An unprecedented 7 consecutive Tour de France victories from 1999 to 2005 makes it a little hard to ignore this man. Sports folklore would never be the same again! Winning TDF once takes a lifetime’s efforts. And to win it after recovering from testicular cancer, after having nearly crossed over to the other side – is nothing short of spectacular. In fact spectacular is a word that fails spectacularly when used to describe his achievement, his life!
Armstrong’s life has only one credo – fight like hell! Be it cycling, his personal life, dealing with media or the life-altering cancer; he has dealt with all of them in the only way he knows – by not giving up. Had it not been for the cancer, we would have never known the Lance Armstrong we know today.
Upon reading his 2 autobiographical books – It’s not about the Bike and Every Second Counts – one realizes how fanatically he cherishes the memory of his battle with cancer. But more importantly, he has used that as a benchmark for all his struggles in life. Whenever the effort seems to bog him down he falls back on that one memory and pushes his body over that extra mile or for that extra yard of pace on the road.
There has been enough research on his muscle strength and his lung capacity already. No other athlete has perhaps been subjected to as many drug tests as Lance Armstrong. And no one has found a trace of anything so far. While he enjoys certain natural advantages over other athletes, it is his will and the urge to fight that has taken him across the line for seven successive years in that famed Yellow Jersey!
Love him, or hate him - you can't ignore him! If there's one lesson to walk away with from Lance's life , it has to be - Fight Like Hell!!!
