RADIO 5 Live launched the current week with that old sporting chestnut about who deserves the tag of world's best sportsman.

Within seconds candidates were flooding in. Text, e-mail, fax - sporting supernovas were being feted almost as fleet-footedly as anchor-man Nicky Campbell's leap aboard that ubiquitous bandwagon of political correctness as he added that sports-women too came into the desired category.

The expected pantheon of usual suspects were first to be trotted out - Muhammad Ali, Sir Stanley Matthews, Tiger Woods, Sir Steven Redgrave, Ian Botham et al, though I never quite heard which al it actually was - Shearer, Smith, Oerter, or perhaps daniti.

There was even a vote for Dean Windass - the barrel-chested North Ferriby-born striker who has seen sterling service with Hull City, Aberdeen, Bradford City, Middlesbrough and Sheffield United.

Just who the best is will always be a timeless argument beloved of papers, panels, punters and pubs. But whether fuelled by stats, or more likely vats of intoxicating beverages, it is a question that will remain a riddle. It can never be resolved as each star has to be judged in the context of his or her own era and there will always be another new wonder-kid on the block, track, pitch, field, pool, circuit, links, ring or horizon.

The latest ace to merit worthy inclusion in any list of sporting legends is Lance Armstrong, the titan of the Tour de France.

The pedalling phenomenon won the world's toughest and longest individual event for the fifth consecutive year and all after he sped past the spectre of death when he beat cancer.

That in itself is a staggering triumph of the human spirit. But Armstrong's exploits astride a saddle upon which he has skedaddled past a panting peleton of pursuers into the paradise of Paris has re-defined the meaning of sporting courage.

To win one Tour is an admirable achievement in itself, but five on the trot is miraculous. Even the French, no lovers of all things American, have taken the Texan to their collective coeur.

But it's not over. Armstrong, who modestly refused to elevate himself into the ranks of cycling legends such as Eddy Merckx, Miguel Indurain, Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault - all previous five-time Tour winners - is determined to carry on cycling. His avowed aim is a sixth Tour triumph, thereby re-writing the record books of an event, which next year, enters its second century.

If he were to accomplish six successive conquests he might well be out on his own as the world's greatest sporting star.

ANY more innings as that which rescued England from the gaping maw of defeat against South Africa and Yorkshire's Michael Vaughan will be on his way to joining the company of cricket's greatest names.

These past two years have been a revelation for the opening batsman, who initially found international cricket elusive to get to grips with.

During that time Vaughan has added maturity and menace to his talent and assumed the mantle of predecessor Michael Atherton as being England's most respected batsman.

His marathon 156 knock against the Proteas at Edgbaston underlined his present status as the world's best willow-wielder and reinforced the feeling that once Vaughan is out then England could struggle.

The enigma that then follows is whether the Yorkshire player will successfully replace Nasser Hussain after being given the England Test captaincy last night to go with the one-day skipper's duties he enjoys.

He has shown in the limited overs discipline that leadership does not detract from his scoring prowess. But the Test arena is far more of a mind-game minefield and another 12 months close-quarter watching may not have been such a bad thing for the man Vaughan to be king.

Updated: 10:32 Tuesday, July 29, 2003