Before Lance Armstrong there were other individuals who dominated the Tour De France.  One of these men was named Giovanni Russo, and he was one of the greatest cyclists the Tour had ever seen.  He dominated the completion in his first three appearances of the Tour De France, and he was attempting to set the record at that time of winning four Tour De Frances in a row.  He was getting a little older in age, and he had a young man from Germany who was going to try to take the title from him.  This young man had dominated the other cyclists in many other competitions, and now was shooting to win his first Tour De France.  After each stage these two individuals battled, and they were tied going into the last stage of the entire race.  But in the end GiovannI Russo, surged past his young competitor and won the Tour De France by 1 second.
