ALPHARETTA, Ga. (AP) – Lance Armstrong is ready to pass the peloton to a new group of American cyclists.

After the Tour de France, of course.

Armstrong was a team player Sunday, helping fellow American Tom Danielson win the Tour de Georgia for the biggest victory of his fledgling career.

As for Armstrong, his focus is firmly on France, where he hopes to add to his already unprecedented streak of six straight wins on the Champs-Elysees before fading into retirement.

“The object remains the Tour, and I think I’m on track,” Armstrong said. “I didn’t think I was good enough to win (the Georgia race), but I felt better toward the end of the race than I did at the beginning, so that’s a good sign.”

Armstrong, wearing No. 1 on the back of his jersey, settled for 22nd place on the day and fifth overall. He was 1 minute, 41 seconds behind Danielson, his Discovery Channel teammate. “It’s time for a new crop, a new generation,” Armstrong said. Danielson, a 27-year-old former mountain biker who joined the team this season, grabbed the lead Saturday during a grueling climb up Brasstown Bald – the highest point in Georgia.

With no chance of winning, Armstrong joined the rest of the team in a supporting role, ensuring that the yellow-shirted Danielson stayed out of trouble in the peloton – the largest group of riders – and protected his narrow lead over Levi Leipheimer.

“I knew I was in good hands,” said Danielson, whose winning time was 26 hours, 57 minutes, 56 seconds.

Gord Fraser beat a huge pack of riders to the finish line, edging Health Net teammate Greg Henderson of New Zealand. Leipheimer was 18th and Danielson 29th, but it didn’t matter. The top 75 riders all were credited with the same time – 4:59 – for the 125-mile stage from Blairsville to Alpharetta, a suburb north of Atlanta.

“I’m just as happy to see the team win as I am to get an individual win,” Armstrong said. “Tom is riding great.”

Danielson, who was motivated to get into road cycling after seeing an advertisement featuring Armstrong, faces the inevitable burden of being called the next great American hope.

Any comparisons to Armstrong, however, were quickly shot down.

“There will never be another Lance Armstrong, that’s for sure,” Danielson said.

Armstrong announced his retirement last Monday, hinting that the Tour de Georgia could be his last race in the United States. However, team officials said he probably will add another American race to his training schedule in May, most likely in Colorado.

Armstrong got a rock-star send-off in Georgia, where his trailer was surrounded by fans standing 30-deep in places after the race – some of them balancing on top of vehicles so they could get pictures and video of the retiring star.

Melanie Caldwell drove from LaGrange – about two hours away – to get one, final glimpse of Armstrong. She stopped along the way to develop a picture she took of him during Thursday’s time trial in Rome.

With the photo in hand, Caldwell camped out near Armstrong’s trailer and hoped for an autograph. The cyclist spotted her, came over to sign and even asked her to send him a copy of the picture.

“I’ve got the shakes,” Campbell said. “I can’t believe it.”

Armstrong and the rest of the field endured plenty of weather extremes during the six-day race – a warm, humid start, followed by blinding thunderstorms, hail and even snow flurries atop Brasstown Bald.

The final stage was held under a brilliant sun, but temperatures were an unseasonably cool 42 degrees in Blairsville and didn’t warm up much during the ride. Making matters worse: strong wind gusts.

“If we had been on smaller roads,” Danielson said, “today would have been like a good, European-style classic.”

For Danielson, it was clearly the biggest victory of his career. He credited Armstrong for bringing him to the sport with that ad from 11 years ago.

It showed Armstrong grimacing during a time trial, a phone with a broken cord and this catch-phrase: “The body is telling the mind to stop. The mind is telling the body to shut up.”

“That was the first time I had seen Lance,” Danielson said. “I didn’t really know who he was or anything about road cycling. I always took that image and characteristic with me into every training ride.

“He’s my hero. He’s my idol.”

While some believe cycling’s popularity in America will fade after Armstrong retires, there’s plenty of riders eager to take up the cause of promoting the sport on this side of the Atlantic.

Danielson led a sweep of the top six places by U.S. cyclists, followed in the overall standings by Leipheimer, Floyd Landis, Olympic medalist Bobby Julich, Armstrong and David Zabriskie.

“This is very special.” Leipheimer said. “It’s the last year of Lance Armstrong racing in the U.S. We’ve seen all the top Americans on all the different teams coming here and all of us performing well. Maybe we’re seeing the next generation coming up.”

But there won’t be another Armstrong, a cancer survivor who came back to become the Tour de France’s first six-time winner – and six years in a row, at that.

“He’s amazing with everything he’s been through,” Campbell said. “It’s not going to be the same without him.”

AP-ES-04-24-05 2211EDT