Lance Armstrong: The rise, fall, and growth of a cycling legend

**Peter Attia** (0:11)
Hey everyone, welcome to the Drive podcast. I'm your host, Peter Attia. This podcast, my website, and my weekly newsletter all focus on the goal of translating the science of longevity into something accessible for everyone. Our goal is to provide the best content in health and wellness, full stop, and we've assembled a great team of analysts to make this happen. If you enjoy this podcast, we've created a membership program that brings you far more in-depth content if you want to take your knowledge of the space to the next level. At the end of this episode, I'll explain what those benefits are, or if you want to learn more now, head over to peterattiamd.com forward slash subscribe. Now, without further delay, here's today's episode. My guest this week is Lance Armstrong. This episode, we cover Lance's story from his humble beginnings in Plano, Texas, to his meteoric rise, to being arguably one of the most famous athletes in the world at the height of his career. Of course, this is all eclipsed by his equally accelerated fall from grace and the scandal that ensued. In this episode, we go through all aspects of this in detail, including his cancer diagnosis and how that changed his life and all of the things that ultimately were a part of his sport and the era that he competed in.
I realize that many people listening to this might think they have their mind made up about Lance, and that's understandable. I do suggest that it might be worth spending the time to listen to this episode, even if you feel like you have your mind made up about Lance.
There are really a number of issues here, including the use of performance enhancing drugs during his time in the Tour de France. And then of course, there's the lessons that Lance learned as an individual and what he learned about himself and how he treated other people during that time of his life and how he's emerged on the other end of that. So in some ways, it's a story about a redemption, a rise, a fall, and a rise again. So without further delay, please enjoy this episode with Lance Armstrong.
All right, Lance, thank you for making time today to swing by.

**Lance Armstrong** (2:25)
Absolutely.

**Peter Attia** (2:25)
How does it feel to be back in Austin?

**Lance Armstrong** (2:27)
It's pretty surreal. Having been here or having lived here for 30 years, I've seen the city change, and I saw it change as a cyclist. So I think cyclists see more stuff than most people, and you're always covering ground, you're finding back roads, you get a sense for a town growing. Obviously the roads get more crowded, but you see more construction trucks, and you're like, wait, this place is getting built out. And then if you go down the rabbit hole of hearing these offers in the real estate market, it's just, this is a different city.
Still a great city though.

**Peter Attia** (3:04)
The only thing my wife and I could say after moving here is what took us so long. Before we get into kind of the details of all the stuff I want to talk about, I think it's just sometimes easier if we can get into some hard yes and no questions, just so that there's no ambiguity about some of the really important stuff. Okay, I've been here before. I think this is gonna be familiar to you, but I want you to really limit yourself to a yes or no only, Lance. These are important questions.
Is Dura Ace better than Campy Super Record?

**Lance Armstrong** (3:30)
Yes.

**Peter Attia** (3:31)
Is the greatest innovation in time trialing the aerodynamic water bottle?

**Lance Armstrong** (3:36)
No.

**Peter Attia** (3:37)
Is Edgar Allan Poe the greatest poet of the 19th century?

**Lance Armstrong** (3:42)
Sure.

**Peter Attia** (3:43)
Are today's clinchers as high performing as tubulars?

**Lance Armstrong** (3:46)
Yes.

**Peter Attia** (3:48)
Is Alberto Contador the greatest cyclist of all time?

**Lance Armstrong** (3:51)
Absolutely not.

**Peter Attia** (3:52)
Can you still ride up Alpe d'Huez in under 45 minutes?

**Lance Armstrong** (3:57)
Probably not.

**Peter Attia** (4:00)
Is the 1985 Oakley Pilot Big S Sunglass the greatest shades of all time?

**Lance Armstrong** (4:07)
No, but...

**Peter Attia** (4:09)
Just yes or no?

**Lance Armstrong** (4:10)
No.

**Peter Attia** (4:11)
Is Pinarello the best bike on the market?

**Lance Armstrong** (4:13)
No.

**Peter Attia** (4:15)
Is George Hincapie the best lieutenant you've ever had?

**Lance Armstrong** (4:18)
Absolutely.

**Peter Attia** (4:19)
Was your grandfather the first man to ride his bike on the moon in 1969?

**Lance Armstrong** (4:24)
No.

**Peter Attia** (4:25)