After Federer won his third consecutive Wimbledon the early whispers of comparing Sampras and Federer had already begun. Every one ofcourse forgot the great Rod Laver.

Now that Armstrong has retired, there are more greatest debates ensuing. How does Armstrong compare to the other sporting greats? Was he even the greatest cyclist ever to be worthy of comparison with the greatest of greats from other sports?

These exercises are futile because we can never compare eras. The parameters are too dynamic, very different between different eras. But the idea is so interesting, I guess such debates will never stop. Expect Schumacher to be in the mix of such debates once he hangs up his boots more than ever before. Then we will have a Lara vs Viv Richards comparison. Meanwhile Woods vs Nicholas will be a debate which may well go on 50 years or 100 years from now.

In the meanwhile, check out how the cycling great of our era at least has crossed the barriers of nations and religion, headlining in newspapers every where. Newsdesigner.com has composed some of the best front pages featuring Armstrong.

Link courtesy: www.tdfblog.com

Watching Lance Armstrong and the Australian cricket team one win his record 7th Tour de France, the other demolish England yet another time, you have to wonder what makes champions what they are.

The England cricket team is good. They will give a fight in the Ashes but it will be a surprise if they can manage to win even one test match. One of the commentators said he did not think the feat achieved by Armstrong today will be emulated in his life time at least. That helps us understand Armstrong’s feat just a bit. The true magnitude, one hopes, can be fathomed in due course.

I have read Armstrong’s highly inspirational autubiography It’s not about the bike. I think I may have to read it and other books on Armstrong in due course.

Truly great.

After the controversial disqualification of McEwen in the earlier stage of letour, McEwen made a late spurge to beat Boonen.

BBC Sport reports:

Robbie McEwen claims victory on the line in front of Boonen. The Australian sat behind the Belgian and sprung off his wheel to take the sprint by half a wheel at most. Thor Hushovd was third with Stuarty O’Grady fourth.

The best answer on the face of adversity : Success

With the drama and early lead of Lance Armstrong yesterday, stage 5 brings in new excitement. McEwen has announced he will race on as there are just bruises and no bone cracks. So what does the stage look like?

From Cyclingnews.com:

Another of the Tour’s early stages for the sprinters, there are plenty of green jersey points on offer over a stage with only one Cat 4 climb - it’s mostly flat, fast riding… The route sweeps further north and heads closer to its entry into Germany, with plenty to look at throughout the scenic Loir-et-Cher region - not that the riders will have much time for that, as average speeds of around 40-45km/h will prevent most from enjoying the sights.

The stage map can be viewed in the above site as well.

Yahoo has more onChambord and Montargis, the departure and arrival destinations.

It will be another day of the tour where drama is likely to unfold right in front of our eyes. Will Armstrong increase his lead or play it safe? Will Boonen win another stage?

As the day ends, Eurpoe will answer that. From Singapore, will will finally know whether its Paris or London or an outsider who manages to get Olympics 2012 hosting rights. Another momentous day for sport!

The 4th stage couldnt be more contrasting for race leader uptill the 3rd stage, Zabriskie race leader after the 4th stage, Armstrong. With a little more than a kilometer to go to the finish, Zabriskie crashed, fell and lost precious time.

If he had crashed within the last km, according to the rule he could take the time of the last rider of his team in the TTT. Armstrong and the Discovery Team, strongest in the trials, proved exactly that and more as the official web site of the letour reports:

The Discovery Channel team has set the fastest average speed for a team time trial in the Tour de France. The nine riders finished the 67.5km course in one hour, 10 minutes and 39 seconds. The average speed is 57.31km/h - eclipsing the previous best (that of Gewiss-Ballan from 1995 - 54.930km/h).

The question every one is asking is how Armstrong’s body will cope next week in the mountains. We will see.