Peter Papachronopoulos Staff Writer

“I have to tell you I am 100 percent committed and the decision is final.” Lance Armstrong made it official with these words; the six-time champion of cycling’s greatest challenge, the Tour de France, will retire this year after his attempt to win the Tour a record seven consecutive times. Armstrong’s dominance in the event ranks as one of the greatest feats of individual athletic performance, alongside Pete Sampras’ 14 Grand Slam victories and Hank Aaron’s 755 career home runs. Armstrong’s farewell to cycling means more than the sport’s loss of a gifted and successful athlete; Armstrong will always be remembered as a man who triumphed privately and publicly over adversity, inspiring millions around the world.

Armstrong is most widely known as a cancer survivor, winning all of his Tour de France titles after nearly succumbing to this disease. Few are aware, however, of the other obstacles Armstrong had to overcome before his meteoric rise to cycling greatness.

Armstrong was born in Dallas, Texas, and was raised in Richardson, Texas, by his mother, Linda. She was only 17 when she gave birth, and when Lance was two his father left. Soon after, Linda married Terry Armstrong, who adopted Lance. Armstrong’s troubled childhood continued, however, as Terry routinely beat him and was discovered cheating on Linda. The couple divorced when Lance was 14.

Armstrong’s personal problems continued into high school. In a state like Texas, football defines a young man’s life. Armstrong, however, was a scrawny, uncoordinated kid with no hope of playing football and thus no certain future. Armstrong was an outcast in his youth, and to escape the psychological torture of his peers, he turned to the physical demands of cycling.

While still in high school, 16-year-old Armstrong grew so fiercely devoted to cycling that he soon joined a professional team, training rigorously with his 20-year-old teammates. In 1990, Armstrong rode in the Junior World Championship in Moscow, placing eleventh. He then participated in his first Olympic games, finishing fourteenth. The next few years saw Armstrong reaching his full potential in record-setting ways. At age 21, he became the youngest cyclist to win a Tour de France stage, and he was the first American to win the Fleche-Wallonne event in Belgium.

As his speedy ascension to the number one world ranking was occurring, Armstrong began to accumulate a growing amount of resentment, especially among Europeans. He was portrayed as a brash American in a sport of European gentleman, and to this day the admittedly blunt Armstrong still carries the stigma in Europe of being a vulgar, arrogant Texan. Armstrong brushed aside this criticism and continued to peddle past outmatched cyclists and vexed onlookers.

As the years went on, Armstrong found his body breaking down at an alarming rate. Despite suffering from migraines, dizziness, exhaustion, and problems with his vision, Armstrong stubbornly refused to seek help until the day he found himself unable to sit on his bike because his testicle had swollen so large.

Armstrong was diagnosed with stage three testicular cancer, the most severe form of the disease, and his odds of survival were barely 40 percent. Even after surgery to remove the cancer, it managed to spread its way up his body, into his lungs and brain. After extensive surgery and a crippling amount of chemotherapy, Armstrong finally won the fight for his life. What remained to be seen, though, was whether or not he could resurrect his cycling career.

Armstrong’s initial attempt to reclaim his reputation as the world’s foremost cyclist ended in disaster. Still reeling physically from the after-effects of both cancer and chemotherapy, Armstrong broke down mentally and wanted to quit the sport. It was only the adamant encouragement of his wife, Kristin Armstrong, which kept him from retiring. Armstrong trained for months in grueling conditions both in America and Europe, pushing himself harder than he ever had in the hopes of regaining his former ability.

Armstrong’s dedication and training has gained for him an astonishing supremacy in the world of cycling and sports in general. His dominance has been so absolute in the past few years that some have accused him of using performance-enhancing drugs, claiming no cyclist can be as naturally talented as he is. Armstrong’s fight to defeat these accusations has proven to be as difficult as his attempt to win the Tour de France itself. However, having passed over 150 drug tests in the last two years in both Europe and America, Armstrong feels he has nothing to prove, and the accusations only fuel his desire to win. This year’s Tour de France will be his last chance to fulfill that desire, though it’s safe to say that Armstrong, whose fans would rather touch him than receive an autograph, won’t lose any pride if he fails to capture the title yet again. Seven in a row would sure be something, but the aura of hope Armstrong radiates is worth much more than any record.