Lance Armstrong, the 39-year-old cycling champion, announced Wednesday that he will retire from professional cycling to focus on his family and help fight against cancer.
As a cancer survivor, Armstrong will devote himself to the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LIVESTRONG), the cancer-fighting foundation he founded in 1997, two years before he claimed the first of his record seven Tour de France wins from 1999 to 2005.
“My focus now is raising my five children, promoting the mission of LIVESTRONG, and growing entrepreneurial ventures with our great corporate partners in the fight against cancer,” said Armstrong in a statement on LIVESTRONG’s website.
Armstrong, who initially retired in 2005, came back to the cycling world in 2009 with LIVESTRONG’s Global Cancer Campaign to raise awareness of the toll of the disease. In two years, Armstrong and his campaign made new investments, strengthened partnerships with the cancer community, and began to “ease the stigma” faced by millions of cancer survivors.
Armstrong’s “retirement 2.0,” as he calls it, concludes a comeback effort that failed to yield an eighth Tour de France title.
“I can’t say I have any regrets,” Armstrong told The Associated Press. “It’s been an excellent ride. I really thought I was going to win another tour. Then I lined up like everybody else and wound up third.”
As a cancer survivor, Armstrong will devote himself to the Lance Armstrong Foundation (LIVESTRONG), the cancer-fighting foundation he founded in 1997, two years before he claimed the first of his record seven Tour de France wins from 1999 to 2005.
“My focus now is raising my five children, promoting the mission of LIVESTRONG, and growing entrepreneurial ventures with our great corporate partners in the fight against cancer,” said Armstrong in a statement on LIVESTRONG’s website.
Armstrong, who initially retired in 2005, came back to the cycling world in 2009 with LIVESTRONG’s Global Cancer Campaign to raise awareness of the toll of the disease. In two years, Armstrong and his campaign made new investments, strengthened partnerships with the cancer community, and began to “ease the stigma” faced by millions of cancer survivors.
Armstrong’s “retirement 2.0,” as he calls it, concludes a comeback effort that failed to yield an eighth Tour de France title.
“I can’t say I have any regrets,” Armstrong told The Associated Press. “It’s been an excellent ride. I really thought I was going to win another tour. Then I lined up like everybody else and wound up third.”
Armstrong’s cancer fight began in 1996, during a promising time in his career. After winning the World Championships, the Tour DuPont, and multiple Tour de France stages, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer at age 25. He left the cancer untreated until it spread to his abdomen, lungs, and brain, according to LIVESTRONG.
After he received his last chemotherapy treatment in December 1996, the cancer went into complete remission, and he was back to serious training by January 1998.
