LANCE

Another great athlete decided to hang up his cleats this week: Lance Armstrong. Like Ronaldo, Lance is one of the greatest cyclists of our generation. I personally believe he is #2 all-time to the great Eddy Mercx of Belgium. Lance of course holds the record for all-time Tour de France wins with 7 (in a row). Eddy is a close second with 5. In addition, he has won all the monuments of cycling (5 one-day races that include: Milan - San Remo, Tour of Flanders, Paris - Roubaix, Liege - Bastogn - Liege and the Giro di Lombardia a total of 19 times), the Giro d'Italia 5times and the Vuelta a España once, the world championship as an amateur and a professional, and broke the world hour record. So I consider Lance the second greatest cyclist of all-time, but by far the most inspiring.

Everyone knows the story of Lance... at age 25, he was diagnosed with stage 3 testicular cancer. The cancer spread to his lungs, abdomen and brain. On the first visit to a urologist, he was coughing up blood and had a large, painful testicular tumor. Immediate surgery and chemotherapy were required to save his life. After his surgery, his doctor said that he had less than a 40% survival chance. Less than 3 years after diagnosis, he won his first Tour. He is not only an inspiration for cancer patients, but his story can inspire anyone who is against the odds.