|currentteam= none (retired)
|proyears=1992-1996
1997
1998-2004
2005
|proteams=Motorola
Cofidis
US Postal
Discovery Channel
|majorwins=22 stages Tour de France
* 7x Tour de France
* 1x Clasica San Sebastian
* 1x La Flèche Wallonne
* 1x World Cycling Champion
}}
'''Lance Armstrong''' (born '''Lance Edward Gunderson''' on September 18, 1971) is a retired American professional road racing cyclist. He is most famous for winning the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005. These record-breaking feats were accomplished several years after brain and testicular surgery, and extensive chemotherapy in 1996, to treat testicular cancer that had metastasized to his brain and lungs. Armstrong's domination at the event had prompted many Americans to nickname the race the ''"Tour de Lance"''.
[http://www.google.com/search?q=%22tour+de+lance%22&sourceid=mozilla&start=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8 google search for "Tour de Lance"]In 2002, ''Sports Illustrated'' magazine named him Sportsman of the Year. He was also named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005, received ESPN's ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, and won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award in 2003. Armstrong retired from racing on July 24, 2005, at the end of the 2005 Tour de France.
His athletic success and his dramatic recovery from cancer inspired Armstrong to commemorate his accomplishments in conjunction with Nike through the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a charity founded in 1997. The now ubiquitous "Livestrong" yellow rubber wristbands first launched in 2004 netted the Foundation tens of millions of dollars in the fight against cancer and helped Armstrong become a major player in the nonprofit sector.
Career
Early career
Armstrong began his sporting career as a triathlete, competing in adult competitions from the age of 14, he even appeared on the cover of Triathlete Magazine at age 17. It soon became clear that his greatest talent was as a bicycle racer. At 17, he received an invitation to train with the Junior National Cycling Team. Plano Independent School District's school board said that the 42 day leave to train, taken during the second semester of his senior year, would bar him from graduating. Armstrong withdrew from Plano East Senior High School with his mother's blessing and went to train with the team. He graduated from Bending Oaks Private Academy in Dallas the following spring. Armstrong still harbors resentment toward Plano because of this and prefers his adopted home of Austin, Texas.
After competing as a cycling amateur, winning the US amateur championship in 1991 and finishing 14th in the 1992 Olympics road race, Armstrong turned professional in 1992. He finished last in his first professional cycle race, the Clasica San Sebastian. However, the
