Lance exits, but U.S. now cycling power

These results are not Armstrong's legacy, however, even if some of the riders have ridden on his team in the past and learned from him.

Rather, they are the cream of the crop sown some 15 years ago, when Greg LeMond - the first American to win the Tour de France - was on top of his form. Messrs. Hincapie, Julich, and Landis were then boys to whom LeMond was a hero. Now, says Lee, it is up to them "to keep the ball rolling and the spotlight on cycling" in the wake of Armstrong's retirement.

None of them, however, are likely to match either Armstrong's skill and dedication, or the pathos of his personal drama, which have raised the flag of US cycling in previously unknown fields. "One person has never done so much to raise the profile of the sport in America," says Dan Osipow, spokesman for Armstrong's "Discovery Channel" team. "It has reached places cycling has never gone, from the White House to cereal boxes."

"Armstrong passes the 'grandmother test' - my grandmother knows who he is but she doesn't know anybody else in cycling," says Mr. Strickland. "I don't think we have the next American rider who can pass that test."

The public will perhaps have to wait a decade or so to feel the full effects of Armstrong's legacy, when boys watching OLN today grow up. "The challenge for us at junior level is getting kids involved when so many other sports are offered" at school, says USA Cycling's Lee. "Right now, Lance Armstrong is the primary way high school kids learn about cycling."

One young man who knows that personally is Tyler Farrar, a 21-year-old member of the US national team who many see as the next great hope of American cycling. "It was cool to be coming up through the junior ranks when Americans, and especially Armstrong, started to perform on the international stage", he says. [Editor's note: The original version incorrectly used a phrase to describe Tyler Farrar.]

"Armstrong is an amazing motivator," he adds. "He represents a gold standard you can aim for, an ideal to strive for."

Mr. Farrar sees the wheel of American cycling turning again in a generation's time. The Americans doing so well now "were juniors when Greg LeMond was at his prime, and now they are hitting their stride," he says. "Fifteen years from now there will be even more Americans doing what they are doing, who are watching Lance now."

"Somewhere out there," Mr. Osipow speculates, "there is a 13-year-old kid who watched the race today and said to himself 'Boy, I want to do that.' "

1) Lance Armstrong (US/Discovery)

2) Ivan Basso (Italy/CSC)

3) Jan Ullrich (Germany/T-Mobile)

4) Francisco Mancebo (Spain/Balears)

5) Alexandre Vinokourov (Kazakhstan/ T-Mobile)

6) Levi Leipheimer (US/Gerolsteiner)

7) Mickael Rasmussen (Denmark/Rabobank)

8) Cadel Evans (Australia/Lotto)

9) Floyd Landis (US/Phonak)

10) Oscar Pereiro (Spain/Phonak)

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