‘The Boss’ reaches pinnacle after uphill climb

Add to all that the fact that only last year, Armstrong reached an even more difficult goal: being cancer-free for five years. He was treated for testicular cancer that had spread through his body in 1996.

The cancer left him scarred, but the chemotherapy reshaped his body into the leaner, more powerful machine that allowed him to not only make an unlikely return to cycling but to overpower his rivals. And the battle with cancer imbued in him a single-minded determination. ‘‘Regardless of one victory, two victories, four victories, there’s never been a victory by a cancer survivor,’’ Armstrong said before Sunday’s largely ceremonial final lap into the city. ‘‘That’s a fact that hopefully I’ll be remembered for.’’

It is his status as a cancer survivor that has made him an icon and an inspiration to cancer victims and their loved ones. Along every stage of the Tour, scores of cancer patients and families thronged the route and descended on the small towns and villages hoping for a glimpse of, or perhaps a word of hope from, the man whose life story has become emblematic of life after the disease.

After Sunday’s race, on the sun-drenched Place de la Concord, Armstrong seemed relaxed, even serene about this latest record-making achievement. ‘‘It’s nice to finish,’’ he said, speaking in French for local journalists. ‘‘It’s a difficult race, three weeks. It’s difficult mentally. It’s good to finish. I’m really happy to finish.’’ He paused to pick up a cellular phone and take a telephone call, from the White House, where President Bush rang to offer congratulations just minutes after the Tour’s finale. Bush has named Armstrong to a three-year term on his cancer advisory board.

‘‘He’s a really good guy,’’ Armstrong said, after speaking for a few minutes with Bush. ‘‘He’s a Texan, like me. … He’s a real sportsman.’’ He said Bush told him, ‘‘Come to see me in the White House.’’

Armstrong showed the slightest hint of emotion as he stood atop the podium for the playing of the Star Spangled Banner, pulling off his yellow cap and holding it over his heart. (LATWP)