Armstrong proves one of sport's great champions

On each of these three counts Lance Armstrong, who began the first day of the rest of his life on Monday after winning a seventh and final Tour de France, succeeded triumphantly.

"To me, just finishing the Tour de France is a demonstration of survival," Armstrong once wrote.

"The race is very much like living - except that its consequences are less dire and there's a prize at the end.

"Life is not so neat. I just hope I'll be content when I stop."

Armstrong, 33, underwent two surgical operations and four bouts of chemotherapy in an agonising battle against cancer. His string of successes helped to save the Tour de France after the 1998 doping scandals which threatened to destroy its credibility.

Quitting while still a champion is one of the rarer feats in sport.

Rocky Marciano, whose name evokes a brutal trade where comebacks are as common as knockouts, retired as the undefeated world boxing champion in 1956 after winning all 49 of his professional fights.

Runner Herb Elliott was undefeated as a senior over 1,500 metres or its imperial equivalent the mile, climaxing his career with victory in the 1960 Rome Olympics 1,500 final in world-record time.

Boxing and running, two elemental sports, produced the two men commonly regarded as the greatest champions of the 20th century. Both were black Americans who through fate and circumstance helped to influence the history of their times.

Muhammad Ali won the world heavyweight boxing title three times.

His fights with Sonny Liston, George Foreman and Joe Frazier were classics.

But it was his refusal to be drafted into the US Army during the Vietnam war which elevated him into a 1960s counter-culture hero.

Jesse Owens was no rebel but his four gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Olympics provided the perfect riposte to the repugnant Nazi racist policies.

Baseball slugger Babe Ruth attained worldwide fame for a game played predominantly in the United States while cricketer Don Bradman, who embodied the hopes and dreams of his fellow Australians during the Great Depression of the 1930s, was also renowned internationally.

In the modern era Jack Nicklaus, with 18 major golf titles, twice Grand Slam tennis champion Rod Laver, soccer's Brazilian maestro Pele and Argentine Formula One driver Juan Manuel Fangio were their sports' leading lights.

More recently Pete Sampras dominated men's tennis while Martina Navratilova has been the greatest women's champion.

Navratilova redefined her body with strenuous physical exercise which helped to change the face of women's tennis and underpinned a career of unprecedented longevity.

Among present-day champions, Tiger Woods is the closest to Armstrong, accompanied possibly by motor racing's Michael Schumacher.

In his bid to overtake Nicklaus, who birdied his final hole at his final British Open this month, Woods has deliberately reshaped his golf swing, demonstrating the obsessive search for perfection which characterised Armstrong.

Laver himself believes three-times Wimbledon champion Roger Federer could be the best male tennis player of all time.

Comparing different sports is all but impossible. Comparing different eras is fraught with difficulty, as two of Armstrong's predecessors pointed out.

"We can say that he has been the best cyclist of his generation but we shouldn't make the error of comparing his achievements to other eras as each one is different," said Miguel Indurain.

"You cannot compare," said Bernard Hinault. "The bikes are different. The opponents are different."

The only certainty is that in the context of his times and sport Armstrong was the best with an aura and a reputation which extended well beyond the peloton.