Former cycling star Lance Armstrong of the United States speaks at a news conference outside of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. Armstrong retired from cycling in 2011 and is now engaged to longtime girlfriend Anna Hansen. File photo by Yuri Gripas/UPI |
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May 24 (UPI) -- Cycling legend Lance Armstrong announced his engagement Tuesday to girlfriend Anna Hansen.
"She said.....YES!!!!" Armstrong wrote on social media. His post also featured a photo of the duo staring into each other's eyes while riding in a boat in Lake Austin in Austin, Texas. Hansen is sporting a large diamond ring on her finger.
Hansen and Armstrong have two children. Armstrong also has a son and two daughters from his marriage with Kristin Richard. Armstrong and Richard divorced in 2003. He started dating musician Sheryl Crow in 2003 before the couple called of their engagement in 2006. He also dated actress Kate Hudson.
"It was a good ride. She's [Crow] a great lady. Obviously it didn't work out, but I think and I hope she's happy. I'm happy," Armstrong told the Howard Stern Show in March.
Armstrong, 45, elaborated in his book Lance, when he said the relationship stopped because he wasn't ready for more children and Crow was.
Armstrong met Hansen more than nine years ago in Denver, according to his Instagram account.
The cyclist currently has a net worth of $50 million, according to Bankrate.com.
Armstrong began competing as a professional triathlete at 16. He was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996, and was deemed cancer free in 1997. He went on to win the Tour de France a record seven times, before retiring in 2005. He returned to the sport in 2009, but retired again in 2011.
Armstrong stepped down as the chairman of his Livestrong Foundation in 2012. In August of 2012, the USDA banned Armstrong from further competitions after it accused the cyclist of using banned performance-enhancing drugs and blood transfusions.
He was stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles.
He had long denied doping before confessing to his history of performance enhancing drug use in a 2013 interview with Oprah Winfrey.
"I view this situation as one big lie that I repeated a lot of times...This story was so perfect for so long," Armstrong said in the interview.
Armstrong was later sued by the United States government for $100 million in connection with his sponsorship with the U.S. Postal Service. The U.S. government claimed that Armstrong caused a loss of promotional value following his confession for doping.
The disgraced sports hero was originally banned for life from competitive Olympic sports. In September, a spokesman from the U.S Anti-Doping Agency told USA Today that Armstrong is still banned for life from sanctioned cycling, but he can "compete in a sanctioned event at a national or regional level in a sport other than cycling that does not qualify him... to compete in a national championship or international event."
In February, a federal judge rejected Armstrong's request to dismiss the lawsuit. USPS paid Armstrong $32.3 million from 2000 to 2004 for the sponsorship.
In 2015, feds subpoenaed Hansen for questioning in the civil fraud case.