LANCE ARMSTRONG - RICHARD: 'I GAVE UP MY LIFE FOR LANCE'

Champion cyclist LANCE ARMSTRONG's ex-wife KRISTIN RICHARD blames the failure of their marriage on her unconscious decision to try and be the perfect partner. Richard met Armstrong in 1997 when he was in remission from testicular cancer and they married a year later (98). After having three children, the couple divorced in December 2003. Armstrong began dating SHERYL CROWE and they were set to wed this year (06), but surprisingly split in February (06). Richard tells OPRAH WINFREY, "It wasn't Lance saying, 'You should be like this' or 'Do this.' It wasn't him making a mandate and me being a mouse. It was me trying to emulate whatever I thought would be the perfect wife or the perfect mother. "We think we're trying to please somebody for the sake of our marriage, but then if you ask Lance today if he appreciated that, I think he would probably say, 'Well, that wasn't the woman that I fell in love with.'"