Armstrong records fourth straight victory

PARIS, July 28 (UPI) -- Lance Armstrong completed his fourth consecutive victory in the Tour de France Sunday, triumphantly riding through the streets of Paris while putting himself in position to become known as the best ever in his sport.

A victory for Armstrong had been all but certain since the middle of last week, when he once again began displaying his unbeatable strength in the Pyrenees and Alps.

The win became official Sunday at the end of a low-stress ride, during which he took an occasional sip of champagne and acknowledged the cheers of the crowd along the Champs Elysees.

Moments after he crossed the finish line, Armstrong received a call of congratulations from President Bush.

"He said he watching on television and was pulling for me," Armstrong said.

Armstrong became the fifth competitor to win cycling's premier race more than three times and next year he will try to equal the all-time championship record of five. Bernard Hilault of France won the event five times in an eight-year span and Miguel Indurain won it five times in a row beginning in 1991.

The 153 riders who completed the three-week grind traveled the final 87 miles from the town of Macon Sunday and all of them were credited with the same time of three hours, 30 minutes, 47 seconds.

At the front of the pack, however, was Australia's Robbie McEwen, who with the stage victory wrapped up the green jersey that goes to the Tour's best sprinter. Armstrong crossed the line in 43rd place, surrounded by the members of his United States Postal Service team.

Armstong's winning time for the trip around France was 82 hours, five minutes, 12 seconds. He finished seven minutes, 17 seconds ahead of Spain's Joseba Beloki and eight minutes, 17 seconds in front of Raimondas Rumsas of Lithuania.

It is Rumsas, riding in his first Tour, who has been labeled as the biggest threat to Armstrong in what will be the American's bid for cycling history next year. Rumsas finished second to Armstrong in the final individual time trial Saturday, but was unable to stay close to the four-time champion in the mountains.

The remainder of the top 10 was made up of Santiago Botero of Colombia, Igor Gonzalez Galdeano of Spain (who finished fifth for the second straight year), Jose Azevedo of Portugal, Francisco Mancebo of Spain, Levy Leipheimer of the United States, Roberto Heras of Spain and Carlos Sastre of Spain.

The final yellow jersey of the race, symbolic of the championship, was presented to Armstrong by the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe. Armstrong won more than $300,000 for his effort.

Armstrong averaged 24.7 miles an hour for the distance this year, the fourth fastest Tour in history.