Linda and Lance Armstrong

True Champions

 
Here we see a young Lance Armstrong standing in front of the Plano home he shared with his devoted mother, Linda, whom Lance frequently cites as his greatest influence.

Lance says in his 2001 autobiography, It’s Not About The Bike, “when it came to never quitting…to gritting your teeth and pushing to the finish, I could only hope to have the stamina and fortitude of my mother, a single woman with a young son and a small salary – and there was no reward for her at the end of the day, either, no trophy or first-place check. For her, there was just the knowledge that honest effort was a transforming experience, and that her love was redemptive.”

In a July 19, 2003, CNN interview Linda admits, “I had every excuse in the world to fail (by) having a child at 17…(but) I was determined that this would not be failure for me. And the fact that I had a child, and I was a child, was the greatest thing that I could have ever wished for.”

In a 1997 interview with Cyclingnews.com, Lance talked of their unique relationship because, “…we have grown up together and are very close…she is very important as an overall force in my life…displaying her strength and courage.” When Lance battled cancer, Linda, with dogged determination, learned all she could about fighting the disease.

Lance dedicates It’s Not About The Bike to “my mother Linda who showed me what a true champion is.”