Tour de France
History recycled

By Gannett News Service and Chicago Tribune

DOUG PENSINGER / GETTY IMAGES Lance Armstrong parades with U.S. Postal teammates after his record-breaking sixth victory in the Tour de France.

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PARIS — Lance Armstrong has become comfortable atop the podium at the Tour de France, but no previous trip up those three steps was as significant as yesterday's celebration of his record sixth win.

Basking in bright sunshine and the admiration of a half-million cheering fans, a tanned and gaunt Armstrong held the winner's trophy high above his head as the crowd roared.

Before him was a sea of red, white and blue: the colors of the American, French and Texas flags. Behind him was the famed Arc de Triomphe, framing the most famous American in Paris.

His mother, Linda Armstrong-Kelly, sat in the adjacent grandstand, tears streaming down her face. Girlfriend Sheryl Crow was sitting nearby with Armstrong's buddy, actor Robin Williams, who was entertaining the crowd by flashing six fingers, three on each hand, to represent the six wins.

	FRANCK PREVEL / AP Overall leader Lance Armstrong, of Austin, Texas, rides down the Champs-Elysees avenue past U.S. flags during the final stage of the Tour de France between Montereau, southeast of Paris, and the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris.

Soon after stepping from the podium, Armstrong received a call from President Bush. "You're awesome," Bush told Armstrong, a fellow Texan.

For Armstrong, this year's Tour was a return to his racing roots after last year's narrow and nerve-racking victory. While coping with the dissolution of his marriage, he suffered from dehydration, then endured a crash during the final mountain stage. His 61-second final margin was the smallest among his Tour victories. This year his team dominated early, he won a personal-record five stages and ended with a 6:19 gap on runner-up Andreas Kloden of Germany and T-Mobile, which won the team classification.

"I think the biggest difference (this year) is in my head, the morale and the motivation, the pure joy of racing," Armstrong said. "It's as if I was with my five friends and we were 13 years old and we all had new bikes and we said, "OK, we're going to race from here to there.' You want to beat your friends more than anything. You're sprinting, and you're attacking. It was like that for me this year, a simple pleasure."

Greatest streaks in sports Lance Armstrong's six consecutive Tour de France titles — something no other cyclist has achieved — ranks with other impressive record-setting streaks by individual athletes: Joe DiMaggio: Baseball great hit in 56 straight games in 1941. Al Oerter: U.S. discus thrower won gold medals in four straight Olympics (1956, 1960, 1964, 1968). Martina Navratilova: Won at least one tennis title per year for 21 years. Cal Ripken: Baltimore Orioles' Iron Man played in 2,632 straight baseball games. Dan Marino: Miami Dolphins quarterback had 13 seasons in a row where he passed for 3,000 or more yards. John Wooden: Hall of Fame coach led UCLA basketball team to seven consecutive national titles between 1967 and 1973. Richard Petty: Won 10 straight NASCAR races in 1967. Gannett News Service

Postal's soundtrack for the parade was a hit song by Crow, who looked slightly abashed when "All I Wanna Do Is Have Some Fun" began blaring from the speakers along the course.

"He inspires me," Crow said. "It's easy to be there for him."

One of her song's signature lines, "I wonder if he's ever had a day of fun in his whole life," seemed apt for the occasion. Armstrong said this Tour, while requiring perhaps the most rigorous training he's ever done, was his most enjoyable.

The celebration later moved to the Intercontinental Hotel, where dozens of supporters and sponsors hooted and hollered into the night.

But first thing this morning, Armstrong will get back to work. He'll participate in three exhibition races in Europe this week before heading by private jet to his home in Austin.

When Armstrong pulls into his driveway, he will find a mint-condition 1969 Pontiac GTO convertible, a gift from Crow.

Perhaps he will take the muscle car out for long, fast drives in his beloved Texas Hill Country, where he can ponder what to do with his life and how, after reaching cycling's highest peak, he can climb even higher.

	PATRICK KOVARIK / AFP/GETTY IMAGES Lance Armstrong, right, shakes hands with runner-up Andreas Kloden on the podium at the Tour de France after becoming its most decorated champion.

Armstrong won't quit while he's at the top.

"I'm enjoying the competition more than ever," he said after winning Saturday's penultimate stage, an individual time trial. "Not to make history or to make money, but just for the thrill of getting on my bike and race 200 other guys. This year that was something really special to me, and it's a big motivation for me."

Next year his mighty U.S. Postal Service team will become the Discovery Channel team, and he will likely be on the bike for the Tour de France and probably one of the other two Grand Tours in Italy and Spain.

"Winning in '99 was a complete shock and surprise for me," Armstrong said. "Not that I've gotten used to winning the Tour de France, but I do know what it means.

"This one is very, very special. ... I never thought I would win a second one or a third one. I'm humbled by the event. It's always a challenge, its always different. A lot of people just one month ago thought it wouldn't be possible for me to do it."

	CHRISTOPHE ENA / AP Fans celebrate the sixth consecutive victory of Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris.

He is the undisputed greatest rider in the Tour de France, but his critics have been eager to point out that he's a one-trick pony and should show his depth in the other major stage races.

"I haven't made a schedule for 2005," he said simply. "I've said that I'd like to do the Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy) before I stop, and I stand by that because it's a beautiful race."

His mentor, Belgian legend Eddy Merckx, won all of the Grand Tours, the one-day spring classic races and was so dominant in the Tour de France that one year he won the overall winner's yellow jersey plus the jerseys awarded to the best sprinter and climber.

	FRANCK PREVEL / AP Lance Armstrong gets support from girlfriend Sheryl Crow as he celebrates yesterday.

"Those days are over," says Merckx, who was known as "The Cannibal" for his voracious appetite for winning. "The level of competition now is higher, and it is necessary to focus on your big goals."

Armstrong's focus has made him the most dominant U.S. athlete competing globally in an individual sport. Tiger Woods is in danger of losing his No. 1 golf ranking to Ernie Els, and Andy Roddick has slipped on the tennis court, as has Serena Williams.

Armstrong's domination of the 2004 Tour showed no signs he is losing his edge.

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company

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