Next month, the world's attention will focus on the athletic heroism of the summer Olympics to be held in Athens, Greece. But this month, much of the world is following the drama of the Tour de France, where American Lance Armstrong is trying to win an unprecedented 6th straight victory in the grueling bicycle race.

With history against him and competitive threats all around him, Armstrong set a somewhat conservative pace early in the race, knowing the 100-year-old Tour is a long, demanding contest and that remaining back in the pack is a less risky approach. But approaching this, the final week, when the race headed into the Pyrenees mountains, Armstrong started to make his move - and began to leave his main competitors, and doubts, behind.

Known for his hill-climbing prowess, Armstrong dominated the mountainous 127-mile leg of the race in the Pyrenees and cut the lead rider's advantage from nine minutes down to just 22 seconds. Armstrong's most likely challengers for the overall Tour victory are well behind him.

The physical and mental demands of the three-week and over 2000-mile-long Tour de France are among the greatest of any athletic event. Having already won five consecutive Tours, Armstrong has proven himself to be among the best athletes in the world - ever.

His athletic feats are made all the more remarkable considering the personal challenges he had to overcome after being diagnosed with testicular cancer six years ago. He proved his physical and mental toughness by coming back from that life-threatening health crisis and winning his five straight Tours, including last year when he was in the middle of a difficult divorce and clearly not at his best. With various distractions, including two crashes and some technical problems with his bike, Armstrong's margin of victory in 2003 was just 61 seconds.

This year is a different story. Despite the knowledge that the rest of the world's best bicycle racers are doing their best to deny him a history-making sixth consecutive Tour de France win, the 32-year-old Armstrong is looking unbeatable.

Still, it only takes a split-second mistake for a multi-bike crash to occur and illness, injury or other unknowns can still crop up at any time. But at this point, as the racers head into the Alps, Armstrong appears headed for victory in Paris on July 25 - and a remarkable place in history.