Armstrong wins his 7th and final Tour de France

Overall leader Lance Armstrong, of Austin, Texas, crosses the finish line to win the 20th stage of the Tour de France cycling race, a 55.5-kilometer individual time trial looping around north of Saint-Etienne, central France, Saturday.

GDO Report

Lance Armstrong fulfilled Jan Ullrich's wish for an invitation to the victory party, but whether the German rider was at the Ritz was impossible to tell. With 600 guests celebrating Armstrong's seventh consecutive Tour de France triumph, the buffet table was too crowded to notice everybody.

Yes, that was Senator John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, with a plate and glass and, yes, that was what's his name, the latest in a chain of actors and singers trying to rehabilitate their careers by basking in the Armstrong publicity glow. If Ullrich was there, he was just another face in the chow line.

Besides, the T-Mobile team that he leads scheduled a cruise on the Seine for cocktails once the 92nd Tour ended Sunday, followed by a dinner at a restaurant in Paris.

It was just a dinner, of course, not a victory party. Ullrich finished third and has not won the race since 1997, finishing second five times and fourth once.

He seemed to know his fate before the Tour started July 2. "If Lance wins again," he joked, "I hope he'll at least invite me to his party."

On Sunday, he said, "I'm happy to finish on the podium even if I dreamed about the yellow jersey" of the Tour's leader.

"I might have not even finished this race because of my two crashes," one during a training ride before the start and the other on a descent early in the race.

"I don't think it was possible to beat Lance this year," he concluded. "He was truly the strongest rider and there's nothing to do but congratulate him."

That done with, Ullrich has a full racing schedule ahead, unlike Armstrong, who started the first day of the rest of his life Monday by heading toward a beach in the south of France with his family and friends.

The German has scheduled two exhibition races in Austria this week, followed by the one-day Hew Classic in Hamburg, a Pro Tour race, next Sunday and then the nine-day Tour of Germany, starting Aug. 15. He plans to continue racing until the end of the season in early October, including the world championship road race in Madrid on Sept. 25.

And then there's next year.

With his nemesis Armstrong - 12 times ahead of Ullrich in 14 Tour time trials, including the final one Saturday - in retirement, does the German expect to win the 2006 Tour?

"I hope, I try," he told French television on Sunday, unexpectedly breaking into English, perhaps as a warmup for the Armstrong party.

As a first step, he might listen to advice from Armstrong, who characterizes his own relationship to the Tour as "A love for this event and a hatred for losing it." That fire is lacking in Ullrich, who is habitually overweight and often sick before the Tour de France.

At his final news conference as a rider Saturday, the American revealed that he and his Discovery Channel team director, Johan Bruyneel, had off-handedly discussed hiring Ullrich next season.

"Why don't we take Jan?" Armstrong said he had asked, not bothering to point out how far-fetched this would be since Ullrich and his coterie of advisers and hangers-on could never fit in the American team.

Nevertheless, Armstrong continued, "Jan is special, a special rival, the scariest rider out there, the guy we're always worried about.

"I truly believe Jan can win the Tour again, not just once but more than once. But clearly he has to show up for the event. He has to show up not in better shape but in a little better shape.

"What you see toward the end is a guy who can win the race. But what happens in the first half of the event is where he loses it. It's just a question of a kilo and a half," or 3½ pounds, "at the start, a little better condition, a little better preparation and I think he wins.

"He has the package," Armstrong continued, citing Ullrich's climbing and time-trialing abilities.

"It's just the first 10 days," he said. "If you change that, he wins.

"If he was on our team, that would be my first words to him."

PARIS Lance Armstrong fulfilled Jan Ullrich's wish for an invitation to the victory party, but whether the German rider was at the Ritz was impossible to tell. With 600 guests celebrating Armstrong's seventh consecutive Tour de France triumph, the buffet table was too crowded to notice everybody.

Yes, that was Senator John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, with a plate and glass and, yes, that was what's his name, the latest in a chain of actors and singers trying to rehabilitate their careers by basking in the Armstrong publicity glow. If Ullrich was there, he was just another face in the chow line.

Besides, the T-Mobile team that he leads scheduled a cruise on the Seine for cocktails once the 92nd Tour ended Sunday, followed by a dinner at a restaurant in Paris.

It was just a dinner, of course, not a victory party. Ullrich finished third and has not won the race since 1997, finishing second five times and fourth once.

He seemed to know his fate before the Tour started July 2. "If Lance wins again," he joked, "I hope he'll at least invite me to his party."

On Sunday, he said, "I'm happy to finish on the podium even if I dreamed about the yellow jersey" of the Tour's leader.

"I might have not even finished this race because of my two crashes," one during a training ride before the start and the other on a descent early in the race.

"I don't think it was possible to beat Lance this year," he concluded. "He was truly the strongest rider and there's nothing to do but congratulate him."

That done with, Ullrich has a full racing schedule ahead, unlike Armstrong, who started the first day of the rest of his life Monday by heading toward a beach in the south of France with his family and friends.

The German has scheduled two exhibition races in Austria this week, followed by the one-day Hew Classic in Hamburg, a Pro Tour race, next Sunday and then the nine-day Tour of Germany, starting Aug. 15. He plans to continue racing until the end of the season in early October, including the world championship road race in Madrid on Sept. 25.

And then there's next year.

With his nemesis Armstrong - 12 times ahead of Ullrich in 14 Tour time trials, including the final one Saturday - in retirement, does the German expect to win the 2006 Tour?

"I hope, I try," he told French television on Sunday, unexpectedly breaking into English, perhaps as a warmup for the Armstrong party.

As a first step, he might listen to advice from Armstrong, who characterizes his own relationship to the Tour as "A love for this event and a hatred for losing it." That fire is lacking in Ullrich, who is habitually overweight and often sick before the Tour de France.

At his final news conference as a rider Saturday, the American revealed that he and his Discovery Channel team director, Johan Bruyneel, had off-handedly discussed hiring Ullrich next season.

"Why don't we take Jan?" Armstrong said he had asked, not bothering to point out how far-fetched this would be since Ullrich and his coterie of advisers and hangers-on could never fit in the American team.

Nevertheless, Armstrong continued, "Jan is special, a special rival, the scariest rider out there, the guy we're always worried about.

"I truly believe Jan can win the Tour again, not just once but more than once. But clearly he has to show up for the event. He has to show up not in better shape but in a little better shape.

"What you see toward the end is a guy who can win the race. But what happens in the first half of the event is where he loses it. It's just a question of a kilo and a half," or 3½ pounds, "at the start, a little better condition, a little better preparation and I think he wins.

"He has the package," Armstrong continued, citing Ullrich's climbing and time-trialing abilities.

"It's just the first 10 days," he said. "If you change that, he wins.

"If he was on our team, that would be my first words to him."

PARIS Lance Armstrong fulfilled Jan Ullrich's wish for an invitation to the victory party, but whether the German rider was at the Ritz was impossible to tell. With 600 guests celebrating Armstrong's seventh consecutive Tour de France triumph, the buffet table was too crowded to notice everybody.

Yes, that was Senator John Kerry, the Democratic presidential nominee, with a plate and glass and, yes, that was what's his name, the latest in a chain of actors and singers trying to rehabilitate their careers by basking in the Armstrong publicity glow. If Ullrich was there, he was just another face in the chow line.

Besides, the T-Mobile team that he leads scheduled a cruise on the Seine for cocktails once the 92nd Tour ended Sunday, followed by a dinner at a restaurant in Paris.

It was just a dinner, of course, not a victory party. Ullrich finished third and has not won the race since 1997, finishing second five times and fourth once.

He seemed to know his fate before the Tour started July 2. "If Lance wins again," he joked, "I hope he'll at least invite me to his party."

On Sunday, he said, "I'm happy to finish on the podium even if I dreamed about the yellow jersey" of the Tour's leader.

"I might have not even finished this race because of my two crashes," one during a training ride before the start and the other on a descent early in the race.

"I don't think it was possible to beat Lance this year," he concluded. "He was truly the strongest rider and there's nothing to do but congratulate him."

That done with, Ullrich has a full racing schedule ahead, unlike Armstrong, who started the first day of the rest of his life Monday by heading toward a beach in the south of France with his family and friends.

The German has scheduled two exhibition races in Austria this week, followed by the one-day Hew Classic in Hamburg, a Pro Tour race, next Sunday and then the nine-day Tour of Germany, starting Aug. 15. He plans to continue racing until the end of the season in early October, including the world championship road race in Madrid on Sept. 25.

And then there's next year.

With his nemesis Armstrong - 12 times ahead of Ullrich in 14 Tour time trials, including the final one Saturday - in retirement, does the German expect to win the 2006 Tour?

"I hope, I try," he told French television on Sunday, unexpectedly breaking into English, perhaps as a warmup for the Armstrong party.

As a first step, he might listen to advice from Armstrong, who characterizes his own relationship to the Tour as "A love for this event and a hatred for losing it." That fire is lacking in Ullrich, who is habitually overweight and often sick before the Tour de France.

At his final news conference as a rider Saturday, the American revealed that he and his Discovery Channel team director, Johan Bruyneel, had off-handedly discussed hiring Ullrich next season.

"Why don't we take Jan?" Armstrong said he had asked, not bothering to point out how far-fetched this would be since Ullrich and his coterie of advisers and hangers-on could never fit in the American team.

Nevertheless, Armstrong continued, "Jan is special, a special rival, the scariest rider out there, the guy we're always worried about.

"I truly believe Jan can win the Tour again, not just once but more than once. But clearly he has to show up for the event. He has to show up not in better shape but in a little better shape.

"What you see toward the end is a guy who can win the race. But what happens in the first half of the event is where he loses it. It's just a question of a kilo and a half," or 3½ pounds, "at the start, a little better condition, a little better preparation and I think he wins.

"He has the package," Armstrong continued, citing Ullrich's climbing and time-trialing abilities.

"It's just the first 10 days," he said. "If you change that, he wins.

"If he was on our team, that would be my first words to him."

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