Cycling: The ones who never knew the joy of six

Four cyclists before Lance Armstrong won five Tour de France victories but none could make it six. This is how they missed out on the sixth.

JACQUES ANQUETIL, 1966

Anquetil missed the tour in 1965 but in his comeback the next year the 33-year-old was suffering from bronchitis. He called it quits in the 19th stage between Chamonix and St Etienne.

"I'm more embarrassing than useful now," he said.

The 1966 tour was also marked by the first anti-doping tests, which led the riders to go on strike.

EDDY MERCKX, 1975

Merckx, "The Cannibal", was world champion. He had won three major classics - Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders and Liege-Bastogne-Liege - and was apparently invincible in the Tour.

The Belgian, aged 30, dominated the race until the 14th stage up the Puy de Dome, when he was hit in the chest by a spectator. Unheralded Frenchman Bernard Thevenet, a former farmhand, moved up to only 58s behind him.

Thevenet dropped the five-time winner in the final climb of the next stage after being repulsed by Merckx six times.

The Cannibal returned for a last time in 1977 to finish sixth.

BERNARD HINAULT, 1986

After his fifth win in 1985, Hinault had promised his team boss, that he would help team-mate Greg LeMond to win the following year.

He outshone the American by 44sec in the first time trial and raised doubts about his sincerity when he attacked in the Pyrenees, leaving LeMond 4m adrift. The Frenchman struck again the next day but LeMond reacted and made up most of the lost ground.

A truce was declared. Hinault led the way for LeMond in the climb to l'Alpe d'Huez and the two riders crossed the line hand in hand.

MIGUEL INDURAIN, 1996

After an unprecedented run of five successive tour victories, Indurain was again the favourite.

But no one realised how weary the Spaniard was and how vastly improved Dane Bjarne Riis and Frenchman Richard Virenque were.

Indurain struggled in the Alps and collapsed at home in the Pyrenees, losing 8m 30s to Riis, who went on to seize his chance. Indurain finished 11th and retired the following season.