Lance Armstrong biography

Born: Sept. 18, 1971 (Age 40)

Place of Birth: Plano, Texas

Family: Three children (Luke David 1999, twins Isabelle Rose and Grace Elisabeth 2001) with wife Kristin Richard. Divorced in Sept. 2003. Two children (Maxwell Edward 2009 and Olivia Marie 2010) with Anna Hansen.

CAREER:

Seven-time Tour de France winner from 1999 through 2005.

Retired from cycling in 2005.

Unretired in 2009 and finished third with teammate Alberto Contador winning the race.

Retired again in 2011.

Aug. 23, 2012: USADA announced plans to strip Armstrong of the seven Tour de France titles and ban him from cycling for life.

HEALTH ISSUES:

1996: Diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer. The tumors had spread to his abdomen, lungs, and lymph nodes. Began aggressive chemotherapy, but more tumors were found in his brain. After having the tumors removed from his brain and more chemotherapy, he was declared cancer-free in 1997. Created yellow "Livestrong" bracelets to raise funds for cancer research.

OTHER ACHIEVMENTS:

2006: Ran in the NYC Marathon and finished in 2 hours, 59 minutes and 36 seconds.

At age 16, Armstrong became a professional triathlete, was the national sprint-course triathlon champion in 1989 and 1990. Won Half Ironman triathlon in Florida 2012.

Author of two best-selling autobiographies, "It's Not About the Bike: My journey Back to Life" (2000) and "Every Second Counts" (2003).

AWARDS:

1999 ABC Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year.

2000 Prince of Asturias Award in Sports.

2002 Sports Illustrated magazine name him Sportsman of the Year.

2002, 2003, 2004, 2005 Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year.

2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 ESPN's ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete.

2003 BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality.

Tour De France results:

1993 — Non-starter, 12th stage (1 stage win)

1994 — Abandoned, 15th stage (0)

1995 — 36th (1)

1996 — Abandoned, sixth stage (0)

1999 — First (4)

2000 — First (1)

2001 — First (4)

2002 — First (4)

2003 — First (2)

2004 — First (6)

2005 — First (2)

2009 — Third (0)

2010 — 23rd (0)