So will this be the greatest achievement in the history of sport?

LANCE ARMSTRONG'S SIX TOURS

LANCE ARMSTRONG'S SIX TOURS

Chief Sports Writer, The Independent

It is hard to know which is more resilient, the astonishing competitive spirit of Lance Armstrong or the Tour de France that he has come to dominate more completely than any man in history. The American - who would be remarkable for simply riding at all in sport's most brutal test of endurance and spirit after fighting off a ravenous attack of cancer - will now, barring some freak accident, ride in triumph up the Champs Elysées next weekend for a record-shattering sixth win.

When he does so, claims will be made that this is the most outstanding achievement not only in cycling but in the whole of sporting history. Will they be justified? There are arguments on both sides, some detailed on these pages. Sports fans will reach their own conclusions. What is beyond doubt, however, is Armstrong's unique ambition and resolve, one mark of which is the ferocious natures of some of the men who have now been left in the slipstream of his historic achievement.

They include Eddie Merckx, the prized friend of the King of the Belgians who won the Tour four times - an achievement considered so amazing then he was christened The Cannibal. With his relentless appetite for victory, he simply ate up his rivals along the plains of France in the murderous climbs of the Pyrenees and the Central Massif. After one of those climbs, the Dutch rider Hennie Kuiper said: "You know you are at your physical limit when the snow on the peaks of the Pyrenees turns black in your eyes."

You see most clearly at this stage of the race how close to those limits the riders, the stars and the team-working domestiques, push themselves. Each night the riders are massaged in their hotel rooms and for the masseur one of the tricks is to avoid the boils that routinely break out on the bodies of the men who have been riding so far and for so long and find that inevitably their systems are breaking down. What do they do? They ransack the last reserves of their bodies and their minds and their spirits. And, of course, we have known for far longer than the recent controversies following action by the French police, quite a lot of them take drugs. At the end of each race the French communist daily, L'Humanité, dusts down and runs a standard editorial which proclaims the Tour to be a vicious capitalist plot with the organisers constantly making the course more demanding and the riders, sons of workers and the public's heroes, really the dupes. Armstrong is currently involved in legal action against those who have suggested that he too has sought the help of the drug experts who lurk in the shadows of the great race, and inevitably his glory - like that of every track and field champion in the coming Olympics - will be greeted with some ambivalence.

However, the French public have plainly retained their love, however complicated, of an event which they insist represents all the nation's best qualities: passion, strength of character and, when the riders sweep into the attack, great panache. Unfortunately, these qualities have long been embodied by the man from Texas. Nor does it help that his only faint rival at the moment is the Italian Ivan Basso.

Jacques Anquetil, one the great Tour riders of the past, reacted to a surge of drug reports by saying: "When you look at what they have to do, the surprise should not be that some that of the boys use drugs but that all of them don't."

Like so much of modern sport, the argument is deeply troubling but as Armstrong heads for the bandstands and the fountains of a Paris en fête at least one assertion can be made. It is that in all of sport it is impossible to find a more sustained test of a sportsman's spirit than the one Armstrong has so survived so triumphantly. The career of a great fighter, a National Hunt jockey and a Formula One driver perhaps throws up more acute risks to a man's health, but nowhere else but on the Tour is a working sportsman required to deal with the phenomenon of black snow.

MUHAMMAD ALI'S COMEBACK

Lennox Lewis, Heavyweight boxing champion of the world

You would have to say that the greatest sporting achievement in my business was by Muhammad Ali.

When he beat George Foreman in Africa in 1974 [the "Rumble in the Jungle" staged in Zaire], I could hardly believe it. I was just a baby then but when you look at that achievement now you know it went far beyond the fight game. It touched people all over the world and, as a sportsman - or whatever you do in life - you can't ask for much more than that.

As far as his talents and his attributes were concerned, he basically had the lot. Ali was a genius in controlling the ring and dictating the fight and, of course, his timing and skill were unrivalled and probably always will be. His fights with Joe Frazier were also fantastic. As long as people talk about boxing they will remember Ali's name.

There have been many great fighters but no one touched the world like he did. When I was voted BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2000 - the year after I beat Evander Holyfield - the greatest honour of all was that I got to stand next to Ali. He was always my hero and my inspiration and most other boxers would say the same thing. He had unbelievable talent and great character.

REDGRAVE'S FIVE GOLDS

Craig Reedie, Chairman of the British Olympic Association

In Olympic events the greatest ever sporting achievement would have to be that of Sir Steve Redgrave who won five successive rowing golds between between 1984 and 2000.

What makes it incredible is the fact that over 16 years, or probably more, he proved that he was sufficiently fit, strong, committed and willing to do it.

It takes gut-tearing effort for any rower and Sir Steve also had the necessary self-control and organisation in his life.

Not only was he able to find the time to do all that training, which is a massive undertaking in rowing, but he balanced that with a happy family life.

There are very few sportsmen or women who can achieve at a high level without that degree of determination but on raw talent and technical brilliance alone.

Perhaps the exception was Al Oerter who won four Olympic gold medals in the discus in the 1950s and 1960s and used to turn up to the United States team trials after only six months preparation.

Probably the only thing that ranks alongside Sir Steve Redgrave's achievements in Olympic terms is the achievement of Mark Spitz, who won seven swimming golds at the Munich Olympics in 1972.

PAULA RADCLIFFE'S MARATHONS

Lord Coe, British Olympic champion and head of London's Olympic bid

Paula is in a handful of the top performers in the past 100 years in this country. If she goes on to win the Olympic title, and that's a tough call as far as the conditions go, then she really will be one of the greatest athletes of all time. Naturally, many people will cite her marathon world records in Chicago and London as her greatest achievements.

Of these, I would say that her victory in Chicago was right up there as one of the great distance runs given the day and the course. However, I think that mentally, her track golds were the greatest achievements. Winning the European 10,000m and in the Commonwealth 5,000m are for me the most impressive. While this might be a bit harsh, Paula was a nearly girl on the track ­ she was pipped at the post at the Sydney Olympics and the cognoscenti had given up on her. What she did in systematically training herself into a winner on the track is remarkable as coming first on the track is much harder than winning any marathon. It's like the difference between National Hunt and track racing. There is a broader array of technological and physiological responses involved in running on a track ­ you have to be better and for those runs, she proved that she was the best.

BRIAN LARA'S 400

Angus Fraser, Former Middlesex and England cricketer

The greatest sporting achievement I have witnessed would definitely be the 400 not out scored by Brian Lara in Antigua during England's tour there in the winter. Lara was a previous record holder of the highest test score with 375 against England in 1994, which was beaten by Matthew Hayden last year. The first innings of 375 was again in Antigua and I was on the opposing side.

What is phenomenal about the 400 is that a batsman has the determination and concentration to break the record twice. It requires two solid days at the crease and there must be the huge temptation to try and do it all a bit quicker than the last time, at which stage you'll make a mistake.

Brian Lara is such a special player because he has the eye for the ball and the flair as well as powers of concentration. You can't really match what he has achieved in cricket, although in bowling terms I guess that Jim Laker's 19 wickets in the Test match against Australia at Old Trafford in 1956 comes very close.

Unfortunately for Lara many of his achievements have come at a time when the West Indies team has been down in the dumps but I still think he will be remembered as one of the greatest batsmen of all time.

BOB CHAMPION'S NATIONAL

Philip Hobbs, Trainer and former professional jump jockey

There iS an interesting comparison between Lance Armstrong beating cancer and going on to achieve sporting greatness and Bob Champion. He was diagnosed with cancer in 1979 but came back and had 500 winners by the time he retired in 1983, including the Grand National in 1981 on Aldaniti.

Bob had in abundance what any great jockey requires: physical strength and co-ordination combined with an ability to get on with trainers and owners. You have got to be able to communicate to get the best out of people. It's not like golf, where you can almost exist in a vacuum - you have to be able to relate to people.

I would also rate Tony McCoy very highly as he has been the champion jump jockey for five consecutive seasons. In the 1997-8 season he clocked up an incredible 253 winners, overtaking Peter Scudamore's record of the most National Hunt winners in one season.

In just over six seasons he had surpassed the career achievements of John Francome and surpassed Richard Dunwoody's fastest 1,000 winners. Two years ago he smashed his own record of riding the fastest 100 winners by five weeks. If that form continues he will be the most successful National Hunt jockey of all time.

BANNISTER'S FOUR-MINUTE MILE

Stirling Moss, Former Formula One racing driver

I think the greatest achievement would have to be Roger Bannister's four-minute mile in 1954. It was an incredible achievement. While it's nothing now it was astounding at the time, and a special moment for England.

People of younger generations can't really appreciate the enormity of it. Santee, Landy, many others came so close, the expectation built up, and when it was broken that made it so special. It's the same kind of anticipation surrounding Armstrong this week. We knew the four-minute mile was going to be broken, it was there for the picking, but we didn't know who it was going to be.

So for an Englishman to do it was fantastic. Patriotism really counted then - it doesn't exist any more. Having said all this, I think if Armstrong does get his sixth Tour this week, I'd have to say that is the greatest sporting achievement, with Bannister a close second.

In motor racing, I would pick [Juan-Manuel] Fangio at the Nurburgring in '57 - he did an amazing job in an outclassed Maserati and beat the Ferraris. Michael Schumacher is a tremendously good driver, but motor racing is a lot safer today than it used to be and has electronics to correct mistakes.

PELE

Adrian Chiles, Sports journalist and radio presenter

The greatest achievers, I think, are the Oscar Wilde types: the ones who aren't always great, they're not the most talented or successful over a career.

Take Goran Ivanisevic winning Wimbledon in 2001, for example. He's achieved sporting greatness because he's stuck at it. He's clearly not the best around, he's withstood failure, and yet he's won it, fought back from way behind to reach the top.

If I had to pick one single figure, though, it would be Pele. One moment that sticks in my mind is him shaking hands with Bobby Moore. And when he scored his 1,000th goal. He was playing for New York Cosmos and all the other players lined up on the halfway line while he took the penalty.

He lifted his game to another level. And he seems to be a force for good.