2002 Tour de France Winners

Updated August 28, 2020 | Infoplease Staff

The 89th Tour de France (July 6-28) ran 20 stages plus a prologue, covering 2,050 miles starting in Luxembourg, passing through the Alps and Pyrenees in France and finishing on the Avenue des Champs-Elysees in Paris.

For the fourth consecutive year, U.S. Postal Service rider Lance Armstrong sipped champagne and donned the yellow jersey as he rode down the Champs-Elysees to victory. He finished in 82 hours, 5 minutes and 12 seconds, defeating his closest competitor, Joseba Beloki of Spain , by 7 minutes and 17 seconds. He is one of five men in history, and the only American, to win at least four Tours.

Less than three years before Armstrong rode down the Champs-Elysees for his first Tour de France victory in 1999, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer. The cancer then spread to his lungs and his brain and doctors gave him less than a 40 percent chance of survival. He underwent two operations and extensive chemotherapy and began his comeback in early 1998. He is only the second American to win cycling's premier event.