Stage 20: A Job Well Done Almost every single day between the end of the Dauphine Libere and the start of the 2004 Tour de France, at least one person asked me whether Lance Armstrong could really win a sixth Tour de France. I told most people it was going to be a tough race, against a lot of very strong challengers, but that he would find a way to win. I told a select few people what I truly believed was about to happen: Lance Armstrong was going to win more convincingly than ever before. Lance's performances over the past three weeks confirmed my predictions, and he rode even more impressively than expected. Twenty stages of the Tour de France are won by an individual rider. Lance Armstrong won 25% of them. The only other stage was the team time trial, and his USPS team won that as well. Beyond the fact he and his team won five stages and the team time trial, Lance was never in difficulty. He told me on numerous occasions throughout the race that he had never felt better at that point in previous Tours. Before he started the final time trial yesterday, he said he felt like he could continue racing for another week if he had to. Over the past several years, Lance's superior focus on training and preparation elevated him from a naturally gifted athlete to a grand champion. People often ask me what separates Lance Armstrong from the rest of the peloton, even though the answer is right in front of them all year long. Go and find Lance Armstrong in October, then again in December, January, March, etc. He'll be thinking about the Tour de France, and he'll be doing the training necessary to reach his absolute best level of performance in July. That's the sort of commitment it takes to win here, and if you're unwilling to put in the work required, don't expect to win the Tour de France anytime soon. Discussions about the future will happen in due time, but we're not talking about next year or anything beyond that. One of the lessons Lance learned during his comeback from cancer was to allow time for celebrating achievements and dealing with disappointments before simply moving on. Right now, it's time to celebrate a job well done, not only by Lance but also by his teammates and every man who reached the finish line in Paris. I would like to thank everyone at OLN for another great year of Tour de France coverage. I've had a great time contributing to the television and web coverage of the Tour this year, and I'd like to thank the viewers for all your wonderful comments. I look forward to sharing the Tour de France with you again soon.