Lance Armstrong (born Lance Edward Gunderson September 18, 1971) is an American professional road racing cyclist for UCI ProTeam Team Astana. He won the Tour de France a record-breaking seven consecutive years, from 1999 to 2005. He is the only individual to win seven times, having broken the previous record of five wins, shared by Miguel Indurain (consecutive) and Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Jacques Anquetil. He has survived testicular cancer, a germ cell tumor that metastasized to his brain and lungs, in 1996. His cancer treatments included brain and testicular surgery and extensive chemotherapy, and his prognosis was originally poor.

In 1999, he was named the American Broadcasting Company's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year. In 2000 he won the Prince of Asturias Award in Sports. 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. He 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. But, on September 9, 2008 confirmed that he will return to competitive cycling for the 2009 season. Australian ABC radio reported on 24 September that Armstrong will compete in South Australia's Tour Down Under in early 2009.

Early career

Armstrong was born in Plano, Texas on September 18, 1971. He began his sporting career as a triathlete competing and winning in adult competitions from the age of 12. In the 1987–1988 Tri-Fed/Texas ("Tri-Fed" was the former name of USA Triathlon), Armstrong was the number one ranked triathlete in the 19 & under age group; second place was Chann McRae, who later became a US Postal Service Cycling teammate and the 2002 USPRO National Champion. Armstrong's points total for the 1987 season as an amateur athlete was better than the five professionals ranked that year. At 16 years old, Armstrong became a professional triathlete and became the national sprint-course triathlon champion in 1989 and 1990 at age 18 and 19, respectively.

It soon became clear that his greatest talent was as a bicycle racer after competing as a cycling amateur, he won the U.S. amateur championship in 1991. Representing the U.S., he finished 14th in the 1992 Summer Olympics with the help of teammates Bob Mionske and Timm Peddie.

In 1993, Armstrong finished the year ranked number one in the world, winning 10 one-day events and stage races. He became one of the youngest-ever riders to win the world road race championship, and took his first stage win at the 1993 Tour de France. He also collected the Thrift Drug "Triple Crown of Cycling", which included three separate races: the Thrift Drug Classic in Pittsburgh, the K-Mart West Virginia Classic, and the CoreStates USPRO National Championship in Philadelphia. Thrift Drug said it would award $1 million to any rider winning all 3 races, a feat which had never previously been done. At the USPRO Championship race, on the final lap circuit, Armstrong sat up on his bicycle, took out a comb, combed his hair and smiled for the cameras.