";
spt_LanceArmstrongTimeline.sTitle = "Guts and glory";
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spt_LanceArmstrongTimeline[i-1].body = "For the first time, a U.S. team -- Lance's Team Motorola -- is ranked among the top five in the world.";
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Armstrong wins the Tour Du Pont and, ironically, the Classico San Sebastian -- in which he finished last three years earlier. He is named Velo News American Male Cyclist of the Year.
In the Tour de France, Armstrong wins the 18th stage in honor of teammate Fabio Casartelli, who dies in a crash in the 15th stage.";
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After entering the year ranked No. 1 in the world, Armstrong becomes the first repeat winner in the Tour Du Pont, is the first American to win the Belgian spring classic Fleche Wallone, and competes with Team USA in the Summer Olympics in Atlanta.
However, days after being forced off his bicycle in excruciating pain in October, tests reveal advanced testicular cancer that has spread to his lungs and brain. He announces the illness in a news conference Oct. 9.
Given at most a 50-percent chance of survival, Armstrong undergoes two operations, one to remove the malignant testicle, and then dramatic brain surgery. He begins taking a \"cocktail\" of chemicals, the chemotherapy begins taking effect and he begins riding and training only five months after his diagnosis.";
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Armstrong announces he is cancer-free, and begins partnership with a new team, the United States Postal Service, after being dropped by French Cofidis.
He also begins a relationship with future wife Kristin Richard, and forms the Lance Armstrong Foundation to fight cancer.";
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After returning to the pro circuit, Armstrong struggles badly in the cold, pouring rain in stage 2 in the Paris-Nice race, pulls over and quits.
He returns to his home in Austin, Texas, figuring his career is over, but coach Chris Carmichael and former Motorola teammate Bob Roll -- both good friends -– help Armstrong learn to love riding again by hanging out together in Boone, N.C. and doing recreational riding.
Lance then goes on to win the Tour de Luxembourg, the Rheinland-Pfalz Rundfarht in Germany, the Cascade Classic in Oregon, and finishes fourth in both the Tour of Holland and Tour of Spain, one of the world's top three races.
Armstrong caps the year by finishing fourth at the World Championships in Holland, which only 66 of 152 riders completed.";
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After winning the prologue time trial to capture the yellow jersey on the first day of the Tour, Armstrong and USPS give up the lead but remain near the front, which proves crucial when a big crash on the Passage du Gois causeway takes nearly half of the potential winners out of contention.
Armstrong wins the stage 8 time trial to retake the yellow jersey, and he doesn't relinquish it until reaching Paris and the winner's podium. En route, Lance wins a stage on the brutal Sestriere to boost his lead to more than six minutes. He later wins the stage 19 time trial and wins the Tour by more than seven minutes.
On Oct. 12, his wife Kristin gives birth to a son, Luke.";
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Armstrong's second Tour victory comes after he finishes third in two Tour de France tune-ups, the Dauphine Libere and Classique des Alpes.
He also survives a potentially career-ending practice crash in the Pyrenees.
After his bicycle tire blows out at 45 mph, he crashes headfirst into a stone retaining wall, but only only suffers scrapes, bruises, and a slight concussion.
At the Tour, Armstrong again destroys the competition in the Alps. Trailing leader Alberto Elli by nearly six minutes, Armstrong attacks ferociously on the final climb of the Hautacam and destroys the world's top riders -- including Marco Pantani, Jan Ullrich and Jacques Virenque -- to secure the yellow jersey with a lead of more than four minutes.
Armstrong puts the finishing touches on the victory by winning the stage 19 time trial by 25 seconds over Ullrich.
Later in the year, Armstrong competes in his third Olympics, in Sydney, despite suffering a vertebra fracture after being hit by a car during training in Nice, France.
He and USPS teammates George Hincapie and Tyler Hamilton and capture the bronze medal in the time trial.";
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On the Alpe d'Huez, trailing the leaders by several minutes, Armstrong and teammate Chechu Rubiera launch an attack.
Armstrong turns his head and gives what has been called \"the look\", then buries the competition with an assault on the mountain to win the stage and set the tone for the rest of the race.
He wins the stage 12 mountain time trial, and later wins the Pla d'Adet stage to increase his lead by four minutes.
Armstrong polishes off the win by taking the individual time trial in stage 18.";
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Armstrong wins his fourth straight Tour, thanks to excellent USPS teamwork in the Pyrenees. He wins stage 11 to La Mongie, then stage 12 to Plateau de Beille with another dominating ride, with teammate Roberto Heras leading the attack in the final miles.
Armstrong leads by 2 minutes, 28 seconds, and seven stages later seals the victory, beating Joseba Beloki by 2:11 in a time trial.
As his countryman and fellow Tour champion Greg LeMond did 13 years earlier, Armstrong is named Sports Illustrated's Male Athlete of the Year.";
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Armstrong captures his fifth straight Tour, but it's his most difficult of all. His margin is only 61 seconds, after winning the previous four by an average of more than six minutes.
Armstrong survives a fierce challenge from old rival Jan Ullrich, and is plagued by a series of mishaps, including a race-blocking protest, an accident he barely avoids, a stomach flu and an enormous pileup.";
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In their final year, Lance Armstrong and his U.S. Postal Service teammates deliver their most dominant peformance, culminating in Armstrong's record sixth victory by more than six minutes.
Armstrong won three stages in the Alps, an individual time trial and the team time trial.
Earlier, Armstrong strongly denies another accusation that he used illegal performance-enhancing drugs in the book \"L.A. Confidential, the Secrets of Lance Armstrong.\"
Armstrong and most of his teammates sign on with their new team Discovery Channel.";
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Armstrong wins his seventh straight Tour, holding off challenges from perennial rivals Jan Ullrich, Alexandre Vinokourov and Ivan Basso.
After an early struggle in the mountains, Armstrong and the Discovery Team exert their dominance and lead the rest of the way.
After plenty of international speculation about his future, Armstrong, 33, announces in April that he will retire after the Tour de France this summer.
His post-Tour plans at first included the idea of raising a family with girlfriend and rock star Sheryl Crow, but the two split up in 2006.
Armstrong also was to continue waging his war against cancer through his foundation."; // END editorial data