'I want to die at a hundred years old with an American flag on my back and the star of Texas on my helmet, after screaming down an Alpine descent on a bicycle at seventy-five miles per hour. I want to cross one last finish line as my wife and ten children applaud, and then I want to lie down in a field of those famous French sunflowers and gracefully expire: the perfect contradiction to my once an

In 1996, 24-year-old Lance Armstrong was ranked the number one cyclist in the world. But that October the Golden Boy of American cycling was sidelined by advanced testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain. His chance for recovery was as low as twenty per cent. Armstrong embarked on the most aggressive form of chemotherapy available and underwent surgery-including brain surgery-to remove cancer that the treatments could not reach. Five months after his diagnosis he resumed training under a cloud of uncertainty.

This is the story of a journey, from inauspicious beginnings through triumph, tragedy, transformation and transcendence. It is a story of early success, near fatal cancer, survival, recovery, victory in the 1999, 2000 and now 2001 Tour de France, the Sydney Olympics, marriage and first-time fatherhood.

Filled with the physical, emotional and spiritual details of his recovery, It's Not About the Bike traces the remarkable journey of this great athlete to a singularly inspiring appreciation of life lived to the fullest.

About Lance Armstrong
Champion cyclist Lance Armstrong's triple Tour de France victory has been hailed as one of the most memorable moments in sports history during this century. In 1996 he established the Lance Armstrong Foundation, a charity to aid the fight against cancer.

Sally Jenkins is the author of Men Will Be Boys, and the forthcoming Marla Runyan story. She is a veteran sports reporter whose work has appeared in The Washington Post, Sports Illustrated and Women's Sports & Fitness.