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Overall standings

Tour de France legend Miguel Indurain warned Lance Armstrong not to relax if he wants to beat the record of five wins in the classic race.

Armstrong blazed to his fourth straight Tour de France title on Sunday and the manner of victory suggests he will be extremely hard to beat again next year.

Armstrong reaches new heights

Spain's Indurain won five Tours between 1991 and 1995 and holds the record with Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx and Bernard Hinault.

But while Indurain thinks Armstrong will join that elite group, he said going one better will not be easy.

In terms of wins Merckx was the best, but times change - everything is different

Miguel Indurain

"He will have to take it a year at a time," Indurain told Spanish sports daily Marca.

"It is true that he is still young and, therefore, in terms of age he could win two more.

"But staying at the top can be very exhausting.

"In December he will have to start again from scratch and what he has done before counts for nothing.

"From then on everything has to work perfectly. But looking at how he dominated this year it is clear that he can win more."

Armstrong first demonstrated his Tour de France pedigree with a stage victory in 1993 at 21 and Indurain, who won his third title that year, began to take note.

"He was very good, but because he was young he was very inconsistent," said Indurain.

"From the start he had something, he was very strong and very explosive.

Miguel Indurain won five Tours de France
Indurain won five Tours between 1991 and 1995

"He even beat me to win the world championship in Norway when he was only 22."

Indurain, who retired from cycling at the age of 32, believes that Armstrong's experience of recovering from cancer forged the iron will needed to win the toughest race in cycling.

"What is clear is that the cancer changed his mentality," said Indurain.

"It even changed his character - before he was rather reckless and now he is more measured and calm.

"But before, just like now, he had great quality and was a born winner."

But even if Armstrong was to win six Tours de France, Indurain insisted that it would not overshadow his own achievements or those of Merckx, Hinault or Anquetil.

"In terms of wins Merckx was the best, but times change as do the rivals, the equipment, the roads. Everything is different."


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