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Lance Armstrong

Cocky But Unable To Go The Distance

A powerful, muscular rider, he continued to excel in one-day races, but usually faded early in multi-day competitions, though he placed second again in the Tour DuPont, the biggest race in America, and almost a prerequisite to the Tour de France. He did not win a single race in 1994.

Competitive road-racing cyclists must be multi-talented. Riders must be able to endure long stretches of paced cycling, and also be able to power up steep mountains. Most cyclists are better at one or the other, but to ever compete in the Tour de France, he must be a master of both. Armstrong trained in the Rocky Mountains and European Alps to make him more proficient at the climbing portions of multi-stage races. Armstrong finally proved himself in the Tour DuPont in 1995 by finishing in first place.

Armstrong finished his first Tour de France, in 1995, a humbled man. His Motorola teammate, Fabio Casartelli, was killed in a crash in the 15th stage of the race. Armstrong dedicated his 18th-stage win to Casartelli, but admitted after the race that he had learned more about life and death on this Tour than he had about cycling. At this point, he was ranked seventh in the world and was making about $750,000 per year. After the season ended, he trained harder than ever to come back even stronger for the 1996 season.

An early season crash set Armstrong back in his training, and he was finishing second in races he'd expected to win. Then, Team Motorola announced it was quitting its sponsorship, leaving the Motorola riders teamless. This season would be key for Armstrong if he expected to land a contract with another team. The pressure made him perform well at the European spring races, and he won the Tour DuPont for the second year in a row. When he crossed the finish line, exhausted rather than exalted, he should have known something was wrong.

Awards and Accomplishments

1984	First place, Iron Kids Triathlon
1991	First place, U.S. National Amateur Championships
1992	First place, First Union Grand Prix
1992	First place, Thrift Drug Classic
1992	14th place in road race, Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain
1992	Second place, World Cup race in Zurich, Switzerland
1993	Thrift Drug Triple Crown: first place in Thrift Drug Classic, K-Mart Classic, and Core States
1993	First place, U.S. Pro Road Race
1993	Second place, Tour DuPont
1993	World road-racing champion
1995-96	First place, Tour DuPont
1996	12th place, Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia
1998	Fourth place, U.S. Pro Championships
1998	Fourth place, World Championships
1998	First place, Tour of Luxembourg
1998	First place, Sprint 56K Criterium
1998	First place, Cascade Classic
1998	First place, Rheinland Pfafz Rundfahrt
1998	Second place, First Union International
1999-2002	First place, Tour de France
2000	Third place in time trial, Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia

Sportsman of the Year

The man doesn't sit still. His wife knows why, too.

She met him when he was a pale-yellow version of himself, half gone from chemo and scared to die. "I got to know Lance when he was standing on the edge between life and death," Kristin says. "It was awesome to be part of. I felt like he showed me the view from that cliff. That bonds two people. And if you get to come back down from that edge, it changes your life. You never want to miss out on anything fun or beautiful or scary again."

So he does his Texas Tornado thing. He motocrosses Baja with Lyle Lovett. He drives like he's racing Steve McQueen. He wakes the kids up to play. He puts Luke in one of those little trailers behind his bike. (O.K., Luke, we're going to take this downhill at about 70 miles per hour! Hang on!) He pounds out a hand-cramping number of letters to cancer patients and learns to surf in Hawaii. Anything to prove he'll never waste that second chance.

Source: Reilly, Rick. Sports Illustrated, December 16, 2002, p. 52.

Armstrong was ranked fourth in the world at the start of the 1996 Tour de France but feeling sick and out of breath, pulled himself out of the race by the sixth day. He refocused his energies to finding a new sponsor and preparing for the 1996 Olympics, held on home turf in Atlanta, Georgia. He finished a disappointing 12th in Atlanta,

Lance Armstrong

but managed to sign a two-year, $2.5 million contract with French team Cofidis. His performance in the fall World Cup season was disappointing, as well, and he retreated to his new home in Austin, Texas to rest.

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