To go where no man has gone before, that is
what Lance Armstrong has just done. Four riders before him,
Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault, Belgian Eddy
Merckx and Spain's Miguel Indurain all won five Tours. None
did six.
"Maybe tomorrow would be my best day in this year's
Tour," Armstrong said last night in his final Tour press
conference. "If I make it tomorrow and climb the steps
of the podium of the Champs-Elysees that will be the moment
I carry with me forever. "
Armstrong's quest for history started in Liege, Belgium at
the Tour start three weeks ago. Then it appeared that this
year's race would be his most difficult as a new host of rivals
were eager to challenge the five-time winner.
"A lot of guys are licking their lips," said fellow
American Tyler Hamilton, a friend and rival, at the start.
However, from the start in Belgium to the final meters in
Paris, Armstrong rode a flawless race as his rivals cracked
and folded.
It can be said that this year's race was made dull by Armstrong's
domination. But that not his fault. It is more the fault of
challengers like Spain's Iban Mayo, Germany's Jan Ullrich
as well as Hamilton, who simply failed to produce. Mayo peaked
too early this season. Hamilton injured his back in a crash
on stage six and Ullrich simply was ill-prepared.
As a result Armstrong rarely attacked in this year's race,
something he has done dramatically in the past. Instead he
simply rode away from his opponents to win a total of five
stages. Of all his Tour victories this one is surely perfect.
He also has his detractors. At the start in Liege he was
booed and hissed at significantly and he was visibly harassed
on mountain stages like the Plateau de Beille and the Alpe
d'Huez. Fans who disapprove of the American do so seemingly
for several reasons. Some suspect him of the dope allegations
that have followed him since winning his first Tour back in
1999. Others seem to resent his take-no-prisoners approach
towards racing.
Armstrong takes from all of the previous five-time winners.
While his idol was once Miguel Indurain, he has dominated
the Tour like Eddy Merckx, destroying, even humiliating his
competition in both the mountains and the time trial. But
in his personality can be found a bit of both Jacques Anquetil
and Bernard Hinault. Like Anquetil he has a cool edge about
him while like Hinault he can sometimes be wildly aggressive,
even hostile. And like both of them he had no problem putting
winning before everything else.
"If Jacques Anquetil was here he would say that they
(the public) booed him all day and Eddy Merckx told me they
booed him too," Armstrong said. "It's comforting
for me to know that some of the greatest champions were booed
. So I'm in good company. Sometimes in France they prefer
the guy who gets second. But if that's the choice, to be loved
or to win, I'll take winning."
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