Le Tour De France

This is the first year that I have attempted to try and keep up with what is going on with the Tour de France. I honestly don't understand it at all...I have never sat down and tried to figure out how it all works...the yellow jersey, the green jersey, the different stages, team stages versus individual stages, and how the point system works...there is a ton of stuff that I am sure fans of the biking world understand, but I would need a crash course to be able to keep up with it. Also, I do not have cable, and I work during the day, so there really isn't an opportunity for me to watch it. I am reduced to reading the live updates online.

Even if you don't like biking, or keep up with sports of that nature, Lance Armstrong has an amazing story. Lance has the greatest overcoming adversity/comeback story that there is.

Lance began racing/winning Iron Kid triathlons at the age of 13 in Plano, TX. Three short years later, he turned pro. It was a short road to the top, and he continued at the top well into the 90's and was ranked as high as 9th in the world ('96). In October of 1996, Lance was diagnosed with cancer and given less than a 50% chance of recovery. He was told that the cancer had spread into his lungs and brain. Lance was determined to beat it, and sought advice from specialists. After taking a very aggressive form of chemotherapy, he began to recover and to think about racing again.

Nine years later, Lance has accomplished only what some would dream of. Not only has he battled cancer and survived, but he has made a tremendous mark on the biking/sports world. His first year back ('98), he finished 1st in four events. 1999 was his first year to race in the Tour de France after his victory over cancer, and he not only finished first, but he won four stages. Furthermore, he finished 1999 (two short years after battling his cancer) ranked 4th in the world. If that is not enough, he has won the Tour de France every year since (6 titles), and was ranked as high as 2nd in the world ('02).

Lance has used his experience not only to motivate himself in his sport, but to encourage others. Off of the race track, he is very active in the community. He set up the Lance Armstrong foundation in 1997, which is a non-profit organization that helps people cope with and learn more about surviving cancer.

Lance's story is there for the world to see. It could not have been better scripted. I am sure that his story will be shared with (as it should be), and it will be an encouragement to generations to come.