Tres victorias de Francia para Contador!
And a fabulous five for Cav’
After the biggest fight in his cycling life, Alberto Contador has won a third Tour de France.
"This victory cost me a lot," he said, "and I'm very moved. I suffered a lot, but that's what you have to do to win the Tour."
And when the fat lady was warming up her vocal cords, readying her wide-berthed-self to sing to the tune of the Spanish national anthem, with all his might and power, down came HTC-Columbia's Mark Cavendish on the Champs-Élysées, proving for a fifth time this race, he still is the world's best sprinter.
"Bernie Eisel and Tony Martin were with me at the finish. Bernie took me to the tunnel the last time and Tony did a really good job to drop me on the wheel of Petacchi in the last kilometre," said the once-in-a-lifetime speedster from the Isle of Man.
"Once I was on Petacchi's wheel, I knew I could win the stage," said the 25-year-old, who holds a future as bright as the star of Sirius. "We came out of that last corner and I just jumped... Every sprint in the Tour you try and save as much energy as possible, but the Champs-Élysées, you've got nothing to save your energy for - you just go balls-out to the line, and that's kind of what I did today."
But perhaps the best story of this Tour is the legacy it leaves.
Three weeks ago on July 3, so many automatically assumed a Contador victory was a done deal. Few thought 27-year-old 'Pistolero' would come so close to defeat at the hands of a boyish-faced, slightly naïve Luxembourger 18 months his junior - the man we know as Andy Schleck of Team Saxo Bank.
If this race has proven anything, it is that Contador, contrary to what most originally thought after his dominating ride 12 months ago, does not have a virtual stranglehold on La Grande Boucle for years to come, as much as his Astana team don't have a vice-like grip on his signature.
"Maybe I wasn't in the best shape...there were days I was not at my best. I won't say when the bad days were," Contador said, eternally reluctant to give anything away.
"Just before the Tour started, I was on antibiotics because I had a cold just before the Spanish championships, so this might have influenced my performance. Cycling is not like mathematics; there are moments when you are well prepared and everything runs smoothly, and there are times when you are well prepared and everything does not."
The era of Miguel Induráin, characterised by a monotonous level of superiority and a personality so likeable you wanted to hate him just for the sake of it, is unlikely to recur in the next decade. Not from Contador, anyway.
Yesterday in Pauillac, when the Spaniard wept uncontrollably like a child who'd lost his mother, it was because, as he admitted himself, the hardest day he'd ever ridden on the bike. The race of truth never lies, and over those 52 kilometres, had Contador's legs been two or three percent weaker, he may not have been standing where he was around 6 p.m. is Sunday, flanked by Schleck on his right and on the left, Russian Denis Menchov of Rabobank, who, for the first time, stepped on the Paris podium as quietly as he got there - with little fanfare and less of a trace.
"Yesterday [in the time trial], I thought I was still a few seconds behind Andy," said Contador, "so I never gave up till the finish line. I had a stomach ache before, but eventually things went okay."
Most pundits have said the 2010 Tour was one of the hardest in years. To find a comparatively similar race, one may have to go all the way back to the 1986 Tour that witnessed the famous Battle Royale between Bernard Hinault and Greg LeMond; a race that turned teammates into bitter rivals, with the rift remaining so till this day.
A Tour de France won by less than a minute - 39 seconds to be precise - is a great prelude to what may come a year or two from now, when Schleck will be stronger still and Contador likely back to his 2009 Tour-winning form. "I'm sure he will keep improving," Contador said.
Still, in order to win cycling's blue riband prize, one feels Schleck the younger needs to do one of two things, or both.
First, increase his cadence when climbing to allow him to attack with greater bite. Four days ago on the Col du Tourmalet, Contador responded to each of Schleck's attacks with apparent ease, looking more like a shadow than a rival. Most of all, though, the 25-year-old must take steps to eliminate what many feel remains his albatross - the time trial.
Unlike Lance, Petacchi defies the clock
The strategic game played by Norwegian Thor Hushovd, noticeably slower than last year when he took the maillot vert, did not work this time. Certainly, at the start three weeks ago in Rotterdam, Hushovd would never have thought Alessandro Petacchi - who most believed to be well past his prime - would turn out to be his greatest adversary.
Hushovd wasn't the only one taken aback by the La Spezia sprinter.
Cavendish truly felt this 93rd edition was the year he would win the classification that continues to elude him. That the best sprinter - which, by some margin, Cav' was at this Tour and the last - is rarely the one who ends with the most points reinforces the message that consistency and cunning prevails over outright speed in this competition.
Aside from his two stage wins - one ostensibly gifted due to a crash, one truly earned - it was Petacchi's uniformity over three weeks that proved the greatest surprise, including his ability to get through the Pyrénées and Alps unscathed and with speed to spare.
A poor race for polka-dots
With respect, the mountains competition was not really a competition. Because if it was, it would be like the war we saw for green: the best riders of that genre fighting tooth-and-nail as if they were fighting for the maillot jaune.
Not once did we see the Tour's best climbers - Schleck, Contador, Damiano Cunego, Samuel Sanchez, Robert Gesink - go for a mountain prime with the intention of building their lead in the polka-dot classification. Instead, it was Frenchman Anthony Charteau, an all-rounder but certainly no grimpeur, that took advantage of the lackadaisical attitude of the aforementioned and walked away with the third most prestigious (and remunerated) prize at the Tour.
Perhaps it's time for a rethink from messieurs Prudhomme and Pescheux. Time, perhaps, to introduce time bonuses for mountain primes to create a better contest and encourage attacks - which, over time, may lead to another pure climber winning the Tour, à la Marco Pantani in 1998.
You wouldn't go to school wearing the wrong uniform, would you?
At 14:30 p.m., the final stage of the Tour de France began - slowly.
But what normally begins with frolicking and frivolities turned ugly when the RadioShack nine donned some custom-made jerseys, all bearing the number 28 - referring to the 28 million people around the world suffering from cancer - after they had signed in with their standard-issue 'Shack garb. Unsurprisingly, the commissaires wouldn't have a bar of it - which, embarrassingly for Lance Armstrong et al., led to the team changing back to their real kit on the roadside.
Then, with ridiculous irony, Contador and Schleck staged a faux-sprint for the cameras - and the latter's chain got caught up, requiring a bike change! This time, however, Contador waited.
And so, with the day's drama out of the way, the peloton hit the Place de la Concorde ensemble for their final 50-odd kilometres in what has been a most arduous Tour de France. However, when it came to the inevitable sprint finish, one man possessed a pair of legs fresher, stronger and faster than those he came with three weeks ago, Cavendish making a virtual mockery of his fast-twitched rivals as he put five bike-lengths between he and Petacchi, second, and Garmin's Julian Dean, who placed third.
1 | Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team HTC - Columbia | 2:42:21 |
2 | Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | Row 1 - Cell 2 |
3 | Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin - Transitions | Row 2 - Cell 2 |
4 | Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | Row 3 - Cell 2 |
5 | Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank | Row 4 - Cell 2 |
6 | Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram | Row 5 - Cell 2 |
7 | Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team | Row 6 - Cell 2 |
8 | Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo Bank | Row 7 - Cell 2 |
9 | Robbie McEwen (Aus) Team Katusha | Row 8 - Cell 2 |
10 | Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo | Row 9 - Cell 2 |
11 | Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin - Transitions | Row 10 - Cell 2 |
12 | Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | Row 11 - Cell 2 |
13 | Sébastien Turgot (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | Row 12 - Cell 2 |
14 | Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | Row 13 - Cell 2 |
15 | Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | Row 14 - Cell 2 |
16 | Yukiya Arashiro (Jpn) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | Row 15 - Cell 2 |
17 | Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Professional Cycling Team | Row 16 - Cell 2 |
18 | Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank | Row 17 - Cell 2 |
19 | Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team | Row 18 - Cell 2 |
20 | Danilo Hondo (Ger) Lampre-Farnese Vini | Row 19 - Cell 2 |
21 | Sebastian Lang (Ger) Omega Pharma-Lotto | Row 20 - Cell 2 |
22 | Kristjan Koren (Slo) Liquigas-Doimo | Row 21 - Cell 2 |
23 | Luke Roberts (Aus) Team Milram | Row 22 - Cell 2 |
24 | Cyril Gautier (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | Row 23 - Cell 2 |
25 | Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Omega Pharma-Lotto | Row 24 - Cell 2 |
26 | Carlos Barredo Llamazales (Spa) Quick Step | Row 25 - Cell 2 |
27 | Rui Alberto Faria da Costa (Por) Caisse d'Epargne | Row 26 - Cell 2 |
28 | Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale | Row 27 - Cell 2 |
29 | Benoït Vaugrenard (Fra) Française des Jeux | Row 28 - Cell 2 |
30 | Brett Lancaster (Aus) Cervelo Test Team | Row 29 - Cell 2 |
31 | Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team Saxo Bank | Row 30 - Cell 2 |
32 | Christophe Kern (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne | Row 31 - Cell 2 |
33 | Pierre Rolland (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | Row 32 - Cell 2 |
34 | Stéphane Auge (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne | Row 33 - Cell 2 |
35 | José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | Row 34 - Cell 2 |
36 | Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | Row 35 - Cell 2 |
37 | Ruben Plaza Molina (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | Row 36 - Cell 2 |
38 | Alexander Kuschynski (Blr) Liquigas-Doimo | Row 37 - Cell 2 |
39 | Jose Alberto Benitez Roman (Spa) Footon-Servetto | Row 38 - Cell 2 |
40 | Julien El Farès (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne | Row 39 - Cell 2 |
41 | Matthieu Ladagnous (Fra) Française des Jeux | Row 40 - Cell 2 |
42 | Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Team Katusha | Row 41 - Cell 2 |
43 | Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Team Milram | Row 42 - Cell 2 |
44 | George Hincapie (USA) BMC Racing Team | Row 43 - Cell 2 |
45 | Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack | Row 44 - Cell 2 |
46 | Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin - Transitions | Row 45 - Cell 2 |
47 | Inaki Isasi Flores (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | Row 46 - Cell 2 |
48 | Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step | Row 47 - Cell 2 |
49 | Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo | Row 48 - Cell 2 |
50 | Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha | Row 49 - Cell 2 |
51 | Andreas Klöden (Ger) Team Radioshack | Row 50 - Cell 2 |
52 | Thomas Löfkvist (Swe) Sky Professional Cycling Team | Row 51 - Cell 2 |
53 | Martin Elmiger (Swi) AG2R La Mondiale | Row 52 - Cell 2 |
54 | Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Française des Jeux | Row 53 - Cell 2 |
55 | Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team | Row 54 - Cell 2 |
56 | Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | Row 55 - Cell 2 |
57 | Marcus Burghardt (Ger) BMC Racing Team | Row 56 - Cell 2 |
58 | Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne | Row 57 - Cell 2 |
59 | Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | Row 58 - Cell 2 |
60 | Vasili Kiryienka (Blr) Caisse d'Epargne | Row 59 - Cell 2 |
61 | Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Team Katusha | Row 60 - Cell 2 |
62 | Eduard Vorganov (Rus) Team Katusha | Row 61 - Cell 2 |
63 | Mario Aerts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | Row 62 - Cell 2 |
64 | Christophe Moreau (Fra) Caisse d'Epargne | Row 63 - Cell 2 |
65 | Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Transitions | Row 64 - Cell 2 |
66 | Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank | Row 65 - Cell 2 |
67 | Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team Radioshack | Row 66 - Cell 2 |
68 | David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Astana | Row 67 - Cell 2 |
69 | Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Astana | Row 68 - Cell 2 |
70 | Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Astana | Row 69 - Cell 2 |
71 | Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank | Row 70 - Cell 2 |
72 | Serge Pauwels (Bel) Sky Professional Cycling Team | Row 71 - Cell 2 |
73 | Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quick Step | Row 72 - Cell 2 |
74 | Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Liquigas-Doimo | Row 73 - Cell 2 |
75 | Iban Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | Row 74 - Cell 2 |
76 | Tony Martin (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia | Row 75 - Cell 2 |
77 | Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | Row 76 - Cell 2 |
78 | Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Team Milram | Row 77 - Cell 2 |
79 | John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | Row 78 - Cell 2 |
80 | Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Astana | Row 79 - Cell 2 |
81 | Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana | Row 80 - Cell 2 |
82 | Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana | Row 81 - Cell 2 |
83 | Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana | Row 82 - Cell 2 |
84 | Daniel Lloyd (GBr) Cervelo Test Team | Row 83 - Cell 2 |
85 | Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana | Row 84 - Cell 2 |
86 | Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Astana | Row 85 - Cell 2 |
87 | Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team Saxo Bank | Row 86 - Cell 2 |
88 | Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank | Row 87 - Cell 2 |
89 | Jens Voigt (Ger) Team Saxo Bank | Row 88 - Cell 2 |
90 | Anthony Geslin (Fra) Française des Jeux | Row 89 - Cell 2 |
91 | Bert Grabsch (Ger) Team HTC - Columbia | Row 90 - Cell 2 |
92 | Francis De Greef (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto | Row 91 - Cell 2 |
93 | Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Cervelo Test Team | Row 92 - Cell 2 |
94 | Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Team Milram | Row 93 - Cell 2 |
95 | Andreas Klier (Ger) Cervelo Test Team | Row 94 - Cell 2 |
96 | Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Team Saxo Bank | Row 95 - Cell 2 |
97 | Steven Cummings (GBr) Sky Professional Cycling Team | Row 96 - Cell 2 |
98 | Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack | Row 97 - Cell 2 |
99 | Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | Row 98 - Cell 2 |
100 | Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank | Row 99 - Cell 2 |
101 | Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | Row 100 - Cell 2 |
102 | David Millar (GBr) Garmin - Transitions | Row 101 - Cell 2 |
103 | Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini | Row 102 - Cell 2 |
104 | Alan Perez Lezaun (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | Row 103 - Cell 2 |
105 | Alexandr Pliuschin (Mda) Team Katusha | Row 104 - Cell 2 |
106 | Lance Armstrong (USA) Team Radioshack | Row 105 - Cell 2 |
107 | Christian Knees (Ger) Team Milram | Row 106 - Cell 2 |
108 | Thomas Rohregger (Aut) Team Milram | Row 107 - Cell 2 |
109 | Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Team Radioshack | Row 108 - Cell 2 |
110 | Luis León Sánchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne | Row 109 - Cell 2 |
111 | Francesco Bellotti (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo | Row 110 - Cell 2 |
112 | Maarten Tjallingii (Ned) Rabobank | Row 111 - Cell 2 |
113 | Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | Row 112 - Cell 2 |
114 | Maarten Wijnants (Bel) Quick Step | Row 113 - Cell 2 |
115 | Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz) Team Radioshack | Row 114 - Cell 2 |
116 | Juan Manuel Gárate Cepa (Spa) Rabobank | Row 115 - Cell 2 |
117 | Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank | Row 116 - Cell 2 |
118 | Jeremy Hunt (GBr) Cervelo Test Team | Row 117 - Cell 2 |
119 | Michael Barry (Can) Sky Professional Cycling Team | Row 118 - Cell 2 |
120 | Chris Anker Sørensen (Den) Team Saxo Bank | Row 119 - Cell 2 |
121 | Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | Row 120 - Cell 2 |
122 | Anthony Charteau (Fra) Bbox Bouygues Telecom | Row 121 - Cell 2 |
123 | Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux | Row 122 - Cell 2 |
124 | Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Quick Step | Row 123 - Cell 2 |
125 | Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team | Row 124 - Cell 2 |
126 | Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | Row 125 - Cell 2 |
127 | Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi | Row 126 - Cell 2 |
128 | Rémy Di Grégorio (Fra) Française des Jeux | Row 127 - Cell 2 |
129 | Damien Monier (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne | Row 128 - Cell 2 |
130 | Grégory Rast (Swi) Team Radioshack | Row 129 - Cell 2 |
131 | Eros Capecchi (Ita) Footon-Servetto | Row 130 - Cell 2 |
132 | Carlos Sastre (Spa) Cervelo Test Team | Row 131 - Cell 2 |
133 | Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Française des Jeux | Row 132 - Cell 2 |
134 | Brian Vandborg (Den) Liquigas-Doimo | Row 133 - Cell 2 |
135 | Rémi Pauriol (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit en Ligne | Row 134 - Cell 2 |
136 | Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale | Row 135 - Cell 2 |
137 | Dries Devenyns (Bel) Quick |