Lance Armstrong Biography

Lance Armstrong (September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. His real name is Lance Edward Armstrong. He was born in Texas, north of Dallas, United States. His mother, Linda Gayle Mooneyham, a secretary, with Norwegian ascendancy and his father Eddie Charles Gunderson, director of The Dallas Morning News. When Lance was only two years old his parents divorced. His father started a new relationship and had two children. Lance remained in the custody of his mother, who later on would marry Terry Keith Armstrong, a merchant, who lovingly agreed to adopt Lance in 1974.

He was a very athletic guy, he had a great taste for sports, at age 12 he started in the discipline of swimming, entered the City of Plano Swim Club, came to occupy the position number 4 in Texas in the 1,500-meter freestyle. Soon after, he decided to practice triathlon, in which he also performed admirably, his coaches were surprised by his physical ability. He won the Iron Kids Triathlon at age 13. Later on, Armstrong entered the professional level and was the national champion of the Sprint-course Triathlon Champion in 1989 and 1990.

His debut as a professional cyclist in 1992, was with the Motorola team, at the Clásica de San Sebastián, held in Spain. In 1992, he won a stage in the Vuelta a Galicia and won the Italian GP Sanson Classic. In just one year he achieved the XXX Laigueglia Trophy, in Savona, Italy, a stage of the DuPont Tour, as well as four classics of the First Classic of the USA, the National Championship of the United States and a stage of the Tour of Switzerland.

His performance as a Motorola racer was admirable as in July 1993 he won his first stage in the eighth stage of the Tour and participated in the World Championships in Oslo, where he traveled 257.6 km with a time of 6 hours, 17 minutes and 10 seconds. A few months later he achieved the gold medal by beating Indurain. When he was 33rd in the general stand, he decided to leave the Tour. Then, during the Tour of Dupont, he adds a victory and another in the Classic of the United States. In 1995 he won his first race of the season on the Paris – Nice stage. On May 7, he would return to the podium at the DuPont Tour in Greensboro, North Carolina. Participates again in the Tour de France and wins in the 18th stage, in Limoges.

His glorious streak was unstoppable, he won in the Clásica de San Sebastián. In 1996, Armstrong manages to be the winner of the 60th edition of the Walloon Arrow. Shortly after, he returns to proclaim himself the winner of the DuPont Tour of North Carolina. Thanks to his good level, he is signed by the French team COFIDIS, in which, he had to postpone his start because he announced at a press conference that he would undergo an operation for testicular cancer.

This event kept him away from the competition for a year.

He returned timidly to training and debuted in an official competition after three months, at the Redlands Classic, California. His signing with the French team could not be finished and he decided to join the US Postal team. Armstrong would win at the Criterium in Austin, Texas. While training he decided to found a foundation that bears his name and focuses on testicular cancer research.

On his return to Europe, he conquered the Tour of Luxembourg controlling one of its stages. He also won the Classic of the Rhineland and the general of the Classic Waterfall of the United States. He repeated this achievement in his participation in the World Road Cycling Championships, held in Valkenburg, Netherlands. In the ’99 Tour, he was the fastest in history, and he also won three stages in the Tour of Switzerland. After that, his conquests were multiple: in 2001 he won the Tour de France, plus four stages. In 2002, he won the Tour de France four times in a row, becoming a legend of cycling. Besides, in the 2003 Centennial Tour, he equaled the record of five consecutive Tours by Miguel Indurain. Armstrong surprised, by winning a total of seven consecutive France Tours.

For his sports and medical work with the support of the foundation, he won the Prince of Asturias Award for Sports in 2000. He decided to retire from professional cycling after completing his participation in the Tour Down Under in 2011.

A strong controversy in the world of cycling and sport was propagated by the announcement of the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), which states that Armstrong will be stripped of all titles obtained since mid-1998. The Agency accused Armstrong of increasing his performance with different substances through a sophisticated doping program. As a result, on October 22, 2012, President Pat McQuaid of the International Cycling Union (UCI) announced that the cyclist lost his seven Tour de France titles and is banned from participating in international cycling competitions.

About his intimate life, it is known that he maintained a relationship with Kristin Richard in June 1997, with whom he would marry and conceived three children. The couple announced their divorce in 2003. Later on that year, he would have a relationship with singer and songwriter Sheryl Crow. Their marriage lasted through 2006. In March 2007, he was dating designer Tory Burch, but this affair was not successful either. In July 2008, after a short relationship with Anna Hansen, Armstrong announced that she was expecting her fourth child. Later he had his second son with Anna.