Lance Armstrong
This article may have too many section headers dividing up its content. Please help improve the article by merging similar sections and removing unneeded subheaders. (December 2014) Lance Armstrong Armstrong prior to the 2009 Tour Down Under Personal information Full name Lance Edward Armstrong Nickname Le Boss Big Tex Born Lance Edward Gunderson, (1971-09-18) September 18, 1971 (age 43) Plano, Texas, U.S. Height 1.77 m (5 ft 9 1⁄2 in) Weight 75 kg (165 lb) Team information Discipline Road Role Rider Rider type All-Rounder Amateur team(s) 1990–1991 1991 Subaru-Montgomery US National Team Professional team(s) 1992–1996 1997 1998–2004 2005 2009 2010–2011 Motorola Cofidis US Postal Discovery Channel Astana Team RadioShack Major wins One-day races and Classics World Cycling Champion (1993) US National Cycling Champion (1993) Clásica de San Sebastián (1995) La Flèche Wallonne (1996) Medal record Representing  United States Men's Cycling World Championships Gold 1993 Oslo Elite Men's Road Race Olympic Games Disqualified 2000 Sydney Men's time trial Infobox last updated on December 17, 2013 Lance Edward Armstrong (born September 18, 1971) is a former American professional road racing cyclist. Armstrong was classified as having won the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times between 1999 and 2005. Subsequently, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) presented its findings and in 2012 the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) disqualified Armstrong from those races for doping offenses, banning Armstrong from competitive cycling for life. A cancer survivor, Armstrong founded the Livestrong Foundation, originally called the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which provides support for cancer patients. At age 16, Armstrong began competing as a triathlete and was a national sprint-course triathlon champion in 1989 and 1990. In 1992, Armstrong began his career as a professional cyclist with the Motorola team. He had notable success between 1993 and 1996, including the World Championship in 1993, Clásica de San Sebastián in 95, Tour DuPont in 95 and 96, and a handful of stage victories in Europe, including stage 18 of the 1995 Tour de France. In October 1996, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer that had spread to his brain, lungs and abdomen. His cancer treatments included brain and testicular surgery and extensive chemotherapy. In February 1997, he was declared cancer-free and the same year he founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation. By January 1998, Armstrong had renewed serious cycling training, having signed a new racing contract with US Postal. He was a member of the US Postal/Discovery team between 1998 and 2005. On July 24, 2005, Armstrong retired from racing at the end of the 2005 Tour de France, but returned to competitive cycling with the Astana team in January 2009. Between 2010 and 2011, he raced with the UCI ProTeam he helped found, Team Radio Shack. In February, 2011, Armstrong announced his retirement from competitive cycling, facing a US federal investigation into doping allegations. In June 2012, USADA charged Armstrong with having used illicit performance-enhancing drugs. In August 2012, USADA announced that Armstrong had been issued a lifetime ban from competition, applicable to all sports which follow the World Anti-Doping Agency code. USADA also stripped Armstrong of his seven Tour de France titles. The USADA report concluded that Armstrong engaged in "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen." On October 22, 2012, the UCI upheld USADA's decision. It also decided that his stripped wins would not be allocated to other riders.[N 1] Armstrong chose not to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Despite having denied drug use throughout his career, in January 2013, Armstrong admitted to doping in a television interview conducted by Oprah Winfrey. In September 2013, he was asked by UCI's new president, Brian Cookson, to testify completely about his doping. Armstrong refused to testify until and unless he got a complete amnesty, which Cookson said is most unlikely to happen.[N 2]