PARIS -- Before long, Lance Armstrong will begin training for No. 5.

Holding a glass of champagne during the final stage, Armstrong won his fourth straight Tour de France on Sunday. The commanding victory of more than seven minutes proved yet again he is the master of one of the most punishing tests in all sports.

The 30-year-old Texan finished in the main pack as the cyclists completed the 20th stage from Melun, outside Paris, to the sycamore-lined Champs-Elysees.

With many among the thousands of fans waving U.S. flags, Armstrong moved within one victory of the Tour record of five titles. He is the winningest American in the event, having passed Greg LeMond's three titles. No Tour de France rider who has won four titles has failed to win a fifth.

''Of course, I'll try to win by preparing,'' Armstrong said Sunday, speaking in French on TV. ''But cycling is always complicated, and it's always difficult to reach the highest level.''

Few prepare like Armstrong, and few have the grit that allowed him to rule this three-week ride of 2,032 miles.

When Armstrong was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996, doctors gave him a 50-50 chance of survival. Today, he works out year-round, starting his training for the next Tour as early as six weeks after the last one.

Four cyclists have won five Tours, but only Miguel Indurain of Spain has won them consecutively (1991-95).

Aside from the number of wins, it is difficult to rank Armstrong with his predecessors. Race times are little help because the Tour route changes. Lead times depend on who else is racing.

This Tour was hardly a struggle. Armstrong's uneventful ride was an indication of how neither his rivals nor the course posed a real challenge.

Armstrong's winning margin over runner-up Joseba Beloki of Spain was 7 minutes, 17 seconds, with Lithuania's Raimondas Rumsas third. This was Armstrong's second-biggest victory, following a win of 7:37 over Alex Zuelle in 1999 for his first Tour championship.

Armstrong enjoyed a sip of champagne early on in the final stage. The crowd roared when he waved from the podium. With the Arc de Triomphe behind him, Armstrong smiled as he was presented with a bouquet of yellow flowers. He later took a call from President Bush.

Hundreds of Americans lined the Champs-Elysees, shouting ''U.S.A!'' and waving banners like ''4 and counting.'' Armstrong stood on the podium with his cap on his heart as ''The Star-Spangled Banner'' played.

''Regardless of one victory, two victories, four victories, there's never been a victory by a cancer survivor,'' he said. ''That's a fact that hopefully I'll be remembered for.''

Robbie McEwen of Australia won Sunday's 89-mile stage and took the green jersey as the Tour's best sprinter. Laurent Jalabert of France won the red-spotted jersey as best climber, while Ivan Basso of Italy won the white jersey for best young rider.

Armstrong took the leader's yellow jersey in the first mountain leg at La Mongie in the Pyrenees, and nearly doubled his advantage by sprinting up a tough climb to the Plateau de Beille in the next day's 12th stage.

On the formidable Mont Ventoux in the southern Provence region, he placed third but took a comfortable lead of 4:21 by finishing nearly two minutes in front of Beloki.

''Armstrong has shown he has the blood of champions flowing through his veins,'' the head of Beloki's team, Manolo Saiz, said after the Ventoux stage. ''He is much stronger than us. We see it day after day.''

It was Armstrong's fifth failure to win the Ventoux, but the U.S. Postal Service racer was focused on stretching his race lead, rather than winning spectacular -- and tiring -- stage victories.

Still, that didn't stop from him adding 45 seconds in the last three mountain stages and winning the final time trial Saturday by nearly a minute.

''He deserves it,'' said Xavier Picot, a 32-year-old architect from the French Alps. ''It's proof you should never give up the fight.''

Jeff Garvey, the chairman of the Lance Armstrong Foundation, which raises money for cancer survivors, intends to return to Paris next year to see Armstrong pursue a record-tying fifth title.

''And I'll be here for the sixth,'' he said. The Associated Press