Lance Armstrong

Lance Armstrong (born September 18, 1971 in Plano, Texas) is a retired American professional road racing cyclist. He is most famous for recovering from testicular cancer to subsequently win the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times—1999 to 2005. His success prompted some to nickname the event the "Tour de Lance."

Reasons for success

Many have discussed the reasons for Armstrong's success in winning seven Tours in a row. Few would disagree that his success involved some combination of the following reasons, and probably a different mix each year.

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Training methodology and preparation

Armstrong has clearly triumphed at least partly because he learned to apply the obsessive focus he developed fighting cancer to making a career of winning the Tour de France, training in Spain for months leading up to the Tour and making frequent trips to France to fully analyze and ride key parts of the upcoming Tour course.

Related Topics:
Spain - France

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Johan Bruyneel

Few would disagree (perhaps least of all, Armstrong himself) at how instrumental the team's sports director, Belgian ex-cyclist Johan Bruyneel, had been in all of Lance's victories. A master technician who shared Lance's obsession for detailed preparation, Bruyneel's symbiotic relationship with Armstrong makes it difficult for even them to ascertain which one influenced the other how much. Starting with Armstrong talking Bruyneel into becoming their sports director, and Bruyneel convincing Armstrong that he could win the Tour, to their almost constant radio communications during each race, the amount of support these men provided for each other through the seven victories is immeasurable.

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Superior tactics

Regardless of whether the credit goes to Armstrong or Bruyneel, there is no question that the superior tactics employeed by Armstrong and his team through the seven victories were virtually flawless (with forgetting to eat lunch on one mountain stage in the 2000 Tour standing out as the rare exception). Focusing the efforts of all team members on a victory for Armstrong, the list of brilliant tactics employed by Armstrong and his team goes on and on. In contrast, the glaring mistakes made by his opponents, some repeated year after year, didn't hurt his ability to succeed.

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Riding style

Armstrong's riding style is also distinctive. He has an extremely high anaerobic threshold and therefore can maintain a higher cadence (often 120 rpm) in a lower gear than his competitors. This style is in direct contrast to previous champions such as five-time Tour de France winner Miguel Induráin, who used a high gear and brute strength. Armstrong maintained a high speed even when going up the most daunting climbs of the Tour and, at times, even specialist climbers like Marco Pantani were unable to keep pace with him consistently.

Related Topics:
Anaerobic threshold - Miguel Induráin - Marco Pantani

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Strongest in climbing and time trials

Unlike most gifted climbers, Armstrong also excelled in the individual time trial, and is as good as, if not better than, those physically more suited to the discipline, such as rival Jan Ullrich. In the mold of Induráin, Armstrong is not consistently aggressive during a Tour, preferring to gain a lead in the time trials or with a few well-placed mountain attacks before sitting back and letting his team defend the lead. Despite this relatively defensive strategy, Armstrong's mountain attacks were often so dominant that he put minutes on his rivals over just a few kilometers.

Related Topics:
Individual time trial - Jan Ullrich

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Rare athletic physical attributes

All top cyclists have excellent key physical attributes. Armstrong is no exception, although in one way, he may be unusually good even for an elite athlete. He is near the top but not at the top aerobically, having a VO2 Max of 83.8 mL/kg/min -- much higher than the average person (40-50) but not as high as that of some other elite cyclists, such as Miguel Indurain (88.0) or Greg LeMond (92.5). His heart is 30 percent larger than average, but an enlarged heart is common for athletes as well. Armstrong's most unusual attribute may be his low lactate levels: even with intense training, while most other racers are in the twenties, Armstrong doesn't go above a 6. Some theorize that his high pedaling cadence is designed to take advantage of this, while others -- like Jan Ullrich -- rely on their aerobic capacity more, pushing a large gear at a lower rate.

Related Topics:
VO₂ Max - Miguel Indurain - Greg LeMond - Jan Ullrich

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Strength of his team

Some have attributed Armstrong's success in recent years in part to his US Postal Service cycling team (now the Discovery Channel Team). Throughout his wins in the Tour de France, Lance has slowly built up the strength of his team. In his first few Tour victories, his team was not considered exceptionally strong. Yet it is evident by the wins of his team in the Team Time Trial in his last three Tour de France victories that they are now one of the most dominating teams in the Pro Tour Circuit. While the U.S. Postal Team competes in races worldwide, the riders selected to join Armstrong in the Tour de France are there specifically to help Armstrong win the yellow jersey. However, the decisive moves in which he gains very large leads over the competition almost always involve Armstrong racing far ahead of his team, and Armstrong has often fended off multiple attacks even when his team falters and he is isolated unexpectedly.

Related Topics:
US Postal Service cycling team - Discovery Channel Team - Yellow jersey

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Support of broader team

Armstrong also revolutionized the support behind his well-funded teams, asking

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his sponsors and equipment suppliers to contribute and act as one cohesive part of the team. For example, rather than having the bike frame, handlebars, and tires of a bicycle designed and developed by separate companies miles away from each other, his teams adopted a Formula 1-style relationship with sponsors and suppliers, taking full advantage of the combined resources of several organizatons working in close communication. This is now the standard in the professional cycling industry. Needless to say, Lance demanded the same level of perfection from others he sought for himself.

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