Episode 7: Lance Armstrong Part 1 (Tour de France Doper)

Lance Armstrong was regarded as an elite cycling superstar. Between the years of 1999 to 2005, Lance had obtained seven consecutive Tour de France wins - something no one has ever achieved before, or since. He was considered by many to be the best athlete in his sport at the time.

And even more stunning? Just 2 years prior to first of these consecutive wins, Lance had been diagnosed with testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain; and not only did Lance survive, but seemingly thrived post treatment. 

He went on to create the Lance Armstrong Foundation - raising hundreds of millions of dollars from the sale of yellow Livestrong bracelets. Those little yellow bracelets became a ubiquitous feature on the wrists of many in America and around the world for cancer awareness and in support of the Texan hometown hero, Lance Armstrong.

So, how would Lance, only a few years later, become stripped of all of his achievements from August 1998 onward, including his seven Tour de France titles….and be labeled as a disgrace in the sports world? Find out today on the Controversial Figures Podcast.

Connect with us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FiguresPodcast

Episode Sources:

• CNN Lance Armstrong's Demise https://www.cnn.com/2012/10/22/sport/lance-armstrong-profile-cycling-usada/index.html
• ESPN The Rise and Fall of Lance Armstrong https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/29177242/the-rise-fall-lance-armstrong-need-know-watching-lance
• ESPN 'LANCE' Documentary https://www.espn.com/olympics/story/_/id/29209116/lance-part-1-how-watch-stream-espn-lance-armstrong-documentary
• Wikipedia Lance Armstrong https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lance_Armstrong
• Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michele_Ferrari
• Music: The 6 is Silent by Skyjelly

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Transcript

00:00

Lance Armstrong was regarded as an elite cycling superstar. Between the years of 1999 to 2005, Lance had obtained seven consecutive Tour de France wins - something no one has ever achieved before, or since. He was considered by many to be the best athlete in his sport at the time.

00:24

And even more stunning? Just 2 years prior to first of these consecutive wins, Lance had been diagnosed with testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs, abdomen, and brain; and not only did Lance survive, but seemingly thrived post treatment. 

00:42

He went on to create the Lance Armstrong Foundation - raising hundreds of millions of dollars from the sale of yellow Livestrong bracelets. Those little yellow bracelets became an ubiquitous feature on the wrists of many in America and around the world for cancer awareness and in support of the Texan hometown hero, Lance Armstrong.

01:01

So, how would  Lance, only a few years later, become stripped of all of his achievements from August 1998 onward, including his seven Tour de France titles….and be labeled as a disgrace in the sports world? Find out today on the Controversial Figures Podcast.

01:20

Music Interlude

01:45

Welcome to Controversial Figures; a podcast about intriguing figures in the media. My name is Tammy Hawkins. If you enjoy this podcast, please leave a 5 star rating and comment on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts - and don't forget to subscribe to the show. 

02:06

I just wanted to take a moment to say a sincere thank you to everyone that has listened to the podcast. As of recording, we've hit over 1,000 downloads with 150 subscribed listeners and about 20 donators on Patreon. I feel  incredibly honored that you choose to spend your time with me. I love bringing new stories to you every week after having read multiple books and watched documentaries to deep dive the topic. It gives me a lot of joy to bring the story to you.

02:42

Donating to Controversial Figures on Patreon helps me as an independent podcaster to continue bringing new content. After you donate, I will give you a shout out on a future show. And I will send along occasional swag to regular donors. It also really, really helps when you subscribe to the show in your podcasting app, and when you tell your friends to do so, as well.

03:04

Also, I wanted to inform you that this will be our first 2 part episode. Today we will cover the astronomical career rise of Lance Armstrong. Next week we will conclude the story of Lance's career with an abrupt retirement and a fall from grace. With that let's discuss our Controversial Figure for today - Part 1 of Lance Armstrong.

03:33

Lance Armstrong was born on September 18, 1971 in Plano, Texas. As a child, Lance was always interested in sports, and seemed to just ooze natural talent. He was one of those kids in school that seemed to be the best at every sport he tried.

03:51

In his early teens, Lance was a competitive swimmer, and he won the Iron Kids Triathlon. Lance would go on to do many triathlons in his teenage years, often being ranked as number one in the 19 and under grouping.

04:07

If you haven't picked this up yet, Lance doesn't do anything in moderation. At age 16, he became a professional triathlete. Lance then went on to win the national sprint-course triathlon in both 1989 and 1990. 

04:23

Lance would go on to become the US National Junior Road Champion in 1991 at the age of 20. This was his first high profile cycling win, and the deals to go professional started coming Lance's way.

04:37

Lance turned professional with the Motorola Cycling Team at age 21 in 1992. He took a series of first places in a variety of cycling stages for the team format cycling competitions across Europe.

04:52

In 1993, Lance would win first place his first UCI Road World cycling Championships and the National Road Championships. He would also compete in the Tour de France, winning the eighth stage. Between 1991 to 1994, Lance Armstrong would win 15 first places, 4 second places, and 1 third place. The man was a literally winning machine that seemed unstoppable.

05:26

In 1995, Lance Armstrong would take another 1st place in the Tour de France, specifically, he took stage 18. He did not win the overall event. Lance was building his endurance and capability, and was expected to continue to be a competitor to watch in future Tour de France races. Also, just to highlight how dangerous the Tour de France is - during that 1995 competition, Lance's Motorola teammate, Italian rider Fabio Casartelli, died after an accident in the 15th stage.  When Lance won stage 18, he pointed to the sky in honor of Casartelli.

06:05

Ok, here I'd like to pause for people, frankly like me, that are not hip to the Tour de France. What is a stage some of you might ask? And what does it mean if someone wins a stage versus winning the race? If you are not asking this, skip ahead by about 2 minutes. For those that are interested, stay with me and I'll give you my simple understanding.

06:28

The Tour de France is a men's multiple stage bicycle race that has occurred annually since 1903. It takes place in July and primarily in France although it does wind through a few nearby countries. It is considered the most difficult bike race in the world given it's length of 21 day-long stages occurring through treacherous mountains.

06:51

There are usually between 20 to 22 teams in the race with 8 riders in each. All of the stages are timed to the finish; the riders' times are compounded with their previous stage times. The rider with the lowest cumulative finish time is the leader of the race and wears the yellow jersey. It is a team sport in which much of the team protects the sprinter cyclist - someone like Lance Armstrong. 

07:19

The sprinter is to ride behind the pack with protection around him at all times from other bicyclists who could cause him to wreck,  This constantly protects the sprinters cumulative time and health. And the team also protects the sprinter by riding ahead and taking the loss of speed and energy efficiency from the impact of the headwinds by leading the pack. 

07:44

This can save a sprinter 20% of their body energy throughout the race, allowing them to have the needed energy in the tank to break away from the pack at the perfect time to soar ahead of their competition and take first across the finish line.

08:04

With that understood, there was much excitement for Lance to compete again in 1996 after his previous stage wins in 1993 and 1995. However, much to everyone's surprise and concern, Lance dropped out of the 1996 Tour de France after the fifth stage when he became very unexpectedly ill. This was very unlike Lance, who was known to have extreme work ethic and be the picture of health.

08:32

A few months later, Lance would know what was making him ill. And it was not good news.

08:40

It would be in 1996, at 25 years of age, when Lance Armstrong would learn news that would change his life forever - he had Stage 3  metastatic testicular cancer. The cancer was advanced had already traveled to his lymph nodes, lungs, brain, and abdomen. 

09:06

He had discovered the cancer during a visit to a urologist on October 2nd, 1996 due to Lance noticing a swollen testicle and coughing up blood. 

9:18

It was incredibly shocking news to Lance and everyone around him. It was clear Lance needed to put his sports career on hold and immediately seek treatment. To that end, the next day, on October 3rd, Lance had an orchiectomy to remove the diseased testicle. When Lance's doctor, Jim Reeves was asked what he believed the chances of survival were, he said "Almost none. We told Lance initially 20-50% chance, mainly to give him hope."

9:52

Lance chose the Indiana University medical center for his cancer treatment. On October 25, Lance's brain cancer lesions which were found to contain extensive necrosis, or dead cells, were surgically removed by Scott Shapiro, a professor of neurosurgery at Indiana University.

10:15

Lawrence Einhorn had pioneered the use of cisplatin, a new form of injectable chemotherapy, to treat testicular cancer. Lance would receive this drug at Indiana University, and would go on to say he felt it and the doctor saved his life, and his career, as it helped him avoid other types of chemotherapy known to potentially damage lungs. 

10:35

Lance's final chemotherapy treatment took place on December 13, 1996.

10:41

In February 1997, Lance was declared cancer-free, and later that year, he would be offered a contract riding with the US Postal professional bicycling team at a salary of $200,000 a year. And later that year, Lance Armstrong would fall in love. 

10:58

Lance met Kristin Richard in June 1997. Kristin was working for an advertising and public relations firm in Austin, Texas when she met Lance at a press conference.

11:12

Lance Armstrong also founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation in 1997. This organization, according to their webpage, "unites, inspires, and empowers people affected by cancer." The foundation raises awareness and has raised more than $325 million from the sale of yellow Livestrong bracelets.

11:30

Lance and Kristin would be married on May 1, 1998 in Santa Barbara, California. And in a sign of absolute devotion, Kristin would quit her public relations job, rent her house out, sell her Miata, and move to France with Lance so he could focus on recouping his cycling career.

11:51

Lance Armstrong's cycling comeback began in 1998 when he finished fourth in the Vuelta a España; an annual multi-stage bicycle race held in Spain. 

12:02

And Lance and Kristin would soon begin a family with Kristin being a stay at home mom while Lance trained. The pregnancy was made possible through sperm Lance had banked three years earlier, before his chemotherapy and surgery. 

12:16

In 1999 Lance won the Tour de France, including four stages - this really put his name on the map globally as an elite sports competitor. He beat the second place rider, Alex Zülle, by 7 minutes 37 seconds - a huge win in cycling. 

12:33

However, this win would not come without controversy and judgement, as this is competitive sports after all. The absence of 2 of the top bicyclists that year, Jan Ullrich due to injury, and Marco Pantani due to drug allegations, meant some in cycling felt Lance had not yet proven himself against the biggest names in the sport. 

12:57

In the year 2000, Ullrich and Pantani returned to challenge Armstrong in the Tour de France. The race began a six-year rivalry between Ullrich and Armstrong and ended in victory for Armstrong by 6 minutes 2 seconds over Ullrich. 

13:13

In 2001, Lance beat Ullrich by 6 minutes 44 seconds. In 2002, Ullrich did not participate due to suspension, and Lance won by seven minutes over Joseba Beloki. It was becoming clear that Lance's previous win was not a fluke and that he was a real competitor in cycling.

13:34

The pattern continued in Tour de France in 2003, with Land taking first place and Ullrich second. Only 1 minute and 1 second separated the two at the end of the final day in Paris. U.S. Postal team won the team time trial on stage four, while Lance Armstrong took stage 15, despite having been knocked off his bike ascending the final climb of the race, when a spectator's bag caught his right handlebar. When this happened, Ullrich waited for Lance to get back on his bike, which brought Ullrich fair-play honors.

14:12

While Lance's professional cycling career continues to soar, unfortunately, the love between Lance and wife Kristin would not; after having 3 beautiful children together, the couple divorced after 6 years of marriage in 2003. But, Lance would once again find love that year, as he began dating singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow. 

14:36

In 2004, Lance Armstrong finished first in the Tour de France yet again; this time 6 minutes 19 seconds ahead of German Andreas Klöden. Ullrich was fourth, another 2 minutes 31 seconds behind. Lance won a personal-best of 1st in five individual stages, plus the team time trial. He became the first biker since Gino Bartali in 1948 to win three consecutive mountain stages; 15, 16, and 17. 

15:12

The individual time trial on stage 16 up a mountain was won by Lance and it was remarkable, as he swiftly passed Ivan Basso on the way up despite having set out two minutes after the Italian. It seemed like Lance just couldn't be stopped. And Ivan wouldn't forget this race.

15:34

In 2005, Lance was beaten by American David Zabriskie in the stage 1 time trial by two seconds. His Discovery Channel team won the team time trial, while Lance Armstrong won the final individual time trial. In the mountain stages, Lance Armstrong's lead was attacked multiple times mostly by Ivan Basso, but also by T-mobile leaders Jan Ullrich, Andreas Kloden and Alexandre Vinokourov and former teammate Levi Leipheimer.

16:16

Regardless, Lance maintained his lead and, increased it. Lance crossed the line on the Champs-Élysées on July 24 to win his seventh consecutive Tour, finishing 4 m 40s ahead of Basso, and Ullrich in third. Another record was achieved in that Lance had completed the tour at the fastest pace in the race's history: his average speed was 41.7 km/h (26 mph).

17:01

In 2005, Armstrong announced he would retire after the 2005 Tour de France, citing his desire to quote "spend more time with his family and his foundation".

17:17

And with that focus on family, Sheryl Crow and Lance Armstrong announced their engagement in September 2005. Sadly, only a few months later, they would also announce their split in February 2006. After the fact, Lance would be quoted as saying it was Sheryl's desire for a baby that ended the relationship. Lance said in his book "Lance" quote, "She wanted marriage, she wanted children; and not that I didn't want that, but I didn't want that at that time because I had just gotten out of a marriage, I'd just had kids. Yet we're up against her biological clock - that pressure is what cracked it…we were not compatible on that issue." 

18:06

Ok. Hearing a man that froze his sperm at 25 so he would be able to conceive, which is totally commendable, then speak about the challenge of a female's biological clock makes my body burn with the rage of a thousand suns, so I'm going to move back to focusing on the cycling part of the tale. Quick side note, in what was a set of cosmically sad circumstances, Sheryl Crow was diagnosed with breast cancer 2 and a half weeks after her break up with Lance, and she has stated publicly it was not about having children or seeing someone else - it was simply a growing divide between them that drove them apart. Sheryl is in cancer remission and went on to adopt a child in 2007.

19:03

With apparently spending time with family no longer on his mind, Lance Armstrong announced on September 9, 2008, that he would return to pro cycling with the  goal of participating in the 2009 Tour de France. VeloNews reported that Armstrong would race for no salary or bonuses.

19:23

In July 2008, Armstrong began dating Anna Hansen after meeting through charity work. In December 2008, Lance announced that Hansen was pregnant with the couple's first child; note this is 2 years after Lance's break up with Sheryl. Anyway… While it was believed that Armstrong could no longer father children, this child, Lance's 4th, was conceived naturally. Surprise! Lance would also go on to have a fifth child with Anna.

19:57

As Lance was gearing up for his retirement return, controversy was continuing to swirl. There had been rumors for years about Lance. How he was able to win by large margins over other proven cyclists time and again despite having cancer. How he had worked with a coach that was known to run in doping circles that provided Human Growth Hormone, testosterone, steroids, cortisone, and the newest shiniest doping approach EPO. 

20:38

We will dive further into these rumors as they amplify in our next episode of Controversial Figures! If you can't wait a whole week to hear episode 2 - we have good news! All Controversial Figures Patreon subscribers have early access to episode 2, just like all new episodes.

21:01

Thank you for listening to this episode of Controversial Figures. Just a reminder, please like, subscribe, and leave a rating and comment for Controversial Figures in your favorite podcast app. We have a Twitter page now @FiguresPodcast - so please follow us, give us recommendations of Controversial Figures you'd like to hear. Or you can email us at controversialfigurespod@gmail.com.

21:40

This podcast is an independent podcast created by Tammy Hawkins. This is funded by those that donate, so please join Patreon and give what you can - once I hit 50 Patreon subscribers, I'll send out swag to all donators! And I'll give shout outs during the show to anyone that's donated. Research references are available in the show notes as are musical references. Thank you so much for listening, thank you so much for your support - be well.