By Pierre Serisier
CHALLANS, France, July 1 - Whoever is crowned
champion on the Champs-Elysees on July 24, the 2005 Tour de
France will mark the end of an era.
Win or lose, six-time champion Lance Armstrong will retire
as the most successful Tour rider in history.
As a result, two questions will be posed at the start of the
3,608-kms, three-week race on the island of Noirmoutier on
Saturday: Can Armstrong add a seventh victory to his peerless
record? and who is likely to take over when he bids farewell?
"If you asked me straight who will win the Tour in 2006 my
answer would be Jan Ullrich," Armstrong said.
"But it could be (Italian Ivan) Basso or (Ukraine's)
Yaroslav Popovych. I've never been good at predicting cycling."
Armstrong's vision of the future is, however, the one
shared my most cycling experts.
The older generation of Germany's Ullrich, Kazakh Alexander
Vinokourov, Colombian Santiago Botero or Spaniard Roberto Heras
might take their chance in 2006 before another great champion
emerges.
Or the new generation of Basso and Armstrong's own team mate
Popovych could step up.
However, none of them - Popovych apart - will be sitting
back to applaud Armstrong home this year and they will start the
race with hopes that it might be one Tour too far for the Texan.
"The older you get the higher are the risks that you lose.
Time is not on my side but having said that, I feel strong and
motivated and I can't complain too much about what my birth
certificate says," Armstrong, 33, said.
TACTICAL SENSE
His six previous victories confirmed he could climb better
than the opposition, ride time trials like no other, beat
sickness and bad luck and lead the way with his vision of the
race and tactical sense.
As for his motivation, he said it had changed rather than
lessened.
"I'm here to enjoy my last Tour and have a good time," he
said, appearing far more relaxed than in recent years.
"We all have to find specific motivations within ourselves
and maybe that it's my last Tour is part of it."
Ullrich, champion in 1997 and five times runner-up - three
times behind Armstrong - again leads the opposition.
The German will hope his own class, his fine form and the
strength of his team will help him find and expose some flaws in
the Armstrong machine.
"It is my last chance to beat Lance and it is of course
extra motivation," the German said.
His T-Mobile team mates Alexander Vinokourov and Andreas
Kloeden also feature on the list of riders determined to topple
the icon.
Colombian Santiago Botero and Phonak team mate Floyd Landis,
one of several former Armstrong team mates out to beat their
former master, will also launch a double challenge.
But Armstrong has always cited Basso as his favourite rival.
Despite missing out in the Giro d'Italia because of a stomach
bug, the CSC team leader is expected to be ready to take over
the baton from the American.
"He's improved dramatically in the time trials and I suspect
we'll see more of it here," said Armstrong, whose power in the
mountain stages in the Alps and Pyrenees could prove more
important than time trial speed this year.
"I don't think he is happy with the way the Giro went. He
wants to set the record straight. He is one of, if not the best,
challengers. I'm an old fan of Basso."
All eyes, however, will be on Armstrong, who says he is well
prepared despite looking off the pace earlier in the season.
"I did not fear at the time I would not be ready. In the
meantime, I think we did a good job and we're at the place that
we need to be."