His decision follows deliberation with his close acquaintances; “after talking with my children, family and closest friends, I have decided to return to professional cycling.” But, why the comeback - 4 years after retirement? Lance vows that is “in order to raise awareness of the global cancer burden.” The record-breaking cyclist himself has suffered from testicular cancer.

While no-one doubts this noble cause, Lance Armstrong is racing to win. Bill Stapleton, Armstrong's lawyer, himself remarked that “we're not going to try to win second place.” Others have felt that he is racing in order to bury countless allegations his other seven wins were not clean.

Armstrong has managed to keep in shape after his retirement. He partook in the Boston and New York Marathons, running in times of sub three hours. With regards to cycling, he travelled to Colorado to take place in the Leadville Trail 100km Mountain Bike race, finishing second overall.

It is thought the cyclist has drawn alot of inspiration from the recent Beijing Olympics. He notes that in the games, older athletes were just as capable as younger ones; citing Dara Torres, a 41-year old silver medallist in swimming, and 38-year old marathon winner, Constantina Tomescu-Dita, as successful examples.

Armstrong feels that age is not a barrier to sporting glory, but concedes that his "back gets tired quicker than it used to" and he gets "out of bed a little slower" than before. Despite this, he feels that when on the saddle, he feels "just as good as before."

If Armstrong were to win the Tour, he would be the oldest winner since 1922, back when Firmin Lambot won aged 36.

Physiologically speaking, Lance Armstrong is built for endurance cycling. His VO2 max, a measure of the body's ability to transport and use oxygen for aerobic respiration, was approximated at 84 mL/kg/min. An average male would have a VO2 max around 40mL/kg/min. Yet, other endurance athletes also have VO2 max measurements comparable to that of Lance Armstrong.

Cardiovascular fitness is, in part, contingent upon the ability of the heart to maintain an adequate output to meet the metabolic needs of respiring muscles. It is therefore likely that the source of Lance Armstrong's fitness may be his heart. In the 1930's, a Chinese doctor named Tung observed X-rays taken of 46 rickshaw pullers. He noted that the heart size of these rickshaw pullers was bigger than that of the general public. This process is known as "hypertrophy" and reflects an increase in the bulk of muscle fibres of the left ventricle in response to chronic exertional demands on the heart.

As studies by Edward F. Coyle have shown, Lance Armstrong does indeed have a heart with a hypertrophied left ventricle. This is evinced by a resting heart rate of 33 beats per minute. His maximum heart rate is just over 200 beats per minute, allowing him to maintain a huge cardiac output to his muscular legs.

However, it is not solely the size of Lance Armstrong's heart which makes him the world class athlete he is. Dr. Coyle also postulates that the molecular make-up of his heart may be different to yours or mine. He hypothesises that Lance Armstrong's muscles have a higher percentage of Type 1 muscle fibres which have a different type of a myosin (a molecule responsible for muscle contraction). This altered myosin imparts more efficient respiration in which more chemical energy from ATP hydrolysis can be converted into kinetic energy for power production.

The great thing is that you and me can also get bigger hearts and increased type 1 muscle fibre percentages by regular, hard cardiovascular training. Of course the psychological strain of such arduous training is hard to comprehend, making Lance Armstrong's feat all the more momentous.

A hero must be a leader and must give something back to the community. Lance decided to start a foundation after he came down with cancer. He founded the Ride for the Roses, a charity bike ride through Houston. He gives back to the cancer community by trying his hardest day in and day out to show the world that the disease can be beat. He also shares his advice with other cancer patients

A hero must also be level headed. While Lance does have a huge ego, he understands his place in the world. He understands it is his job to ride, for the nurses, for the patients, and for the friends and family of patients. When a nurse feels that they won't be able to help someone, they look at Lance and say, “Lance made through, and so can my patient”.

Lastly a leader must be willing to try things others won't and be a trail blazer. Lance came back from cancer to win an unprecedented 7 straight Tour de France. He was scared at first and it was a huge undertaking. No one else, in the history of cycling, had ever come back from cancer to race in the Tour. He was a trailblazer and paved his own road. This helped him accomplish his goal and in my mind he is a hero for that.

In the collage, picture one represents the calm attitude that lance had during his cancer. The second picture represents the courage he had to face a life threatening disease. Picture three is the IV pole that lance was hooked up do during his rounds of chemo. Picture four is one of Lance winning the Tour de France. The fifth picture represents the leadership that Lance possesses. The fifth picture is to show his level-headedness. The sixth picture shows Lance supporting fellow cancer patients, survivors and friends that if he can lead a normal life after cancer, so can they. The seventh picture is one of the foundation he created. The eighth is there to represent his sharing characteristic. Lastly, the Trailblazer is there to show that Lance is a trial blazer

Before Cancer Lance did the things to become a winner. Everything changed however when he almost lost his life. The training after chemo showed the drive that Lance had to become the athlete he once was. It showed the passion he had to prove to everyone that he could become a great biker but most of all prove that he could be a survivor. “I paid for it that day. But I didn’t stop riding (p.143).” That short quote showed what he was willing to go through; you didn’t even have to know what happened before that, you just knew he had a true passion for becoming a great rider again. Then that day came when Lance tried to go up a petite incline he lost his breath. “I couldn’t do it. I got halfway up the incline, and I lost my breath (p.145).” That just showed how badly Lance wanted to bike again. Lance’s training after chemo showed how badly Lance wanted to bike again. It showed the passion that Lance had to get back on his bike. It showed how badly he wanted to pursue him passion.

The tour was another example of how Lance Armstrong proved he had overcome cancer. During the tour you could perceive a difference about him. He was thinking more about his team more than himself. He let teammate pass and wasn’t troubled to be in “second place.” “But for reasons of my own, I think it may be the most gallant athletic endeavor in the world. To me, of course, it’s all about living (p.215).” That quote was Lance talking about the tour. If you were to think back to before cancer; Lance would most likely say it’s all about winning. But now he’s saying “it’s all about living”, that shows his mentality has changed and now he is more proud of being a survivor then a great biker. Then once Lance won the first stage of the Tour De France he was blissfully walking through the finish area. “Assorted members of the organization stood around, the men who I felt had left me for dead in a hospital room. “That was for you,” I said, as I moved past them (p.227).” That’s what Lance said to the people who didn’t care about Lance and what he was going through. That just shows he proved that he could do it, when no one thought he could. He proved that he could do only what one in a million people could do (win a stage from just recovering from cancer.) Overall the tour was a immense time when Lance Armstrong proved to himself that he could do what no one thought he could do. It was a time when he realized that he had triumphed over cancer.

The cancer fund raiser that Lance and Kik did was another moment that you could tell Lance had altered. Before cancer, Lance was very conceited and cocky. Now Kik and Lance want to give to the community and help other people with their problems. “I was a cancer survivor first and an athlete second, I decided. Too many athletes live as though the problems of the world don’t concern them (p.158).” That was a great thing that Lance said; it proved that he had “taken a step back” and realized who he really was. When he said that he was now a cancer survivor instead of an athlete, it showed he was proud of something besides cancer. Then he said, “There is so much more we don’t know about our human capacity, and I felt it was important to spread that massage” (p.158). That shows that he has really changed, and now he wants to go out and tell everyone what he did and how he had overcome a huge factor of his life and not to give up. That one particular piece of the book showed Lance Armstrong’s character and what he really believes in now that he is a true survivor.

Prior to cancer, biking is a way to prove Lance was the best; after, it was to show that Lance was a survivor. But Lance Armstrong went further then just being a survivor, he proved to everyone that he could do what most bikers are still dreaming of, which was winning six Tour De Frances from just recovering from cancer. Lance Armstrong changed for the better; he got stronger mentally and was blessed with an immense deal of passion.