Cyclist Time

Armstrong was born on September 18, 1971, in Plano, Texas, a northern suburb of Dallas.

At the age of 12, he began his sporting career as a swimmer at the City of Plano Swim Club and finished fourth in Texas state 1,500-meter freestyle. He stopped swimming after seeing a poster for a junior triathlon which he entered and won easily.

In the 1987–1988 Tri-Fed/Texas ("Tri-Fed" was the former name of USA Triathlon), Armstrong was the number one ranked triathlete in the 19-and-under group; second place was Chann McRae, who became a US Postal Service cycling teammate and the 2002 USPRO national champion. Armstrong's points total for 1987 as an amateur was better than the five professionals ranked that year. At 16, Armstrong became a professional triathlete and became national sprint-course triathlon champion in 1989 and 1990 at 18 and 19, respectively.

It became clear that his greatest talent was for bicycle racing after he won the U.S. amateur championship in 1991. Representing the U.S., he finished 14th in the 1992 Summer Olympics. This performance earned him his first professional contract with Motorola with whom he won his first race, the Trophee Laigueglia in Italy, beating the favourite Moreno Argentin. Also in 1992, Armstrong competed in the Tour of Ireland race.

In 1993, Armstrong won 10 one-day events and stage races. He became one of the youngest riders to win the UCI Road World Championship, and took his first stage win at the 1993 Tour de France from Chalons-sur-Marne to Verdun. He was in 97th place overall when abandoned in the Alps after the 12th stage.

He also collected the Thrift Drug Triple Crown of Cycling: the Thrift Drug Classic in Pittsburgh, the K-Mart West Virginia Classic, and the CoreStates USPRO national championship in Philadelphia. Thrift Drug said it would award $1 million to a rider winning all three races, a feat previously unachieved. At the USPRO championship, Armstrong sat up on his bicycle on the final lap, took out a comb, combed his hair and smiled for the cameras.

In 1994, he again won the Thrift Drug Classic and came second in the Tour Du Pont in the United States. His successes in Europe were second placings in the Clásica San Sebastián and Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

He won the Clásica San Sebastián in 1995, and this time won the Tour Du Pont and took a handful of stage victories in Europe including the stage to Limoges in the Tour De France. He dedicated the win to teammate Fabio Casartelli who had who died in a crash on the descent of the Col de Portet d'Aspet on the 15th stage.

Armstrong's successes were much the same in 1996. He became the first American to win the La Flèche Wallonne and again won the Tour Dupont. However, his performances began to suffer and he was only able to compete for five days in the Tour De France. At Atlanta he was only able to finish 6th in the time trial and 12th in the road race in the 1996 Olympic Games. (Wikipedia)