The Sandspur

Issue date: 4/22/05 Section: Sports

Media Credit: ABACA PRESS /KRT CAMPUS

Lance Armstrong announced this week that after the 2005 Tour de France, where Armstrong will be riding for a seventh consecutive title, he will retire. Armstrong said at a press conference called to announce his decision that he has decided to retire because he wants to leave competitive cycling while still at the top of his game. Armstrong also expressed a desire to spend more time with his children who he often had to leave for weeks at a time for races.

Armstrong will end his cycling career as one of his sport's most accomplished, and certainly most competitive, athletes. Armstrong famously defeated testicular cancer before going on to win the first of six consecutive Tour de France races. Armstrong's story has made him a global celebrity, leading to best-selling books, appearances and a famous girlfriend, singer Sheryl Crow.

In other cycling news, one of Armstrong's former teammates, Olympic gold medallist Tyler Hamilton, was banned from riding for two years due to a positive steroid test. Hamilton, seen by some as a possible successor to Armstrong, has vowed to fight the suspension.

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