LANCE ARMSTRONG celebrated the centenary Tour de France by winning it for the fifth time, a feat only four other men have achieved. The American, who returned from near-fatal cancer in 1999 to win his first Tour, emulated France's Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault, Belgian Eddy Merckx and Spain's Miguel Indurain at the end of a 152-km final stage to the Champs- Elysees, won by Frenchman Jean-Patrick Nazon."It's a great feeling when someone like Hinault comes to you on the podium to say 'welcome to the club'," said Armstrong, who beat German Jan Ullrich by 61 seconds overall, his narrowest Tour win by far.Kazakh Alexander Vinokourov was third, four minutes 14 seconds behind the US Postal team leader, who was challenged and tested for the three-week, 20-stage, 3,427km Tour, which was the fastest ever, raced at an average of 40.940kph.Tour organisers could not have dreamt of a more fitting winner for the centenary of their race which was intense, hard-fought, often dramatic, and which finally crowned a larger than life character. "It was superb, the best race in 20 years or at least since 1989 when I took over as the Tour director," said Jean-Marie Leblanc.
"The champions were at their best every day, they were tested and challenged daily, both physically and mentally," Leblanc added.From the very first day, Armstrong suffered and struggled like never before. "It's definitely the most stressful Tour, considering my physical and mental fatigue. In the other years I had five, or six, seven minutes. I think it perfectly sets up an attempt for number six," the American said.Before the prologue, which he finished a disappointing ninth, Armstrong suffered from diarrhea and hip tendinitis.
He was involved in a crash on stage one, which forced Tyler Hamilton, the other American hero in this Tour, to race for three weeks with a broken collarbone and still he finished fourth.Later, in the ninth stage in Gap, Armstrong narrowly avoided disaster when he dodged past Spanish rival Joseba Beloki as the 2002 runner-up crashed in front of him.
Armstrong also fell in the climb to Luz- Ardiden on the 15th stage when the hand of a spectator's bag got caught in his handlebars. But the accident spurred him to a champion's reaction which virtually handed him his fifth Tour win as he went on to drop Ullrich and take the stage.Armstrong also conceded his most spectacular defeat in the Tour in the first 45-km time trial between Gaillac and Cap Decouverte, when he suffered dehydration and lost 96 seconds to Ullrich.But Armstrong said all the excitement and drama was what made the magic of the Tour. "The Tour de France is an open road and it's a long race. If one day a plane landed on the race I wouldn't be surprised. I'd prefer not to have all the drama like this year but anything can happen."
LANCE ARMSTRONG celebrated the centenary Tour de France by winning it for the fifth time, a feat only four other men have achieved. The American, who returned from near-fatal cancer in 1999 to win his first Tour, emulated France's Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault, Belgian Eddy Merckx and Spain's Miguel Indurain at the end of a 152-km final stage to the Champs- Elysees, won by Frenchman Jean-Patrick Nazon."It's a great feeling when someone like Hinault comes to you on the podium to say 'welcome to the club'," said Armstrong, who beat German Jan Ullrich by 61 seconds overall, his narrowest Tour win by far.Kazakh Alexander Vinokourov was third, four minutes 14 seconds behind the US Postal team leader, who was challenged and tested for the three-week, 20-stage, 3,427km Tour, which was the fastest ever, raced at an average of 40.940kph.Tour organisers could not have dreamt of a more fitting winner for the centenary of their race which was intense, hard-fought, often dramatic, and which finally crowned a larger than life character. "It was superb, the best race in 20 years or at least since 1989 when I took over as the Tour director," said Jean-Marie Leblanc.
