Lance Armstrong'sTour de Force Amazing story of America's premier
bicycle racer
By: John Shepler
The Tour de France. In the word of competitive
cycling, it is the supreme test of strength and endurance. For
22 days, 20 different stages and 2,286 miles, some of the world's
most conditioned athletes compete literally head to head as they
work the pedals of their racing bicycles against hills and valleys,
city streets and always the onset of exhaustion. As in all sports,
there sometimes arises a champion of champions. He or she is
the one who is in the lead more than anyone else, the one who
wins not just by a nose, but clearly out front for all to see.
Lance Armstrong was not supposed to be that champion of this
year's Tour de France. His doctors really expected him to be
weakened and likely dead of cancer. But Lance paid no attention
to that kind of thinking and now stands triumphant over both
cancer and the Tour de France.
Lance Armstrong's story begins in Plano, Texas. Like many
athletic prodigies, his talents appeared early. He could probably
have excelled in many different sports. As it was, he became
a top swimmer and a triathlete during his teen age years. The
U. S. Cycling Federation took notice and got him training with
the Junior national Cycling Team before he even graduated from
high school. Within a year or so he'd competed in the Junior
world Championships in Moscow and was signed to the professional/amateur
racing team sponsored by Subaru-Montgomery. He repaid their confidence
by winning the U. S. Amateur Championships.
Lance Armstrong appeared to be at the threshold of a charmed
life. Young, strong and talented, his career started taking on
the appearance of super-stardom. The Motorola team soon recruited
him to join their top-rated U.S. cycling team and looked for
great things as Lance entered the arena of international cycling.
His aggressive style and winning spirit helped his team reach
number five in the world by 1993. Just three years later, in
1996, Lance was expected to win the Tour de France itself. That
year he'd already won the Tour DuPont and Fleche Wallone races.
The stars and planets were lining up his way. He was the number
one ranked cyclist in the world.
It was possible, just possible, that Lance Armstrong would
become the next Greg LeMond, three time champion of the Tour
de France and the only American to win it. Greg's last victory
had been in 1990. Now, in 1996, a new American champion cyclist
would arise to become known the world over. He was physically
invincible. Oh, sure, he was "sore in the saddle,"
but he brushed that off to the grueling regimen of cycle training.
Then there were symptoms he couldn't ignore anymore. The headaches,
blurry vision, soreness in the groin area, overall ill feeling
and even coughing up blood were enough to get him into the doctor's
office. Suddenly, out of apparently nowhere, his entire life,
his future, his well being all came crashing down at once. The
diagnosis had come back as cancer, massive cancer.
What Lance didn't know was spreading like wildfire throughout
his body was choriocarcinoma, an especially aggressive form of
testicular cancer. This was no microscopic tumor caught in the
early stages. His cancer had established itself in his abdomen,
his lungs and even his brain. There were eleven masses in his
lungs alone, some the size of golf balls. His brain was invaded
by two malignancies. Best estimate of survival? Only 50/50.
It is said that the mind and the body are linked inextricably
and that how you think can promote or hinder the healing process.
Perhaps that as much as anything else explains the miraculous
recovery of Lance Armstrong in the year from 1996 to 1997. He
gives credit to the best doctors he could find in the field,
the doctors at Indiana University. Their approach was as aggressive
as the cancer itself. He underwent removal of a testicle and
brain surgery, followed by intense chemotherapy. It was a year
of pain and misery. But it was not a year of depression, resignation
or failure. For in 1997, Lance was declared, incredibly, cancer-free.
He had fought through the darkness, and now the brightness of
success had returned.
In just two short years his body came back, and it came back
to a strength perhaps greater than even before. In the Tour de
France, the leaders are given the honor of wearing traditional
colored jerseys to show their standing in the race. The best
mountain climber wears a polka dot jersey. The best sprinter
get to wear a green one. But the most coveted jersey is the yellow
one, representing the shortest time for total distance covered;
in other words, the leader of the race. Often this jersey goes
back and forth among strong contenders. But in 1999, Lance Armstrong
captured the yellow jersey in the early stages of the race and
kept it course after course, until finally, he led his U.S. Postal
sponsored team through the streets of Paris to finish on the
Champs Elysees with a seven minute, 37 second lead over the next
racer. His victories, both in athletic competition and health,
were dramatic...and now complete.
At the victory line in Paris, Lance Armstrong is quoted as
saying "If there's one thing I say to those who use me as
their example, it's that if you ever get a second chance in life,
you've got to go all the way." He has done just that. He's
won the Tour de France and established his own foundation to
fund testicular cancer research. He's 27 years old, a champion
athlete, husband and soon to be father, in the prime of heath
again, and perhaps the best example of what a second chance in
life can really become.
Books of Interest:
Lance Armstrong and the 1999 Tour de France By John
Wilcockson and Charles Pelkey; Featuring the Tour Diary of Frankie
Andreu
It's Not about the Bike by Lance Armstrong and Sally
Jenkins. This is his inspiring story, from the dark night of
advanced cancer through his dramatic victory in the 1999 race.
The Lance Armstrong Performance Program The Training, Strengthening,
and Eating Plan Behind the World's Greatest Cycling Victory
by Lance Armstrong, Peter Joffre Nye, and Chris Carmichael. Lance
teams up with his coach to share with readers a training program
for achieving peak cycling performance in seven weeks. Armstrong
tosses in racing anecdotes and reveals his optimum diet. 50 photos.
Season in Turmoil: Lance Armstrong Replaces Greg LeMond
as U. S. Cycling's Superstar by Samuel Abt.
Greg LeMond's Complete Book of Bicycling by Greg LeMond
and Kent Gordis.
In Pursuit of the Yellow Jersey: Bicycle Racing in the
Year of the Tortured Tour by Samuel Abt and James Startt,
photographer.
Also visit Books-A-Million
for an excellent selection of new books, magazines, e-books,
audio books and more at low, low prices. Who
is Books-A-Million?
Also visit these related
sites:
Lance Armstrong Online - All the latest on Lance's races and wins,
plus a great collection of action photos and more.
Lance Armstrong Foundation -
"Dedicated to fighting urological cancer through awareness,
education and research."
Bike4Life - Bike4Life
raised money for the Lance Armstrong Cancer Foundation. This
organization sponsors unique events to raise money for people
in need.
Climbing
Everest to Beat Cancer - Twice knocked down by cancer, Sean
Swarner has literally climbed his way from a hopeless prognosis
to the top of the world.
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Copyright 1999 - 2011 by John E. Shepler. Linking to this article
is welcome, but no online republication is permitted. Print media
republication rights are available at reasonable rates. Contact
me at: John (at) JohnShepler.com
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