Lance Armstrong's Biography

Lance Armstrong was born on September 18, 1971, and grew up in Plano, Texas.

By 1991 Lance Armstrong was the U.S. National Amateur Champion in cycling and soon after turned professional.

In October 1996, Lance Armstrong revealed that he had testicular cancer, which had spread to his lungs and his brain. His chances of recovery were far less than 50-50. However, an aggressive form of chemotherapy proved successful and Armstrong was to show the best was still to come.

In 2005, Lance Armstrong won his seventh successive Tour de France, in what was his last ever competitive bike race, having announced in April 2005 that he would retire after the 2005 Tour de France.

In May 2005, it was reported that over 50 million yellow Livestrong wristbands had already been sold. Profits from the yellow bands go to the Lance Armstrong Foundation that helps young people with cancer and their families.

According to Lance Armstrong's official site, his Resting Heart Rate is 32-34; Max Heart Rate is 201; Training miles/hours, endurance rides: 5-6 hrs / 100-130 miles.

Because of his outstanding performances Lance Armstrong has been the subject of speculation regarding drug use - an allegation that he has consistently denied.

In August 2005 French newspaper L'Equipe claimed signs of the banned substance EPO were detected in samples of Armstrong's urine during the 1999 Tour de France. To which Lance Armstrong responded:

"I will simply restate what I have said many times: I have never taken performance-enhancing drugs."

A children's book about Lance Armstrong's life, "The Race of His Life" has been written by his former wife Kristin Armstrong, and Ken Call. Kristin and Lance have three children - a son Luke, and twin girls, Grace and Isabelle

In September 2005 Lance Armstrong became engaged to singer Sheryl Crow. The official spokesman said: "Lance proposed to Sheryl ... on a mountain biking holiday."

However, in February 2006, Lance Armstrong and Sheryl Crow split up.

Lance Armstrong came 15th in the Forbes list of the most powerful celebrities 2005.

In November 2005, Armstrong was chosen by Barbara Walters as one of the ten most fascinating people of 2005.

In September 2008, the BBC reported that Lance Armstrong was coming out of retirement to try to win the Tour de France in 2009.

In January 2009, Lance Armstrong chose to compete in the Tour Down Under in Australia as his comeback race.

In the Tour Down Under, Lance Armstrong's bike featured the numbers 27.5, symbolising the 27.5 million people who died of cancer since the Tour de France when he retired in 2005, and 1274, the number of days since his last professional cycling race.

In March 2009, Lance Armstrong broke his collarbone after crashing in the first stage of Spain's Vuelta Castilla y Leon.

On June 5 2009, People reported that Lance Armstrong's girlfriend Anna Hansen gave birth to a 7lb 5oz baby boy named Max.

On 23 July 2009, the BBC reported that Lance Armstrong was to quit Astana and form a US-based team for 2010.

In 2009, Lance Armstrong finished third in the Tour de France. It was his first time back at the Tour de France since 2005.

In June 2010 on Twitter, Lance Armstrong announced that the 2010 Tour de France would be his last.

In June 2012, Lance Armstrong was charged by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) with using performance-enhancing drugs.

In August 2012, Lance Armstrong was stripped of his seven Tour de France titles and given a lifetime ban by USADA, after he decided not to contest drugs charges, saying that he was tired of fighting the allegations and that he still denied doping.

In January 2013, in an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Lance Armstrong admitted he used performance-enhancing drugs during all seven of his Tour de France wins.

Here is the transcript of Lance Armstrong's interview with Oprah Winfrey.