Arm strong European team s). Riding w ith the U .S. Postal Service (yellow jersey) riding near the team , Arm strong w on the 3,630-km (2,256-m ile), 22-day Arc de Triom phe race by 7 m inutes and 37 seconds. During the Tour he on his w ay to w inning a seventh fought allegations of doping because traces of a banned … substance, corticosteroid, from a prescription skin Bryn Lennon/G etty cream he used for saddle sores, w ere found in his urine. Im ages The International Cycling U nion (U nion Cycliste Internationale) cleared him , but he continued to endure accusations of doping, especially from the French press. Thus Arm strong felt his July 23, 2000, w in of the Tour de France to be a vindication of his 1999 w in and an answ er to his critics. H e w on the Tour again in 2001 and 2002, relying on his strength in the m ountain clim bs. In 2003 he overcam e crashes and illness to claim his fifth consecutive Tour de France, tying a record set by M iguel Indurain. H e surpassed Indurain in 2004 w hen he w on his sixth consecutive race. After w inning his seventh Tour in 2005, Arm strong announced his retirem ent from the sport. Apart from his racing career, Arm strong dedicated him self to cam paigning for cancer aw areness and established a foundation to further that goal. H is autobiography, It's N ot About the Bike: M y Journey Back to Life, w as published in 2000. Sam uel Abt Ed. M LA style: " Armstrong, Lance ." Encyclopæ dia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopæ dia Britannica O nline School Edition. 13 N ov. 2006 <http://w w w .school.eb.com /eb/article-9343162>. APA style: Armstrong, Lance . ( 2006). In Encyclopæ dia Britannica. Retrieved N ovem ber 13, 2006, from Encyclopæ dia Britannica O nline School Edition: http://w w w .school.eb.com /eb/article-9343162 http://www.school.eb.com/all/eb/print?articleId=343162&fullArticle=true&tocId=9343162 11/13/2006.