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Prologue: Armstrong finishes an uncharacteristic seventh place at 7 seconds back after starting with stomach problems. Not a major time difference, but an omen that the Texan might not be on top of his form.
|  | | Despite all the twists and turns of this race, Lance Armstrong is happy to be in the lead at the end. |
The Crash, Stage 1: Armstrong crashes in the Tour for the first time since his cancer comeback in 1999 in a horrible finish-line spill. Compatriot Levi Leipheimer is sent packing for home while fellow American Tyler Hamilton fractures his right collarbone. Armstrong tweaks his back but is not seriously injured.
Team Time Trial, Stage 4: Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service team wins the prestigious team time trial for the first time in the squad's history and takes time out of important rivals such as Italian Gilberto Simoni.
The Alps, Stage 7-9: Armstrong grabs the yellow jersey but limps through the Alps without being able to deliver an early knock-out punch in the Tour's first mountain stages. Spanish rider Iban Mayo steals Armstrong's thunder at the Tour's most famous climb at Alpe d'Huez. In the final mountain stage, Spanish rider Joseba Beloki suffers a horrible crash and Armstrong is forced onto a hay field to avoid hitting him. Armstrong displays incredible bike-handling skills to avoid spilling and vaults over a deep ditch before rejoining the race unscathed.
The Meltdown, Stage 12: Armstrong is dealt a stunning blow in the first time trial when he suffers acute dehydration, losing 10 pounds of body weight and forfeiting 1 minute, 36 seconds to archrival Jan Ullrich. It's Armstrong's worse loss in a time trial since 1999.
The Pyrenees, Stage 13-16: Armstrong is reeling and endures bitter attacks in the first two stages of the Pyrenees but clings to the yellow jersey with his rivals breathing down his neck. Going into the decisive Luz Ardiden stage, Ullrich is just 15 seconds back and Alexandre Vinokourov 18 seconds back.
The Comeback, Stage 15: With the Tour on the line, Armstrong delivers a dramatic stage victory to widen his lead over Ullrich to 1:07 and all but eliminate Vinokourov as a threat. With the Tour haning in the balance, Armstrong shakes off a stunning crash when a fan's bag gets tangled with his handlebars to win.
The Final Verdict, Stage 19: Armstrong didn't win, but he didn't have to. Ullrich crashed with about 12km to go in the Tour's final time trial, taking the pressure off Armstrong.
Paris, Stage 20: After an uneventful final stage, Armstrong was crowned the winner for a record-tying fifth consecutive time.
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