CYCLING/Tour De France: A little slip of Lance Armstrong's tongue in his press conference on Thursday sums up the state of affairs as the Texan launches his campaign for a fourth successive Tour de France wintoday.

Asked to discuss his potential rivals, he referred to the duo in the Spanish Kelme squad, the grizzled Colombian time-trial specialist Santiago Botero and the baby-faced climber Oscar Sevilla, as "Botilla".

Welding the two together might be Armstrong's best chance of finding a rival able to offer a decent fight in the next three weeks.

Following the withdrawal of the German Jan Ullrich due to a knee injury, and the banning of the Italian climber Gilberto Simoni after two positive tests for cocaine, none of the other 188 who come under starter's orders today merits more than an outsider's tag against the man who beat cancer.

Armstrong's build-up through the spring has been perfect. With no crashes or illness, it included victories in his two last stage races, the Midi Libre and Dauphine Libere.

In the latter, he also took the final mountain stage, over the Col du Joux-Plane, but with the air of a man who was keeping plenty in reserve.

His United States Postal Service team domestique Floyd Landis finished just behind his boss in the Dauphine, and Armstrong's chief lieutenant, the Spaniard Roberto Heras, won the Tour of Catalonia last week.

French legal sources have indicated that the investigation into allegations of malpractice by Armstrong's team staff during the 2000 Tour are to be dropped, because nothing incriminating has been found.

There have been no awkward questions or further revelations about Armstrong's work with the controversial trainer Michele Ferrari, whose influence, the Texan recently confirmed, extends beyond altitude training and diet to offering advice by mobile phone during mountain stages of the Tour.

Ferrari is currently on trial in Italy on drugs charges unconnected with Armstrong.

Qui peut le battre? asked a headline in yesterday's edition of L'Equipe about Armstrong. Who can beat him indeed - every possible on the start list carries a proviso.

The Spaniard Joseba Beloki should be next in line, having finished third in the last two Tours, but he has done so exclusively by following Armstrong.

Sevilla, the runner-up by a whisker in last year's Tour of Spain, still looks too callow.

The Texan's right-hand man last year, Tyler Hamilton, finished second in the Giro d'Italia four weeks ago, with a broken shoulder blade, but that effort will have told.

This does not make Armstrong a shoo-in, however. If he wins his fourth Tour he will join such greats as Miguel Indurain, Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault.

But that quartet all faltered unexpectedly in one Tour or other when they looked impregnable.

The lack of meaningful rivals is not an unalloyed joy. "The one thing that could screw him up is the fact that there is no other favourite, so everyone will look to his team to control the race and pulling the breaks back will fall on Postal again and again," says Armstrong's former team-mate Jonathan Vaughters.

Already, minds are turning to the post-Armstrong era. The young Spaniard Iban Mayo will be closely scrutinised, as will Britain's David Millar.