What can be said about Lance Armstrong. Seven time Tour winner, and is knocking on the door of an eighth, even after a few years off. Lance Armstrong has not just picked up where he left off, Lance Armstrong has not lost a step. Yes, we all know the story by now, a nationally ranted cyclist, then a bought with cancer, and now a cycling God. Yet, what really makes the man, what really drives lance Armstrong to be the greatest at his sport? Better yet, what drives a Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant or a Roger Federer to win.

Many of these things we shall never know, but what we do know is that without these women and men sports would just be boring. What drives a 38 year old man to push himself past the limits of men 10 to 15 years younger than he? How does a man knocking on the door of his forties live up to the bar he set, while not allowing his body tell his mind what to do?

Lance Armstrong is not just a cyclist, Lance Armstrong is the sport of cycling. Not just because he has won a few races, but because you can never count him out. It does not matter, whatever event Lance decides to cycle in he will be a force to be reckoned with.

Some would say it was his bought with cancer that has given him the fighting spirit, possibly. Yet, how much of that would one want to yield to cancer, at some point it has to be greater than beating cancer, it has to be something bread within him. At an early age lance Armstrong knew who and what he was supposed to be. As a teenager he was a triathlete. This was long before cancer tried to stop what was already there. Yes, maybe the bought with cancer defined him, gave him meaning, but he was great long before cancer tried to cycle him.


For a man who had a 50 50 chance of living, winning a stage of the Tour has to be much easier. Moreover, there is something that drives great people, something that gets them out of bed in the morning. There has to be something that compels them to follow their passion, and not follow what others would have them do. How does one live strong, how does one beat the odds, and never look back at their failure? I don't believe that Lance Armstrong's greatest achievement is beating cancer or winning 7 Tour's. I believe that Lance Armstrong's greatest achievement is just be Lance Armstrong. That is what makes him strong, that is why he can live regardless of being told he would die. It is not what you have done that defines you, it is what you do next.