Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong is an American former professional road-cycling racer whose 1999–2005 seven consecutive Tour de France victories — and his 2012 lifetime ban from professional cycling for doping fraud — produced one of the most-iconic American sports-corruption scandals of the 21st century. He was born Lance Edward Gunderson on September 18, 1971, in Plano, Texas. His biological father abandoned the family when Lance was an infant, and his stepfather Terry Armstrong adopted him at age three (producing his Armstrong surname).

His professional cycling career began in the late 1980s as an amateur and turned professional in 1992 with the Motorola Cycling Team. His 1996 testicular cancer diagnosis — at age 25, with the cancer having metastasized to his lungs and brain — shaped the Armstrong public-persona arc. After chemotherapy and brain surgery, he returned to professional cycling in 1998 and joined the US Postal Service Pro Cycling Team.

His 1999–2005 seven consecutive Tour de France titles — combined with his Livestrong cancer-foundation work (founded in 1997) and his continuous American sports-celebrity visibility — established him as one of the American sports figures of the early 2000s. The Livestrong yellow rubber wristbands sold over 80 million copies worldwide and became one of the cancer-awareness American consumer products of the mid-2000s.

The 2012 USADA (US Anti-Doping Agency) report — which documented Armstrong's decade-long systematic blood-doping program — produced his October 2012 lifetime ban from professional cycling and the stripping of all his Tour de France titles. His January 2013 confession to American TV host Oprah Winfrey on her OWN special Oprah and Lance Armstrong: The Worldwide Exclusive drew 4.3 million American TV viewers and shaped public discussion of American sports-doping culture. He has been continuously less visible in American public life since.

His name Lance is from the Old Germanic Land meaning "land" or from the Old French lance meaning "land-spear." Lance has been continuously among the most-popular American boys' names for decades.