Lance Armstrong was determined to win the Tour de France as a way of proving to himself and the world that he had truly defeated cancer. After his ordeal with cancer, Armstrong resumed his life with renewed appreciation and perspective. When he mustered the courage to begin racing again, he was viewed as a has-been. He had grown up being told that he would never amount to anything, and at the time he was back to square one. However, Armstrong had done it before and he was determined to prove to the world that he could accomplish more than ever before.
Armstrong says in It's Not About the Bike that overcoming cancer was the most difficult, and one of the most substantial task he had ever undertaken. "The truth is cancer was the best thing that ever happened to me. I don't know why I got the illness, but it did wonders for me, and I wouldn't want to walk away from it. Why would I want to change even for a day, the most important and shaping events in my life?" (4) After cancer, he was a new man. Gone was the self-important, bullish, young Lance from before the treatment. His body had also changed, the bulk of his former muscle gone. He was now more reserved, and gracious, although rather scared and uncertain of his future.
It took him almost a year to work up the courage to begin cycling again. In this time, he had felt helpless, waiting to see if the cancer was to return."I didn't have cancer anymore, but I didn't not have it, either. I was in a state of anxiety called remission, and I was obsessed with the idea of a relapse."(156) When he finally did decide to make a comeback, almost no one would sponsor him. Every one in the cycling world had no belief that a cancer survivor could go on to race competitively. Confidis was the only team willing to give him a contract, although they had abandoned him after Lance began undertaking cancer treatment. As one can imagine, this initially left Armstrong feeling hopeless.