Lance Edward Armstrong, born September 18, 1971, is a former professional road racing cyclist from the United States. After winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 to 2005 after recovering from testicular cancer, he was stripped of all his titles after an investigation revealed that he had used performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career.
Armstrong began his athletic career as a swimmer at the City of Plano Swim Club at the age of 12 and finished fourth in the Texas state 1,500-meter freestyle. He stopped competing in swimming-only races after seeing a poster for the Iron Kids Triathlon, which he won at the age of 13.
In the 1987-1988 Tri-Fed/Texas (“Tri-Fed” was the former name of USA Triathlon), Armstrong was ranked first in the 19-and-under group; second place was Chann McRae, who later became a US Postal Service cycling teammate and the 2002 USPRO national champion. Armstrong’s total points as an amateur in 1987 were higher than those of five professionals ranked higher than him that year.
Lance Armstrong became a professional triathlete at the age of 16 and was the national sprint-course triathlon champion in 1989 and 1990, at the ages of 18 and 19, respectively.
Why did Lance Armstrong lose all his medals?
The Lance Armstrong doping case was a major doping investigation that resulted in retired American road racing cyclist Lance Armstrong’s seven consecutive Tour de France titles, as well as one Olympic medal, being stripped, and his eventual admission to using performance-enhancing drugs.
