The story of Lance Armstrong is largely a story of body parts.

There was the right testicle, swollen nearly to the size of an orange, that signaled cancer. There was the heart that he showed in beating the cancer and helping others do the same. There were the legs that propelled his body and his bike up the mountains en route to winning a record six-straight Tours de France.

And now there are the wrists, more than 40 million worldwide sporting the yellow bands inscribed with Lance’s mark and message – LIVESTRONG.

Not exactly head, shoulders, knees and toes.

Maybe that’s because Armstrong’s story is anything but average.

Armstrong the cyclist announced on Monday that he would retire following his attempt to win a seventh-consecutive Tour de France in July. Normally, it would be more appropriate to celebrate his achievements after he crosses the finish line of the last race than it would be to start doing so three months in advance.

But Armstrong is the type of transcendent athlete who is so rare and so great that some premature celebration is fitting.

In an era when many athletes consider getting new rims on their Escalades a worthy cause, Armstrong started a cancer foundation and became a spokesman in the fight against the ugly disease.

With the help of the foundation, the now-famous wristbands have been distributed to all 50 states and more than 60 countries. The bands spearheaded a movement of wearing your cause on your wrist.

Some complain that people just wear the wristbands to be trendy. No doubt about it. But what’s wrong with that?

Every band sold is another buck toward fighting cancer. If we can tolerate Abercrombie and Fitch and reality television, a little yellow band that helps save lives shouldn’t be too irksome.

During a time when our country’s national pastime was invaded by an ugly virus called steroids, Armstrong was the anti-steroid. Competing in a sport infamous for problems with illegal performance enhancement, he left the doping up to dopes like Tyler Hamilton.

Armstrong was tested and tested and tested. And accused. And tested some more. Not a single positive for steroids. The most recent accusation against him came when an ex-employee of his reported finding an empty vial of anabolic steroids in his medicine cabinet.

The Un-Mark McGwire, Armstrong responded swiftly and assuredly to the allegations. Not true, he said. Never done steroids. Never will.

And guess what? Nobody has proved him wrong.

So, now this amazing person with an amazing story is going to try to win the world’s most punishing bicycle race for the seventh time in seven years. The grueling training it takes to compete with the world’s best riders and the elements would be enough to last most people seven lifetimes.

And when he crosses the finish line, almost certainly wearing the yellow jersey that he grabbed in 1999 and hasn’t let go of since, his career will be over. He’ll spend time with his kids and rock out with his girl Sheryl Crowe.

We’ll miss having an athlete in the limelight who truly merits all the praise we shower upon him.

In his autobiography, Armstrong called cancer the best thing that ever happened to him.

Well, it was one of the best things that ever happened to us, too.