Racing star in Tour de France '09 to win: Sebastien Joly thanks Lance Armstrong for support. Both cancer survivors

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Racing star. Cancer survivor. U.S. cycling legend & 7-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong returns to competition primarily to promote his foundation against cancer. He has survived testicular cancer and retired from racing on July 24, 2005, but returned to competitive cycling in January 2009. Tour de France rider Sebastien Joly has thanked fellow cancer survivor Lance Armstrong for his support when he was diagnosed with the disease two years ago. Sébastien Joly (born June 25, 1979 in Tournon) is a French professional road racing cyclist. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer on June 25, 2007, the day of his 28th birthday. Now, both are courageously cycling in the on-going 96th Tour de France cycling race (July 4-26) over 196.5 kilometers (122 miles) with start in Marseille and finish in La Grande-Motte, southern France. Among the 21 stages, there are 7 mountain stages, ridiculously difficult, which make the legend of the Tour.

The 96th Tour de France is now underway and this year's main attraction is the return on the "Grande Boucle" of U.S. cycling legend and seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. The Tour de France is a grueling three-week cycling race around France. The race is divided into 21 stages and covers close to 2,200 miles. Among the 21 stages, there are seven mountain stages, some of them ridiculously difficult, which make the legend of the Tour. Many consider the Tour de France the most difficult race in the world, all sports taken into account. And making it to the finish line in Paris, even in last position, represents a real achievement for many professional cyclists. This year, 180 cyclists started the race in Monaco. To everyone's surprise, Armstrong announced at the beginning of the year his return to competition and, thus, to the Tour, primarily to promote his foundation against cancer, Livestrong. And maybe more.

After 112 miles rainy miles of the Mediterranean coastline Lance Armstrong looked like he had been through hell. As he made his way to the team bus Armstrong could be overheard telling a team member “it was a stressful day.” Stressful in part due to the weather, the rain came down so hard, pouring buckets at times, you only had to take one look at Armstrong to see how hard the day was. He was wet and covered in a sheen of black dirt and oil.

This week saw the completion of the 6th stage of the three-week Tour de France. There are 21 stages in all. And the hardest parts of the race are still to come. Tomorrow’s 7th stage will take riders 139 miles from Barcelona to Andorra; sea level to more than 7200 feet. Armstrong’s forte has always been the mountains and his incomprehensible ability to climb. Alberto Contador, strong mountain climber from his own Astana team, who won the Tour in 2007 is only 19 seconds behind Armstrong. When asked if was ready for the mountains. “I think so I feel good,” said the 7 time Tour champ. Armstrong. “Not sure exactly what to expect but… I’m optimistic.”

Minutes after finishing this stage Armstrong was thronged by fans hoping for a picture, an autograph, or just a glimpse of the racing star. One man had waited all day for Armstrong just to sign a shirt bearing the name of Armstrong’s cancer charity Livestrong. What started as a bike race ended up looking more like the scrum in the front row of a rock concert with women and men alike shouting out Armstrong’s name. As the crowd grew too large, Armstrong was ushered in by team security and the bus quickly pulled away presumably headed for the hotel. When Armstrong announced his return to competitive bike racing many in the biking world didn’t think an 8th win of the Tour de France was possible. Now all Armstrong has to do is ride, and climb, for another 15 grueling stages.

Tour de France rider Sebastien Joly has thanked fellow cancer survivor Lance Armstrong for his support when he was diagnosed with the disease two years ago. “I took advantage of Sunday’s stage to Brignoles to have a chat with Lance and thank him again for the e-mail he sent me when my cancer was revealed,” Frenchman Joly told Reuters on Thursday. “He was extremely nice, asking me questions in French. We chatted for a little while. “Since he returned to cycling, I had not had a chance to see him again and I was afraid of being in the spotlight. I’m not too keen to talk about my cancer,” the Francaise des Jeux rider said. Joly, 30, was diagnosed with testicular cancer two years ago. The disease kept him out the sport for six months and he returned in 2008, winning a stage on the Circuit de Lorraine this season.

“I’m not the only cancer survivor in the Tour de France. Sebastien Joly from Francaise des Jeux is as well. Give him a shout if u see him,” Armstrong wrote on Twitter. American Armstrong won the first of his record seven consecutive Tour titles in 1999 after overcoming testicular cancer. He retired from the sport following his 2005 Tour victory but made his comeback in January.

Sébastien Joly (born June 25, 1979 in Tournon) is a French professional road racing cyclist. Since 2001, Joly has been a professional rider. In 2006, he joined for the Française des Jeux squad on the UCI ProTour. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer on June 25, 2007, the day of his 28th birthday.

Lance Armstrong (born Lance Edward Gunderson on September 18, 1971) is an American professional road racing cyclist who rides for the Kazakhstan-based UCI ProTeam Astana. He won the Tour de France a record-breaking seven consecutive years, from 1999 to 2005. He is the only individual to win seven times, having broken the previous record of five wins, shared by Miguel Indurain, Bernard Hinault, Eddy Merckx and Jacques Anquetil. He has survived testicular cancer, a tumor that metastasized to his brain and lungs, in 1996. Armstrong retired from racing on July 24, 2005, at the end of the 2005 Tour de France, but returned to competitive cycling in January 2009.

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Photos courtesy of cutoday.wordpress.com, Reuters / Eric Gaillard / Files, Bas Czerwinski / AP Photo, bicycle.net, Fotoreporter Sirotti / cyclingfans.com, en.wikipedia.org, EPA

Original Source: ABC News, Reuters, The Telegraph and Wikipedia

Also see: Tour de France 2009: live - follow the Tour, stage by stage, with live text commentary, stage guides, rider and team profiles, and up-to-the-minute standings, and Tour de France 2009 (July 4-26): names of 20 teams and their nine starting riders