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Cyclingnews' 2002 Top Ten: Part four
The runner-up, as selected by the Cyclingnews team
2: Lance Armstrong
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One of the take home messages for 2002 is that Lance Armstrong keeps getting better. In notching up his fourth successive Tour de France win, the 30 year old Texan is up there with the greats of the sport: Merckx, Anquetil, Hinault, Coppi and Indurain. One more Tour win and he will join them, two more and he will surpass them as the winner of the greatest race in the world. That record is still hypothetical, but year by year Lance is moving closer to it.
The manner of Lance's win this year was a little different, but just as impressive as his three previous wins. He suffered a rare defeat in the first time trial, but went on to demolish each of his opponents in the mountains that followed. His 7'17 victory margin was a testament to his own strength, and that of his US Postal team, which performed perfectly throughout the race. The Posties made sure that Lance was unstoppable in Le Tour 2002.
This season also saw Lance Armstrong extend his program a little. Criticised by some for having too narrow a focus on the Tour de France, Armstrong rode four out of five spring classics in support of his team-mate George Hincapie, and did not let the side down. In one of his more favourite races, the Amstel Gold Race, Armstrong made the winning breakaway and eventually finished fourth.
After the spring campaign, Armstrong won the two important French stage races, Midi Libré and the Dauphiné Libèrè, in convincing style. In the Midi Libré he had to overcome the might of the ONCE-Eroski team, which came close to cracking him but failed to do so on the final stage when it counted. In the Dauphiné, he won the Col de Joux Plane stage, ridding himself of a particular monkey off his back. His form in that race left no doubt as to who was the favourite for the 2002 Tour.
After the Tour was won, Armstrong raced in the Clasica San Sebastian and Championship of Zurich in August, before finishing his season with the San Francisco Grand Prix. In Zurich he finished third behind Dario Frigo and Paolo Bettini, before taking a very heavily marked sixth place in San Francisco.
All in all, Armstrong raced a fuller program than in previous years, and his number two UCI ranking at the end of the season reflected this. Next year he's going for five Tours, and few would bet against him at the moment.
