Lance Armstrong's Home State Played a Huge Role In His Life and Career

As the newest subject of ESPN's newest 30 for 30 documentary series, LANCE, Lance Armstrong is coming clean. Sure, we've been here before: Lance came clean for the first time in 2013 on Oprah (opens in new tab) when millions watched a man they deemed god-like announce he doped throughout his career. But the trailer of LANCE makes it seem like Armstrong wants to get his story out there once and for all. Much like you, reader, before I watch the two-part documentary on May 24, I wanted to know: Where did Armstrong get his start?

According to Texas Monthly (opens in new tab), Armstrong grew up in multiple North Texas cities, including Oak Cliff, Richardson, and Plano. He didn't make a move to Austin until after his high school graduation in 1989, and announced after his 2005 Tour de France win that Austin is "the greatest city on the planet."

"In Austin, nobody seemed to care what I wore," he said in his 2000 autobiography, It's Not About the Bike, "or whether I 'belonged' or not." Austin is where he and his team would spend their days training in the Hill Country of Austin (opens in new tab) or going on long rides on the highways of the Lone Star State.

Today, Armstrong lives in Aspen, Colorado, with his wife Anna Hansen and their five children. He bought the nearly 6,000-square-foot home as it was being built and paid nearly $9.2 million for the five-bedroom, six-bathroom property in 2008, The Aspen Times reports (opens in new tab). The couple moved into the home around 2018, and it's giving the art lover in me all the feels as it features art from Banksy to Tom Sachs, as seen in these Architectural Digest (opens in new tab) photos. I'm adding their study to my mood board as we speak.

Part one of LANCE airs on May 24 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.

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