Alberto won his third Tour de France on Sunday as the race concluded with the traditional run-in to Paris. In a surprise to no one, Mark Cavendish won on the Champs Elysees for the second year in a row鈥攖he first rider to do so鈥攇iving him five stage wins this year to go with the six he collected in 2009.
Italy鈥檚 Alessandro Petacchi finished second to hold onto his narrow lead over Cavendish in the points standings and take the final green jersey.
Behind the sprinters, Contador and Schleck finished safely in the main bunch to bring an end to their tense Tour battle It was the most difficult of Contador鈥檚 wins so far, and, thus, Schleck鈥檚 best chance to date. But a dropped chain at a crucial moment in the Pyrenees cost Schleck valuable time and left him unable to capitalize on Contador鈥檚 uncharacteristically poor showing in yesterday鈥檚 time trial.
In the end, the 39 seconds Schleck lost with that mechanical mishap was Contador鈥檚 final margin of victory after three weeks of racing. Russian Denis Menchov, a winner of two Vueltas and a Giro, rounded out the podium, finishing 2:01 behind Contador in the overall. RadioShack's Chris Horner was the highest placed American, finishing 10th overall.聽 (.)
Lance Armstrong brought his Tour career to an unspectacular end, finishing 106th today and 23rd overall, 39:20 behind Contador. It鈥檚 easy to forget, but Armstrong started this Tour strongly, finishing fourth in the opening prologue, ahead of both Contador and Schleck. But from the moment he suffered an untimely flat on the tough cobbles of Stage 3, the American seemed like an entirely different rider. He deserves credit for continuing onto Paris, but he showed that this was one Tour too many for his 38-year-old body.
He鈥檒l now go home facing the specter of a federal investigation into doping allegations by former teammate Floyd Landis. Undoubtedly not the 2010 Armstrong was envisioning as he stood on the final podium in Paris last year.
That Contador was able to win while not at his best should put even more fear into his rivals. What's more, this year's route鈥攈eavy on mountains on light on time trials鈥攑erfectly suited Schleck. Contador has now won every Tour he's entered鈥攈is team was left out of the 2008 edition鈥攁long with one Vuelta and one Giro. At just 28, he certainly has Armstrong's mark of seven Tour wins within his sights.
鈥擩ohn Bradley