Armstrong bids farewell to Tour de France with seventh straight title

By JEROME PUGMIREAP Sports Writer

Lance Armstrong of Austin, Texas holds the trophy aloft as he stands on the podium with his children, Luke, Grace and Isabelle, from right, after winning his 7th straight Tour de France cycling race in Paris on Sunday. (AP Photo/Michel Spingler) PARIS — Lance Armstrong will never ride in the Tour de France again. After seven years of dominance, he is trading in rough rides through the mountains for leisurely days on the beach.

Having stepped onto the podium for the last time on Sunday to celebrate his seventh straight Tour victory, Armstrong will spend a few days ‘‘with a beer, having a blast.’’

It’s time for him to play with his kids, chill out with rocker girlfriend Sheryl Crow, and toast his success as the undisputed champion of cycling’s most demanding event.

‘‘I’m finished,’’ Armstrong said.

He is moving far away from the awestruck crowds that crossed countries for the merest glimpse, the six-hour training rides in pouring rain that gave him the edge over others, the stress of worrying whether his rivals could ever catch up.

Armstrong is now retired at the ripe old age of 33.

‘‘We’re just going to hang out in the south of France for a little while and do nothing,’’ Crow said.

Armstrong loved the mystique that surrounds the 102-year-old Tour, and is proud to see his name listed above fivetime champions Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain.

He hated the accusations that his success was based on anything other than a desire to push himself further than any other cyclist. He had an intense dedication to training and meticulous planning, and an ability to bring the best out of teammates.

‘‘This is the most difficult event there is,’’ Armstrong told French television. ‘‘I won it once, twice, three, four, five, six, and seven times, so of course they ask those questions. When you don’t answer it as they like, they make up the answer for you.’’

Armstrong planned to escape to a resort near the French city of Nice on Monday.

After his final win, Armstrong set his sights on a Sunday night with friends, his mother, his three children, numerous sponsors, and teammates at a big bash at Paris’ Ritz Hotel. He even invited longtime rival Jan Ullrich, the 1997 Tour winner and five-time runner-up — three to Armstrong.

Ullrich finished third this year, right behind Italy’s Ivan Basso.

Armstrong will be back on the Tour next year, as adviser to close friend Johan Bruyneel, the Discovery Channel team director.

‘‘I have a special place in my heart for this race,’’ he said. ‘‘I dream about coming back to France, telling stories to my children. I really care about it.’’

Armstrong won the 23-day race comfortably, again.

He finished 4 minutes and 40 seconds ahead of Basso and 6:21 clear of Ullrich, who has finished off the podium only once since placing second during his debut in 1996. Ullrich struggled into a fourth-place finish last year.

Armstrong praised the two riders, who could fight to succeed him as champion next year.

‘‘To end a career with this podium is really a dream,’’ Armstrong said.

He hugged Ullrich, the powerful German rider who pushed him so close to defeat two years ago. Armstrong’s winning margin in 2003 was 61 seconds, his smallest ever.

‘‘What he did was sensational,’’ Ullrich said. ‘‘It is his seventh victory. He deserved it.’’

Emotion flowed when Armstrong took the podium one last time, hand over heart, ‘‘The Star-Spangled Banner’’ ringing out over the Champs-Elysees.

Behind her dark glasses, Crow fought back tears — as Armstrong had done Saturday when he won the Saint-Etienne