Armstrong wins sixth Tour and rekindles love of cycling

PARIS (AP) — Rediscovering the joy of cycling was as important as winning a record sixth straight Tour de France title to Lance Armstrong.

Pumping his fists and chasing stage wins with the enthusiasm of a first-year rider, Armstrong was exuberant and daring throughout the grueling three-week race. On Sunday, the Texan completed his record-setting ride in cycling's showcase event, sipping champagne while in the saddle during the final stage.

”This year, I had the motivation of a rookie,” Armstrong said.

Sunday's final ride into Paris along the tree-lined Champs-Elysees was a lap of honor for Armstrong. Even Jan Ullrich, his chief adversary in previous years who had his worst finish this Tour, gulped down a glass offered by Armstrong's team manager through his car window.

While the 32-year-old Armstrong was clearly delighted eclipsing five-time champions Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Miguel Indurain and Bernard Hinault, he expressed a greater thrill in renewing his passion for cycling.

”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,”' he said. ”And you want to beat your friends more than anything. You're sprinting and you're attacking. It was like that for me.”

Eight years ago, Armstrong was given less than a 50 percent chance of overcoming testicular cancer that spread to his lungs and brain. He astonished everyone — including himself — by winning his first Tour in 1999.

He called it ”a complete shock and surprise,” adding that he never thought he'd win ”a second one or a third one or however many.”

He had a burning desire to keep winning.

This was Armstrong's finest Tour. He dominated in the Pyrenees and the Alps, and won five solo stages and a team time-trial with his U.S. Postal Service squad. Only one rider, Ivan Basso of Italy, could keep up with him.

”I was surprised that some of the rivals were not better,” Armstrong said. ”Some of them just completely disappeared.”

Armstrong shook Basso for good in Wednesday's trying time trial up L'Alpe d'Huez.

The Texan also settled a score, convincingly beating Ullrich in both time trials — a crucial psychological lift for Armstrong after the German beat him by more than 90 seconds in the first clock race in 2003.

Ullrich, although improving late in the Tour, could not keep up. The 1997 champion and five-time runner-up — including three times to Armstrong — didn't even make the podium. He finished a distant fourth, 8 minutes, 50 seconds behind his nemesis.

Although longtime rivals, Ullrich and Armstrong are noble adversaries.

”I have an enormous respect for the way Lance rides,” Ullrich said.

Andreas Kloden, Ullrich's T-Mobile teammate took second overall, 6:19 back, while Basso was third, 6:40 off the pace. Armstrong's former U.S. Postal teammates, Tyler Hamilton and Roberto Heras, pulled out, as did Spaniard Iban Mayo. Early crashes hindered bids by Mayo and Hamilton to topple the Texan.

Belgian rider Tom Boonen won Sunday's prestigious final sprint on the Champs-Elysees, with Armstrong safely behind in the pack.

Robbie McEwen of Australia won the green jersey, his second, as the Tour's best sprinter. Richard Virenque of France won a record seventh spotted jersey, awarded for picking up points on the Tour's many mountain climbs. Vladimir Karpets of Russia wore the white jersey as best young rider.

Armstrong still hasn't decided whether he'll compete next year.

”I don't know what I'll do next summer. I suspect I'll be here. It's too big of a race. My only hesitance is I think the people and the event perhaps need a change, new faces, a new winner,” he said. ”If I'm here, I race to win.”

Armstrong says he's interested in trying other races — the Tour of Italy, Classics, and beating the one-hour cycling world record held by Britain's Chris Boardman.