You can quit and die...
OR you can fight, and win the Tour de France four years in a row...

This analysis was originally posted in 2002... just after Lance had won his 4th straight Tour. It was updated in 2003, just after he had won his 5th, and had already declared that he was going for a record 6th win. (See 2007 update below)

Lance Armstrong chose the later!

A couple of weeks ago, Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France... for the 4th straight year.

And unless you happen to be a cycling enthusiast, that might not seem like such a big deal.

But you'd be wrong, in THIS case... IT'S A BIG DEAL.

You see, 6 years ago, Lance was diagnosed with testicular cancer. It had gone untreated and had spread to his lungs and brain.

He was given less than a 40% chance of survival, let alone win another bike race.

(A short bio... updated 2007)...Lance Armstrong (born Lance Edward Gunderson on September 18, 1971) is a retired American professional road racing cyclist. He won the Tour de France—cycling's most prestigious race—seven consecutive times, from 1999 to 2005. In doing so, he beat the previous records of five wins by Miguel Indurain (consecutive) and Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Jacques Anquetil. Previous to this achievement he also survived testicular cancer, a germ cell tumor that metastasized to his brain and lungs in 1996. His cancer treatments included brain and testicular surgery, and extensive chemotherapy.

In 1999, he was named ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year. In 2002, Sports Illustrated magazine named him Sportsman of the Year. He was also named Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year for 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005. He received ESPN's ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006, and won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Overseas Personality Award in 2003. Armstrong retired from racing on July 24, 2005, at the end of the 2005 Tour de France.

What is it about the guy that would enable him to triumph over such odds? Here's a clue from his autobiography - "It's Not About The Bike"

"Pain is temporary, it may last a minute, or an hour, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit however, it lasts forever. That surrender, even the smallest act of giving up, stays with me."

Much of Lance's "don't quit" attitude he attributes to his Mother and her favorite sayings:

  • "Make every obstacle an opportunity"
  • "You never quit"
  • and... "Unless you can give 110%, you won't make it"!

Take a look at Lance's handwriting and you'll see that he adopted her attitudes well!

To maintain the integrity of the sample, the following images are large and will take a few moments to download. Thank you for your patience.

Figure 1

An overview of our handwriting samples...

Slant

Looking at Figure 1, one of the first things you notice is that the entire writing slants uphill. This is indicative of his sense of optimism and selfassuredness in accomplishing whatever goals he sets for himself... whether it be beating cancer, or winning the Tour.

Spacing

Another noticeable trait is the wide spacing between his words. This indicates generosity. Lance can be extremely generous... but only for those causes or persons that he feels is deserving or has earned it.

If you were to draw a straight line under each word, you'd notice that the writing pretty much stays on the line... indicating good willpower, reliability, and common sense in pursuing his goals persistently. There isn't any doubt that he will follow through on what he starts out to do.

Figure 2

Now, let's look at some specific's of Lance's handwriting...

The letter "o" has a clean, crisp look, with no inner loops, EXCEPT for the "o" in his last name... which has a big inner loop exiting on the right side.

Which tells me that he's candid, blunt, and brutally honest. Watch out, because he doesn't like secrets and finds deceit totally unacceptable. And he's straightforward with his opinions, whether asked for or not. But at the same time, he's very protective of details about his personal life. He won't lie about his private life, he just tends to avoid complete answers about it.

The letters "m" and "n" are very pointed rather than rounded on top.

This shows him to be a comprehensive thinker. When he sees a problem, he will instantly size it up, and come up with a lightning speed solution. He's constantly on the go... and as fast as he can. So whatever you do, don't get in his way, because he has a tendency to be impatient and get irritated with "slower" thinkers or talkers.

The loops in the letters "y" and "g" relate to his PHYSICAL being.

Both the "y" and "g" letters have no loops at all... they simply have a long downward tail. This is an indication that at the time of the writing, Lance, was experiencing some frustration in the physical area of his life.

This could mean different things... either he was spending a lot of time on mental activities rather than riding and training. Or, it could also mean that perhaps he and his wife were preoccupied with their obligations and not taking care of each other!

The first letter in both his first and last name is considerably larger than the rest of the letters.

This is showing the world that he has a healthy ego and a strong sense of who he is and what he wants and expects from others.

His signature is sloppy and illegible.

His sloppy signature reveals his being always rushed and in a hurry. It also indicates his tendency to hide his innermost thoughts from the outside world.

General conclusions:

Lances handwriting reveals a person who is focused, goal-oriented and determined... good qualities that we all should have.

Even his fellow opponents agree, that he will most likely win the Tour for the next 2 or possibly 3 years. I wish him the best.

I certainly like his attitudes and determination... how about you?

Till next time...