Way To Go, Lance

TWIT would like to congratulate Lance Armstrong on winning the Tour de France.  In case you haven't read nor heard anything for the past month or so, this was Armstrong's seventh Tour de France victory.  That's seven consecutive victories, folks.  The cycling experts say that this record will most likely remain unbroken. 

Armstrong started riding a trycicle at age 2, and received his first bike at age 4.  As he got older, he said he was too uncoordinated to play football, so he just concentrated on swimming and riding his bike. He won the Iron Kids triathlon at 13, and by the age of 16 Lance was earning $20,000 a year from triathlons and bike races.  He's quick to say he wasn't always a winner; he finished last out of 111 riders in his first professional race. 

In October of 1996, after months of ignoring health problems and brushing them off as a case of the flu, Armstrong finally sought treatment and was diagnosed with testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain.  He underwent brain surgery and chemo treatments.  After a two-year recovery period, Armstrong was back cycling, and won his first Tour de France in 1999. His first Tour victory was bittersweet - after the win, the rumors started flying that he had to have been helped by steroids to have made such a quick recovery from the cancer.  When asked about his bout with cancer, Armstrong says the worst part was not the cancer itself, but the persistent but unproven suspicions of steroid use that has dogged him since his first Tour victory in 1999. 

As if the steroid use rumors weren't enough to deal with, Armstrong also went through a painful divorce in 2003. He received criticism, with people saying how could he dump the woman who stood by him and helped him through his bout with cancer.  He quickly started dating rocker Sheryl Crow, and the rumors started flying once again, with people saying Crow was the reason for the divorce. 

When Armstrong announced in April that he was going to retire after this year's Tour de France, he made it clear he wanted to go out on top.  Mission accomplished, Lance.  You're the prime example of how to Live Strong.