It's Not About the Bike

In 1996, 24-year-old Lance Armstrong was ranked number one cyclist in the world, but that October, tests revealed that advanced testicular cancer had spread to his lungs and brain. Here he reveals his journey from a 40 per cent chance of survival, to victory in the Tour de France.

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"I want to die at a hundred years old after screaming down an Alpine descent on a bicycle at 75 miles per hour. I don't do anything slow, not even breathe. I do everything at a fast cadence: eat fast, sleep fast." At twenty four, Lance Armstrong was already well on his way to becoming a sporting legend. Then, in October 1996, he was diagnosed with stage four testicular cancer. When lesions appeared on his brain and in his lungs, doctors gave him a 40 percent chance of survival. On that day Armstrong's life changed forever and in typical fashion he met the challenge head on - this was one fight he was determined not to lose. As he battled against the cancer invading his body and the chemotherapy that threatened to sap his soul, a tremendous sense of commitment emerged, to his training and to the people around him who never gave up on him. Just sixteen months after he was discharged from hospital, Armstrong entered the Tour de France, a race famed for its gruelling intensity, and won, in the fastest ever time. Just a few months after that, he became a father.
It's Not About the Bike is the story of one man's inspirational battle against the odds, charting his progress through triumph, tragedy and transformation. This is an awe-inspiring tale of immense courage and will.