Armstrong rides high in Paris, Tour annals

PARIS -- Are you prepared to declare Lance Armstrong America's No. 1 contemporary athlete?

Well, are you?

It's cycling. Back where you are, who cycles? I mean seriously cycles?

But over here, this is a major sport, and in the world of cycling, the Tour de France is the showcase race, a trek over flat farmland, past assorted bodies of water, through municipalities of all sizes, and, of course, up and down mountains.

They do it in whatever weather presents itself. There are no weather postponements. It can never be too hot, too cold, or too wet. The weather is what the weather is. You hop on the bike and ride, and you do it day after day for three weeks and, in this case, 3,395 kilometers on a grand tour of France. When they say "Tour" de France, they aren't kidding.

The multiple winners of this race are revered figures. Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault, and Miguel Indurain have always been considered to be the elite. Each won this race five times. Each was thwarted in an attempt to win a sixth.

Now these hallowed cycling figures have been outdone. Lance Armstrong, a Texan who says his original inspiration was three-time American winner Greg LeMond, has now set himself apart. He has won a record six Tours de France, and in so doing, he makes a strong case to be regarded as the greatest cyclist of them all.

A year ago, Armstrong won his record-tying fifth Tour by the shaky margin of 61 seconds over Germany's Jan Ullrich. He entered the race bothered by a stomach ailment and troubled by an impending divorce. He was involved in an early crash. He received valuable aid from his US Postal teammates, whose win in a team time trial provided him with a large part of his victory margin.

He was 31. None of the Big 5 had won a Tour past that age.

And when he was blown away by Spain's Iban Mayo by almost two minutes in a time trial on Mt. Ventoux in a major pre-Tour event last month, the tongues began to wag. Was it all over for the brash Texan? As Ralph Kramden would have said, "Har-Har-Har-Dee-Har-Har!"

This time, Lance Armstrong did not win by a dubious 61 seconds. This time, Lance Armstrong used the final 166-kilometer closing stage as a pleasant Sunday ride. This time, Lance Armstrong amiably chatted up fellow riders in the peloton. This time, Lance Armstrong casually accepted a ceremonial glass of champagne while making his way to Paris. (He gave it back without taking a sip; a man must show some respect for both his competitors and the Tour.)

This time, Lance Armstrong won the Tour de France by 6 minutes 19 seconds. The time compares well with his 1999 win (7:37), his 2000 win (6:02), his 2001 win (6:44), and his 2002 win (7:17).

Small wonder France's national sports paper, L'Equipe, called him the "Armstrongator."

Armstrong forced L'Equipe to be imaginative last week. He took three of four stages starting with a Tuesday triumph in the 179-kilometer Valreas Villard-de-Lans stage, and here is the way L'Equipe saw things.

Wednesday: "Le Tour a Sabotte" (The Tour Is Under His Boot)

Thursday: "Vanquez Par K.O." (Winner By KO)

Friday: "Il Ne Leur Laisse Rien" (He Leaves Them Nothing)

Sunday: "L'Heure du Record" (The Hour of the Record)

The best line belonged to L'Equipe's Felippe Bouvet. Yesterday he declared: "L'ogren a laisse que les miettes du festin." Translation: "The ogre left nothing but the crumbs of the feast."

That weak showing back at Mt. Ventoux? Who knows? Armstrong has a demonstrated history of sandbagging rivals during the course of a race.

As for Mayo, the popular Basque rider did not finish the Tour.

Armstrong's decisive victory will only aggravate the French more and make them determined to prove he is a cheater. It is almost a national obsession. If he is using EPO, or some other as yet undetectable foreign substance, he certainly enjoys taunting them. In that scenario, his overwhelming triumph this year basically says, "Come get me."

No American individual sport athlete has ever accomplished more. The Tour induces suffering in a way that makes other notions of hard work seem quaint. If the average American sports fan doesn't understand this, perhaps he or she should start paying attention. It's a big world out there.

A French commentator asked Armstrong if winning six Tours was "un reve," a dream. Replied Armstrong, in his modest French: "Un Tour est un reve." One Tour is a dream.

To his competitors, Lance Armstrong is a six-year "cauchemar." That's "nightmare" to you and me.

Bob Ryan is a Globe columnist. His e-mail address is ryan@globe.com.