When Anna Ivey, CEO and co-founder of CommonCoach Inc., opened her inbox recently she noticed an email from someone who had connected with her on LinkedIn, but she soon found out he was not looking for a professional connection.

"Your beauty and charming smile caught my eye," the man wrote. "You have an amazing profile and glad I had the courage to write you after weeks of deep thought." He then added: "I hope no offense is taken."

Ivey did take offense and posted a screenshot of the offending email to Twitter with the message: "LinkedIn. Is. Not. A. Dating. Site."

"I decided I'm going to start putting these out there, because especially in the startup world, a lot of men don't realize the garbage that women have to put up with," she said in a telephone interview.

Women – and to a much lesser degree, men – have long had to endure unwanted advances in the workplace or at work related events. But the problem is worse on LinkedIn, where people feel more comfortable making advances than they would in-person.

"It would be nice if these platforms took this abuse more seriously," said Ivey.

LinkedIn's community guidelines prohibit "romantic advances." However, as the company's CEO Jeff Weiner told Wired magazine last year, it relies on self-policing to enforce the policy. The company says it removed 52,617 instances of harassment or adult content last year.

Los Angeles has always had a reputation as a tough place to date, and that before COVID-19 shut down bars, parties and workplaces. As internet dating has become more mainstream, especially during the pandemic, people are used to finding love online, and unlike dating apps — where the person you're swiping on might not even be real — LinkedIn confers authenticity. That it is not a dating site is a feature and not a bug for some users wary of being seen on the likes of Bumble or Hinge.

"People don't want their friend's daughter or their assistant to see them online," said eharmony dating coach Laurel House. "They don't want people knowing their personal business."

Photo by Greg Bulla on Unsplash

'Sometimes It Does Feel Predatory'

Ivey estimates she gets about one message a month through LinkedIn asking her out and she sees it is as more than just an annoyance. "Sometimes it does feel predatory," she added. "I haven't asked to be a target. I don't know how much they know about me. I don't know how much they have Google stalked me."

Despite the unwelcome advances, Ivey says she cannot delete her LinkedIn profile because it is an important networking tool. She tries to limit how much information she shares in her profile, something she says men do not have to worry about. Some women have also been told to use less attractive profile photos.

"I really mean that Linkedin is not a dating site," Ivey said. "If I were looking for romantic prospects, I would not be looking at Linkedin."

Ivey is hardly alone. Olivia Solon, tech investigations editor for NBC News, got this message: "It's my pleasure meeting you here. You look so beautiful and gorgeous." Kim Taylor, CEO of Cluster, posted a screenshot of a similar entreaty on Twitter: "I've not been able to take my eyes off your picture," a man wrote to her. "You're the most beautiful I've ever seen."

After Taylor posted the message, Ben Katz, a tech entrepreneur who's currently the executive chairman of Haven Coliving, criticized her on Twitter for being overly sensitive.

"The outreach wasn't hostile," Katz replied to her. "Has anyone ever hit on you at a work event? How is this different?" (Katz later deleted the Tweets. When asked to comment he replied "LOL.")

The exchange highlights not only two divergent point of views, but how — three years after the #MeToo movement began — there is still confusion about when making a pass at someone crosses the line. Even when intentionally looking for love on apps, women tend to experience sexual harassment at a much higher rate than men.

assets.rebelmouse.io

Unclear intentions: An Informational Interview or a Date?

Two years ago, Saphira Howell, who was 20-years-old at the time, was working in an entry-level role at a tech startup in Venice when she received a LinkedIn message from a man seven years her senior. He asked if they could meet over coffee for an informational interview so he could learn more about the company. Since they had mutual acquaintances on LinkedIn, she agreed. But when they met near Venice Beach, he showed little interest in talking about work.

"I thought it was weird because he didn't ask anything about the company," Howell recalls. "I thought maybe this guy was just a big networker?"

When the man texted a few weeks later asking if she wanted to have lunch, Howell asked him if he was looking for a date. He said he was. Howell told him she had a boyfriend and was not interested. She never heard from the man again. "I was a little unsettled that he thought our informational coffee was a date," she said.

Laurel House, the dating coach expert at eharmony, said stories like Howell's are common, but she does not think it is inappropriate to use LinkedIn for dating, so long as people are respectful and upfront with their intentions.

"Make it clear as you can that you're interested in knowing her in a non-business way," said House. "You're giving her the opportunity to say 'thanks, but no thanks'."

House says overtures on the app are often a two-way street. "I have a lot of female clients who reach out to men to date on LinkedIn," she added. "They think a guy is really hot and maybe they can get a job or maybe a date."

Steven Ward, CEO of Master Matchmakers, who counts many tech executives as clients, says he scours dating sites for eligible singles, then cross-references LinkedIn to help verify their professional credentials.

"Linkedin is a great reservoir of talent when it comes to the dating scene," he said.

He also uses the platform to message people, since most dating sites require a mutual match before users can communicate. "You take your lumps," said Ward. "But sometimes they start to feel very intrigued if there's no commitment to work with me."

A matchmaker and chief dating officer at Match, Katie Wilson says she has contacted thousands of people on LinkedIn to ask if they would be interested in dating her clients and experiences "ten times" the success she does on Instagram or Facebook.

"I have yet to come across someone that's frustrated that I've reached out to them about their personal lives," said Wilson. "I think everyone is flattered. Even married folks are tickled that they still got it."

Still, Wilson does acknowledge that receiving a message from her is probably less threatening or creepy than getting one from a suitor.

A Message and Then a Marriage

Some have met or reconnected with long lost acquaintances through LinkedIn that led to relationships, or even marriages.

Katie McCulloh, who lives outside Washington D.C, had grown weary of dating apps after years of bad dates. "If there was an app out there, I had tried it," she said. "I never had any success."

Three years ago, when she had just turned 35, she reached out to an old high school boyfriend on LinkedIn who she had not spoken to in years. "Linkedin was the one way I could reconnect," McCulloh said. "I didn't have a phone number and he wasn't on other social media."

McCulloh said she was only trying to be friends, but once the two met up "It didn't take long for us to realize something was still there." Two years ago they got married and now they are raising a toddler.

"You just never know what's going to happen," she said.

Lead art by Candice Navi.

For theArrow​​​​​​ ​episode, see "Sara".

For other people who used the "Canary" identity, see Canary.

For other uses, see Sara (disambiguation).

Sara Lance

"Look. I don't know what you've heard about me, but basically, I had an affair with my sister's boyfriend, I allowed my entire family to think that I was dead, and then I became a league-trained assassin."
"Wow. That's impressive."
"My point is, even someone with a past as checkered as mine can still turn their life around, can be a hero."

—Sara Lance and Earth-2 Laurel Lance^[src]

Sara Lance (December 25, 1987^[1] – October 8, 2014^[2]; resurrected November 2015^[3] - 2021^[4]; resurrected in a clone body 2021^[4]) is the daughter of Quentin and Dinah Lance, the younger sister of the late Laurel Lance, and the leader of the Legends following the departure of the team's founder, Rip Hunter. She is the captain of the Waverider and a member of the Crisis team, as well as a former member of the League of Assassins and Team Arrow. Sara is the wife of Ava Sharpe, the ex-girlfriend/close friend of the late Oliver Queen, and the ex-lover of Nyssa al Ghul.

After the Queen's Gambit went down in November 26, 2007, Sara was presumed dead but in reality, had been found by Anthony Ivo and spent time on the Amazo and Lian Yu. After the sinking of the Amazo, Sara was rescued by the League of Assassins, whom she then joined and trained with for five years, after which she left the organization and returned to Starling City under the vigilante moniker the Canary,^[5] a translation of her League name, Ta-er al-Sahfer (Arabic: الطائر الأصفر; for "the Yellow Bird").^[6][5] Sara stayed to protect her sister, Laurel, before she was forced to leave due to the League following her, trying to bring her back. She was eventually released from the League of Assassins by her lover, Nyssa. Following this, Sara joined Team Arrow and rekindled her past relationship with Oliver. However, she soon rejoined the League as her part of a deal for their help in defeating Slade Wilson. Sara eventually returned to Starling while following Malcolm Merlyn but was killed by Thea Queen's hand, manipulated and drugged by Merlyn. Over a year after her death, Sara was resurrected by the powers of the Lazarus Pit, and with the help of John Constantine, her soul was restored when Laurel and Oliver risked their own to bring hers back. When she was recruited to Rip's team, the Legends, she became known as White Canary. Sara became the leader of the Legends when Rip was presumed dead and eventually left the team.

After the Legends broke time to defeat the Legion of Doom, they got disbanded by Rip and the Time Bureau. The Legends got back together to deal with the anachronisms, and to start the search for the Totems of Zambesi to defeat the demon Mallus. Sara started a rivarly with Time Bureau agent Ava Sharpe, who she would later start a relationship with. After the defeat of the demon Mallus, the Legends released magical creatures from hell, and with the help of John Constantine had to send back. Sara recruited Mona Wu and Charlie, while trying to mantain her relationship with Ava. To defeat Neron, the Legends had to put on Heyworld, and were successful in saving Ray and bringing Nate back to life. Some time after that, Sara was informed of the upcoming crisis and went to help the other heroes.

During the Anti-Monitor Crisis, Sara was revealed to be the Paragon of Destiny. She was one of the only surviving individuals from Earth-1 after the destruction of the original multiverse in the Anti-Monitor Crisis. However, thanks to Oliver's sacrifice, she and the other Paragons were able to defeat the Anti-Monitor after Earth-Prime was created.

After the battle with the Anti-Monitor and Oliver's funeral, Sara dealt with the "Encores" sent out by Astra Logue. After Ray's departure, the Legends had to deal with the Fates, and getting the pieces for the Loom of Fate. Sara survived seeing the goddess Atropos' true form and sunseqiently gained the power of near-future visions, though lost her eyesight in the process. She was killed again during the England Zombie Apocalypse while protecting her team, but revived by Charlie with the Loom of Fate. After killing Atropos, Sara lost her new-found powers and her eyesight was restored. Not long after, she was abducted by aliens and after escaping and crash-landing on an unknown planet, she was poisoned by an alien and found by Bishop. After Sara succumbed to the poison, Bishop transferred her mind to a human-alien hybrid clone body. Once rescued by Mick Rory, Sara reunited with the Legends and proposed to Ava.

After stopping the Zaguron invasion and defeating Bishop, another Waverider appeared out of nowhere and destroyed the Legends' Waverider, leaving them stranded in 1925. The Legends later learned about Dr. Gwyn Davies, who laid the foundation for all of time travel, and travelled to New York to obtain his help in returning home. When the Legends started changing the timeline through their mistakes with Gywn's time machine, Bishop's rebooted Gideon started hunting them with robot versions of themselves. Sara is now pregnant with Ava Sharpe's baby a Human-Kriblixhybrid.

Biography

Original multiverse

Early life

Sara Lance was born on December 25, 1987, Christmas Day, to Quentin and Dinah Lance in Starling City and had an older sister, Laurel. When she was little, Sara would play dress up with her sister. One time, she and Laurel pretended to be all grown up as a doctor and police officer, respectively.^[2] The two would also race to see who could climb to the top of a tree first and Sara won every time. Years later however, she suspected that Laurel deliberately lost their races, knowing Sara was a sore loser.^[7]

When Sara was 10 years old,^[6] her father bought her a pet canary which she loved, but it drove everyone else crazy.^[8] At one point, Sara visited Starling City Aquarium and got a stuffed shark, which was her favorite childhood toy. She would hold the shark close to her chest anytime something bad happened to her.^[9] Sara attended Starling City Elementary, where she once starred as Peter Pan in the school play. When it was time for her to come onstage, Sara suddenly blanked and forgot her lines so she spontaneously did a tap dance before running off in embarrassment, crying.^[10]

At some point, Sara met Laurel's childhood friends, Tommy Merlyn and Oliver Queen.

During her high school years, Sara faced bullying from a classmate, Gwen, and the latter's two friends because she was making a move on Gwen's boyfriend, who was her lab partner. The frequent occurrences of harassment created behavioral issues in Sara and caused her grades to drop, worrying her parents. When Quentin tried confronting her, Sara refused to tell him, and later Laurel, anything, determined to deal with the problem herself. However, when she returned home with a black eye, Quentin decided to teach Sara and Laurel how to defend themselves. Afterwards, the sisters worked together to fight off Gwen and her friends.^[11]

As a teenager, Sara was rebellious and a troublemaker, which often got her into tricky situations, subsequently putting her at odds with her father. One such incident had Sara being arrested for shoplifting but Quentin made the charges go away.^[12] Thus, she was closer to her mother growing up due to her and Dinah's shared free-spirited natures.^[13] In her teens, Sara dated many delinquents, much to her father's chagrin, from whom she learned skills such as hot-wiring a car.^[14] Sara's dates also tried getting her drunk in hopes of coercing her into having sex. However, she proved to have an abnormally strong tolerance for alcohol and always drank the guys under the table.^[15]

Sara soon developed a crush on Oliver and in 2005, she snuck out of the house to go to a party held at Tommy's home to see him. However, Oliver was too drunk to acknowledge her and ended up spilling his beer on Sara, much to her embarrassment. She was then pulled in by the cops and grounded by her father for a month. Sara later believed that Laurel had called the cops to ruin her chances with Oliver, since he and her sister got together not long after.^[16]

6 years in the darkness

Queen's Gambit

In late 2007, Oliver started pursuing Sara after having second thoughts about moving in with Laurel.^[17] Excited that her teenhood crush was paying attention to her and wanting to get back at Laurel for what happened at Tommy's party, Sara quickly began sleeping with him.^[16] Later, she returned home from college to spend time with her family during a three-day weekend but was secretly texting Oliver; he had invited Sara to come with him on the Queen's Gambit voyage, though she was initially hesitant. That night, Sara attempted to caution Laurel against her expectations of getting engaged to Oliver, a known playboy, since he wasn't the type to take such a big step yet. However, an outraged Laurel perceived this as her sister being a "bitch", upsetting Sara and spurring her into accepting Oliver's offer.^[18]

On the day of the Queen's Gambit trip as Sara was preparing to leave, her mother unexpectedly arrived home early and caught the former in the process of packing her clothes, including her Starling Rockets baseball cap. Dinah initially objected to Sara going, but Sara managed to convince her mother otherwise by claiming that she was in love with Oliver, needing to follow her heart and do what she felt was right. Dinah then let her go and kept this encounter a secret.^[19]

During their sail at sea, Sara and Oliver were in bed together in his cabin. While Sara was somewhat nervous about the storm and Laurel finding out of their affair, Oliver assured her they would be fine. Suddenly, the yacht (which had been sabotaged on the orders of Malcolm Merlyn) sank and Sara was pulled underwater, causing Oliver to believe that she had drowned.^[20] However, Sara managed to swim to the surface on the other side of the wreck and was marooned on a piece of the ship for days.^[6]

Sara's apparent death had multiple effects on the Lance family. For Laurel, she couldn't properly grieve her sister after Sara betrayed her by sleeping with Oliver, but couldn't be angry either because she had died, and thus struggled to come to terms with her death.^[20] Quentin fell into a deep state of depression, becoming an alcoholic, and buried himself in his work in an attempt to ignore his pain, taking every case that passed his desk without pause.^[21] Sara was also the first and last thought of Quentin's mind every day and it took him years to get past that point. His drinking and work obsession eventually lead to Dinah divorcing him.^[22] Dinah harbored great guilt and remorse for not stopping Sara from going on the Gambit. Unable to face her family with this, she left for Central City after divorcing Quentin. However, Dinah (correctly) believed that Sara was still alive and spent years searching for her daughter. It wasn't until over five years later that she was able to begin making amends with Quentin and Laurel after admitting the truth.^[19]

The Amazo

A few days after the Gambit sank, Sara was found by a ship called the Amazo, who took her on board but they imprisoned her in a cell. Later, the crew dragged Sara out of her cell and were going to take her away, but were stopped by a grey-haired man, who brought Sara to his quarters. This man introduced himself as Dr. Anthony Ivo. He claimed that he was going to save the human race, and asked if Sara would join him.^[6] Ivo explained that he was looking for a serum created by the Japanese in World War II called Mirakuru (Japanese for Miracle), which could increase muscle strength, enhanced senses, and regenerate cells, but the submarine sank somewhere in the chain of islands nearby.^[23]

For the next year, Ivo protected Sara from the cruelty of his men and taught her many skills in the fields of biology, chemistry, and technology. Sara assisted Ivo in his work and participated in torturing his prisoners through his experiments, though only because she was secretly terrified she would be the next test subject. Sara still felt a sense of loyalty towards Ivo for saving her life, no matter how cruel he became.^[16]

A year later, Sara reunited with Oliver when he was brought aboard the Amazo.^[24] Confused, Oliver tried to talk to her but Sara, who was scared of Ivo and his men, wanted to protect Oliver by not disclosing their friendship. She kicked Oliver in the stomach, knocking him down, and acted cold when she saw Ivo approaching. Later, Sara let Oliver out of his cell and took him to a radio to contact his friends, Slade Wilson and Shado who were still on Lian Yu. However, just when they made contact, Ivo and his men appeared, revealing it was a set-up to figure out if his friends were still alive. When the captain tried to kill Oliver, Sara instead suggested keeping him alive to find the gravesite, which Ivo agreed to.^[23]

Time on Lian Yu

Sara went with Oliver, Ivo, and the crew of the Amazo onto the island and towards the crashed plane where Oliver and his friends had resided. She watched as Ivo ordered his men to shoot the place up after Oliver screamed for Slade and Shado to run. When they found the place empty, Ivo left a bomb in the plane and had Oliver lead them to the gravesite. When they arrived at the cave, the guards started questioning Oliver for the hōzen, an arrowhead which should have been buried with the bodies. Soon, Shado and Slade ambushed the crew at arrow and gun point and demanded Oliver back. When Ivo released him, Oliver punched the captain in the face, grabbed Sara, and escaped.

After they got away Shado revealed she had the hōzen which they discovered had coordinates on it, leading to the location of the submarine which housed the Mirakuru which Ivo believed to be the cure to save all of mankind. After Sara revealed this to them, Oliver asked if it could cure Slade.^[25] They used the hōzen to locate the submarine, in which they quickly found the Mirakuru. Oliver injected Slade, even after Sara told him that Slade would likely not survive it without a sedative. Slade began to react badly, with eradic screaming and blood pouring from his eyes. Eventually, he turned quiet and Sara confirmed he had no heartbeat. Before they could begin to mourn, Ivo and his men barged in, taking the three of them captive.^[26]

Anthony took Sara and Shado hostage and held them in front of Oliver, telling him to pick who would die between Shado and Sara, threatening to kill them both if Oliver didn't decide within 30 seconds. After the time had passed, Ivo aimed his gun at Sara, only for Oliver to run in front of her in a desperate attempt to stop him from killing her. Taking that as his choice, Ivo quickly turned his gun over to Shado and shot her in the head. Just then, the newly Mirakuru-empowered Slade appeared and saw Shado dead. In his rage, he killed Ivo's men and stole the rest of the Mirakuru, but Ivo managed to escape. When Slade asked who killed Shado, Sara quickly answered that Ivo just shot Shado for no apparent reason.^[27]

They buried Shado next to her father's grave and Sara warned Oliver not to tell Slade why Shado died, because now that he had the Mirakuru inside of him he could be unpredictable and dangerous. As they were walking, Sara and Oliver asked Slade where they were going and he responded that they were heading back to the plane in order to get geared up to kill Ivo and his men. Sara told him he couldn't as Ivo had too many dangerous people working for him. This angered Slade who accused Sara of still working for Ivo but Oliver stepped between them. Slade lifted Oliver a foot off the ground, choking him. Sara promptly hit Slade with a branch, making him let go of Oliver and causing him to realize what he'd done.

Later that night, Ivo contacted them through Sara's radio, telling them they had ten days to deliver the Mirakuru to him and in turn he would give them safe passage off of the island. And if they didn't comply, he would send his men in to take it by force and take them in to be experimented on. They turned to consult with Slade, only to realize that he had disappeared and taken the Mirakuru with him.^[28] Sara suggested they should consider Ivo's offer which angered Oliver. At night they had a heart-to-heart but after Oliver fell asleep, she took the radio and contacted Ivo. He asked if she was okay but she questioned if he even cared as not long ago he was close to shooting her. He claimed he would never have done that but she was upset that he killed Shado. He tried to win her sympathy, saying the darkness had taken over and that he needed her but Sara told him she would rather die than help him again.^[16]

Oliver and Sara tracked Slade down to the cave with the gravesite but when they got there he was nowhere to be found. Oliver spotted some calculations on a wall which he recognized as identical to the ones on Edward Fyers' missile launcher, and therefore deduced that Slade was going to destroy the Amazo with the missiles. They rushed to the missile launchers as quick as they could and found Slade inputting the calculations. Oliver managed to talk him down and they decided to take the Amazo for themselves.^[29]

The three of them surveyed the freighter and brainstormed ideas on how to board it when they heard a plane. They tried to signal it, though it was quickly shot down with a missile. They ran to find it and discovered its dying pilot. Sara attempted to save him, but he was fatally injured. As he lay dying, the man asked Sara to find his daughter, Cindy, and take care of her. Sara promised to do so. The man gave Sara a picture of Cindy before succumbing to his wounds. In the midst of this, however, Oliver noticed a bagged parachute, remarking how it could get them on to the freighter.^[30]

Preparing for battle, Sara concocted some cocculus indicus to counteract sodium pentathol, which Sara with all her knowledge of Ivo's tactics assumed he would use on Oliver. They agreed to destroy the Mirakuru to make sure that even if their plan went south, Ivo would never get his hands on it. Later that night, Slade produced a bottle of Australian rum, one of the few things that survived the plane's crash, for them all to drink to commemorate their last night on the island. Sara later asked Oliver that if she would not make it, he'd tell her family that she died on the Queen's Gambit so they could remember her as she was then.

The next day, they prepared for battle. Oliver purposefully got himself captured while Sara and Slade kept watch from a highpoint on the island. As Sara had predicted, Ivo had Oliver injected with sodium pentothal or truth serum. Per Sara's instructions, Oliver acted dazed and began answering Ivo's questions, claiming Sara and Slade had built a raft and were in the engine room of the ship. Ivo sent all his men there to find them and Oliver was taken back to his cell, but along the way he knocked the guards out and took their keys.

Sara and Slade watched from the island and after seeing them clearing the deck they jumped of the cliff with the parachute, landing on the top deck. They split up and Sara went to free the other prisoners. However, one of the prisoners, Hendrick Von Arnim, who despised her for working with Ivo, jumped on her and started choking her. She was saved by another prisoner, Thomas Flynn, who knocked him out and followed Sara to the top deck. As gunfire broke out between the crew and the prisoners, Sara took cover and was soon joined by Oliver who informed her that Ivo had told Slade the truth about Shado's death and he had now turned on them. Realizing the battle was lost, Sara told Oliver they had to retreat, so they along with some of the prisoners, one of whom was Anatoly Knyazev, jumped the ship and swam to the shore although Oliver was caught by Slade at the last minute and taken captive.^[31]

Sara took the prisoners with her to their old base where she was contacted by Slade on the radio. He told her that the engine had broken and he was willing to free Oliver if she gave him Hendrick, who was an engineer. Sara lied that Hendrick hadn't made it to the island but Slade called her bluff and gave her one hour to deliver Hendrick to him or he would kill Oliver. Hendrick started pointing his gun at Anatoly, but Sara knocked him out from behind and then agreed to Slade's terms.^[32] Knowing handing him over would be a death sentence regardless, Sara got the idea to use Hendrick as a way to kill Slade. She had Anatoly extract the explosives out of a landmine and planted them on Hendrick before handing him over. However, once they made the trade, Slade found the explosives and pulled his gun on Sara but he soon concluded that dying would be too good for them and they deserved to suffer on the island until their deaths.^[33]

Anatoly attempted to torture Ivo, only to be stopped before he could when Ivo told them there was, in fact, a cure to the Mirakuru and a possible way to stop Slade. Ivo offered to help them find it if they could provide him with a quick death due to the gangrene traveling in his system due to his arm stump. They agreed to the deal and after being told where the cure was, Sara prepared to shoot him but Oliver stopped her, shooting him himself as to spare Sara of the heaviness of having to take a life.^[34]

They went back to the Japanese submarine where Oliver convinced Anatoly to pilot it, having been in the Russian Navy. However, after realizing it was stuck, they concocted a use the ships torpedoes to blast themselves out. Oliver asked Sara to wait outside for safety^[35] but she was found by Slade who took her captive at the Amazo. Oliver came after her and freed her from her cell. He told her leave while he would try to cure Slade of the Mirakuru, though she refused to leave without him and they both made their way to Ivo's quarters. However, there they were ambushed by Slade who revealed that he had the cure.^[5]

Slade took Sara and Oliver to watch him inject numerous prisoners with Mirakuru and see it fail as the prisoners died. Anatoly then fired another torpedo at the Amazo and the ship began to flood. Oliver grabbed an arrow, killing Slade's men where he could. Before Slade could grab the Mirakuru, Oliver was able to, however, he was able to grab Sara. Slade threw Sara down the hole in the ship, leaving Oliver to again believe that Sara had drowned.^[36] However, Sara survived the sinking of the Amazo and managed to make it back to shore on the island. Unable to find any trace of Oliver or Slade, Sara believed them to be dead.

League of Assassins

Soon thereafter, Sara was discovered by Nyssa al Ghul on Lian Yu, nearly starved to death and having lost the will to live. Nyssa nursed her back to health and took her in. Nyssa was part of the League of Assassins and took Sara to Nanda Parbat^[18] where she was brought before Ra's al Ghul to determine her fate. As he demonstrated his power, which had made all before her fear him, Sara had simply laughed.^[37] Sara trained with the League and became an assassin herself by swearing her allegiance to them.^[6] She was also acquainted with Maseo Yamashiro, who joined the League the same time as Sara and admired her as a warrior.^[2]

At some point during her time with the League, Sara and Nyssa fell in love and began a relationship.^[18] As part of her induction, Sara was told to "choose a new name" and picked "Ta-er al-Sahfer" (in Arabic: الطائر الأصفر), Arabic for Canary ("yellow bird"), reminiscent of the canary she had as a child. Sara was also trained by Ra's al Ghul as part of her League training.

On one mission, Sara was sent to Guyana to kill local diplomat Suarez. She slit his throat in his bed and left his body to be found by his children the next morning.^[6]

Rise of the Canary

In late 2012, Sara began to hear stories of the Starling City vigilante, codenamed the Hood/Arrow, wearing a green hood and immediately realized that it was Oliver wearing Shado's hood. After the Undertaking, Sara left Nanda Parbat to check on her family.^[24] However, she ended up staying in Starling City (in the shadows), unwilling to return to the League. Sara became a vigilante, mainly targeting men who attacked women.^[38]

One night in The Glades, The Canary saved Cindy Simone, also known as "Sin", from a gang of would-be rapists.^[24] Honoring the promise she made to the girl's father five years prior, Sara took Sin under her wing (but kept her meeting with Sin's father secret).^[30] Shortly after while Roy Harper was fighting a gang harassing a woman outside Big Belly Burger, the Canary swooped in and fought off the attackers before they could hurt Roy. She then swiftly vanished.^[39]

When the Arrow was cornered by an SCPD S.W.A.T. team led by Laurel at the D.A.'s office, the Canary swooped in and used a sonic device to disorient the policemen and shatter the windows. The two vigilantes used the chaos to quickly escape the scene. Sometime later when Roy was lured into her hideout by Sin, The Canary knocked him out with her staff. She asked why he was looking for her, but was interrupted by a message on Roy's phone from Thea Queen, telling him that Laurel and Quentin had been kidnapped. The Canary immediately took off to save her family, letting Roy go.

The Canary arrived at the abandoned Metamorpho Chemical, where she fought the kidnapper, Barton Mathis/The Dollmaker. The Canary easily subdued him but Mathis managed to drop a load of pipes on her, pinning her to the ground. Before he could harm her, The Arrow came in and shot Mathis with two arrows. Despite the Arrow's intentions to take the serial killer back to prison, The Canary killed him by hurling her baton through his chest before vanishing. Upon returning to her hideout, The Canary was confronted by a member of the League, who informed her that Ra's al Ghul wanted her to return. The Canary tried to persuade the assassin to lie to Ra's that he couldn't find her, but he refused. She then killed the man to protect her whereabouts.^[38]

After realizing that The Canary was following Laurel, Oliver tracked her down near Laurel's apartment building and unmasked her. Upon seeing her face, Oliver was shocked that Sara was still alive. Although she soon made her escape. The next day, Sara had breakfast with Sin, during which she revealed her run-in with the Arrow. The two discussed their families, with Sara talking about Quentin and Laurel. That night, Sara followed Oliver to Verdant, where he confirmed that he kept her existence a secret from her family. Quentin then arrived to talk to Oliver. Sara listened as Quentin revealed Laurel's depression and alcoholism in the wake of Tommy Merlyn's death and was saddened as her father recounted how much Sara's death affected them.

After Sin was injured by the gang-lord calling himself The Mayor and taken to hospital, Sara and Oliver teamed up to take him down. Working together hand-in-hand, they defeated The Mayor with Sara showing off her fighting skills. Sara tried to kill him but Oliver convinced her to spare him to be arrested. Later, Sara secretly watched over Sin at the hospital, where she ran into Oliver. Oliver tried to persuade Sara to tell her family the truth and return home permanently.^[24]

Sara began staying with Oliver at the Queen Mansion, though she struggled with nightmares of the Queen's Gambit sinking. Oliver again tried to convince her to tell her family but she dismissed it, not sure they would be so happy to see her as he thought. One day, they were attacked by Al-Owal, a member of the League of Assassins. Sara tried to fight back, but was overpowered. However, Oliver managed to fend Al-Owal off. Afterwards, they went to the Arrowcave, where Sara formally met Oliver's teammates, John Diggle and Felicity Smoak. Sara revealed to the team that she was once part of the League of Assassins and now, they are on the hunt to bring her back to their leader, Ra's al Ghul.

Oliver and Sara then tracked down Al-Owal, only to learn he had reinforcements. After a heated battle, the two narrowly escaped with their lives. Fearing retaliation against Sara, Oliver decided to protect the whole Lance family, but when Quentin refused to listen to Felicity's warnings of danger, Sara decided that it was time to reveal herself to her father. He was rejoiced upon realizing Sara was alive. He soon realized she was the new vigilante and had been back in town for weeks and was hurt when she admitted she wouldn't have let them known of her return if it wasn't for the assassins.

Sara brings Quentin to her hideout where they are attacked by Al-Owal and his two companions. They start fighting them off and are joined by Oliver who helps them defeat the assassins. Sara kills Al-Owal and leaves one alive to run to Ra's to tell him that her family is off limits. She was afraid of what her father would think of her after seeing that but he assured her that she was a his daughter and this wouldn't change that. Sara then left Starling City to draw the League away from her family. She bid goodbye to her father and made him promise not to tell Laurel and Dinah that she was alive.^[6]

A couple months later, after Laurel's unraveling lead to her facing disbarment and she started drinking too much and pushing the people around her away, Oliver contacted Sara, explaining that her sister needed her. Later that night, Sara paid a visit to Laurel at her apartment, but Laurel suddenly passed out.^[29] Concerned, Sara immediately called for help. While Laurel recovered at the hospital, Sara dealt with her frustrations by working out in the Arrowcave. She considered leaving again despite Oliver's protests. Then, the Arrow got a call from Quentin asking for Sara, who he knew was back.

Sara later met up with her father who pleaded with her to stay but she insisted that as long as the League was still after her, they were all in danger. When Sara walked down a street, Nyssa al Ghul arrived, holding a knife. She approaches Sara and the two kiss. Sara and Nyssa went for a walk, and Nyssa begged Sara to come back but Sara told her she couldn't go back to killing and asked Nyssa to release her. After sharing another close moment, Sara told Nyssa she wouldn't go back, and to do what she had to. Sara stood waiting as Nyssa drew her dagger from her thigh but then pulled away, not being able to go through with it.

Sara returns to the Arrowcave where she discovers that Laurel didn't have an overdose but was poisoned by Nyssa as a way to draw her back to the city. Sara and Oliver goes after her, but Sara is horrified to discover Nyssa has taken her, mom Dinah Lance, giving Sara only 24 hours to rejoin the League or her mother dies. They get away and Sara returns to tell Quentin what has happened, also filling him in on her and Nyssa's past relationship, giving him a slight shock. She asks him if this upsets him but he tells her he's just glad she had someone to care for her during all those hard years she spent away. Oliver, Sara, and Quentin track down an assassin for information, but he kills himself before he can tell them anything.

Sara then decides to give herself over, but poisons herself with Tibetan pit viper venom as Nyssa returns Dinah to Quentin. The venom begins to take effect, weakening Sara and causing her to collapse. Nyssa holds Sara in her arms and cries upon realizing what she did. Once Oliver arrives he and Nyssa began to fight. Sara pulls herself up from the floor just as Oliver gets the upper hand and begs him not to kill Nyssa. She weakly walks over to them before collapsing and passing out. Oliver runs over to her and manages to counter the poison causing her to wake up and gasp for air. Sara turns to Nyssa and begs her - no more killing, then Nyssa tearfully releases her from the League. Soon after, Quentin and Dinah arrive with Laurel who is shocked.

At Laurel's apartment, Sara shared a happy reunion with her parents. However, Laurel rejected Sara's attempts to reconnect, bitter with her sister over the past, blaming her for everything going wrong in their lives and hurt that she had not told them she was still alive. A guilt-ridden Sara tried to apologize, only for Laurel to throw her out. Heartbroken, Sara later returned to the Arrowcave and encountered Oliver, both of them feeling betrayed by their families. Sara expressed that at least she is home now. The two of them began kissing passionately and slept together.^[18]

Sara officially joins Team Arrow and quickly bonds with Diggle over battle scars. She is reluctant to go to her homecoming party and tells Oliver their relationship a secret for Laurel's sake. She attends the party is disappointed that Laurel didn't come. At the party, she is greeted by Sin who runs to hug her, raising suspicion in Oliver's sister Thea so she lies that they don't know each other with Sin saying she just loves when people came back from the dead. When one of William Tockman's victims are found, Sara and Oliver leave the party early to investigate.

Sara finds Felicity, feeling left out in the Arrowcave, and punching a sparring dummy so she helps her with her stance. She tries to to ask her if she was okay but was interrupted by Diggle and Oliver arriving. Afterward, at the scene of another bank robbery, the Canary is able to injure William, collecting a sample of his blood. Sara later analyzes it and is able to determine that William is suffering from MacGregor's Syndrome a rare terminal illness which they could use to identify him. The Arrow and the Canary go to the address of William's sister, only to find a device that destroys the Arrowcave's computer system.

Felicity tells Sara that she shouldn't miss her family dinner for the sake of the mission. Nervous about seeing Laurel again, Sara asks Oliver to come with her. At the dinner, Laurel realizes that Sara and Oliver are in a relationship and gets extremely angry, berating everyone at the table before storming off.

When Oliver and Sara return to the Arrowcave, they learned that Felicity has broken into Starling National Bank, hoping to use their computer system to track William. The Arrow, Canary, and Diggle meet Felicity there to help her. In the final showdown, Felicity saves the Canary's life, takes a bullet for her and manages to take William down by blowing up his cell phone. In the Arrowcave, Sara patches Felicity up while thanking her for saving her life.

After getting a job as a bartender at Verdant, Laurel showed up to make amends. She told her how she had been drowning ever since Sara disappeared on that boat. Laurel tearfully begged Sara not to hate her. Sara simply embraced her and the sisters reconciled.^[30]

While in the Arrowcave with the rest of Team Arrow, Sara recognized Slade Wilson's voice from the phone call from Oliver to Felicity. She is shocked and tells the rest of the team who he is. She brings Roy Harper and Diggle to the Queen mansion, believing Oliver and his family to be in danger. Sara climbed the house and went in through a window on the second floor while Diggle was positioned outside with a gun. She descended the stairs as if she had been there all along, confronting Slade, who was pretending to be a normal houseguest to Oliver's mom and sister, while he shook hands with Roy. Faced with all these people, Slade made his excuses and left, with the promise to return.^[31]

"I am not the girl he knew on the island. I am not that easy to kill."

—Sara to Oliver^[src]

After this incident, Oliver started having nightmares and Sara tried to get Oliver to talk about his problems, commenting on his lack of sleep, but she had no success. Later while bartending, Sara confided in Laurel while helping her sister fill a job application form at Verdant. After Oliver collected information on Slade from the Bratva, Sara confronted him again, telling him he needed help and that Shado's death was not his fault. Oliver instead told Sara to stay away from him, not wanting her to be a target of Slade's vendetta. Eventually, though, Oliver came back to Sara, confessing that he could not get Slade on his own, and the two promised each other to do so together.^[40]

The Canary and Arrow watched over Quentin and his men as they were trying to detain some criminals, including Frank Bertinelli and quickly intervened. Quentin was injured during the fight, enraging Sara and causing her to force a criminal off the rooftop. Alarmed, Quentin told Sara to show restraint next time. The team realized Frank's daughter, Helena Bertinelli aka the Huntress, was back in town and would be trying to kill her father. Sara was slightly amused when Felicity and Diggle revealed Helena was Oliver's "psycho ex-girlfriend". The Arrow, Canary, and Roy intercepted Helena's car but found it to be a decoy. When Adam Donner rehired Laurel and assigned her to prosecute Frank, Sara tried to convince her sister to drop the case, knowing that it would make her a target of the Huntress. When Laurel remained on the case, Sara was scared for her sister's safety and upset when Oliver planned a non-lethal way to take Helena down.

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Nov. 16, 2018) – The Chancellor’s Town Hall: Relationship Goals, at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University began as expected – with excitement to see guests Boris Kodjoe, Nicole Ari Parker, Lance Gross, Rebecca Gross, Tatyana Ali and Vaughn Rasberry.

Alumna and attorney, Kimberly Bullock Gatling facilitated the event and began the conversation with one simple, yet pointed question to the guests, “How did you know your spouse was the one?” 

Kodjoe quickly responded, “Men know when they know. When I was working with [Nicole] on ‘Soul Food,’ I told her we were going to get married. It was absolutely genuine.” 

While many of the others echoed Kodjoe’s sentiment, Rasberry, who met and courted Ali through the popular online dating site, eHarmony offered another perspective. 

He says they began their relationship through an intellectual connection. “That was so powerful we knew only good things could flow from there,” he added. 

Over the course of the conversation, panelists tackled dating, sex and intimacy and of course the big “C” in relationships – communication. That concept, along with patience and self-evaluation continued to arise as overarching themes and characteristics of healthy relationships. 

“No one is a blank slate. We all come with our own history,” said Ali. “All of the things I come with, he loves all of me. Find someone who will love you for the good and the bad.” 

Parker admonished attendees to make sure to have a spiritual toolbox, align themselves with it first then allow the rest to fall into place. 

The evening concluded when Kodjoe asked for advice from a couple in the audience who happened to be married more than 40 years – Chancellor and Mrs. Martin. 

Their words of wisdom were the perfect conclusion to a captivating conversation. 

“She has helped me communicate more. In the early years we didn’t that too well. I had to learn it all over time,” said Chancellor Martin. “We’ve learned to fight fair and leave baggage in the past.” 

“There always needs to be respect for each other,” said Mrs. Martin. “And don’t bring up that history.” 

Launched in March 2017, the Chancellor’s Town Hall series was created to bring nationally distinguished guests to Greensboro for campus dialogue on matters of current and abiding importance to the university community and the world beyond. It is part of N.C. A&T’s commitment to creating an intellectual climate that encourages the creative exchange of ideas.

Are you dating or talking online to someone who says they are a military member? Have they asked you for funds or documents? You might be looking for true love, but chances are good that you are the victim of one of thousands of military scams conducted every day.

U.S. military officials have warned those involved in online dating to proceed with caution when corresponding with someone claiming to be a U.S. military member serving in Syria, Afghanistan or elsewhere.

Officials and websites like Military.com receive hundreds of questions or allegations a month from victims who state they got involved in an online relationship with someone who claims to be in the U.S. military but started asking for money for various false service-related needs such as transportation costs; communication fees; or marriage, processing or medical fees.

Victims of these online military scams often think they are doing a good deed by helping a military member. Instead, they have given their money to a scammer, sometimes losing thousands of dollars, with very low possibility of recovery.

The U.S. has established numerous task forces to deal with this growing epidemic. Unfortunately, the people committing these scams are often overseas -- using untraceable email addresses, routing accounts through numerous locations around the world and utilizing pay-per-hour Internet cyber cafes.

See examples of fake documents used by scammers.

Are you being scammed? Here's how to know.

Military Scams: What to Look For

There are a variety of words and phrases used by scammers to hook unsuspecting men and women into relationships. Here are some examples:

• They say they are on a "peacekeeping" mission.
• They say they are looking for an honest woman.
• They note that their parents, wife or husband is deceased.
• They say they have a child or children being cared for by a nanny or other guardian.
• They profess their love almost immediately.
• They refer to you as "my love," "my darling" or any other affectionate term almost immediately.
• They tell you they cannot wait to be with you.
• They tell you they cannot talk on the phone or via webcam for security reasons.
• They tell you they are sending you something (money, jewelry) through a diplomat.
• They claim to be in the U.S. military; however, their English and grammar do not match that of someone born and raised in the United States.

Military Romance Scams: Common Questions

Scammers tend to use similar stories to convince men and women that they have a legitimate need. Military.com regularly receives questions about these claims. Here are common answers to those questions:

• Military members and their loved ones are not charged money so that they can go on leave.
• No one is required to request leave on behalf of a military member.
• A general officer will not correspond with you on behalf of military personnel planning to take leave.
• A general officer will not be a member of an internet dating site.
• Military members are not charged money or taxes to secure communications or leave.
• Military members do not need permission to get married.
• Military members do not have to pay for early retirement.
• All military personnel have medical insurance for themselves and their immediate family members (spouse and/or children), which pays for their medical costs when treated at health care facilities worldwide. Family and friends do not need to pay their medical expenses.
• Military aircraft are not used to transport privately owned vehicles.
• Military financial offices are not used to help military personnel buy or sell items of any kind.
• Member of the military deployed to combat zones do not need to solicit money from the public to feed or house their troops.
• Deployed military personnel do not find large sums of money and do not need your help to get that money out of the country.

Military Scams: How to Avoid Them

You can avoid being taken for a ride by a military scam artist by practicing a few easy habits.

Never send money. Be extremely suspicious if you are asked for money for transportation costs, communication fees or marriage processing and medical fees via Western Union.

Do your research. If you do start an Internet-based relationship with someone, check them out. Research what they are telling you with someone who would know, such as a current or former service member. 

Communicate by phone. Be very suspicious if you never get to actually speak with the person on the phone or are told you cannot write or receive letters in the mail. Servicemen and women serving overseas will often have an APO or FPO mailing address. Internet or not, service members always appreciate a letter in the mail.

Fact-check. Many of the negative claims made about the military and the supposed lack of support and services provided to troops overseas are far from reality. Check the facts.

Don't use a third party. Be very suspicious if you are asked to send money or ship property to a third party or company. Often, the company exists but has no idea or is not a part of the scam.

Watch for African countries. Be very suspicious if the person you are corresponding with wants you to mail anything to an African country. While some U.S. troops are stationed there, they are few and far between. Someone claiming to be in a place where we have few troops is suspect. Many scams originate in Nigeria.

Watch for grammar. Be aware of common spelling, grammatical or language errors in the emails.

Be guarded. Be very suspicious of someone you have never met and who pledges their love at warp speed.

Military Romance Scams: How to Get Help

How do you get help if you are the victim of a military scam or think you have found a romance scammer posing as a military member?

Unfortunately, if you've given money to a scammer, you're unlikely to get it back since scammers are often located overseas and are untraceable.

You can, however, report it.

You can report the theft to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) (FBI-NW3C Partnership) on its website.

You can also report identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission. Your report helps law enforcement officials across the United States in their investigations. Report it online or by phone at 1-877-ID-THEFT.

Finally, report Nigerian scams to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission by email at scam@efccnigeria.org.

Keep Up with the Ins and Outs of Military Life 

For the latest military news and tips on military family benefits and more, subscribe to Military.com and have the information you need delivered directly to your inbox.

Logo text

Logo is getting into the bachelor business.

The LGBT-focused Viacom-owned cable network has gone straight to series on a gay-themed dating competition series, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

‘N Sync grand Lance Bass is set to host the eight-episode series, which is fittingly titled Finding Prince Charming. The unscripted entry will debut in the fall.

Described as the first of its kind dating show, Finding Prince Charming will feature 13 gay men living in the same house and competing to win the heart of what Logo calls “one of the nation’s most eligible gay heartthrobs.” The identities of the suitors and the bachelor have not yet been announced, though production has begun.

“Logo has a long history of showcasing LGBTQ-focused stories with memorable characters that transcend pop culture,” said Pamela Post, senior vp original programming at Logo. “Finding Prince Charming will take viewers on a whirlwind journey through modern love and relationships in a way that only Logo can do.”  

Finding Prince Charming is produced by Brian Graden Media, with Graden exec producing alongside the company’s Dave Mace, Fred Birckhead and Nick Murray. VH1 and Logo topper Chris McCarthy, Post and Stevenson Greene will oversee for Logo, while Jen Passovoy is set as producer. 

The series comes as ABC has found continued success — both water cooler- and ratings-wise — with its Bachelor franchise and multiple spinoffs, including The Bachelorette.

Bass is repped by WME.

For the Australian politician, see Lance Armstrong (politician).

American cyclist (born 1971)

Lance Edward Armstrong (néGunderson; born September 18, 1971)^[4] is an American former professional road racing cyclist. Armstrong was stripped of his seven consecutive Tour de France titles from 1999 to 2005 after a doping investigation and his admission to using performance enhancing drugs.

At age 16, Armstrong began competing as a triathlete and was a national sprint-course triathlon champion in 1989 and 1990. In 1992, he began his career as a professional cyclist with the Motorola team. He had success between 1993 and 1996 with the World Championship in 1993, the Clásica de San Sebastián in 1995, Tour DuPont in 1995 and 1996, and a handful of stage victories in Europe, including stage 8 of the 1993 Tour de France and stage 18 of the 1995 Tour de France. In 1996, he was diagnosed with a potentially fatal metastatictesticular cancer. After his recovery, he founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation (now the Livestrong Foundation) to assist other cancer survivors.

Returning to cycling in 1998, Armstrong was a member of the US Postal/Discovery team between 1998 and 2005 when he won his seven Tour de France titles. Armstrong retired from racing at the end of the 2005 Tour de France, but returned to competitive cycling with the Astana team in January 2009, finishing third in the 2009 Tour de France later that year. Between 2010 and 2011, he raced with Team Radio Shack, and retired for a second time in 2011. These wins and titles would be later stripped after the doping investigations.

Armstrong became the subject of doping allegations after he won the 1999 Tour de France. For years, he denied involvement in doping. In 2012, a United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) investigation concluded that Armstrong had used performance-enhancing drugs over the course of his career^[5] and named him as the ringleader of "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen".^[6] While maintaining his innocence, Armstrong chose not to contest the charges, citing the potential toll on his family.^[7] He received a lifetime ban from all sports that follow the World Anti-Doping Code, ending his competitive cycling career.^[8] The International Cycling Union (UCI) upheld USADA's decision^[9] and decided that his stripped wins would not be allocated to other riders.^{[N 1][10]} In January 2013, Armstrong publicly admitted his involvement in doping. In April 2018, Armstrong settled a civil lawsuit with the United States Department of Justice and agreed to pay US$5 million to the U.S. government after whistleblower proceedings were commenced by Floyd Landis, a former team member.

Early life

Armstrong was born Lance Edward Gunderson on September 18, 1971, at Methodist Hospital in Richardson, Texas,^[12] the son of Linda Gayle (née Mooneyham), a secretary, and Eddie Charles Gunderson (died 2012),^{[citation needed]} a route manager for The Dallas Morning News. He is of Canadian, Dutch, and Norwegian descent.^[13] He was named after Lance Rentzel, a Dallas Cowboys wide receiver. His parents divorced in 1973 when Lance was two. The next year, his mother married Terry Keith Armstrong, a wholesale salesman, who adopted Lance that year.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Early career

At the age of 12, Armstrong started his sporting career as a swimmer at the City of Plano Swim Club and finished fourth in Texas state 1,500-meter freestyle. He stopped swimming-only races after seeing a poster for a junior triathlon, called the Iron Kids Triathlon, which he won at age 13.^[14]

In the 1987–1988 Tri-Fed/Texas ("Tri-Fed" was the former name of USA Triathlon), Armstrong was ranked the number-one triathlete in the 19-and-under group; second place was Chann McRae, who became a US Postal Service cycling teammate and the 2002 USPRO national champion. Armstrong's total points in 1987 as an amateur were better than those of five professionals ranked higher than he was that year. At 16, Lance Armstrong became a professional triathlete and became national sprint-course triathlon champion in 1989 and 1990 at 18 and 19, respectively.^[15]

Motorola: 1992–96

In 1992, Armstrong turned professional with the Motorola Cycling Team, the successor of 7-Eleven team. In 1993, Armstrong won 10 one-day events and stage races, but his breakthrough victory was the World Road Race Championship held in Norway. Before his World Championships win, he took his first win at the Tour de France, in the stage from Châlons-sur-Marne to Verdun. He was 97th in the general classification when he retired after stage 12. He collected the Thrift Drug Triple Crown of Cycling: the Thrift Drug Classic in Pittsburgh, the K-Mart West Virginia Classic, and the CoreStatesUSPRO national championship in Philadelphia. He is alleged by another cyclist competing in the CoreStates Road Race to have bribed that cyclist so that he would not compete with Armstrong for the win.^[16]

In 1994, he again won the Thrift Drug Classic and came second in the Tour DuPont in the United States. His successes in Europe occurred when he placed second in Liège–Bastogne–Liège and the Clásica de San Sebastián, where just two years before, he had finished in last place at his first all-pro event in Europe. He finished the year strongly at the World Championships in Agrigento, finishing in 7th place less than a minute behind winner Luc Leblanc.^{[citation needed]}

In a 2016 speech to University of Colorado, Boulder professor Roger A. Pielke, Jr.'s Introduction to Sports Governance class, Armstrong stated he began doping in "late Spring of 1995".^[17]

He won the Clásica de San Sebastián in 1995, followed by an overall victory in the penultimate Tour DuPont and a handful of stage victories in Europe, including the stage to Limoges in the Tour de France, three days after the death of his teammate Fabio Casartelli, who crashed on the descent of the Col de Portet d'Aspet on the 15th stage.^[18] After winning the stage, Armstrong pointed to the sky in honor of Casartelli.^[19]

Armstrong's successes were much the same in 1996. He became the first American to win the La Flèche Wallonne and again won the Tour DuPont. However, he was able to compete for only five days in the Tour de France. In the 1996 Olympic Games, he finished 6th in the time trial and 12th in the road race.^[20] In August 1996 following the Leeds Classic, Armstrong signed a 2-year, $2 million deal with the French Cofidis Cycling Team.^[21] Joining him in signing contracts with the French team were teammates Frankie Andreu and Laurent Madouas. Two months later, in October 1996, he was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer.^{[citation needed]}

Cancer diagnosis, treatment and recovery

On October 2, 1996, at the age of 25, Armstrong was diagnosed with stage three (advanced) testicular cancer (embryonal carcinoma).^[22] The cancer had spread to his lymph nodes, lungs, brain, and abdomen.^[23] He visited urologist Jim Reeves in Austin, Texas for diagnosis of his symptoms, including a headache, blurred vision, coughing up blood and a swollen testicle.^[24] On October 3, Armstrong had an orchiectomy to remove the diseased testicle.^[25] When Reeves was asked in a later interview what he thought Armstrong's chances of survival were, he said, "Almost none. We told Lance initially 20 to 50% chance, mainly to give him hope. But with the kind of cancer he had, with the x-rays, the blood tests, almost no hope."^[24][25]

After receiving a letter from Steven Wolff, an oncologist at Vanderbilt University,^[26] Armstrong went to the Indiana University medical center in Indianapolis and decided to receive the rest of his treatment there. The standard treatment for Armstrong's cancer was a "cocktail" of the drugs bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (or Platinol) (BEP). The first chemotherapy cycle that Armstrong underwent included BEP, but for the three remaining cycles, he was given an alternative, vinblastineetoposide, ifosfamide, and cisplatin (VIP), to avoid lung toxicity associated with bleomycin. Armstrong credited this with saving his cycling career.^[29] At Indiana University, Lawrence Einhorn had pioneered the use of cisplatin to treat testicular cancer. Armstrong's primary oncologist there was Craig Nichols.^[30] On October 25 his brain lesions, which were found to contain extensive necrosis, were surgically removed by Scott A. Shapiro,^[32] a professor of neurosurgery at Indiana University.

Armstrong's final chemotherapy treatment took place on December 13, 1996. In January 1997, Armstrong unexpectedly appeared at the first training camp of the Cofidis team at Lille, riding 100 km (62 mi) with his new teammates before returning to the United States.^[34][35] In February 1997, he was declared cancer-free. In October, Cofidis announced that his contract would not be extended, after negotiations broke down over a new deal.^[21] A former boss at Subaru Montgomery offered him a contract with the US Postal team at a salary of $200,000 a year. By January 1998, Armstrong was engaged in serious training for racing, moving to Europe with the team.^[30]

US Postal/Discovery: 1998–2005

Before his cancer treatment, Armstrong had participated in four Tour de France races, winning two stages. In 1993, he won the eighth stage and in 1995; he took stage 18 which he dedicated to teammate Fabio Casartelli who had crashed and died on stage 15. Armstrong dropped out of the 1996 Tour after the fifth stage after becoming ill, a few months before his diagnosis.^{[citation needed]}

Armstrong's cycling comeback began in 1998 when he won the Tour of Luxembourg. During the 1998 Vuelta a España Armstrong shocked the cycling world by finishing in the top 5 during one ITT, the top 10 in another and for the most part staying with the GC contenders in the mountains en route to finishing 4th overall. His credibility as a threat was confirmed when he finished 4th in both the road race and time trial at the World Championships.^[36] As a result of these efforts Armstrong finished 3rd in the voting for the Vélo d'Or.^[37]

In 1999 he won the Tour de France, including four stages. He beat the second place rider, Alex Zülle, by 7 minutes 37 seconds. However, the absence of Jan Ullrich (injury) and Marco Pantani (drug allegations) meant Armstrong had not yet proven himself against the biggest names in the sport. Stage wins included the prologue, stage eight, an individual time trial in Metz, an Alpine stage on stage nine, and the second individual time trial on stage 19.^[38]

In 2000, Ullrich and Pantani returned to challenge Armstrong. The race began a six-year rivalry between Ullrich and Armstrong and ended in victory for Armstrong by 6 minutes 2 seconds over Ullrich. Armstrong took one stage in the 2000 Tour, the second individual time trial on stage 19. In 2001, Armstrong again took top honors, beating Ullrich by 6 minutes 44 seconds. In 2002, Ullrich did not participate due to suspension, and Armstrong won by seven minutes over Joseba Beloki.^[39] During stage eleven and twelve of this Tour is when the race was won as US Postal had Vuelta champRoberto Heras lead Armstrong up both climbs, breaking the peloton in the process. Then when Heras' work was done Armstrong took off to claim the stage wins only having to contend with Beloki.

The pattern returned in 2003, Armstrong taking first place and Ullrich second. Only a minute and a second separated the two at the end of the final day in Paris. U.S. Postal won the team time trial on stage 4 and on stage 9 Armstrong nearly crashed out of the Tour while defending the yellow jersey. He was less than a minute ahead of Beloki and Alexander Vinokourov was on a solo attack threatening to overtake Armstrong in the standings. While traversing the Côte de la Rochette Beloki crashed violently and hard, ending his Tour and sending him to the hospital with serious injuries.^[40] Armstrong narrowly avoided the same fate by reacting in time to avoid Beloki, but to do so he went off the road and ended up on a foot trail which led downhill through a field. He survived upright on his bike nearly to the end, at which time he picked it up and carried it the rest of the way to the road at the bottom of the hairpin turn, essentially losing no time as a result. He could have been fined or penalized for taking a shortcut, but it was deemed unintentional.^[41] Armstrong maintained a gap of only +0:21 over Vinokourov, but Ullrich was emerging as the most likely rider to overthrow Armstrong. Armstrong then took stage 15, despite having been knocked off on the ascent to Luz Ardiden, the final climb, when a spectator's bag caught his right handlebar. Ullrich waited for him, which brought Ullrich fair-play honors.^[42]

In 2004, Armstrong finished first, 6 minutes 19 seconds ahead of German Andreas Klöden. Ullrich was fourth, a further 2 minutes 31 seconds behind. Armstrong won a personal-best five individual stages, plus the team time trial. He became the first biker since Gino Bartali in 1948 to win three consecutive mountain stages; 15, 16, and 17. The individual time trial on stage 16 up Alpe d'Huez was won in style by Armstrong as he passed Ivan Basso on the way despite having set out two minutes after the Italian. He won sprint finishes from Basso in stages 13 and 15 and made up a significant gap in the last 250 m to nip Klöden at the line in stage 17. He won the final individual time trial, stage 19, to complete his personal record of stage wins.^[43]

In 2005, Armstrong was beaten by American David Zabriskie in the stage 1 time trial by two seconds, despite having passed Ullrich on the road. His Discovery Channel team won the team time trial, while Armstrong won the final individual time trial. In the mountain stages, Armstrong's lead was attacked multiple times mostly by Ivan Basso, but also by T-mobile leaders Jan Ullrich, Andreas Kloden and Alexandre Vinokourov and former teammate Levi Leipheimer. But still, the American champion handled them well, maintained his lead and, on some occasions, increased it. To complete his record-breaking feat, he crossed the line on the Champs-Élysées on July 24 to win his seventh consecutive Tour, finishing 4 m 40s ahead of Basso, with Ullrich third. Another record achieved that year was that Armstrong completed the tour at the highest pace in the race's history: his average speed over the whole tour was 41.7 km/h (26 mph).^[44] In 2005, Armstrong announced he would retire after the 2005 Tour de France,^[45] citing his desire to spend more time with his family and his foundation.^[46] During his retirement he was unaware of professional cycling but whilst at a conference, in 2008, he saw Carlos Sastre's win on Alpe d'Huez and "felt a pang".^[46]

Comeback

Astana Pro Team: 2009

See also: 2009 Astana season

Armstrong announced on September 9, 2008, that he would return to pro cycling with the express goal of participating in the 2009 Tour de France.^[47][48]VeloNews reported that Armstrong would race for no salary or bonuses and would post his internally tested blood results online.^[48]

Australian ABC radio reported on September 24, 2008, that Armstrong would compete in the UCI Tour Down Under through Adelaide and surrounding areas in January 2009. UCI rules say a cyclist has to be in an anti-doping program for six months before an event, but UCI allowed Armstrong to compete.^[49] He had to retire from the 2009 Vuelta a Castilla y León during the first stage after crashing in a rider pileup in Baltanás, Spain, and breaking his collarbone.^[50] Armstrong flew back to Austin, Texas, for corrective surgery, which was successful, and was back training on a bicycle within four days of his operation.

On April 10, 2009, a controversy emerged between the French anti-doping agency AFLD and Armstrong and his team manager, Johan Bruyneel, stemming from a March 17, 2009, encounter with an AFLD anti-doping official who visited Armstrong after a training ride in Beaulieu-sur-Mer. When the official arrived, Armstrong claims he asked—and was granted—permission to take a shower while Bruyneel checked the official's credentials. In late April, the AFLD cleared Armstrong of any wrongdoing.^[51] Armstrong returned to racing after his collarbone injury at the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico on April 29.^[52]

On July 7, in the fourth stage of the 2009 Tour de France, Armstrong narrowly failed to win the yellow jersey after his Astana team won the team time trial. His Astana team won the 39 km lap of Montpellier but Armstrong ended up just over two tenths of a second (0.22) outside Fabian Cancellara's overall lead.^[53] Armstrong finished the 2009 Tour de France on the podium in 3rd place. The only riders able to drop him were Andy Schleck who was able to defeat him by +1:13 and his own Astana teammate Alberto Contador, who won the Tour by more than four minutes over Schleck.^{[citation needed]}

Team RadioShack: 2010–11

On July 21, 2009, Armstrong announced that he would return to the Tour de France in 2010.^[54]RadioShack was named as the main sponsor for Armstrong's 2010 team, named Team RadioShack.^[55] Armstrong made his 2010 season debut at the Tour Down Under where he finished 25th out of the 127 riders who completed the race. He made his European season debut at the 2010 Vuelta a Murcia finishing in seventh place overall. Armstrong was also set to compete in several classics such as the Milan–San Remo, Amstel Gold Race, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and the Tour of Flanders, but bouts with gastroenteritis forced his withdrawal from three of the four races.^[56]

Armstrong returned to the United States in mid-April to compete in the Tour of Gila and May's Tour of California, both as preparation for the Tour de France. However, he crashed outside Visalia early in stage 5 of the Tour of California and had to withdraw from the race. He showed fine shape after recovering from the Tour of California crash, placing second in the Tour of Switzerland and third in the Tour of Luxembourg.

On June 28, Armstrong announced via Twitter that the 2010 edition would be his final Tour de France.^[58] Armstrong put in an impressive performance in the Tour's prologue time trial, finishing fourth. Only time trial specialists were able to better Armstrong's time and he was the highest placed of the GC contenders with a young, relatively unknown rider, Geraint Thomas, finishing one second behind him and Contador four seconds slower. In all eight of Armstrong's Tours since his comeback in 1999 he always had the requisite good luck early in the Tour and never got involved in crashes or mechanicals, which could cost him serious time. In 2010 his luck ran out early as he lost serious time due to the aftermath and peloton splits caused by a crash on stage 3,^[59] and then another crash on stage 8. He rallied for the brutal Pyrenean stage 16, working as a key player in a successful break that included teammate Chris Horner. He finished his last tour in 23rd place, 39 minutes 20 seconds behind former winner Alberto Contador.^[60] He was also a key rider in helping Team RadioShack win the team competition, beating Caisse d'Epargne by 9 minutes, 15 seconds. In October, he announced the end of his international career after the Tour Down Under in January 2011. He stated that after January 2011, he will race only in the U.S. with the Radioshack domestic team.^[61]

Armstrong announced his retirement from competitive cycling 'for good' on February 16, 2011, while still facing a US federal investigation into doping allegations.^[62][63]

Armstrong improved the support behind his well-funded teams, asking sponsors and suppliers to contribute and act as part of the team.^[64] For example, rather than having the frame, handlebars, and tires designed and developed by separate companies with little interaction, his teams adopted a Formula One relationship with sponsors and suppliers named "F-One",^[65] taking full advantage of the combined resources of several organizations working in close communication. The team, Trek, Nike, AMD, Bontrager (a Trek company), Shimano, Sram, Giro and Oakley, collaborated for an array of products.^{[citation needed]}

Doping allegations, investigation and confession

Main articles: History of Lance Armstrong doping allegations and Lance Armstrong doping case

For much of his career, Armstrong faced persistent allegations of doping.^[66] Armstrong denied all such allegations until January 2013, often claiming that he never had any positive test in the drug tests he has taken over his cycling career.^[67]

Armstrong has been criticized for his disagreements with outspoken opponents of doping such as Paul Kimmage^[68][69] and Christophe Bassons.^[70][71] Bassons was a rider for Festina at the time of the Festina affair and was widely reported by teammates as being the only rider on the team not to be taking performance-enhancing drugs. Bassons wrote a number of articles for a French newspaper during the 1999 Tour de France which made references to doping in the peloton. Subsequently, Armstrong had an altercation with Bassons during the 1999 Tour de France where Bassons said Armstrong rode up alongside on the Alpe d'Huez stage to tell him "it was a mistake to speak out the way I (Bassons) do and he (Armstrong) asked why I was doing it. I told him that I'm thinking of the next generation of riders. Then he said 'Why don't you leave, then?'"^[72][73]

Armstrong confirmed the story. On the main evening news on TF1, a national television station, Armstrong said, "His accusations aren't good for cycling, for his team, for me, for anybody. If he thinks cycling works like that, he's wrong and he would be better off going home".^[74] Kimmage, a professional cyclist in the 1980s who later became a sports journalist, referred to Armstrong as a "cancer in cycling".^[71] He also asked Armstrong questions in relation to his "admiration for dopers" at a press conference at the Tour of California in 2009, provoking a scathing reaction from Armstrong.^[71] This spat continued and is exemplified by Kimmage's articles in The Irish Independent.^[75]

Armstrong continued to deny the use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs for four more years, describing himself as the most tested athlete in the world.^[76] From his return to cycling in the fall of 2008 through March 2009, Armstrong claimed to have submitted to 24 unannounced drug tests by various anti-doping authorities.^[77][78]

Working with Michele Ferrari

Armstrong was criticized for working with controversial trainer Michele Ferrari. Ferrari claimed that he was introduced to Lance by Eddy Merckx in 1995.^[79]Greg LeMond described himself as "devastated" on hearing of them working together, while Tour de France organizer Jean-Marie Leblanc said, "I am not happy the two names are mixed."^[80] Following Ferrari's later-overturned conviction for "sporting fraud" and "abuse of the medical profession", Armstrong claimed he suspended his professional relationship with him, saying that he had "zero tolerance for anyone convicted of using or facilitating the use of performance-enhancing drugs" and denying that Ferrari had ever "suggested, prescribed or provided me with any performance-enhancing drugs."^[81]

Though Ferrari was banned from practicing medicine with cyclists by the Italian Cycling Federation, according to Italian law enforcement authorities, Armstrong met with Ferrari as late as 2010 in a country outside Italy.^[82] According to Cycling News, "USADA reveals an intimate role played by Dr. Michele Ferrari in masterminding Armstrong's Tour de France success". According to the USADA report, Armstrong paid Ferrari over a million dollars from 1996 to 2006, countering Armstrong's claim that he severed his professional relationship with Ferrari in 2004. The report also includes numerous eyewitness accounts of Ferrari injecting Armstrong with EPO on a number of occasions.^[83]

L.A. Confidentiel: 2004

Main article: L.A. Confidentiel

In 2004, reporters Pierre Ballester and David Walsh published a book alleging Armstrong had used performance-enhancing drugs (L.A. Confidentiel – Les secrets de Lance Armstrong). Another figure in the book, Steve Swart, claims he and other riders, including Armstrong, began using drugs in 1995 while members of the Motorola team, a claim denied by other team members.^[84][85]

Among the allegations in the book were claims by Armstrong's former soigneur Emma O'Reilly that a backdated prescription for cortisone had been produced in 1999 to avoid a positive test. A 1999 urine sample at the Tour de France showed traces of corticosteroid. A medical certificate showed he used an approved cream for saddle sores which contained the substance.^[86] O'Reilly said she heard team officials worrying about Armstrong's positive test for steroids during the Tour. She said: "They were in a panic, saying: 'What are we going to do? What are we going to do?'"^[87]

According to O'Reilly, the solution was to get one of their compliant doctors to issue a pre-dated prescription for a steroid-based ointment to combat saddle sores. He said she would have known if Armstrong had saddle sores as she would have administered any treatment for it. O'Reilly said that Armstrong told her: "Now, Emma, you know enough to bring me down." O'Reilly said on other occasions she was asked to dispose of used syringes for Armstrong and pick up strange parcels for the team.^[88]

Allegations in the book were reprinted in The Sunday Times (UK) by deputy sports editor Alan English in June 2004. Armstrong sued for libel, and the paper settled out of court after a High Court judge in a pre-trial ruling stated that the article "meant accusation of guilt and not simply reasonable grounds to suspect."^[89] The newspaper's lawyers issued the statement: "The Sunday Times has confirmed to Mr. Armstrong that it never intended to accuse him of being guilty of taking any performance-enhancing drugs and sincerely apologized for any such impression." The same authors (Pierre Ballester and David Walsh) subsequently published L.A. Official and Le Sale Tour (The Dirty Trick), further pressing their claims that Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career.^{[citation needed]}

On March 31, 2005, Mike Anderson filed a brief^[90] in Travis County District Court in Texas, as part of a legal battle following his termination in November 2004 as an employee of Armstrong. Anderson worked for Armstrong for two years as a personal assistant. In the brief, Anderson claimed that he discovered a box of androstenone while cleaning a bathroom in Armstrong's apartment in Girona, Spain.^[91] Androstenone is not on the list of banned drugs. Anderson stated in a subsequent deposition that he had no direct knowledge of Armstrong using a banned substance. Armstrong denied the claim and issued a counter-suit.^[92] The two men reached an out-of-court settlement in November 2005; the terms of the agreement were not disclosed.^[93]

In November 2012, Times Newspapers republished all of Walsh's articles as well as the original "LA Confidential" article by Alan English in Lanced: The shaming of Lance Armstrong.^[94]The Times is said to be considering taking action to recoup money from Armstrong in relation to the settlement and court costs.^[95]

In December 2012 The Sunday Times filed suit against Armstrong for $1.5 million. In its suit, the paper is seeking a return of the original settlement, plus interest and the cost of defending the original case.^[96]

In August 2013, Armstrong and The Sunday Times reached an undisclosed settlement.^[97]

Tour de France urine tests: 2005

On August 23, 2005, L'Équipe, a major French daily sports newspaper, reported on its front page under the headline "le mensonge Armstrong" ("The Armstrong Lie") that six urine samples taken from the cyclist during the prologue and five stages of the 1999 Tour de France, frozen and stored since at "Laboratoire national de dépistage du dopage de Châtenay-Malabry" (LNDD), had tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO) in recent retesting conducted as part of a research project into EPO testing methods.^[98]

Armstrong immediately replied on his website, saying, "Unfortunately, the witch hunt continues and tomorrow's article is nothing short of tabloid journalism. The paper even admits in its own article that the science in question here is faulty and that I have no way to defend myself. They state: 'There will therefore be no counter-exam nor regulatory prosecutions, in a strict sense, since defendant's rights cannot be respected.' I will simply restate what I have said many times: I have never taken performance enhancing drugs."^[100]

In October 2005, in response to calls from the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for an independent investigation, the UCI appointed Dutch lawyer Emile Vrijman to investigate the handling of urine tests by the French national anti-doping laboratory, LNDD. Vrijman was head of the Dutch anti-doping agency for ten years; since then he has worked as a defense attorney defending high-profile athletes against doping charges.^[101] Vrijman's report cleared Armstrong because of improper handling and testing.^[102][103] The report said tests on urine samples were conducted improperly and fell so short of scientific standards that it was "completely irresponsible" to suggest they "constitute evidence of anything."^[104]

The recommendation of the commission's report was no disciplinary action against any rider on the basis of LNDD research. It also called upon the WADA and LNDD to submit themselves to an investigation by an outside independent authority.^[105] The IOC Ethics Commission subsequently censured Dick Pound, the President of WADA and a member of the IOC, for his statements in the media that suggested wrongdoing by Armstrong. In April 2009, anti-doping expert^[106] Michael Ashenden said "the LNDD absolutely had no way of knowing athlete identity from the sample they're given. They have a number on them, but that's never linked to an athlete's name. The only group that had both the number and the athlete's name is the federation, in this case it was the UCI." He added "There was only two conceivable ways that synthetic EPO could've gotten into those samples. One, is that Lance Armstrong used EPO during the '99 Tour. The other way it could've got in the urine was if, as Lance Armstrong seems to believe, the laboratory spiked those samples. Now, that's an extraordinary claim, and there's never ever been any evidence the laboratory has ever spiked an athlete's sample, even during the Cold War, where you would've thought there was a real political motive to frame an athlete from a different country. There's never been any suggestion that it happened."^[107]

Ashenden's statements are at odds with the findings of the Vrijman report. "According to Mr. Ressiot, the manner in which the LNDD had structured the results table of its report – i.e. listing the sequence of each of the batches, as well as the exact number of urine samples per batch, in the same (chronological) order as the stages of the 1999 Tour de France they were collected at – was already sufficient to allow him to determine the exact stage these urine samples referred to and subsequently the identity of the riders who were tested at that stage." The Vrijman report also says "Le Monde of July 21 and 23, 1999 reveal that the press knew the contents of original doping forms of the 1999 Tour de France".^[105]

SCA Promotions case: 2005–2015

In June 2006, French newspaper Le Monde reported claims by Betsy and Frankie Andreu during a deposition that Armstrong had admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs to his physician just after brain surgery in 1996. The Andreus' testimony was related to litigation between Armstrong and SCA Promotions, a Texas company attempting to withhold a $5 million bonus; this was settled out of court with SCA paying Armstrong and Tailwind Sports $7.5 million, to cover the $5 million bonus plus interest and lawyers' fees. The testimony stated "And so the doctor asked him a few questions, not many, and then one of the questions he asked was ... have you ever used any performance-enhancing drugs? And Lance said yes. And the doctor asked, what were they? And Lance said, growth hormone, cortisone, EPO, steroids and testosterone."^[108]

Armstrong suggested Betsy Andreu may have been confused by possible mention of his post-operative treatment which included steroids and EPO that are taken to counteract wasting and red-blood-cell-destroying effects of intensive chemotherapy.^[109] The Andreus' allegation was not supported by any of the eight other people present, including Armstrong's doctor Craig Nichols,^[110] or his medical history. According to Greg LeMond (who has been embroiled with his own disputes with Armstrong), he (LeMond) had a recorded conversation, the transcript of which was reviewed by National Public Radio (NPR), with Stephanie McIlvain (Armstrong's contact at Oakley Inc.) in which she said of Armstrong's alleged admission 'You know, I was in that room. I heard it.' However, McIlvain has contradicted LeMond's allegations on the issue and denied under oath that the incident in question ever occurred in her sworn testimony.^[108]

In July 2006, the Los Angeles Times published a story on the allegations raised in the SCA case.^[111] The report cited evidence at the trial, including the results of the LNDD test and an analysis of these results by an expert witness.^[112] From the Los Angeles Times article: "The results, Australian researcher Michael Ashenden testified in Dallas, show Armstrong's levels rising and falling, consistent with a series of injections during the Tour. Ashenden, a paid expert retained by SCA Promotions, told arbitrators that the results painted a "compelling picture" that the world's most famous cyclist "used EPO in the '99 Tour."^[111]

Ashenden's finding were disputed by the Vrijman report, which pointed to procedural and privacy issues in dismissing the LNDD test results. The Los Angeles Times article also provided information on testimony given by Armstrong's former teammate, Swart, Andreu and his wife Betsy, and instant messaging conversation between Andreu and Jonathan Vaughters regarding blood-doping in the peloton. Vaughters signed a statement disavowing the comments and stating he had: "no personal knowledge that any team in the Tour de France, including Armstrong's Discovery team in 2005, engaged in any prohibited conduct whatsoever." Andreu signed a statement affirming the conversation took place as indicated on the instant messaging logs submitted to the court.^[113]

The SCA trial was settled out of court, and the Los Angeles Times reported: "Though no verdict or finding of facts was rendered, Armstrong called the outcome proof that the doping allegations were baseless." The Los Angeles Times article provides a review of the disputed positive EPO test, allegations and sworn testimony against Armstrong, but notes that: "They are filled with conflicting testimony, hearsay and circumstantial evidence admissible in arbitration hearings but questionable in more formal legal proceedings."^[113]

In October 2012, following the publication of the USADA reasoned decision, SCA Promotions announced its intention to recoup the monies paid to Armstrong totaling in excess of $7 million. Armstrong's legal representative Tim Herman stated in June: "When SCA decided to settle the case, it settled the entire matter forever. No backs. No re-dos. No do-overs. SCA knowingly and independently waived any right to make further claims to any of the money it paid."^[114] SCA's Jeff Dorough stated that on October 30, 2012, Armstrong was sent a formal request for the return of $12 million in bonuses. It is alleged that Armstrong's legal team has offered a settlement of $1 million.^[115][116]

On February 4, 2015 the arbitration panel decided 2–1 in SCA's favor and ordered Armstrong and Tailwind Sports Corp to pay SCA $10 million. The panel's decision was referred to the Texas 116th Civil District Court in Dallas on February 16, 2015 for confirmation. Panel members Richard Faulkner and Richard Chernick sided with SCA; Ted Lyon sided with Armstrong. Armstrong's attorney Tim Herman stated that the panel's ruling was contrary to Texas law and expected that the court would overturn it. The panel's decision said, in part, about Armstrong that, "Perjury must never be profitable" and "it is almost certainly the most devious sustained deception ever perpetrated in world sporting history."^[117][118]

On September 27, 2015, Armstrong and SCA agreed to a settlement. Armstrong issued a formal, public apology and agreed to pay SCA an undisclosed sum.^[119]

Federal investigation: 2010–2012

Main article: Lance Armstrong doping case § 2010–2012 federal inquiry

In a series of emails in May 2010, Floyd Landis admitted to doping and accused Armstrong and others of the same.^[120] Based on Landis's allegations, U.S. Justice Department federal prosecutors led an investigation into possible crimes conducted by Armstrong and the U.S. Postal Service Cycling Team. The Food and Drug Administration and federal agent Jeff Novitzky were also involved in the investigation.^[121][122] In June 2010, Armstrong hired a criminal defense attorney to represent him in the investigation.^[123] The hiring was first reported in July when Armstrong was competing in the 2010 Tour de France.^[124][125]

On February 3, 2012, federal prosecutors officially dropped their criminal investigation with no charges.^[126][127] The closing of the case was announced "without an explanation" by U.S. Attorney André Birotte, Jr. When Novitzky was asked to comment on it, he declined.^[128]

In February 2013, a month after Armstrong admitted to doping, the Justice Department joined Landis's whistleblower lawsuit to recover government funding given to Armstrong's cycling team.^[129]

USADA investigation and limited confession: 2011–2013

Main article: Lance Armstrong doping case § USADA investigation 2011–2012

In June 2012, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) accused Armstrong of doping and trafficking of drugs, based on blood samples from 2009 and 2010, and testimony from witnesses including former teammates. Further, he was accused of putting pressure on teammates to take unauthorized performance-enhancing drugs as well.^[130] In October 2012, USADA formally charged him with running a massive doping ring. It also sought to ban him from participating in sports sanctioned by WADA for life. Armstrong chose not to appeal the findings, saying it would not be worth the toll on his family.^[7] As a result, he was stripped of all of his achievements from August 1998 onward, including his seven Tour de France titles. He also received a lifetime ban from all sports that follow the World Anti-Doping Code. As nearly all national and international sporting federations, including UCI, follow the World Anti-Doping Code, this effectively ended his competitive cycling career.^[8][131] The International Cycling Union (UCI) upheld USADA's decision^[9] and decided that his stripped wins would not be allocated to other riders.^{[N 2][10]}

After years of public denials, in a January 2013 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Armstrong reversed course and made a "limited confession" to doping.^[132] While admitting wrongdoing in the interview, he also said it was "absolutely not" true that he was doping in 2009 or 2010, and claimed that the last time he "crossed the line" was in 2005.^[133][134] He also denied pressuring team-mates into doping. In September 2013, he was asked by UCI's new president, Brian Cookson, to testify about his doping. Armstrong refused to testify until and unless he received complete amnesty, which Cookson said was most unlikely to happen.^{[N 3][135]}

After USADA's report, all of Armstrong's sponsors dropped him. He reportedly lost $75 million of sponsorship income in a day.^[136] On May 28, 2013, Nike announced that it would be cutting all ties to Livestrong.^[137] In the aftermath of Armstrong's fall from grace, a CNN article wrote that "The epic downfall of cycling's star, once an idolized icon of millions around the globe, stands out in the history of professional sports."^[138] In a 2015 interview with BBC News, Armstrong stated that if it was still 1995, he would "probably do it again".^[139][140]

Whistleblower lawsuit: 2010–2018

In 2010, one of Armstrong's former teammates, the American Floyd Landis, whose 2006 Tour De France victory was nullified after a positive doping test, sent a series of emails to cycling officials and sponsors admitting to, and detailing, his systematic use of performance-enhancing drugs during his career. The emails also claimed that other riders and cycling officials participated in doping, including Armstrong.^[141]

Landis filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit against Armstrong under the federal False Claims Act.^[142] The False Claims Act allows citizens to sue on behalf of the government alleging the government has been defrauded. The existence of the lawsuit, initially filed under seal, was first revealed by The Wall Street Journal in 2010. In the lawsuit, Landis alleged that Armstrong and team managers defrauded the US government when they accepted money from the US Postal Service. In January 2013, US Justice Department officials recommended joining the federal lawsuit aimed at clawing back money from Armstrong.^[143]

In February, the US Department of Justice joined the whistleblower lawsuit, which also accused former Postal Service team director Johan Bruyneel and Tailwind Sports, the firm that managed the US Postal Service team, of defrauding the US.^[144][145]

In April 2014, documents from the AIC case were filed by lawyers representing Landis in relation to the whistleblower suit. In these documents, Armstrong stated under oath that Jose "Pepi" Marti, Dr Pedro Celaya, Dr Luis Garcia del Moral and Dr Michele Ferrari had all provided him with doping products in the period up until 2005. He also named people who had transported or acted as couriers, as well as people that were aware of his doping practices.^{[146][147][148]} One week later, the USADA banned Bruyneel from cycling for ten years and Celaya and Marti for eight years.^[149]

In June 2014, US district judge Robert Wilkins denied Armstrong's request to dismiss the government lawsuit stating "The court denies without prejudice the defendants' motion to dismiss the government's action as time-barred."^[150]

In February 2017, the court determined that the federal government's US$100 million civil lawsuit against Armstrong, started by Landis, would proceed to trial.^[151] The matter was settled in April 2018 when Armstrong agreed to pay the United States Government US$5 million. During the proceedings it was revealed that the US Postal Service had paid US$31 million in sponsorship to Armstrong and Tailwind Sports between 2001 and 2004. The Department of Justice accused Armstrong of violating his contract with the USPS and committing fraud when he denied using performance-enhancing drugs. It was reported that Landis would receive US$1.1 million as a result of his whistleblower actions.^[152]

Other lawsuits: 2010 to present

In November 2013, Armstrong settled a lawsuit with Acceptance Insurance Company (AIC). AIC had sought to recover $3 million it had paid Armstrong as bonuses for winning the Tour de France from 1999 to 2001. The suit was settled for an undisclosed sum one day before Armstrong was scheduled to give a deposition under oath.^[153][154]

Personal life

Armstrong owns homes in Austin, Texas, and Aspen, Colorado, as well as a ranch in the Texas Hill Country.^[155]

Relationships and children

Armstrong met Kristin Richard in June 1997. They married on May 1, 1998, and had three children: a son (born October 1999) and twin daughters (born November 2001). The pregnancies were made possible through sperm Armstrong banked three years earlier, before chemotherapy and surgery.^[156] The couple divorced in 2003.^[157] At Armstrong's request, his children flew to Paris for the Tour de France podium ceremony in 2005, where his son Luke helped his father hoist the trophy, while his daughters (in yellow dresses) held the stuffed lion mascot and bouquet of yellow flowers.^{[citation needed]}

Lance and Kristin Armstrong announced their divorce in 2003, the same year that Lance began dating singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow.^[158] The couple announced their engagement in September 2005 and their split in February 2006.^[159]

In July 2008, Armstrong began dating Anna Hansen after meeting through Armstrong's charity work. In December 2008, Armstrong announced that Hansen was pregnant with the couple's first child. Although it was believed that Armstrong could no longer father children due to having undergone chemotherapy for testicular cancer, the child was conceived naturally.^[160] They have a son (born June 2009)^[161] and a daughter (born October 2010).

Politics

In a The New York Times article, teammate George Hincapie hinted that Armstrong would run for Governor of Texas after cycling. In the July 2005 issue of Outside magazine, Armstrong hinted at running for governor, although "not in '06".^[163] Armstrong and former president George W. Bush, a Republican and fellow Texan, call themselves friends. Bush called Armstrong in France to congratulate him after his 2005 victory. In August 2005, The Times reported the President had invited Armstrong to his Prairie Chapel Ranch to go mountain biking.^[164] In a 2003 interview with The Observer, Armstrong said: "He's a personal friend, but we've all got the right not to agree with our friends."^[165]

In August 2005, Armstrong hinted he had changed his mind about politics. In an interview with Charlie Rose on PBS on August 1, 2005, Armstrong pointed out that running for governor would require the commitment that led him to retire from cycling. Also, in August 2005, Armstrong said that he was no longer considering politics:

The biggest problem with politics or running for the governor—the governor's race here in Austin or in Texas—is that it would mimic exactly what I've done: a ton of stress and a ton of time away from my kids. Why would I want to go from pro cycling, which is stressful and a lot of time away, straight into politics?^[166]

Armstrong created a YouTube video in 2007 with former President George H. W. Bush to successfully pass Proposition 15, a US$3 billion taxpayer bond initiative which created the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.^[167]

Armstrong was co-chair of a California campaign committee to pass the California Cancer Research Act, a ballot measure defeated by California voters on June 5, 2012.^[168] Had it passed, the measure was projected to generate over $500 million annually for cancer research, smoking-cessation programs and tobacco law-enforcement by levying a $1-per-pack tax on tobacco products in California.^[169]

Armstrong endorsed Democratic Congressman Beto O'Rourke against Republican incumbent Senator Ted Cruz in the 2018 election.^[170]

In 1997, Armstrong founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which supports people affected by cancer. The foundation raises awareness of cancer and has raised^[171] more than $325 million from the sale of yellow Livestrong bracelets.^[172] During his first retirement beginning after the 2005 season, he also maintained other interests. He was the pace car driver of the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 for the 2006 Indianapolis 500. In 2007, Armstrong with Andre Agassi, Muhammad Ali, Warrick Dunn, Jeff Gordon, Mia Hamm, Tony Hawk, Andrea Jaeger, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Mario Lemieux, Alonzo Mourning, and Cal Ripken, Jr. founded Athletes for Hope, a charity that helps professional athletes become involved in charitable causes and aims to inspire non-athletes to volunteer and support the community.^[173]

In August 2009, Armstrong headlined the inaugural charity ride "Pelotonia" in Columbus, Ohio, riding over 100 miles on Saturday with the large group of cyclists. He addressed the riders the Friday evening before the two-day ride and helped the ride raise millions for cancer research.^[174] Armstrong ran the 2006 New York City Marathon with two friends. He assembled a pace team of Alberto Salazar, Joan Benoit Samuelson, and Hicham El Guerrouj to help him reach three hours. He finished in 2h 59m 36s, in 856th place. He said the race was extremely difficult compared to the Tour de France.^[175] The NYC Marathon had a dedicated camera on Armstrong throughout the event which, according to Armstrong, pushed him to continue through points in which he would have normally "stopped and stretched".^[176] He also helped raise $600,000 for his LiveStrong campaign during the run. Armstrong ran the 2007 NYC Marathon in 2h 46m 43s, finishing 232nd.^[177] On April 21, 2008, he ran the Boston Marathon in 2h 50m 58s, finishing in the top 500.^[178]

Armstrong made a return to triathlon in 2011 by competing in the off-road XTERRA Triathlon race series. At the Championships Armstrong led for a time before crashing out on the bike and finishing in 23rd place.^[179][180] The following year, in 2012, Armstrong began pursuing qualification into the 2012 Ironman World Championship.^[181] He was scheduled to next participate in Ironman France on June 24. However, the June suspension by USADA and eventual ban by WADA prohibited Armstrong from further racing Ironman branded events due to World Triathlon Corporation anti-doping policies.^[182]

In July 2011 and July 2013, Armstrong participated in the non-competitive Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.^{[183][184][185]}

Business and investments

"10/2" redirects here. For other uses, see 10/2 (disambiguation).

Armstrong owns a coffee shop in downtown Austin, Texas, called "Juan Pelota Cafe". The name is a joking reference to his testicular cancer, with the name "Juan" being considered by some a homophone for "one" and "Pelota" being the Spanish word for "ball".^[186] In the same building, Armstrong owns and operates a bike shop named "Mellow Johnny's", after another nickname of his derived from the Tour term "maillot jaune", which is French for yellow jersey, the jersey given to the leader of the general classification.

In 2001, Armstrong provided funding to launch Wonders & Worries, a non-profit organization in Austin, Texas that provides counseling and support for children who have a parent with a serious or life-threatening disease.^[188]

A line of cycling clothing from Nike, 10//2, was named after the date (October 2, 1996) that Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008, Armstrong bought several million dollars of stock in the American bicycle component manufacturer SRAM Corporation, and has served as their technical advisor.^[189] SRAM bought those shares back from him in preparation for a public offering. Armstrong owns a small share of Trek Bicycle Corporation.^[190]

In 2009, Armstrong invested $100,000 into Uber when it was only valued at $3.7 million. In 2019, Uber achieved an IPO of $82 billion. According to CNBC, Armstrong said "it saved our family".^[191]

Media

In 2017, Armstrong started a podcast named "The Move", which provided daily coverage of the Tour de France in 2018 and 2019.^[192] He also appeared—without compensation—on NBC Sports Network's live Tour de France television broadcasts. The UCI indicated the podcast and NBC appearances did not violate the terms of his ban.^[193]

Career achievements

Major results

Road

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Triathlon & Ironman

2011

5th XTERRA USA Championships

2012

1st Ironman 70.3 Hawaii

1st Ironman 70.3 Florida

3rd Ironman 70.3 St. Croix

7th Ironman 70.3 Texas

2nd Ironman 70.3 Panama

2nd Power of Four Mountain Bike Race

Mountain Bike

2008

2009

Filmography

• Road to Paris (2001), documentary
• DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story (2004), cameo appearance
• You, Me and Dupree (2006), cameo appearance
• The Armstrong Lie (2013), documentary
• Stop at Nothing-The Lance Armstrong Story (2014), documentary
• The Program (2015), biographical drama film
• Tour de Pharmacy (2017), appearing as himself, acting as parody of an anonymous source
• Lance (2020), documentary

Accolades

• United States Olympic Committee (USOC) SportsMan of the Year (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003)^[194]
• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005)^[195]
• World's Most Outstanding Athlete Award, Jesse Owens International Trophy (2000)^[196][197]
• Reuters Sportsman of the Year (2003)^[198]
• Prince of Asturias Award in Sports (2000)^[199]
• Sports Ethics Fellows by the Institute for International Sport (2003)^[200]
• Mendrisio d'Or Award in Switzerland (1999)^{[importance?][201]}
• Premio Coppi-Bici d'Oro Trophy by the Fausto Coppi foundation in conjunction with La Gazzetta dello Sport (1999, 2000)
• Marca Legend Award by Marca, a Spanish sports daily in Madrid (2004)
• ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
• ESPY Award for GMC Professional Grade Play Award (2005)
• ESPY Award for Best Comeback Athlete (2000)
• ESPN/Intersport's ARETE Award for Courage in Sport (Professional Division) (1999)^[202]
• ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year (1999)
• Favorite Athlete award at Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (2006)^[203][204]
• Presidential Delegation to the XIX Olympic Winter Games (2002)
• Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of the Year (2002)^[206]
• VeloNews magazine's International Cyclist of the Year (2000, 2001, 2003, 2004)
• VeloNews magazine's North American Male Cyclist of the Year (1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2005)
• William Hill Sports Book of the Year: It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life (2000)^[207]
• Triathlon magazine's Rookie of the Year (1988)
• Pace car driver for the Indianapolis 500 (2006)^[208][209]
• An asteroid, 1994 JE₉ was named 12373 Lancearmstrong in honor of him.^[210]
• Six-mile Lance Armstrong Bikeway through downtown Austin, Texas, built by the city of Austin at a cost of $3.2 million.^[211][212]
• Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias Courage Award presented by the United States Sports Academy (1999)^[213]
• Samuel S. Beard Award for Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Under, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards (2001) ^[214]

Rescinded awards

• BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Year Award (2003)^[215]
• Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, Tufts University (2006)^[216]
• Key to the city of Adelaide, South Australia (2012)^[217][218]
• Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year Winner (2003)^[219]
• Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year Winner (2000)^[220]
• Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year Nominated (2002, 2004, 2005, 2006)
• Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year Nominated (2010)
• Grand Prix Serge-Kampf de l'Académie des sports (France, 2004)^[221]
• Légion d'honneur (France, 2005)^[222]
• Vélo d'Or Award by Velo magazine in France (1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004)^[223][224]

See also

Notes and references

Notes

References

Maybe now could be the perfect time to explore the best dating apps for Android and iOS? After all, while we're not living in a post-pandemic world just yet, this side of 2022 life is less on pause than it has been for a while, so after a hiatus from putting yourself out there, maybe it’s time to dust off those profiles. After all, if you're single and want to (don’t say mingle) – change that, or just want to meet new people, the most socially distanced way of doing so is probably using dating apps. 

Even for anyone unsure about meeting people in person just yet, there's no point waiting for Covid-19 to disappear before you start talking to people through messaging and video call, and besides, the dating app pool is richer than ever. Classic apps like Tinder now support FaceTime-style video calls for truly distanced dates. Some apps, including Hinge, now offer up vaccine status information on profiles, so you can match up with folks who share your views on health as well as love. 

There are new players in the game, like Thursday, an app that, as the name suggests, only activates on a Thursday – it's the new Friday, don't you know? Once the clock strikes midnight and Thursday draws to a close, the ball is over, messages and likes get zapped. Then next Thursday, the dating game can start again with a clean slate. 

There are also apps catering to a burgeoning demographic of daters, or groups that identify with a specific body type, culture, religion. Veggly, for example, is designed for the vegetarians and vegans of this world. Meanwhile, WooPlus’s tagline is ‘Meet Curvy Singles’ — body positivity? Yes please.

It’s important to add, we didn’t just look at the app stores to come up with this list. We also quizzed a wide range of dating app guinea pigs, from those who used them once and found a soulmate to those who use them regularly for everything from relationships to flings.

So whatever your preferences, and whatever you’re looking for, check out our selection of the best dating apps on offer right now in 2022. We'll keep updating this list as new apps are released. 

Best dating apps 2022: which is right for you?

Bumble

In many ways, the Bumble experience is pretty much identical to the Tinder style of swiping, but rather than either party making the first move, it’s up to the girl to say something witty and impressive first within a day. 

For many women that we chatted to, this was a breath of fresh air in the often seedy and overwhelming world of online dating and cringe-worthy first messages. 

Hayley told us: “I LOVE it! The woman speaks first, and it means guys are way more likely to speak to you if you're not just one of many.” 

It also seems that the higher quality experience and focus on women being in control attracts a slightly better standard of men. 

Louise told us: “The men are better, looks and personality.” Paul agreed: “It’s Tinder, but better.” 

Hinge

Calling itself “the relationship app”, Hinge is aimed at those who are tired of Tinder, or just have really sore thumbs from all the swiping. 

You’re prompted to ask a series of questions, but you can choose which you answer. The idea is you can build an authentic picture of yourself, with answers, photos, details about what you’re reading or listening to and even video. So you’re more likely to find someone with genuine shared interests, rather than just a nice face.

The biggest difference is there’s no ‘hot or not?’ style swiping. You can like someone’s activities and photos, which reminds us more of Facebook-style interactions, but packaged up within a dating app. 

Does this all sound a bit too good to be true? That’s maybe because it is. 

Sarah said: “Hinge definitely sounds good in theory. But I haven’t had a date through it yet. I’m trying to stay patient and positive, but I think the instant buzz of Tinder might have ruined me.”

OKCupid

Competition for a date may be tough. But competition between the top dating apps is fierce. That means it can be hard for other apps to really stand out, which is why OKCupid has turned its focus to matching people up on a ‘deeper level.’ 

By filling out your profile and answering questions, the app’s algorithm will suggest potential matches who share your interests in the hope you’ll build deeper connections, which you can easily see from a ‘compatibility’ score displayed next to other users. You can also link up your Instagram profile if you think it gives potential matches a better picture of what you’re all about.

Nick said: “The OKCupid dates I went on were often the most interesting, with people I could genuinely chat to.” 

The app is free and, unless you use its ‘quickmatch’ Tinder-style option, it’s all about browsing through many profiles and breaking the ice with a message. But this focus on messages can lead to some clear downsides. 

Sarah said: “The fact you can easily message for free comes with the downside that you might get a fair few unwanted messages.”

OKCupid recently refreshed its user profiles with an update that allows users to define their pronouns. This information shows up alongside gender and orientation.

Tinder

Here it is, Tinder. The app that’s apparently the cause of everything, from the rise of STDs and breeding promiscuity to global warming (okay, we’re messing with you with that one). But regardless of who you ask, it has become synonymous with casual dating and hookups rather than those looking for their soulmates. 

It’s perfect if you’re looking for something not so serious, but that’s not to say that it’s impossible to find a more long-term love. After all, we’ve all got a friend-of-a-friend who married someone they matched with on Tinder, right? Unless we’re all just referring to the same couple…

The core concept is simple enough. You see someone’s photo. If you like it, swipe right. If you don’t, swipe left. And then repeat a couple of hundred times. If you’ve swiped right on someone and they’ve swiped right on you as well, you’ll be notified and can begin messaging one another. 

Hayley Minn says: “I used to love it, it's so easy to use and fun, but it now feels like a game more than anything and I've never had a date lead to anything serious.” 

Despite the fact it seems to be losing its edge, we included it because it’s still popular, and the large user numbers mean the more chance of dates.

Louise said: “I’m sick of it, but most people are on it. And I’ve had a few good, well, mediocre, dates.”

Thursday

• Free (in-app purchases)
• Android and iOS 
• Straight, gay, bisexual, other
• Currently active exclusively in London and New York  

Are you sick of hoarding matches? Swiping right leading to more RSI than TLC? Are you getting matches but not getting messages? Thursday wants to combat all these dating pitfalls. By limiting free app use to one day a week (guess which day), and clearing your messages and matches when the clock strikes midnight and Friday rolls on, Thursday makes matches feel less like consumables, and more like considered opportunities – or at least that's the logic. 

After trying it out, our resident gay dater, Basil is convinced that Thursday does remedy a few frustrations more popular apps like Hinge and Tinder can lead to. Specifically, it lights a fire in your belly to get the admin side of things sorted by midnight. Whether you want to swap numbers or arrange to grab a drink, if you don't do it by the day's end, you start over next week, with no guarantees of seeing the same daters. 

The app is also a godsend for compulsive dating app addicts. On the website, it states: "6 days of the week, this app tells you to f**k off...and it's not even sorry". And while it doesn't actually tell you that, it might as well. You can't access a single dating feature Friday through Wednesday.

As inclusive as the app is when it comes to genders and sexualities, it isn't inclusive from a geography point of view. Unless you live in London or New York, you won't be getting your Thursday on for the time being. What's more, the app is only accepting 100,000 members in those locations, so if you’re in the big smoke or big apple, sign up before you’re locked out every day of the week. 

Plenty of Fish

Plenty of Fish is another app that allows you to create a profile, answer questions or just upload your favorite selfies. It’s got a large user-base and when it comes to success rates, it really divides opinion. The huge choice of, erm, fish, tend to mean there are a few long-term love stories and lots of “okay I guess” dating anecdotes.

Louise said: “It’s a totally mixed bag. Be ready to hunt for people through the droves and droves. I’ve had a few fun dates through it, you just have to put the time in to weed through the rubbish.”

Paul said: “All I ever hear from men is that women never reply, and all I ever hear from women is that they get too many messages.”

That said, we know personally of one real world couple that are now married having met through Plenty of Fish, so love can be found here!

Match.com

Match.com is another older dating website that’s evolved over the years to become one of the most popular apps. The profiles are detailed (if people fill them in), which means you can find out more about someone before you speak to them, and location-based searching means you’re shown people who live or work nearby. 

One of the most interesting developments to Match.com’s proposition is group dating events, which sound weird but could set it apart from the rest.

Paul said: “I love that match are evolving by introducing dating events. They have the potential to be the future of dating and it's nice to see one of the top online companies acknowledging that, without losing their original identity.”

Veggly

• Free (in-app purchases)
• Android and iOS
• Straight, gay, bisexual, other
• Caters for vegans and vegetarians  

More than just an excuse to send aubergine emojis, Veggly is a perfect app for single vegans and vegetarians around the world. If you’re anything like our resident animal-loving singleton, navigating sharing your veggie status on other dating apps can be a catch 22. 

He’s had everything from quips about his vegan sausage to messages calling him sanctimonious for putting his big V status on his profile. Veggly cuts through the noise, with a smaller dating pool to swim in, but arguably, one that is more matched with your stance on animals, and probably other things like the environment. 

Far from being exclusive to 100 percent vegans and vegetarians, the inclusive app also welcomes folks in transition between meat eater to veggie. As for how it works, Veggly is split into five sections: Home, Chat, Super Likes, Profile and Settings. Home is a vertical list of potential matches set against your criteria, which you can set in the profile section. That’s also where you can unsurprisingly, fill out your profile, setting parameters like gender (with options for male, female, and other (with space to fill in how you identify). 

The chat section is a traditional repository for your conversations, while Super Likes shows you people who think you’re pretty darn swell. Aside from the whole vegan/vegetarian angle, it’s definitely one of the more straightforward, low-algorithm apps, making for what feels like a pretty organic interaction experience. As for what you get when you pay for premium, you can see who liked you, ditch the adverts, get some extra super likes and view potential partners in other locations. 

When we first installed Veggly in 2018, we didn’t feature it on this list because there just weren’t that many people using it; but now, it’s ripe and juicy, so if you’ve had a similar experience in the past, it definitely warrants another go in 2021. 

Jenna and Lance

“Both of us had used online sites, and we even joked later on that between Match, Tinder, and Bumble, how could we not have run into each other?

The truth is, though, that both Lance and I had just stopped with the insanity of online dating. My inbox used to get inundated so much that I just stopped looking. I hired Mimi. Then she shares she has this tough, rugged looking guy from Scotland, so immediately I’m thinking she’s introducing me to Sean Connery LOL. Nothing against Lance, he’s not Sean Connery, but he IS ruggedly handsome as described, and he had the tough guy, right out of those Scottish highlands masculinity that I romanticized about. He’s lived in Naples since 2004, so he’s a little Americanized. Mimi set us up December of 2016, and we are at an age where we thought what’s the point of getting married again? But, we have been inseparable since the day we met, and I can’t see that changing.”

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Well, I don’t remember his name and I only vaguely remember what he looked like – he had eyes, I suppose he wore trousers. But I’ll always remember my first online date. I remember the day after, when my flatmate asked me how it went. I beamed at her over my cup of tea. “It’s like I picked him from a catalogue,” I said.

I met that man about 10 years ago. At various uncoupled times in the intervening decade, I’ve found myself slinking back to online dating, like so many other people. Millions of other people. So many other people that the Match Group, the US company, that owns lance guy online dating profile world’s biggest online dating platforms – Tinder, lance guy online dating profile, OKCupid, Match – is to float on lance guy online dating profile stock market with an estimated value of £2.1bn.

Our lonely little hearts are very big business. But for people trying to click and swipe their way to love, it’s also a confusing business. In all of my years of using the internet to meet men who turned out to be on the short side of 5’8”, here are 10 lessons that I’ve learned.

1 It’s still stigmatised

Online dating may appear to be the swiftest route to love, or something like it. Lance guy online dating profile until you win the grand prize – never having to do it again – it always feels a last resort, the sign that you possess a fatal flaw that has prevented the achievement of true love through one of the more classic routes: pulling a stranger in a bar, meeting someone at a house party, sleeping with your employer. “I’m so glad I don’t have to do online dating,” your married friends say, “it sounds terrible.” Then you ask them if they know any nice single men to introduce you to and they declare that their friends are all awful.

2 … but everyone is now doing it

In your 30s, at least, when people tell you they’ve gone on a date, it’s safe to assume that they met that person online. In the last two years, in which I’ve been mostly single, I have been asked out by a man in the “real” world just once and he was married. These days, if you do go on a date with someone you meet out in the world, everyone is very surprised and will get very excited: “You met him how? In real life? Tell us again about how he talked to you on the tube!”

3 Lots of choice means it’s hard to choose

The proliferation of websites and dating apps has not necessarily been a good thing. I know quite a few people who have found love through OKCupid and Tinder – marriage, in a couple of cases – but I know far more who have been on two or three dates with nice people who have drifted and disappeared after a promising start. Meeting people is one thing, but getting to know them – lance guy online dating profile, that’s a lot lance guy online dating profile effort dating taller girl there are so many other people lurking in your phone. The rise of Tinder as the default platform has especially increased the speed and volume of choosing and rejecting. Once we read long-form profiles. Now we maniacally, obsessively screen candidates in milliseconds. Most apps put a time stamp on everyone’s profile, so that you can see when anyone has last been logged in. For example, you could find out if the man you went on a date with last night was looking for other women while you popped to the loo in the middle of dinner (he was).

4 It’s a great way to meet interesting people

Going on a meeting with a stranger that is prefigured as a “date” gives you permission to ask outlandishly personal questions, which is how I learned fascinating things about a man who grew up in an extreme religious sect, a C-list BBC celeb, an ex-naval officer, and the saxophonist in the lance guy online dating profile band of an ageing rock star. I didn’t fall in love with any of them but, gosh, what a adult dating sims android of characters. I would have met none of them in my local.

5 It’s not so scary talking to strangers

I am great at job interviews and I’m sure that online dating has influenced that: once you’re proficient at having an hour-long conversation with a stranger over a beer it’s not a far leap to do it with one over a desk.

6 Falling in love still requires vulnerability

It’s so much easier to get drunk lance guy online dating profile a stranger who can’t hurt your feelings when it feels like there are hundreds of other people in your pocket who in principle could be better than the person you’re with (everyone you haven’t met is better). Online dating may have (sort of) solved the supply challenges of romance, but it hasn’t solved the biggest problem of all: emotional intimacy takes hard work. It means allowing yourself and your partner a kind of vulnerability that is often regarded as a sign of weakness and a source of fear. It’s still the case that nothing is less socially acceptable than admitting you’re lonely and longing to be loved.

Online dating hasn't solve lance guy online dating profile biggest problem of romance: emotional intimacy takes hard work

7 It’s not about you

Remember the guy who I picked from a catalogue? After two dates he cancelled the third with an email in which he described a fanciful scene wherein he’d arrived home from a weekend away to find his best friend sobbing in his flat, declaring her undying love. “Can we be friends?” he concluded. I was upset. Ten years later, I’ve learned to remember that if things don’t work out with someone I’ve met online, it’s less likely to have anything to do with me and more likely to be related to the many years of real-life experience that he had before we met.

8 People who seem “meh” online don’t improve in person

In my early days of dating online I reckoned that I should give men a chance if I found their messages tedious but their profiles intriguing. “Maybe he’s not latin dating app as good at writing as I am,” I’d think. But the ones that I doubted beforehand never turned out to be men I wanted to get to know in person, lance guy online dating profile. If they don’t intrigue me with words before we meet now, I delete them.

9 Timing is as important as compatibility

In theory, it should be easy to find a relationship online because there’s a presumption that the other people you’ll come across want one, too. That’s why you’re there. In practice, mutual attraction is not enough: you also have to want the same kind of relationship at the same time. The most successful relationship I’ve had from online dating was a six-month liaison with a French sanitation engineer who, like me, was lance guy online dating profile a transitional stage in life when he was friendly but not interested in commitment. Having this in common with my ami avec des avantages was as important for sustainability, if not more important, than any other measures of compatibility.

10 But you really should look up from your smartphone once in a while

Last winter I signed up for some gym training. Lo and behold, there was an attractive single man of appropriate age in my class. Each week, the flirting increased, lance guy online dating profile. First, he complimented me warmly on my discount Gap leggings. The next week, he volunteered to pair up with me in an exercise. In the penultimate week, he hit me gently in the face with a piece of equipment (by mistake, I think) and took it as an opportunity to caress my forehead several times. “This is happening!” I thought, but when the class ended and it was time to part, he just pulled out his phone and stared at it, lance guy online dating profile, frowning and silent, as if hoping that a photo of me would appear on the screen. I never saw him again. Except, of course, on Tinder.

LOGGING ON FOR LOVE

■ The UK’s online dating market grew 73.5% from 2009-14. It is currently worth £165m a year, which is predicted to rise to £225m by 2019.

■ More than a quarter of UK adults now use dating websites or apps.

■ The number of single Britons is rising, according to the 2011 census. In that year more than 15.7 million adults (35% of those aged 16 and over) in England and Wales had never been married, an increase from 12.5 million (30%) in 2001.

■ Tinder does not publicise the number of users, but in 2014 it was estimated 50 million people use it globally every month. Users log in 11 times a day on average.

Source: ONS and Mintel.

For the Australian politician, see Lance Armstrong (politician).

American cyclist (born 1971)

Lance Edward Armstrong (néGunderson; born September 18, 1971)^[4] is an American former professional road racing cyclist. Armstrong was stripped of his seven consecutive Tour de France titles from 1999 to 2005 after a doping investigation and his admission to using performance enhancing drugs.

At age 16, Armstrong began competing as a triathlete and was a national sprint-course triathlon champion in 1989 and 1990. In 1992, he began his career as a professional cyclist with the Motorola team. He had success between 1993 and 1996 with the World Championship in 1993, the Clásica de San Sebastián in 1995, Tour DuPont in 1995 and 1996, and a handful of stage victories in Europe, including stage 8 of the 1993 Tour de France and stage 18 of the 1995 Tour de France. In 1996, he was diagnosed with a potentially fatal metastatictesticular cancer. After his recovery, he founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation (now the Livestrong Foundation) to assist other cancer survivors.

Returning to cycling in 1998, Armstrong was a member of the US Postal/Discovery team between 1998 and 2005 when he won his seven Tour de France titles. Armstrong retired from racing at the end of the 2005 Tour de France, but returned to competitive cycling with the Astana team in January 2009, finishing early dating guy eager to commit in the 2009 Tour de France later that year. Between 2010 and 2011, he raced with Team Radio Shack, and retired for a second time in 2011. These wins and titles would be later stripped lance guy online dating profile the doping investigations.

Armstrong became the subject of doping allegations after he won the 1999 Tour de France. For years, he denied involvement in doping. In 2012, a United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) investigation concluded that Armstrong had used performance-enhancing drugs over the course of his career^[5] and named him as the ringleader of "the most sophisticated, professionalized and successful doping program that sport has ever seen".^[6] While maintaining his innocence, Armstrong chose not to contest the charges, citing the potential toll on his family.^[7] He received a lifetime ban from all sports that follow the World Anti-Doping Code, ending his competitive cycling career.^[8] The International Cycling Union (UCI) upheld USADA's decision^[9] and decided that his stripped wins would dating sites for professionals be allocated to other riders.^{[N 1][10]} In January 2013, Armstrong publicly admitted his involvement in doping. In April 2018, Armstrong settled a civil lawsuit with the United States Department of Justice and agreed to pay US$5 million to the U.S. government after whistleblower proceedings were commenced by Floyd Landis, a former team member.

Early life

Armstrong was born Lance Edward Gunderson on September 18, 1971, at Methodist Hospital in Richardson, Texas,^[12] the son of Linda Gayle (née Mooneyham), a secretary, and Eddie Charles Gunderson (died 2012),^{[citation needed]} a route manager for The Dallas Morning News. He is of Canadian, Dutch, and Norwegian descent.^[13] He was named after Lance Rentzel, a Dallas Cowboys wide receiver. His parents divorced in 1973 when Lance was two. The next year, his mother married Terry Keith Armstrong, a wholesale salesman, who adopted Lance that year.^{[citation needed]}

Career

Early career

At the age of 12, Armstrong started his sporting career as a swimmer at the City of Plano Swim Club and finished fourth in Texas state 1,500-meter freestyle. He stopped swimming-only races after seeing a poster for a junior triathlon, called the Iron Kids Triathlon, which he won at age 13.^[14]

In the 1987–1988 Tri-Fed/Texas ("Tri-Fed" was the former name of USA Triathlon), Armstrong was ranked the number-one triathlete in the 19-and-under group; second place was Chann McRae, who became a US Postal Service cycling teammate and the 2002 USPRO national champion. Armstrong's total points in 1987 as an amateur were better than those of five professionals ranked higher than he was that year. At 16, Lance Armstrong became a professional triathlete and became national sprint-course triathlon champion in 1989 and 1990 at 18 and 19, respectively.^[15]

Motorola: 1992–96

In 1992, Armstrong turned professional with the Motorola Cycling Team, the successor of 7-Eleven team. In 1993, Armstrong won 10 one-day events and stage races, but his breakthrough free chinese dating sites was the World Road Race Championship held in Norway. Before his World Championships win, he took his first win at the Tour de France, in the stage from Châlons-sur-Marne to Verdun. He was 97th in the general classification when he retired after stage 12. He collected the Thrift Drug Triple Crown of Cycling: the Thrift Drug Classic in Pittsburgh, the K-Mart West Virginia Classic, and the CoreStatesUSPRO national championship in Philadelphia. He is alleged by another cyclist competing in the CoreStates Road Race to have bribed that cyclist so that he would not compete with Armstrong for the win.^[16]

In 1994, he again won the Thrift Drug Classic and came second in the Tour DuPont in the United States. His successes in Europe occurred when he placed second in Liège–Bastogne–Liège and the Clásica de San Sebastián, where just two years before, he had finished in asian girl dating website place at his first all-pro event in Europe. He finished the year strongly at the World Championships in Agrigento, finishing in 7th place less than a minute behind winner Luc Leblanc.^{[citation needed]}

In a 2016 speech to University of Colorado, Boulder professor Roger A. Pielke, Jr.'s Introduction to Sports Governance class, Armstrong stated he began doping in "late Spring of 1995".^[17]

He won lance guy online dating profile Clásica de San Sebastián in 1995, followed by an overall victory in the penultimate Tour DuPont and a handful of stage victories in Europe, including the stage to Limoges in the Tour de France, three days after the death of his teammate Fabio Casartelli, who crashed on the descent of the Col de Portet d'Aspet on the 15th stage.^[18] After winning the stage, Armstrong pointed to the sky in honor of Casartelli.^[19]

Armstrong's successes were much the same in 1996. He became the first American to win the La Flèche Wallonne and again won the Tour DuPont. However, he was able to compete for only five days in the Tour de France. In the 1996 Olympic Games, he finished 6th in the time trial and 12th in the road race.^[20] In August 1996 following the Leeds Classic, Armstrong signed a 2-year, $2 million deal with the French Cofidis Cycling Team.^[21] Joining him in signing contracts with the French team were teammates Frankie Andreu and Laurent Madouas. Two months later, in October 1996, he was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer.^{[citation needed]}

Cancer diagnosis, lance guy online dating profile, treatment and recovery

On October 2, 1996, at the age of 25, Armstrong was diagnosed with stage three (advanced) testicular cancer (embryonal carcinoma).^[22] The cancer had spread to his lymph nodes, lungs, brain, and abdomen.^[23] He visited urologist Jim Reeves in Austin, Texas for diagnosis of his symptoms, including a headache, blurred vision, coughing up blood and a swollen testicle.^[24] On October 3, Armstrong had an orchiectomy to remove the diseased testicle.^[25] When Reeves was asked in a later interview what he thought Armstrong's chances of survival were, he said, "Almost none. We told Lance initially 20 to 50% chance, mainly to give him hope. But with the kind of cancer he had, with the x-rays, the blood tests, almost no hope."^[24][25]

After receiving a letter from Steven Wolff, an oncologist at Vanderbilt University,^[26] Armstrong went to the Indiana University medical center in Indianapolis and decided to receive the rest of his treatment there. The standard treatment for Armstrong's cancer was a "cocktail" of the drugs bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin (or Platinol) (BEP). The first chemotherapy cycle that Armstrong underwent included BEP, but for the three remaining cycles, he was given an alternative, vinblastineetoposide, ifosfamide, and cisplatin (VIP), to avoid lung toxicity dating sites for herpes positive with bleomycin. Armstrong credited this with saving his cycling career.^[29] At Indiana University, Lawrence Dating sites near me had pioneered the use of cisplatin to treat testicular cancer. Armstrong's primary oncologist there was Craig Nichols.^[30] On October 25 his brain lesions, which were found to contain extensive necrosis, lance guy online dating profile, were surgically removed by Scott A. Shapiro,^[32] a professor of neurosurgery at Indiana University.

Armstrong's final chemotherapy treatment took place on December 13, 1996. In January 1997, Armstrong unexpectedly appeared at the first training camp of the Cofidis team at Lille, riding 100 km (62 mi) with his new teammates before returning to the United States.^[34][35] In February 1997, he was declared cancer-free, lance guy online dating profile. In October, Cofidis announced that his contract would not be extended, after negotiations broke down over a new deal.^[21] A former boss at Subaru Montgomery offered him a contract with the US Postal team at a salary of $200,000 a year. By January 1998, Armstrong was engaged in serious training for racing, moving to Europe with the team.^[30]

US Postal/Discovery: 1998–2005

Before his cancer treatment, Armstrong had participated in four Tour de France races, winning two stages. In 1993, he won the eighth stage and in 1995; he took stage 18 which he dedicated to teammate Fabio Casartelli who had crashed and died on stage 15. Armstrong dropped out of the 1996 Tour after the fifth best free butch dating sites after becoming ill, a few months before his diagnosis.^{[citation needed]}

Armstrong's cycling comeback began in 1998 when he won the Tour of Luxembourg. During the 1998 Vuelta a España Armstrong shocked the cycling world by finishing in the top 5 during one ITT, the top 10 in another and for the most part staying with the GC contenders in the mountains en route to finishing 4th overall. His credibility as a threat was confirmed when he finished 4th in both the road race lance guy online dating profile time trial at the World Championships.^[36] As a result of these efforts Armstrong finished 3rd in the voting for the Lance guy online dating profile d'Or.^[37]

In 1999 he won the Tour de France, including four stages. He beat the second place rider, Alex Zülle, by 7 minutes 37 seconds. However, the absence of Jan Ullrich (injury) and Marco Pantani (drug allegations) meant Armstrong had not yet proven himself against the lance guy online dating profile names in the sport. Stage wins included the prologue, stage eight, an individual time trial in Metz, an Alpine stage on stage nine, and the second individual time trial on stage 19.^[38]

In 2000, Ullrich and Pantani returned to challenge Armstrong. The race began a six-year rivalry between Ullrich and Armstrong and ended in victory for Armstrong by 6 minutes 2 seconds over Ullrich. Armstrong took one stage in the 2000 Tour, the second individual time trial on stage 19. In 2001, Armstrong again took top honors, beating Ullrich by 6 minutes 44 seconds. In 2002, Ullrich did not participate due to suspension, and Armstrong won by seven minutes over Joseba Beloki.^[39] During stage eleven and twelve of this Tour is when the race was won as US Postal had Vuelta champRoberto Heras lead Armstrong up both climbs, breaking the peloton in the process. Then when Heras' work was done Armstrong took off to claim the stage wins only having to contend with Beloki.

The pattern returned in 2003, Armstrong taking first place and Ullrich second. Only a minute and a second separated the two at the end of the final day in Paris. U.S. Postal won the team time trial on stage 4 and on stage 9 Armstrong nearly crashed out of the Tour while defending the yellow jersey. He was less than a minute ahead of Lance guy online dating profile and Alexander Vinokourov was on a solo attack threatening to overtake Armstrong in the standings, lance guy online dating profile. While traversing the Côte de la Rochette Beloki crashed violently lance guy online dating profile hard, ending his Tour and sending him to the hospital with serious injuries.^[40] Armstrong narrowly avoided the same fate by reacting in time to avoid Beloki, but to do so he went off the road and momo dating site up on a foot trail which led downhill through a field. Why are asian parents so strict about dating survived upright on his bike nearly to how to qrite a dating app bio end, at which time he picked it up and carried it the rest of the way to the road at the bottom of the hairpin turn, essentially losing no time as a result. He could have been fined or penalized for taking a shortcut, but it was deemed unintentional.^[41] Armstrong maintained lance guy online dating profile gap of only +0:21 over Vinokourov, but Ullrich was emerging as the most likely rider to overthrow Armstrong. Armstrong then took stage 15, despite having been knocked off on the ascent to Luz Ardiden, dating bi guys final climb, when a spectator's bag caught his right handlebar. Ullrich waited for him, which brought Ullrich fair-play honors.^[42]

In 2004, Armstrong finished first, 6 minutes 19 seconds ahead of German Andreas Klöden, lance guy online dating profile. Ullrich was fourth, a further 2 minutes 31 seconds behind. Armstrong won a personal-best five individual stages, plus the team time trial. He became the first biker since Gino Bartali in 1948 to win three consecutive mountain stages; 15, 16, and 17. The individual time trial on stage 16 up Alpe d'Huez was won in style by Armstrong as he passed Ivan Basso on the way despite having set out two minutes after the Italian. He won sprint finishes from Basso in stages 13 and 15 and made up a significant gap in the last 250 m to nip Klöden at the line in stage 17. He won the final individual time trial, stage 19, to complete his personal record of stage wins.^[43]

In 2005, Armstrong was beaten by American David Zabriskie in the stage 1 time trial by two seconds, despite having passed Ullrich on the road. His Discovery Channel team won the team time trial, while Armstrong won the final individual time trial. In the mountain stages, Armstrong's lead was attacked multiple times mostly by Ivan Basso, but also by T-mobile leaders Jan Ullrich, Andreas Kloden and Alexandre Vinokourov and former teammate Levi Leipheimer. But still, the American champion handled them well, maintained his lead and, on some occasions, increased it. To complete his record-breaking feat, he crossed the line on the Champs-Élysées on July 24 to win his seventh consecutive Tour, finishing 4 m 40s ahead of Basso, with Ullrich third. Another record achieved that year was that Armstrong completed the tour at the highest pace in the race's history: his average speed dating app ryder the whole tour was 41.7 km/h (26 mph).^[44] In 2005, Armstrong announced he would retire after the 2005 Tour de France,^[45] citing his desire to spend more time with his family and his foundation.^[46] During his retirement he was unaware of professional cycling but whilst at a conference, in 2008, he saw Carlos Sastre's win on Alpe d'Huez and "felt a pang".^[46]

Comeback

Astana Pro Team: 2009

See also: 2009 Astana season

Armstrong announced on September 9, 2008, that he would return to pro cycling with the express goal of participating in the 2009 Tour de France.^[47][48]VeloNews reported that Armstrong would race for no salary or bonuses and would post his internally tested blood results online.^[48]

Australian ABC radio reported on September 24, 2008, that Armstrong would compete in the UCI Tour Down Under through Adelaide and surrounding areas in January 2009. UCI rules say a cyclist has to be in an anti-doping program for six months before adult dating sims android event, but UCI allowed Armstrong to compete.^[49] He had to retire from the 2009 Vuelta a Castilla y León during the first stage after crashing in a rider pileup in Baltanás, Spain, and breaking his collarbone.^[50] Armstrong flew back to Austin, Texas, for corrective surgery, which was successful, and was back training on a bicycle within four days of his operation.

On Inurl:blog leave a comment + free dating sites 10, 2009, a controversy emerged between the French anti-doping agency AFLD and Armstrong and his team manager, Johan Bruyneel, stemming from a March 17, lance guy online dating profile, 2009, encounter with an AFLD anti-doping official who visited Armstrong after a training ride in Beaulieu-sur-Mer, lance guy online dating profile. When the official arrived, Armstrong claims he asked—and was granted—permission to take a shower while Bruyneel checked the official's credentials. In late April, lance guy online dating profile, the AFLD cleared Armstrong of any wrongdoing.^[51] Armstrong returned to racing after his collarbone injury at the Tour of the Gila in New Mexico on April 29.^[52]

On July 7, in the fourth stage of the 2009 Tour de France, Armstrong narrowly failed to win the yellow jersey after his Astana team won the team time trial. His Astana team won the 39 km lap of Montpellier but Armstrong ended up just over two tenths of a second (0.22) outside Fabian Cancellara's overall lead.^[53] Armstrong finished the 2009 Tour de France on the podium in 3rd place. The only riders able to drop him were Andy Schleck who was able to defeat him by +1:13 and his own Astana teammate Alberto Contador, who won the Tour by more than four minutes over Schleck.^{[citation needed]}

Team RadioShack: 2010–11

On July 21, 2009, Armstrong announced that he would return to the Tour de France in 2010.^[54]RadioShack was named as the main sponsor for Armstrong's 2010 team, named Team RadioShack.^[55] Armstrong made his 2010 season debut at the Tour Down Under where he finished 25th out of the lance guy online dating profile riders who completed the race. He made his European season debut at the 2010 Vuelta a Murcia finishing in seventh place overall. Armstrong was also set to compete in several classics such as the Milan–San Remo, Dating a guy 5 years younger Gold Race, Liège–Bastogne–Liège, and the Tour of Flanders, but bouts with gastroenteritis forced his withdrawal from three of the four races.^[56]

Armstrong returned to the United States in mid-April to compete in the Tour of Gila and May's Tour of California, both as preparation for the Tour de France. However, he crashed outside Visalia early in stage 5 of the Tour of California and had to withdraw from the race. He showed fine shape after recovering from the Tour of California crash, placing second in the Lance guy online dating profile of Switzerland and third in the Tour of Luxembourg.

On June 28, Armstrong announced via Twitter that the 2010 edition would be his final Tour de France.^[58] Armstrong put in an impressive performance in the Tour's prologue time trial, finishing fourth. Only time trial specialists were able to better Armstrong's time and he was the highest placed of the GC contenders with a young, relatively unknown rider, Geraint Thomas, finishing one second behind him and Contador four seconds slower. In all eight of Armstrong's Tours since his comeback in 1999 he always had the requisite good luck early in the Tour and never got involved in crashes or mechanicals, which could cost him serious time. In 2010 his luck ran out early as he lost serious time due to the aftermath and peloton splits caused by a crash on stage 3,^[59] and then another crash on stage 8. He rallied for the brutal Pyrenean stage 16, working as a key player in a successful break that included teammate Chris Horner. He finished his last tour in 23rd place, 39 minutes 20 seconds behind former winner Alberto Contador.^[60] He was also a key rider in helping Team RadioShack win the team competition, beating Caisse d'Epargne by 9 minutes, 15 seconds. In October, he announced the end of his international career after the Tour Down Under in January 2011. He stated that after January 2011, he will race only in the U.S. with the Radioshack domestic team.^[61]

Armstrong announced his retirement from competitive cycling 'for good' on February 16, lance guy online dating profile, 2011, while still facing a US federal investigation into doping allegations.^[62][63]

Armstrong improved the support behind his well-funded teams, lance guy online dating profile, asking sponsors and single fathers dating to contribute and act as part of the team.^[64] For example, rather than free adult dating website the frame, handlebars, and tires designed and developed by separate companies with little interaction, his teams adopted a Formula One relationship with sponsors and suppliers named "F-One",^[65] taking full advantage of the combined resources of several organizations working in close communication, lance guy online dating profile. Lance guy online dating profile team, Trek, Nike, AMD, Bontrager (a Trek company), Shimano, Sram, Giro and Oakley, collaborated for an array of products.^{[citation needed]}

Doping allegations, investigation and confession

Main articles: History of Lance Armstrong doping allegations and Lance Armstrong doping case

For much of his career, Armstrong faced persistent allegations of doping.^[66] Armstrong denied all such allegations until January 2013, often claiming that he never had any positive test in the drug tests he has taken over his cycling career.^[67]

Armstrong has been criticized for his disagreements with outspoken opponents of doping such as Paul Kimmage^[68][69] and Christophe Bassons.^[70][71] Bassons was a rider for Festina at the time of the Festina affair and was widely reported by teammates as being the only rider on the lance guy online dating profile not to be taking performance-enhancing drugs. Bassons wrote a number of articles for a French newspaper during the 1999 Tour de France which made references to doping in the peloton. Subsequently, Armstrong had an altercation with Bassons during the 1999 Tour de France where Bassons said Armstrong rode up alongside on the Alpe d'Huez stage to tell him "it was a mistake to speak out the way I (Bassons) do and he (Armstrong) asked why I was doing it. I told him that I'm thinking of the next generation of riders. Paypal friendly dating sites he said 'Why don't you leave, then?'"^[72][73]

Armstrong confirmed the story. On the main evening news on TF1, a national television station, Armstrong said, "His accusations aren't good for cycling, for his team, for me, for anybody. If he thinks cycling works like that, he's wrong and he would be better off going home".^[74] Kimmage, a professional cyclist in the 1980s who later became a sports journalist, referred to Armstrong as a "cancer in cycling".^[71] He also asked Armstrong questions in relation to his "admiration for dopers" at a press conference at the Tour of California in 2009, provoking a scathing reaction from Armstrong.^[71] This spat continued and is exemplified by Kimmage's articles in The Irish Independent.^[75]

Armstrong continued to deny the use of illegal performance-enhancing drugs for four more years, describing himself as the most tested athlete in the world.^[76] From his return to cycling in the fall of 2008 through March 2009, Armstrong claimed to have submitted to 24 unannounced drug tests by various anti-doping authorities.^[77][78]

Working with Michele Ferrari

Armstrong was criticized for working with controversial trainer Michele Ferrari. Ferrari claimed that he was introduced to Lance by Eddy Merckx in 1995.^[79]Greg LeMond described himself as "devastated" on hearing of them working together, while Tour de France organizer Jean-Marie Leblanc said, "I am not happy the two names are mixed."^[80] Following Ferrari's later-overturned conviction for "sporting fraud" and "abuse of the medical profession", Armstrong claimed he suspended his professional relationship with him, saying that he had "zero tolerance for anyone convicted of using or facilitating the use of performance-enhancing drugs" and denying that Ferrari had ever "suggested, prescribed or provided me with any performance-enhancing drugs."^[81]

Though Ferrari was banned from practicing medicine with cyclists by the Italian Cycling Federation, according to Italian law enforcement authorities, Armstrong met with Ferrari as late as 2010 in a country outside Italy.^[82] According to Cycling News, "USADA reveals an intimate role played by Dr. Michele Ferrari in masterminding Armstrong's Tour de France success". According to the USADA report, Armstrong paid Ferrari over a million dollars from 1996 to 2006, countering Armstrong's claim that he severed his professional relationship with Ferrari in 2004. The report also includes numerous eyewitness accounts of Ferrari injecting Armstrong with EPO on a number of occasions.^[83]

L.A. Confidentiel: 2004

Main article: L.A. Confidentiel

In 2004, reporters Pierre Ballester and David Walsh published a book alleging Armstrong had used performance-enhancing drugs (L.A. Confidentiel – Les secrets de Lance Armstrong). Another figure in the book, Steve Swart, claims he and other riders, including Armstrong, began using drugs in 1995 while members of the Motorola team, a claim denied by other team members.^[84][85]

Among the allegations in the book were claims by Armstrong's former soigneur Emma O'Reilly that a backdated prescription for cortisone had been produced in 1999 to avoid a positive test. A 1999 urine sample at the Tour de France showed traces of corticosteroid. A medical certificate showed he used an approved cream for saddle sores which contained the substance.^[86] O'Reilly said she heard team officials worrying about Armstrong's positive test for steroids during the Tour. She said: "They were in a panic, saying: 'What are we going to do? What are we going to do?'"^[87]

According to O'Reilly, the solution was to get one of their compliant doctors to issue a pre-dated prescription for a steroid-based ointment to combat saddle sores. He said she would have known if Armstrong had saddle sores as she would have administered any treatment for it, lance guy online dating profile. O'Reilly said that Armstrong told her: "Now, Emma, you know enough to bring me down." O'Reilly said on other occasions she was asked to dispose of used syringes for Armstrong and pick up strange parcels for the team.^[88]

Allegations in the book were reprinted in The Sunday Times (UK) by deputy sports editor Alan English in June 2004. Armstrong sued for libel, and the paper settled out of court after a High Court judge in a pre-trial ruling stated that the article "meant accusation of guilt and not simply reasonable grounds to suspect."^[89] The newspaper's lawyers issued the statement: "The Sunday Times has confirmed to Mr, lance guy online dating profile. Armstrong that it never intended to accuse him of being guilty of taking any performance-enhancing drugs and sincerely apologized for any such impression." The same authors (Pierre Ballester and David Walsh) subsequently published L.A. Official and Le Sale Tour (The Dirty Trick), further pressing their claims that Armstrong used performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career.^{[citation needed]}

On March 31, lance guy online dating profile, 2005, Mike Anderson filed a brief^[90] in Travis County District Court in Texas, as part of a legal battle following his termination in November 2004 as an employee of Armstrong. Anderson worked for Lance guy online dating profile for two years as a personal assistant. In the brief, Anderson claimed that he discovered a box of androstenone while cleaning a bathroom in Armstrong's apartment in Girona, Spain.^[91] Androstenone is not on the list of banned drugs. Anderson stated in a subsequent deposition that he had no direct knowledge of Armstrong using a banned substance. Armstrong denied the claim and issued a counter-suit.^[92] The two men reached an out-of-court settlement in November 2005; the terms of the agreement were not disclosed.^[93]

In November 2012, Times Newspapers republished all of Walsh's articles as well as the original "LA Confidential" article by Alan English in Lanced: The shaming of Lance Armstrong.^[94]The Times is said to be considering taking action to recoup money from Armstrong in relation to the settlement and court costs.^[95]

In December 2012 The Sunday Times filed suit against Armstrong for $1.5 million. In its suit, the paper is seeking a return of the original settlement, plus interest and the cost of defending the original case.^[96]

In August 2013, Armstrong and The Sunday Times reached an undisclosed settlement.^[97]

Tour de France urine tests: 2005

On August 23, 2005, L'Équipe, lance guy online dating profile, a major French daily sports newspaper, lance guy online dating profile, reported on its front page under the headline "le mensonge Armstrong" ("The Armstrong Lie") that six urine samples taken from the cyclist during the prologue and five stages of the 1999 Tour de France, frozen and stored since at "Laboratoire national de dépistage du dopage de Châtenay-Malabry" (LNDD), had tested positive for erythropoietin (EPO) in recent retesting conducted as part of a research project into EPO testing methods.^[98]

Armstrong immediately replied on his website, saying, "Unfortunately, the witch hunt continues and tomorrow's article is nothing short of tabloid journalism. The paper even admits in its own article that the science in question here is faulty and that I have no way to defend myself. They state: 'There will therefore be no counter-exam nor regulatory prosecutions, in a strict sense, since defendant's rights cannot be respected.' I will simply restate what I have said many times: I have never taken performance enhancing drugs."^[100]

In October 2005, in response to calls from the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) for an independent investigation, the UCI appointed Dutch lawyer Emile Vrijman to investigate the handling of urine tests by the French national anti-doping laboratory, LNDD. Vrijman was head of the Dutch anti-doping agency for ten years; since then he has worked as a defense attorney defending high-profile athletes against doping charges.^[101] Vrijman's report cleared Armstrong because of improper handling and testing.^[102][103] The report said tests on urine samples were conducted improperly and fell so short of scientific standards that it was "completely irresponsible" to suggest they "constitute evidence of anything."^[104]

The recommendation of the commission's report was no disciplinary action against any rider on the basis of LNDD research. It also called upon the WADA and LNDD to submit themselves to an investigation by an outside independent authority.^[105] The IOC Ethics Commission subsequently censured Dick Pound, the President of WADA and a member of the IOC, for his statements in the media that suggested wrongdoing by Armstrong. In April 2009, anti-doping expert^[106] Michael Ashenden said "the LNDD absolutely had no way of knowing athlete identity from the sample they're given. They have a number on them, but that's never linked to an athlete's name. The only group that had both the number and the athlete's name is the federation, in this case it was the UCI." He added "There was only two conceivable ways that synthetic EPO could've gotten into those samples. One, is that Lance Armstrong used EPO during the '99 Tour. The other way it could've got in the urine was if, as Lance Online dating topics seems to believe, the laboratory spiked those samples. Now, lance guy online dating profile, that's an extraordinary claim, and there's never ever been any evidence the laboratory has ever spiked an athlete's sample, even during the Cold War, where you would've thought there was a real political motive to frame an athlete from a different country. There's never been any suggestion that it happened."^[107]

Ashenden's statements are at odds with the findings of the Vrijman report. "According to Mr. Ressiot, the manner in which the LNDD had structured the results table of its report – i.e. listing the sequence of each of the batches, as well as the exact number of urine samples per batch, in the same (chronological) order as the stages of the 1999 Tour de France they were collected at – was already sufficient to allow him to determine the exact stage these urine samples referred to and subsequently the identity of the riders who were tested at that stage." Adult single casual dating virginia washington dc Vrijman report also says "Le Monde of July 21 and 23, 1999 reveal that the press knew the contents of original doping forms of the 1999 Tour de France".^[105]

SCA Promotions case: 2005–2015

In June 2006, French newspaper Le Monde reported claims by Betsy and Frankie Andreu during a deposition that Armstrong had admitted to using performance-enhancing drugs to his physician just after brain surgery in 1996. The Andreus' testimony was related to litigation between Armstrong and SCA Promotions, a Texas company attempting to withhold a $5 million bonus; this was settled out of court with SCA paying Armstrong and Tailwind Sports $7.5 million, to cover the $5 million bonus plus interest and lawyers' fees. The testimony stated "And so the doctor asked him a few questions, not many, and then one of the questions he asked was . have you ever used any performance-enhancing drugs? And Lance said yes. And the doctor asked, what were they? And Lance said, growth hormone, cortisone, EPO, steroids and testosterone."^[108]

Armstrong suggested Betsy Andreu may have been confused by possible mention of his post-operative treatment which included steroids and EPO that are taken to counteract wasting and red-blood-cell-destroying effects of intensive chemotherapy.^[109] The Andreus' allegation was not supported by any of the eight other people present, including Armstrong's doctor Craig Nichols,^[110] or his medical history. According to Greg LeMond (who has been embroiled with his own disputes with Armstrong), he (LeMond) had a recorded conversation, the transcript of which was reviewed by National Public Radio (NPR), lance guy online dating profile, with Stephanie McIlvain (Armstrong's contact at Oakley Inc.) in which she said of Armstrong's alleged admission 'You know, I was in that room. I heard it.' However, McIlvain has contradicted LeMond's allegations on the issue and denied under oath that the incident in question ever occurred in her sworn testimony.^[108]

In July 2006, the Los Angeles Times published a story on the allegations raised in the SCA case.^[111] The report cited evidence at the trial, including the results of the LNDD test and an analysis of these results by an expert witness.^[112] From the Los Angeles Times article: "The results, Australian researcher Michael Ashenden testified in Dallas, show Armstrong's levels rising and falling, consistent with a series of injections during the Tour. Ashenden, a paid expert retained by SCA Promotions, told arbitrators that the results painted a "compelling picture" that the world's most famous cyclist "used EPO in the '99 Tour."^[111]

Ashenden's finding were disputed by the Vrijman report, which pointed to procedural and privacy issues in dismissing the LNDD test results. The Los Angeles Times article also provided information on testimony given by Armstrong's former teammate, Swart, Andreu and his wife Betsy, and instant messaging conversation between Andreu and Jonathan Vaughters regarding blood-doping in the peloton. Vaughters signed a statement disavowing the comments and stating he had: "no personal knowledge that any team in the Tour de France, including Armstrong's Discovery team in 2005, engaged in any prohibited conduct whatsoever." Andreu signed a statement affirming the conversation took place as indicated on the instant messaging logs submitted to the court.^[113]

The SCA trial was settled out of court, and the Los Angeles Times reported: "Though no verdict or finding of facts was rendered, Armstrong called the outcome proof that the doping allegations were baseless." The Los Angeles Times article provides a review of the disputed positive EPO test, allegations and sworn testimony against Armstrong, but notes that: "They are filled with conflicting testimony, hearsay and circumstantial evidence admissible in arbitration hearings but questionable in more formal legal proceedings."^[113]

In October 2012, lance guy online dating profile, following the publication of the USADA reasoned decision, SCA Promotions announced its intention to recoup the monies paid to Armstrong totaling in excess of $7 million. Armstrong's legal representative Tim Herman stated in June: "When SCA decided to settle the case, it settled the entire matter forever. No backs, lance guy online dating profile. No re-dos. No do-overs. SCA knowingly and independently waived any right to make further claims to any of the money it paid."^[114] SCA's Jeff Dorough stated that on October 30, 2012, Armstrong was sent a formal request for the return of $12 million in bonuses. It is alleged that Armstrong's legal team has offered a settlement of $1 million.^[115][116]

On February 4, 2015 the arbitration panel decided 2–1 in SCA's favor and ordered Armstrong and Tailwind Sports Corp to pay SCA $10 million. The panel's decision was referred to the Texas 116th Civil District Court in Dallas on February 16, 2015 for confirmation. Panel members Richard Faulkner and Richard Chernick sided with Best sugar momma dating apps Ted Lyon sided with Armstrong. Armstrong's attorney Tim Herman stated that the panel's ruling was contrary to Texas law and expected that the court would overturn it. The panel's decision said, in part, about Armstrong that, "Perjury must never be profitable" and "it is almost certainly the most devious sustained deception ever perpetrated in world sporting history."^[117][118]

On September 27, 2015, Armstrong and SCA agreed to a settlement. Armstrong issued a formal, lance guy online dating profile, public apology and agreed to pay SCA an undisclosed sum.^[119]

Federal investigation: 2010–2012

Main article: Lance Armstrong doping case § 2010–2012 federal inquiry

In a series of emails in May 2010, Floyd Landis admitted to doping and accused Armstrong and others of the same.^[120] Based lance guy online dating profile Landis's allegations, U.S. Justice Department federal prosecutors led an investigation into possible crimes conducted by Armstrong and the U.S. Postal Service Cycling Team. The Food and Drug Administration and federal agent Jeff Novitzky were also involved in the investigation.^[121][122] In June 2010, Armstrong hired a criminal defense attorney to represent him in the investigation.^[123] The hiring was first reported in July when Armstrong was competing in the 2010 Tour de France.^[124][125]

On February 3, 2012, federal prosecutors officially dropped their criminal investigation with no charges.^[126][127] The closing of the case was announced "without an explanation" by U.S. Attorney André Birotte, Jr. When Novitzky was asked to comment on it, he declined.^[128]

In February 2013, a month after Armstrong admitted to doping, the Justice Department joined Landis's whistleblower lawsuit to recover government funding given to Armstrong's cycling team.^[129]

USADA investigation and limited confession: 2011–2013

Main article: Lance Armstrong doping case § USADA investigation 2011–2012

In June 2012, lance guy online dating profile, the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) accused Armstrong of doping and trafficking of drugs, based on blood samples from 2009 and 2010, and testimony from witnesses including former teammates. Further, he was accused of putting pressure on teammates to take unauthorized performance-enhancing drugs as well.^[130] In October 2012, USADA formally charged him with running a massive doping ring. It also sought to ban him from participating in sports sanctioned by WADA for life. Armstrong chose not to appeal the findings, saying it would not be worth the toll on his family.^[7] As a result, he was stripped of all of his achievements from August 1998 onward, including his seven Tour de France titles. He also received a lifetime ban from all sports that follow the World Anti-Doping Code. As nearly all national and international sporting federations, including UCI, follow the World Anti-Doping Code, this effectively ended his competitive cycling career.^[8][131] The International Cycling Union (UCI) upheld USADA's decision^[9] and decided that his lance guy online dating profile wins would not be allocated to other riders.^{[N 2][10]}

After years of public denials, in a January 2013 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Armstrong reversed course and made a "limited confession" to doping.^[132] While admitting wrongdoing in the interview, he also said it was "absolutely not" true that he was doping in 2009 or 2010, and claimed that the last time he "crossed the line" was in 2005.^[133][134] He also denied pressuring team-mates into doping. In September 2013, he was asked by UCI's new president, Brian Cookson, to testify about his doping. Armstrong refused to testify until and unless he received complete amnesty, which Cookson said was most unlikely to happen.^{[N 3][135]}

After USADA's report, all of Armstrong's sponsors dropped him. He reportedly lost $75 million of sponsorship income in a day.^[136] On May 28, 2013, Nike announced that it would be cutting all ties to Livestrong.^[137] In the aftermath of Armstrong's fall from grace, a CNN article wrote that "The epic downfall of cycling's star, once an idolized icon of millions around the globe, stands out in the history of professional sports."^[138] In a 2015 interview with BBC News, Armstrong stated that if it was still 1995, he would "probably do it again".^[139][140]

Whistleblower lawsuit: 2010–2018

In 2010, one of Armstrong's former teammates, the American Floyd Landis, whose 2006 Tour De France victory was nullified after a positive doping test, lance guy online dating profile a series of emails to cycling officials and sponsors admitting to, and detailing, his systematic use of performance-enhancing drugs during his career. The emails also claimed that other riders and cycling officials participated in doping, including Armstrong.^[141]

Landis filed a federal whistleblower lawsuit against Armstrong under the federal False Claims Act.^[142] The False Claims Act allows citizens to sue on behalf of the government alleging the government has been defrauded, lance guy online dating profile. The existence of the lawsuit, initially filed under chinese american dating sites, was first revealed by The Wall Street Journal in 2010. In the lawsuit, lance guy online dating profile, Landis alleged that Armstrong and team managers defrauded the US government when they accepted money from the US Postal Service. In January 2013, US Justice Department officials recommended joining the federal lawsuit aimed at clawing back money from Armstrong.^[143]

In February, the US Department of Justice joined the whistleblower lawsuit, which also accused former Postal Service team director Johan Bruyneel and Tailwind Sports, the firm that managed the US Postal Service team, of defrauding the US.^[144][145]

In April 2014, documents from the AIC case were filed by lawyers representing Landis in relation to the whistleblower suit. In these documents, Armstrong stated under oath that Jose "Pepi" Marti, Dr Pedro Celaya, Dr Luis Garcia del Moral and Dr Michele Ferrari had all provided him with doping products in the period up until 2005. He also named people who had transported or acted as couriers, as well as people that were aware of his doping practices.^{[146][147][148]} One week later, the USADA banned Bruyneel from cycling for ten years and Celaya and Marti for eight years.^[149]

In June 2014, US district judge Robert Wilkins denied Armstrong's request to dismiss the government lawsuit stating "The court denies without prejudice the defendants' motion to dismiss the government's action as time-barred."^[150]

In February 2017, the court determined that the federal government's US$100 million civil lawsuit against Armstrong, started by Landis, would proceed to trial.^[151] The matter was settled in April 2018 when Armstrong agreed to pay the United States Government US$5 million. During the proceedings it was revealed that the US Postal Service had paid US$31 million in sponsorship to Armstrong and Tailwind Sports between 2001 and 2004. The Department of Justice accused Armstrong of violating his contract with the USPS and committing fraud when he denied using performance-enhancing drugs. It was reported that Landis would receive US$1.1 million as a result of his whistleblower actions.^[152]

Other lawsuits: 2010 to present

In November 2013, Armstrong settled a lawsuit with Acceptance Insurance Company (AIC). AIC had sought to recover $3 million it had paid Armstrong as bonuses for winning the Tour de France from 1999 to 2001, lance guy online dating profile. The suit was settled for an undisclosed sum one day before Armstrong was scheduled to give a deposition under oath.^[153][154]

Personal life

Armstrong owns homes in Austin, Texas, and Aspen, Colorado, as well as a ranch in the Texas Hill Country.^[155]

Relationships and children

Armstrong met Kristin Richard in June 1997. They married on May 1, 1998, lance guy online dating profile, and had three children: a son (born October 1999) and twin daughters (born November 2001). The pregnancies were made possible through sperm Armstrong banked three years earlier, before chemotherapy and surgery.^[156] The couple divorced in 2003.^[157] At Armstrong's request, his children flew to Paris for the Tour de France podium ceremony in 2005, where his son Luke helped his father hoist the trophy, while his daughters (in yellow dresses) held the stuffed lion mascot and bouquet of yellow flowers.^{[citation needed]}

Lance and Kristin Armstrong announced their divorce in 2003, the same year that Lance began dating singer-songwriter Sheryl Crow.^[158] The couple announced their engagement in September 2005 and their split in February 2006.^[159]

In July 2008, Armstrong began dating Anna Hansen after meeting through Armstrong's charity work, lance guy online dating profile. In December 2008, Armstrong announced that Hansen was pregnant with the couple's first child. Although it was believed that Armstrong could no longer father children due to having undergone chemotherapy for testicular cancer, the child was conceived naturally.^[160] They have a son (born June 2009)^[161] and a daughter (born October 2010).

Politics

In a The New York Times article, lance guy online dating profile, teammate George Hincapie hinted that Armstrong would run for Governor of Texas after cycling. In the July 2005 issue of Outside magazine, Armstrong hinted at running for governor, although "not in '06".^[163] Armstrong and former president George W. Bush, a Republican and fellow Texan, call themselves friends. Bush called Armstrong in France to congratulate him after his 2005 victory. In Lance guy online dating profile 2005, The Times most popular free dating apps the President had invited Armstrong to his Prairie Chapel Ranch to go mountain biking.^[164] In a 2003 interview with The Observer, Armstrong said: "He's a personal friend, but we've interracial dating difficulties got the right not to agree with our friends."^[165]

In August 2005, Armstrong hinted he had changed his mind about politics. In an interview with Charlie Rose on PBS on August 1, 2005, lance guy online dating profile, Armstrong pointed out that running for governor would require the commitment that led him to retire from cycling. Also, in August 2005, Armstrong said that he was no longer considering politics:

The biggest problem with politics or running for the governor—the governor's race here in Austin or in Texas—is that it would mimic exactly what I've done: a ton of stress and a ton of time away from my kids. Why would I want to go from pro cycling, which is stressful and a lot of time away, straight into politics?^[166]

Armstrong created a YouTube video in 2007 with former President George H. W. Bush to successfully pass Proposition 15, a US$3 billion taxpayer bond initiative which created the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas.^[167]

Armstrong was co-chair of a California campaign committee to pass the California Cancer Research Act, a ballot measure defeated by California voters on June 5, 2012.^[168] Had it passed, the measure was projected to generate over $500 million annually for cancer research, smoking-cessation programs and tobacco law-enforcement by levying a $1-per-pack tax on tobacco products in California.^[169]

Armstrong endorsed Democratic Congressman Beto O'Rourke against Republican incumbent Senator Ted Cruz in the 2018 election.^[170]

In 1997, Armstrong founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which supports people affected by cancer. The foundation raises awareness of cancer and has raised^[171] more than $325 million from the sale of yellow Livestrong bracelets.^[172] During his first retirement beginning after the 2005 season, he also maintained other interests. He was the pace car driver of the Chevrolet Corvette Z06 for the 2006 Indianapolis 500. In 2007, Armstrong with Andre Agassi, Muhammad Ali, Warrick Dunn, Jeff Gordon, Mia Hamm, Tony Hawk, Andrea Jaeger, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Mario Lemieux, Alonzo Mourning, and Cal Ripken, Jr. founded Athletes for Hope, a charity that helps professional athletes become involved in charitable causes and aims to inspire non-athletes to volunteer and support the community.^[173]

In August 2009, Armstrong headlined the inaugural charity ride "Pelotonia" in Columbus, Ohio, riding over 100 miles on Saturday with the large group of cyclists. He addressed the riders the Friday evening before the two-day ride and helped the ride raise millions for cancer research.^[174] Armstrong ran the lance guy online dating profile New York City Marathon with two friends. He assembled a pace team of Alberto Salazar, Joan Benoit Samuelson, and Hicham El Guerrouj to help him reach three hours. He finished in 2h 59m 36s, in 856th place. He said the race was extremely difficult compared to the Tour de France.^[175] The NYC Marathon had a dedicated camera on Armstrong throughout the event which, according to Armstrong, pushed him to continue through hottest dating app in which he would have normally "stopped and stretched".^[176] He also helped raise $600,000 for his LiveStrong campaign during the run. Armstrong ran the 2007 NYC Marathon in 2h 46m 43s, finishing 232nd.^[177] On April 21, 2008, he ran the Boston Marathon in 2h 50m 58s, finishing in the top 500.^[178]

Armstrong made a return to triathlon in 2011 by competing in the off-road XTERRA Triathlon race series. At the Championships Armstrong led for a time before crashing out on the bike and finishing in 23rd place.^[179][180] The following year, in 2012, Armstrong began pursuing qualification into the 2012 Ironman Scams of getting phone number from dating site Championship.^[181] He was scheduled to next participate in Ironman France on June 24. However, lance guy online dating profile, the June suspension by USADA and eventual ban by WADA prohibited Armstrong from further racing Ironman branded events due to World Triathlon Corporation anti-doping policies.^[182]

In July 2011 and July 2013, Armstrong participated in the non-competitive Register's Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa.^{[183][184][185]}

Business and investments

"10/2" redirects here. For other uses, see 10/2 (disambiguation).

Armstrong owns a coffee shop in downtown Austin, Texas, called "Juan Pelota Cafe". The name is a joking reference to his testicular cancer, with lance guy online dating profile name "Juan" being considered by some a homophone for "one" and "Pelota" being the Spanish word for "ball".^[186] In the same building, Armstrong owns and operates a bike shop named "Mellow Johnny's", after another nickname of his derived from the Tour term "maillot jaune", which is French for yellow jersey, the jersey given to the leader of the general classification.

In 2001, Armstrong provided funding to launch Wonders & Worries, lance guy online dating profile, a non-profit organization in Austin, Texas that provides counseling and support for children who have a parent with a serious or life-threatening disease.^[188]

A line of cycling clothing from Nike, 10//2, was named after the date (October 2, 1996) black phone chat adult dating free Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer.^{[citation needed]}

In 2008, Armstrong bought several million dollars of stock in the American bicycle component manufacturer SRAM Corporation, and has served as their technical advisor.^[189] SRAM bought those shares back from him in preparation for a public offering. Armstrong owns a small share of Trek Bicycle Corporation.^[190]

In 2009, Armstrong invested $100,000 into Uber when it was only valued at $3.7 million. In 2019, Uber achieved an IPO of $82 billion. According to CNBC, Armstrong said "it saved our family".^[191]

Media

In 2017, Armstrong started a podcast named "The Move", which provided daily coverage of the Tour de France in 2018 and 2019.^[192] He also appeared—without compensation—on NBC Sports Network's live Tour de France television broadcasts. The UCI indicated the podcast and NBC appearances did not violate the terms of his ban.^[193]

Career achievements

Major results

Road

Grand Tour general classification results timeline

Triathlon & Ironman

2011

5th XTERRA USA Championships

2012

1st Dating sites in fargo nd 70.3 Hawaii

1st Ironman 70.3 Florida

3rd Ironman 70.3 St. Croix

7th Ironman 70.3 Texas

2nd Ironman 70.3 Panama

2nd Power of Four Mountain Bike Race

Mountain Bike

2008

2009

Filmography

• Road to Paris (2001), documentary
• DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story (2004), cameo appearance
• You, Me and Dupree (2006), cameo appearance
• The Armstrong Lie (2013), documentary
• Stop at Nothing-The Lance Armstrong Story (2014), documentary
• The Program (2015), biographical drama film
• Tour de Pharmacy (2017), appearing as himself, acting as parody of an anonymous source
• Lance (2020), documentary

Accolades

• United States Olympic Committee (USOC) SportsMan of the Year (1999, 2001, 2002, 2003)^[194]
• Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year (2002, 2003, 2004, 2005)^[195]
• World's Most Outstanding Athlete Award, Jesse Owens International Trophy (2000)^[196][197]
• Reuters Sportsman of the Year (2003)^[198]
• Prince of Asturias Award in Sports (2000)^[199]
• Sports Ethics Fellows by the Institute for International Sport (2003)^[200]
• Mendrisio d'Or Award in Switzerland (1999)^{[importance?][201]}
• Premio Coppi-Bici d'Oro Trophy by the Fausto Coppi foundation in conjunction with La Gazzetta dello Sport (1999, 2000)
• Marca Legend Award by Marca, a Spanish sports daily in Madrid (2004)
• ESPY Award for Best Male Athlete (2003, 2004, 2005, 2006)
• ESPY Award for GMC Professional Grade Play Award (2005)
• ESPY Award for Best Comeback Athlete (2000)
• ESPN/Intersport's ARETE Award for Courage in Sport (Professional Division) (1999)^[202]
• ABC's Wide World of Sports Athlete of the Year (1999)
• Favorite Athlete award at Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (2006)^[203][204]
• Presidential Delegation to the XIX Olympic Winter Games (2002)
• Sports Illustrated magazine's Sportsman of lance guy online dating profile Year (2002)^[206]
• VeloNews magazine's International Cyclist of the Year (2000, 2001, 2003, 2004)
• VeloNews magazine's North American Male Cyclist of the Year (1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2002, 2005)
• William Hill Sports Book of the Year: It's Not About the Bike: My Journey Back to Life (2000)^[207]
• Triathlon magazine's Rookie of the Year (1988)
• Pace car driver for the Indianapolis 500 (2006)^[208][209]
• An asteroid, 1994 JE₉ was named 12373 Lancearmstrong in honor of him.^[210]
• Six-mile Lance Armstrong Bikeway through downtown Austin, lance guy online dating profile, Texas, built by the city of Austin at a cost of $3.2 million.^[211][212]
• Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias Courage Award presented by the United States Sports Academy (1999)^[213]
• Samuel S. Beard Award for Greatest Public Service by an Individual 35 Years or Under, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards (2001) ^[214]

Rescinded awards

• BBC Overseas Sports Personality of the Lance guy online dating profile Award (2003)^[215]
• Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters, Tufts University (2006)^[216]
• Key to the city of Adelaide, South Australia (2012)^[217][218]
• Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year Winner (2003)^[219]
• Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year Winner (2000)^[220]
• Laureus World Sports Award for Sportsman of the Year Nominated (2002, 2004, lance guy online dating profile, 2005, 2006)
• Laureus World Sports Award for Comeback of the Year Nominated (2010)
• Grand Prix Serge-Kampf de l'Académie des sports (France, 2004)^[221]
• Légion d'honneur (France, 2005)^[222]
• Vélo d'Or Award by Velo magazine in France (1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004)^[223][224]

See also

Notes and references

Notes

References

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Logo is getting into the bachelor business.

The LGBT-focused Viacom-owned cable network has gone straight to series lance guy online dating profile a gay-themed dating competition series, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

‘N Sync grand Lance Bass is set to host the eight-episode series, which is fittingly titled Finding Prince Charming. The unscripted entry will debut in the fall.

Described as the first of its kind dating show, Finding Prince Charming will feature 13 gay men living in the same house and competing to win the heart of what Logo calls “one of the nation’s most eligible gay heartthrobs.” The identities of the suitors and the bachelor have not yet been announced, though production has begun.

“Logo has a long history of lance guy online dating profile LGBTQ-focused stories with memorable characters that transcend pop culture,” said Pamela Post, senior vp original programming at Logo. “Finding Prince Charming will take viewers on a whirlwind journey through modern love and relationships in a way that only Logo can do.”  

Finding Prince Charming is produced by Brian Graden Media, with Graden exec producing alongside the company’s Dave Mace, Fred Birckhead and Nick Murray. VH1 and Logo topper Chris McCarthy, Post and Stevenson Greene will oversee for Logo, while Jen Passovoy is set as producer. 

The series comes as ABC has found continued success — both water cooler- and ratings-wise — with its Bachelor franchise and multiple spinoffs, including The Bachelorette.

Bass is repped by WME.

When Anna Ivey, CEO and co-founder of CommonCoach Inc., opened her inbox recently she noticed an email from someone who had connected with her on LinkedIn, but she soon found out he was not looking for a professional connection.

"Your beauty and charming smile caught my eye," the man wrote. "You have an amazing profile and glad I had the courage to write you after weeks of deep thought." He then added: "I hope no offense is taken."

Ivey did take offense and posted a screenshot of the offending email to Twitter with the message: "LinkedIn. Is. Not. A. Dating. Site."

"I decided I'm going to start putting these out there, because especially in the startup world, a lot of lance guy online dating profile don't realize the garbage that women have to put up with," she said in a telephone interview, lance guy online dating profile.

Women – and to a much lesser degree, men – have long had to endure unwanted advances in the workplace or at work related events. But the problem is worse on LinkedIn, where people feel more comfortable making advances than they would in-person.

"It would be nice if these platforms took this abuse more seriously," said Ivey.

LinkedIn's community guidelines prohibit "romantic advances." However, as the company's CEO Jeff Weiner told Wired magazine last year, it relies on self-policing to enforce the policy. The company says it removed 52,617 instances of harassment or adult content last year.

Los Angeles has always had a reputation as a tough place to date, and that before COVID-19 shut down bars, parties and workplaces. As internet dating has become more mainstream, especially during the pandemic, people are used to finding love online, and unlike dating apps — where the person you're swiping on might not even be real — LinkedIn confers authenticity. That dating chat rooms free is not a dating site is a feature and not a bug for some users wary of being seen on the likes of Bumble or Hinge.

"People don't want their friend's daughter or their assistant to see them online," said eharmony dating lance guy online dating profile Laurel House. "They don't want people knowing their personal business."

Photo by Greg Bulla on Unsplash

'Sometimes It Does Feel Predatory'

Ivey estimates she gets about one message a month through LinkedIn asking her out and she sees it is as more than just an annoyance. "Sometimes it does feel predatory," she added. "I haven't asked to be a target. I don't know how much they know about me. I don't know how much they have Google stalked me."

Despite the unwelcome advances, Ivey says she cannot delete her LinkedIn profile because it is an important networking tool. She tries to limit how much information she shares in her profile, something she says men do not have to worry about. Some women have also been told to use less attractive dating an aries woman photos.

"I really mean that Linkedin is not a dating site," Ivey said. "If I were looking for romantic prospects, I would not be looking at Linkedin."

Ivey is hardly alone. Olivia Solon, tech investigations editor for NBC News, got this message: "It's my pleasure meeting you here, lance guy online dating profile. You look so beautiful and gorgeous." Kim Taylor, CEO of Cluster, posted a screenshot of a similar entreaty on Twitter: "I've not been able to take my lance guy online dating profile off your picture," a man wrote to her. "You're the most beautiful I've ever seen."

After Taylor posted the message, Ben Katz, a tech entrepreneur who's currently the executive chairman of Haven Coliving, criticized her on Twitter for being overly sensitive.

"The outreach wasn't hostile," Katz replied to her. "Has anyone ever hit on you at a work event? How is this different?" (Katz later deleted the Tweets. When asked to comment he replied "LOL.")

The exchange highlights not only two divergent point of views, but how — three years after the #MeToo movement began — there is still confusion about when making a pass at someone crosses the line. Even when intentionally looking for love on apps, lance guy online dating profile, women tend to experience sexual harassment at a much higher rate than men.

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Unclear intentions: An Informational Interview or a Date?

Two years ago, Saphira Howell, who was 20-years-old at the time, was working in an entry-level role at a tech startup in Venice when she received a LinkedIn message from a man seven years her senior. He asked if they could meet over coffee for an informational interview so he could learn more about the company. Since they had mutual acquaintances on LinkedIn, she agreed. But when they met near Venice Beach, he showed little interest in talking about work.

"I thought it was weird because he didn't ask anything about the company," Howell recalls. "I thought maybe this guy was just a big networker?"

When the man texted a few weeks later asking if she wanted to have lunch, Howell asked him if he was looking for a date. He said he was. Howell told him she had a boyfriend and was not interested. She never heard from the man again. "I was a little unsettled that he thought our informational coffee was a date," she said.

Laurel House, the dating coach expert at eharmony, said stories like Howell's are common, but she does not think it is inappropriate to use LinkedIn for dating, so long as people are respectful and upfront with their intentions.

"Make it clear as you can that you're interested in knowing her in a non-business way," said House. "You're giving her the opportunity to say 'thanks, but no thanks'."

House says overtures on the app are often a two-way street. "I have a lot of female clients who reach out to men to date on LinkedIn," she added. "They think a guy is really hot and maybe they can get a job or maybe a date."

Steven Ward, CEO of Master Matchmakers, who counts many tech executives as clients, says he scours dating sites for eligible singles, then cross-references LinkedIn to help verify their professional credentials.

"Linkedin is a great reservoir of talent when it comes to the dating scene," he said.

He also uses the platform to message people, since most dating sites require a mutual match before users can communicate. "You take your lumps," said Ward. "But sometimes they start to feel very intrigued if there's no commitment to work with me."

A matchmaker and chief dating officer at Match, Katie Wilson says she has contacted thousands of people on LinkedIn to ask if they would be interested in dating her clients and experiences "ten times" the success she does on Instagram or Facebook.

"I have yet to come across someone that's frustrated that I've reached out to them about their personal lives," said Wilson. "I think everyone is flattered. Even married folks are tickled that they still got it."

Still, Wilson does acknowledge that receiving a message from her is probably less threatening or creepy than getting one from a suitor.

A Message and Then a Marriage

Some have met or reconnected with long lost acquaintances through LinkedIn that led to relationships, lance guy online dating profile, or even marriages.

Katie McCulloh, who lives outside Washington D.C, had grown weary of dating apps after years of bad dates. "If there was an app out there, I had tried it," she said. "I never had any success."

Three years ago, when she had just turned 35, she reached out to an old high school boyfriend on LinkedIn who she had not spoken to in years. "Linkedin was the one way I could reconnect," McCulloh said. "I didn't have a phone number and he wasn't on other social media."

McCulloh said she was only trying to be friends, but once the two met up "It didn't take long for us to realize something was still there." Two years ago they got married and now they are raising a toddler.

"You just never know what's going to happen," she said.

Lead art by Candice Navi.

On the other hand, delaying the inevitable conversation until you’re face-to-face can be just as daunting as telling them beforehand, depending how much a person considers disability to be part of their identity.

Emma 100% free dating sites injapan without verification, who has hair loss and blogs as Lady Alopecia, but didn’t always feel confident living with her condition. She has been with her partner for 9 years, but initially hid her hair loss from him with head scarves and wigs She says once she told him, his support following the disclosure helped her accept her alopecia.

Not all disabilities are concealable and thus happen more naturally. For Cynthia Zuber, a type 1 diabetic who’s also autistic, that’s been the case. Though she’s married now, historically she wouldn’t mention her condition before meeting someone for a date—she felt reluctant to let lance guy online dating profile define her to someone she hadn’t met yet. “My diabetes usually came up in conversation when I would either reach into my purse to pull out my blood sugar monitor or access my insulin pump,” she says. Her dates were typically understanding and would move on fairly quickly: “Surprisingly, it has never been a dealbreaker.”

Sothern observes upfront disability conversations can bring about emotional intimacy because the other person “will open up about their own insecurities too,” which can kickstart a genuine, supportive dialogue—a pretty ideal starting point from which to build a trusting relationship. Sothern says she had never felt happier or more confident in herself than after telling her partner about her disability—they’re about to get married, nearly 10 years later.

Consider a prepared statement
To lance guy online dating profile the process of disclosure, Galassi, the public relations executive, copy-pastes a note from his phone to potential partners online: “If we meet though I should probably tell you something: it’s a thing I explain to EVERYONE I meet—but I have a physical disability. It’s not a huge deal and never has been a huge issue with previous boyfriends; I just walk a little funny like a drunk person would. Hopefully that’s not a deal breaker for us meeting but yeah.”

The candor works, lance guy online dating profile. “Most guys have been receptive to that, as was my boyfriend when I told him,” but Galassi acknowledges disability biases exist. “Every on line dating service free; and then you will get someone who is just like, lance guy online dating profile, ‘Sorry, not into it’ and you just have to move on,” he says. “Why bother wasting your time on someone who won't love you for all of you, disability and all, you know?”

According to Bobbi Palmer, a dating coach with multiple sclerosis, Galassi’s approach is known as a prepared statement. “It’s something you have scripted that helps you share the information in a positive way, while maintaining your boundaries,” Palmer advises.

Allow the conversation to unfold over time
Personally, I’ve never had a prepared statement, but I do usually try to find subtle ways to hit on key points about my autism as it pertains to setting up dates. Sometimes that means telling someone to communicate directly with me and not expect me to read between the lines too much, or that loud and crowded places can overwhelm me, or I will only eat certain foods, so it’s best we pick a specific type of restaurant.

Regardless of when you have the initial conversation, disclosure is ultimately an evolving, ongoing conversation. Once at a college basketball game, the squeaking shoes were sending me into a sensory overload, and I had to explain to my then-boyfriend why I was feeling overwhelmed, lance guy online dating profile. We left the arena and headed home after I calmed down. When we had a similar experience at a J. Cole concert, he was understanding albeit a little disappointed about missing the rest of the show.

No matter how or when it happens, disclosing a disability is a highly personal and unique decision for everyone. At the end of the day, it’ll probably always be a little intimidating, although having something prepared in advance can help offset anxiety around the actual conversation. Ultimately, there’s no better feeling than expressing your most vulnerable quality to someone and receiving support and understanding in return.