Once again the Tour de France has been a phenomenal undertaking, lasting three weeks this cycle race for 198 riders in 22 teams needed a permanent staff of sixty plus 200 temporary helpers. Further to this there were 2300 accredited journalists, 1200 photographers, cameramen & TV directors bringing live coverage to an estimated two billion viewers on 78 television channels in 170 countries. Plus another 528 other media staff with 11,000 technicians or chauffeurs, all of these were allocated hotels, food and other necessities along the route most of these staff changed hotels daily, a considerable logistical nightmare.
As an indication of the increasing popularity of cycling or perhaps the power of television the name ‘Tour de France' is said to be recognised by 96% of the French population and 90% of all Europeans; while in America Lance Armstrong has stated that the name of the Tour de France is the only cycle race recognised by the general population.
The Final Top 10 in the 92nd Tour de France 2005 - 3,608.0km
| 1. | Lance Armstrong | (USA) | DSC | | in | 86h15'02" |
| 2. | Ivan Basso | (Italy) | CSC | | at | 4'40" |
| 3. | Jan Ullrich | (Germany) | TMO | | at | 6'21" |
| 4. | Francisco Mancebo | (Spain) | IBA | | at | 9'59" |
| 5. | Alexandre Vinokourov | (Kazakstahn) | TMO | | at | 11'01" |
| 6. | Levi Leipheimer | (USA) | GST | | at | 11'21" |
| 7. | Mickael Rasmussen | (Denmark) | RAB | | at | 11'33" |
| 8. | Cadel Evans | (Australia) | DVL | | at | 11'55" |
| 9. | Floyd Landis | (USA) | PHO | | at | 12'44" |
| 10. | Oscar Pereiro Sio | (Spain) | PHO | | at | 16'14" |
With Lance Armstrong hanging up his cycling shoes, who is likely to take over the mantle for the Tour de France 2006? Will it be Jan Ullrich the man who believes that he can beat Armstrong but never proved it, or will he be surpassed by one of the many bright young stars waiting to prove that they can do it? I'm sure there are millions of interested spectators waiting to see the spectacle of the Tour de France 2006.
The most famous cycle race in the world, the Tour de France should perhaps change its name to the Tour de Lance. Incredibly, the American Lance Armstrong riding for his Discovery Channel team notched up a record seventh consecutive victory in this most gruelling of events. This surpasses the efforts of past greats such as Spain's Miguel Indurain and Belgium's Eddy Merckx although there is some justifiable argument that these two contested many races throughout the season whereas Armstrong concentrates all his efforts on his main annual objective of winning the Tour de France. Lance will pocket some 400,000 Euros for the race win plus 7620 Euros for his stage win but this is pocket money compared with the amount he'll be able to earn in endorsements, after dinner speaking (huge money in the states) consultancies etc. Armstrong stated that Sunday 24th July was to be his last ever day as a professional rider but after a well deserved break will he be tempted to return to training next year? Personally I don't think so; Armstrong has always been very clear headed about his campaign to become the greatest tour de France rider ever, he's achieved that and now I believe he'll put that same drive and determination to the next phase of his life.
