Armstrong Tastes Sweet Tour Victory

The final dash on the Tour de France’s ceremonial 152-kilometer stage from the Ville d Ávray to the Champs-Elysées on Sunday ended in sweet victory for American Lance Armstrong. The 31-year-old Texan became the fifth rider to win the Tour five times and the second to have won five straight Tour victories.

Armstrong now joins an elite club of legendary cyclists which includes Frenchman Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault, Belgian Eddy Merckx and Spaniard Miguel Indurain.

The fifth victory proved to be the hardest for Armstrong (photo), who had won his previous Tours by more than six minutes. However, the Texan who overcame near-fatal testicular cancer to win his debut Tour in 1999, will be considered a true sporting hero given the odds he was up against.

Armstrong, who finished in the main group in Sunday’s last stage won by Frenchman Jean-Patrick Nazon, beat second-placed Jan Ullrich by 76 seconds overall.

Ullrich, who suffered an unfortunate crash on slippery roads on Saturday’s individual time trial stretch that cost him the title, won the Tour just once in 1997 and finished second five times.

Armstrong: "This Tour took a lot out of me"

Armstrong, who sipped from a flute of champagne to celebrate his victory and wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey said winning of one of the most grueling Tours had humbled him.

"It makes me appreciate this victory and the other victories more because you realize the best form and the best conditioning are not a given," Armstrong told news agency AP.

The odds were stacked against the American in this year’s prestigious cycling event. Armstrong battled illness, dehydration, equipment problems and other difficulties throughout the 20 days and 3,427-kilometer cycling trip around France.

One of the worst moments came when Armstrong suffered the heat during a disastrous first time trial outside of Toulouse in sweltering temperatures, when German rival Ullrich beat him by 96 seconds. But the professional was quick to point out that even his trials and tribulations had been a learning experience.

"It was good for me to experience this," Armstrong told the Houston Chronicle. "When you’re winning by five or six minutes every year, that’s not good. You start to take things for granted."

With his lead down to 15 seconds going into the 15th stage, the American overcame a late fall to win the stage and extend his lead over Ullrich to one minute, seven seconds. "I don’t plan to be this vulnerable again. I won’t make the same mistakes. This Tour took a lot out of me," Armstrong said.

Ullrich the "real hero of the Tour"

The intense rivalry between Armstrong and Ullrich had turned this year’s Tour into an exciting duel between the two men. 29-year-old East German Jan Ullrich, who staged a spectacular comeback after years fighting weight problems, too little training and damaging doping scandals, had the whole of Germany in a frenzy and dreaming of taking home the title.

On Saturday however Ullrich’s crash during the final time trial shattered the dream. The Rostock-born German admitted he was "very disappointed" following the crash.

German media however celebrated Ullrich’s outstanding performance and even suggested he would have won the Tour had Ullrich not waited for Armstrong after the American fell earlier in the race (photo).

Sunday’s Bild am Sonntag mass-selling tabloid said it was sheer bad luck. "The God of the Tour was against him," screamed a headline. Even three-times Wimbledon champion Boris Becker echoed a general feeling when he told the paper, "Jan proved this year that he was a fighter with a big heart. He is the real hero of this Tour."

Ullrich: "I’ll be back"

But on Sunday, Ullrich put on a brave face. "This second place is like a victory for me. I never thought I would ever come so close to Lance Armstrong."

Ullrich had plenty of praise for his arch rival "He (Armstrong) is simply the greatest cyclist in the world at the moment. Winning the Tour is difficult in itself, but to repeat the success a year later – and that for the past five years – is doubly difficult. It really is very impressive."

However Ullrich said he would he would be back next year. "Next year I want to come back in much better form. I know that due to problems in the run-up to the Tour I didn’t come into it with optimal form and couldn’t get the maximum out of it," he said. "But next year Lance will have to watch out."