Armstrong riding towards seventh heaven

The Tour de France, the most gruelling examination of physical and mental strength in world sport, begins on Saturday with Lance Armstrong going for a record seventh successive victory. And though he already holds the record with six wins and though he is to retire immediately after the Tour, he is still the man to beat and I would not dissuade anyone from backing him at 4-6 (1.66) to finish in yellow yet again.

Since the start of the year, Armstrong has been virtually written off by many in the know, suggesting his intensity has gone, his training has not gone well, his focus is not on cycling and that he is, at 32, too old to win again. But anyone who's seen the way he's won his six Tours should know that when the race begins, he clicks into gear.

One of the vagaries of the Tour is that it's a lot easier to successfully defend the title than it is to win it the first time. The domestiques, who make up the rest of the team, have only one aim, to ensure their team leader gets all the help he needs. The champion has almost a legendary aura about him and several, including Ivan Basso, third last year and one of his rivals again this time round, have admitted that at his best, he's unbeatable.

That's not to say that they won't attack at every chance they get, though. In addition to Basso, the T Mobile duo of Jan Ullrich and Alexander Vinokourov have been singled out by Armstrong's team boss Johan Bruyneel as his main rivals. However, there is a question mark over all of them.

Basso, the only man to stay with Armstrong in the mountains last year, is also a good time triallist but whether he has the ability to outdo Armstrong in both disciplines remains to be seen. Ullrich, prodigiously talented, has been runner-up five times and always gets better as the race progresses, but again, Armstrong is his nemesis. And Vinokourov, another all-round talent, has yet to prove himself on the biggest stage of all.

Andreas Kloden looked superb last year as he finished second, but he has been anonymous since, and T Mobile have spent a fortune on assembling a top team this year. But Armstrong's Discovery Channel team is just as strong, and barring injury or illness, I can't see any way that the American will not retire on a high.

Cambers' Call: Lance Armstrong to win Tour de France - 4-6