Former Tour de France [Images] winners Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain were generous in their praise of seven-times champion Lance Armstrong [Images] but refused to call him the greatest cyclist ever.

Armstrong, 33, ended his career with an unprecedented seventh consecutive victory in the race on Sunday, and climbed off the podium for the final time saying "Vive le Tour forever".

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"We can say that he has been the best cyclist of his generation, but we shouldn't make the error of comparing his achievements to other eras as each one is different and each has its own peculiarities," said Spaniard Indurain, who won the Tour each year from 1991 to 1995.

"Armstrong has proved that he has been the greatest rider in the Tour, but that was the only race he really competed in to win. He has always concentrated his efforts on the French race and used the others as a test bed."

Hinault, the last Frenchman to win the Tour when he was crowned champion for the fifth time in 1985, also called Armstrong the champion of his generation.

"You cannot compare. The bikes are different, the opponents are different," he said. "He was obsessed by the Tour. He does everything to do it and as he wins, he is the one who is right. The others, who finish second or third, are not good. They have not understood everything yet.

The Tour was Armstrong's passion. He was strong in the climbs and fastest against the clock, as his final stage victory in Saturday's time trial again proved.

BRILLIANT CAREER

"Lance Armstrong brought a perfect end to a brilliant career. There was no better way to bid farewell to the sport than to win a stage [Saturday's time trial] and at the same time his seventh Tour de France," Indurain said.

"There are many ways to retire from the sport, but Lance has chosen the most brilliant as he has retired as a great champion without having encountered a rival who could defeat him."

Indurain, who also won the Giro d'Italia twice, said there would be a new champion capable of surpassing Armstrong's feat.

"As to the future, I think there will be two or three more open races where a lot of leaders will compete ferociously for the triumph until another dominant leader emerges to establish a new era," he said.

"Sooner or later a rider will emerge who will win more Tours. In every sport we have seen how the records eventually get broken and cycling is no exception."

Belgium's Eddy Merckx, considered to be the greatest rider in history, spoke about his relief at retiring in 1978 after winning practically every race on the calendar, including the Tour five times.

"It was good to stop, finally to loosen the reins. The pressure was at last lifted," Merckx told Berliner Morgenpost newspaper

"He [Armstrong] will have to find something new in his life. You can't stay cycling until you're 65," added Merckx, who now makes bikes.

"But he could help cycling in other ways. Initially he will have enough to do. He will be involved with his cancer foundation and probably also with the Discovery Channel team."