For a number of years, a feel-good story of a cyclist transfixed us. First, doctors diagnosed a twenty-five-year-old Lance Armstrong with testicular cancer in 1996. That’s not uncommon, many young athletes become afflicted with serious illnesses. Second, after he completes his recovery, he proceeds to win the Tour de France, the epitome of bicycle races, in 1999. Third, he repeated this victory, winning the twenty-plus day bicycle race, six more times. It had never been done before.
I did not know the name before these victories began. In fact, I had only a vague familiarity of the Tour de France and really knew nothing about it. I certainly knew of no names that had won that event. However, I’ll admit that even I was seduced by the allure of that story. I started to learn about the event, which includes the types of stages, the different awards, etc. I learned that Armstrong excelled at the mountain stages; he passed other riders and grew his lead during these stages.