Lance Armstrong

None of his accusers have produced evidence to substantiate the rumors. Another item donated by the singer, an autographed apron from the same World Children's Day event, went for $5,100 in the eBay auction, bringing the total donation to RMHC by Clay's fans to more than $20,000. [2] (http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2005/jun05/jun01news). During the 2004 World Children's Day, he donated a cement cast of his handprints for a charity auction, with the cast selling for over $15,000. In 2005, Italian police are investigating Armstrong for "private violence" and intimidating a witness as a result of this incident. He first became involved with RMHC® when he participated in the 2003 and 2004 World Children's Day(TM) at McDonald's to raise money for Ronald McDonald House Charities® and other children's causes. Armstrong's tactic was controversial, with some commentators considering it vindictive. Others viewed it as a demonstration by Armstrong that he did not need drugs to be a superior rider to Simeoni. In addition to his role in the Bubel/Aiken Foundation (BAF), Aiken serves as an ambassador for the Ronald McDonald House Charities® (RMHC®).

The breakaway went on to take the stage. His interest in autism issues led him to set up the Bubel-Aiken Foundation (http://bubelaikenfoundation.org), which supports the integration of children with disabilities into the life environment of their nondisabled peers. It was apparent that the peloton would chase down a breakaway which included Armstrong, so Simeoni was persuaded to leave it - with Armstong. Apart from his music career, Aiken has been dedicated to advocating for education and for children's causes. He told the members of the breakaway that he would be staying with them if Simeoni was present. In December 2004, Aiken starred in his first TV special, titled "A Clay Aiken Christmas," with special guests Barry Manilow, Yolanda Adams, and Megan Mullally. He was also the executive producer for the Christmas special, which was released as a DVD later that month. Armstrong, however, single-handedly chased them down. At the same time Aiken made the New York Times Best Seller List, debuting at #2, with his "inspirational memoir" entitled Learning to Sing: Hearing the Music in Your Life, written with Allison Glock, published by Random House.

As there was nobody in the breakaway that threatened in the general classification, the group stood a good chance of staying in front until the finish line. The album went platinum in 6 weeks and was the best-selling holiday album of 2004. In stage 18 Simeoni was in a group that had broken away from the main peloton. That same month, Aiken also released a holiday album entitled Merry Christmas With Love, which set a new record for fastest-selling holiday album in the Soundscan era (since 1991) and tied Céline Dion's record for the highest debut by a holiday album in the history of Billboard magazine. During the 2004 Tour, the Armstrong-Simeoni feud manifested its presence during the race itself [1] (http://www.velonews.com/tour2004/details/articles/6647.0.html). "The Joyful Noise Tour"'s official sponsor was Ronald McDonald House Charities. Armstrong stated that Simeoni was not telling the truth, calling him "a compulsive liar", and a legal process started between the two. "The Joyful Noise Tour" was well received by fans, with sellouts or near-sellouts at every venue.

Ferrari. Local choirs from high schools and elementary schools participated at each concert. Ferrari did not go beyond occasional consultations on altitude training and diet. Another racer, Italian Filippo Simeoni, implicated Armstrong when confessing to the use of illegal drugs prescribed by Dr. In some cities, Aiken was supported by the local philharmonic or symphony, such as the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. Michele Ferrari, who in 2004 was found guilty in an Italian court for unlawful distribution of medicines and sporting fraud. Armstrong has stated that his connection to Dr. "The Joyful Noise Tour" featured a conductor and a 30-piece orchestra. Particularly vocal have been Greg LeMond, the only other American to have won the Tour, and the French newspaper Le Monde, who have questioned his association with doctor/trainer, Dr. In November 2004, Aiken embarked on his third tour of the year, choosing this time to focus on Christmas favorites.

In 1999 he tested positive for a corticoid, and although he did not declare taking the medication on the form before the test, the UCI accepted it was in his system due to his use of a legal skin cream to treat road rash and saddle sores. The entire music video performed by Aiken is presented on the Aladdin Special Edition 2-Disc DVD. When training, Lance boosts his red blood cell count through cycling at altitude and sleeping in an altitude tent. The song was originally intended for the film but cut when the Aladdin storyline changed during production. Specifically, his hematocrit rate was never found to exceed the threshold above what suggests that the racer used the drug EPO, which was once rife throughout cycling (though Armstrong did take EPO for one of its approved medical uses, to help his recovery during cancer treatment, there is no suggestion that this was an unfair advantage for his subsequent cycling achievements). Each concert previewed Aiken's moving rendition of "Proud of Your Boy". However, despite being subjected to dozens of drug tests, he has never proved positive to any illicit substance. Disney's Aladdin Special Edition 2-Disc DVD was the exclusive sponsor of Clay's Summer Concert Tour.

Like many top international sports men and women, Armstrong has long been dogged by allegations that he used performance-enhancing drugs. He was also scheduled for a few summer tour dates, but high demand ultimately led to the booking of over 50 dates across the United States, culminating in what many fans called the "Not-a-Tour". Postal Team competes in races worldwide, the riders selected to join Armstrong in the Tour de France are there specifically to help Armstrong win the Yellow Jersey. From February to April 2004, Aiken embarked on the "Independent Tour" with Kelly Clarkson, winner of the first American Idol contest. While the U.S. The song was "Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth", which was originally sung by Crosby and David Bowie on a 1977 Christmas special. Some have attributed Armstrong's success in recent years in part to his US Postal Service cycling team (now the Discovery Channel Team). Aiken also appeared in numerous specials during the winter of 2003, including Disney's Christmas Day Parade and The Nick At Nite Holiday Special, where he sang a duet with Bing Crosby via special effects.

Despite this relatively defensive strategy, Armstrong's mountain attacks are so forceful that he often puts minutes on his rivals over the course of just a few kilometers. Later that year Aiken won the Fan's Choice Award at the American Music Awards ceremony, and his CD single "This Is the Night/Bridge Over Troubled Water" won the Billboard award for the Best-selling Single of 2003. In the mold of Induráin, Armstrong is not very aggressive during the most of the Tour, preferring to gain a lead in the time trials or with a few well-placed mountain attacks, before sitting back and letting his team defend the lead. The album eventually went triple platinum, and spawned the hit single "Invisible." The album also contained Aiken's first hit song, "This Is the Night," which had debuted at #1 on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Hot 100 Single Sales Chart. Unlike most gifted climbers, however, Armstrong is also exceptional in the individual time trial, and is as good as, if not better than, those physically more suited to the discipline, such as rival Jan Ullrich. In October of 2003 Aiken released his first solo album, Measure of a Man, which debuted at #1 in the Billboard 200 and was the fastest-selling debut for a solo artist in 10 years. Much of his training is based on raising this level, and in learning exactly where the limit is. It was this child's mother who urged him to audition for American Idol.

The ability to maintain this high cadence for such long distances is based on his extremely high anaerobic threshold, allowing him to work at a high intensity without building up lactic acid levels that force lesser athletes to back off. He found his interest in special education during high school, and eventually became an assistant to a boy with autism while going to school in Charlotte. Armstrong can maintain incredible speeds even when going up the most daunting climbs of the Tour and at times even specialist climbers are unable to keep pace with him on a consistent basis. Although his American Idol activities temporarily delayed his academic pursuits, Aiken graduated with a bachelor's degree in special education in December of 2003. As an example, the Spanish five-time Tour de France winner, Miguel Induráin, preferred to power a huge gear at a low cadence. Aiken, who changed his last name from Grissom to his mother's maiden name, hails from Raleigh, North Carolina, and attended Raleigh's Leesville High School before enrolling at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Pedalling very quickly (a high "cadence"), often in a lower gear than his competitors, he can maintain a cadence of 120 cycles per minute on flats during time trials, and is able to rapidly accelerate away from his main rivals who tend to use higher gears but pedal more slowly while riding uphill. It was the only single to go platinum since 2002, when "I Hope You Dance" did, after being out for over a year.

His riding style is also distinctive. It was the fastest-selling single since Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" and the best-selling single of 2003. For example, during his preparation for the 2004 Tour, he rode virtually every stage at least once, and rode the Alpe d'Huez climb, site of a key time trial, multiple times in the course of five days. The single "Bridge Over Troubled Water"/"This Is the Night", released June 10, 2003, has gone platinum. Lance has triumphed partly because he has made a career of the Tour de France, training in Spain for the year leading up to the Tour, and making frequent trips to France to fully analyze and ride key parts of the upcoming Tour course. It sold over 600,000 copies in its first week, and has since gone triple platinum. For relaxation, Armstrong also enjoys mountain biking and trout fishing, and casual rides on his bike with his son. Aiken's debut album, Measure of a Man, was released October 14, 2003.

As of September 2004, Armstrong had been in a relationship with singer Sheryl Crow for about a year (source: The Tonight Show appearance September 1). The seasonal album Merry Christmas With Love, released on November 16, 2004, went platinum in 6 weeks. Armstrong and his wife Kristin (Kik - pronounced Keek) had a son shortly after his amazing comeback victory, and twin girls two years later, all by in vitro fertilization, or IVF. Armstrong and his wife divorced in 2003. Though technically the show's "first runner-up," he has since gone on to be the show's most popular and successful star, even more so than Studdard himself. He won the final individual time trial (ITT), stage 19, to complete his personal-record of stage wins. He came in a close second in the contest, with Ruben Studdard winning by a narrow margin. For the first time Armstrong also found himself unable to ride away from his rivals in the mountains (except for the individual time trial in stage 16 up L'Alpe d'Huez when he started two minutes behind Basso and passed him up) and won in sprint finishes in stages 13 and 15 versus Basso and made up a huge gap in the last 250 meters to nip Andreas Klöden at the line in stage 17. Clay Aiken (born Clayton Holmes Grissom on November 30, 1978) is an American pop music singer who rose to fame on the American Idol television program.

After that he seized the reins by outsprinting Basso to take the very next stage, and followed that up by becoming the first man since Gino Bartali in 1948 to win three consecutive mountain stages—15, 16, and 17. 2004 "Winter Wonderland". He contends he let his friend Ivan Basso win Stage 12 at the finish line as his way of offering support for Basso's mother's struggle with cancer, though video footage appears to show Armstrong being beaten fairly. 2004 "Solitaire". Postal Service "Blue Train". 2004 "I Will Carry You". In his most recent Tour victory (2004), Armstrong won with a personal-best 5 stages, plus the team time trial (TTT) with his U.S. 2004 "The Way".

His final lead times over his closest competitor have been over six minutes every year except for 2003, when he finished 1:01 ahead of Jan Ullrich, following an unusual set of circumstances including a stomach illness at the outset of the race. 2003 "Silver Bells f/Kim Locke". Lance's true comeback came in 1999, when he won his first Tour de France. 2003 "The First Noel". He was eventually signed by the newly formed United States Postal Service Pro Cycling Team, and by 1998, he was able to make his successful return in the cycling world marked by his fourth place overall finish in the Vuelta a España. 2003 "Invisible". This was one of the factors which lead to his near retirement from the sport, because of which he and his then-girlfriend (now ex-wife) moved to France on two different occasions due to his changes of heart. 2003 "Bridge Over Troubled Water".

While in remission he resumed training, but found himself unceremoniously, if unsurprisingly, dropped by his Cofidis team. 2003 "This Is The Night". The standard chemotherapy for his cancer would have meant the end of his cycling career, because a known side effect was a dramatic reduction in lung function; he opted for a more severe treatment that was less likely to result in lung damage. 2004 "The Way / Solitaire". Armstrong managed to recover after invasive surgery to remove brain lesions, and a severe course of chemotherapy, performed at Indiana University School of Medicine. 2003 "Bridge Over Troubled Water / This Is The Night". After his recovery, one of his doctors told him that his actual odds of survival were considerably smaller (one even went as far as to say 3%), and that he had been given the 50 percent estimate primarily to give him hope. Merry Christmas With Love (11-2004).

His doctors told him that he had a fifty-percent chance of survival. Measure of a Man (10-2003). In October of 1996, Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer that had metastasized, spreading to his lungs and brain. Team Motorola was allowed to take an uncontested next stage as a mark of respect. As a young and hugely promising cyclist this was a blow for the team, the sport, and Fabio's nation, Italy.

During his time with Motorola, Fabio Casartelli, a teammate, died on a descent in the Tour. These early disappointments spurred him on to the great things he has achieved post-cancer, and he admits that had he given in on the devilishly difficult Clasica san Sebastian he could have retired from the sport.. Later in 1996, however, he abandoned the Tour de France and had a disappointing Olympic Games. He won the Tour DuPont again in 1996, and was ranked number one cyclist in the world.

cycling event, the Tour DuPont, having placed second in 1994. In that same year, he won the premier U.S. His successes continued with Team Motorola, with whom he won a stage in the 1995 Tour de France and several classic one-day events. Minutes later, the King invited both.

His victory was so dominant (he had time to blow kisses to his mother in the home straight) that he was invited to an audience with the King of Norway, which he initially turned down after finding his mother was not included in the invitation. The following year he scored his first major victory as he rode solo to win the World Road Championships in Oslo, Norway. After competing as a cycling amateur, winning the US amateur championship in 1991 and finishing 14th in the 1992 Olympics road race, Armstrong turned professional in 1992. He graduated from another high school in Dallas the following spring. Lance still harbors resentment toward Plano because of this and prefers his adopted home of Austin, Texas.

Armstrong withdrew from his high school, Plano East Senior High, with his mother's blessing and went to train with the team. Plano Independent School District's school board said that the six-week leave to train taken during the second semester of his senior year would bar him from graduating. At 17, Lance received an invitation to train with the Junior National Cycling Team. It soon became clear that his greatest talent lay in racing bikes.

Lance began his sporting career as a triathlete, competing in seniors' competitions from the age of 16. Armstrong received his surname at the age of three, when his mother married Terry Armstrong. Armstrong was born in Plano, Texas and was raised by his mother, Linda Mooneyham, whose spirit and independence has often been cited by Armstrong as his greatest influence.
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In April 2005, Armstrong announced that he would retire from racing after the 2005 edition of the Tour. He was also named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for 2002, 2003 and 2004, received ESPN's ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete in 2003 and 2004, and won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award in 2003. In 2002, Sports Illustrated magazine named him their Sportsman of the Year. Armstrong's achievements have been widely lauded.

His success prompted some to nickname the event Tour de Lance. He is most famous for recovering from cancer to subsequently win the Tour de France a record six consecutive times—1999 to 2004. Lance Armstrong (born September 18, 1971) is an American cyclist from Texas. Linda Armstrong Kelly, Joni Rodgers: No Mountain High Enough : Raising Lance, Raising Me (ISBN 076791855X), Broadway Books 2005. Armstrong's mother's account of raising a world class athlete and overcoming adversity.

Stage 4 Volta ao Algrave (ITT). Stage 5 Tour du Languedoc-Roussillon. Tour de Georgia (2 stage victories). Tour de France (5 stage victories + Team Time Trial).

Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (Overall), Stage 3 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (ITT). Tour de France (1 stage victory + Team Time Trial). GP du Midi-Libre. Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré, Stage 6 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré.

Tour de France (4 stage victories). Tour de Suisse (2 stage victories). Tour de France (4 stage victories). Stage 3 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (ITT).

GP Eddy Merckx. GP des Nations. Tour de France (1 stage victory). Stage 4 Circuit de la Sarthe (ITT).

Stage 4 Route du Sud. Prologue Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (ITT). Tour de France (4 stage victories). Cascade Classic.

Tour de Luxembourg (1 stage victory). Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfahrt. La Flèche Wallonne. Tour du Pont (5 stage wins).

Stage 5 Paris Nice. West Virginia Classic (1 stage win). Tour du Pont (3 stage wins). 18th stage of the Tour de France.

Clasica San Sebastian. Thrift Drug Classic. World Road Championships. West Virginia Classic (2 stage wins).

USPro Championship. 8th stage of the Tour de France. Trofeo Laigueglia. Thrift Drug Classic.

Tour de Ribera (4 stage wins). Thrift Drug Classic. Longsjo Classic (1 stage win). GP Sanson.

First Union Grand Prix. 2005: Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team. 2003-2004: US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor. 1998-2002: US Postal Service.

1997: Cofidis. 1992-1996: Motorola. 1991-1992: United States National Team.