Stage 20 News
Contador rules the Tour but he too has murky past
: The King is dead, long live the King: Alberto Contador had already assumed the mantle of Lance Armstrong's Tour de France usurper when he won the title last year after an ugly battle against the former seven-time champion. In his final Tour appearance, Armstrong was little more than an afterthought, despite being hampered by a crash in the opening mountain stage. Yet nothing was going to stop the Spaniard from nabbing his third crown – equalling the likes of Greg LeMond and Louison Bobet – with the promise of more to come.
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Contador rules the Tour but he too has murky past | Stuff.co.nz
A rivalry that could revive cycling
The images of Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck climbing the famed Col du Tourmalet wheel-to-wheel and fighting to wrest seconds from each other in the time trial have cycling fans licking their lips in anticipation of a long rivalry. The Tour de France has lost almost all of its prestige after years of controversy over doping, but cycling's premier race now hopes that an era of jostling between the Spaniard and the Luxembourg native will recall past and present rivalries that have highlighted the very best aspects of the sport. "They can have great duels, they could be the Anquetil-Poulidor, Merckx-Ocana, Hinault-LeMond, or Nadal-Federer in tennis if you like," said Tour director Christian Prudhomme.
Link:
TODAYonline | Sports | A rivalry that could revive cycling
Contador seals Tour victory as Armstrong waves goodbye
Alberto Contador's joy on winning the 2010 Tour de France must have been matched on the Champs Elysees on Sunday by the fastest man in the 3642km race. Mark Cavendish won the 102.5km last stage from Longjumeau to Paris more devastatingly than in Bordeaux two days ago.
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Contador seals Tour victory as Armstrong waves goodbye
What else can Spain win in 2010?
Even if you don't follow sport closely, you may have noticed that Spain is on a winning streak at the moment: they won the World Cup; Rafael Nadal won Wimbledon for the second time; over the weekend Alberto Contador won the Tour de France and (despite some controversy that led to a £100,000 fine for Ferrari) Fernando Alonso won the German Grand Prix.
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What else can Spain win in 2010? | World news | The Guardian
With or without Lance, fans will ride on
I watched Stage 17 of the Tour de France on a giant, inflated projection screen in a Seattle park on Thursday, surrounded by cyclists, parents and kids. Under a starry sky, we saw Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck battle up the beyond-category Col du Tourmalet, riding through fog, around sheep, dodging fans dressed as the devil and a water bottle, passing Kazakhs both real (Alexandre Vinokourov) and fake (men in Borat costumes) and, ultimately, into cycling legend. Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck gave cycling fans a duel to remember in this year's Tour. There were so many people and animals (sheep!) crowding and harassing the cyclists up the final kilometers, I half-expected to see federal employees running alongside the peloton and waving subpoenas to testify in the Floyd Landis investigation.
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2010 Tour de France: Lance Armstrong riding off into the sunset, but cycling fans won't go away - ESPN
Dean joins Delhi team fresh from top Tour
Julian Dean has made himself available for the Commonwealth Games in October, an event he has not attended since Kuala Lumpur in 1998. The 35-year-old cyclist yesterday completed the 3500km two-wheeled torture known as the Tour de France in style, finishing third on the Champs-Elysees. He was beaten to the line by sprint ace Mark Cavendish, who won his fifth stage, and green jersey winner Alessandro Petacchi.
Link:
Cycling: Dean joins Delhi team fresh from top Tour - Cycling - NZ Herald News
Prosecutors Step Up Armstrong Probe
The documents contain depositions from former teammates and associates of the seven-time Tour de France champion during a period when a promotions company was trying to prove that Mr. Armstrong employed banned drugs and practices—known as doping—during his cycling career. Jeffrey Tillotson, the attorney who represented the company, SCA Promotions Inc., in the arbitration hearings, said it received a subpoena for the records on July 16. He is preparing to send the files to the federal prosecutors in Los Angeles who are handling the investigation, he said.
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Prosecutors Step Up Armstrong Probe - WSJ.com
Lance Armstrong's PR Strategy: 'Santa Claus in a Peleto
Lance Armstrong completed his final Tour de France this weekend to an especially warm reception from the French spectators who have not always been kind to the cycling star, especially after multiple doping rumors surfaced throughout the years. Nevertheless, as Fanhouse explains, Armstrong now heads back to an America on a rampage to investigate those same rumors.
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Lance Armstrong's PR Strategy: 'Santa Claus in a Peleton' - Culture - The Atlantic
Lance Armstrong: A Pariah on Hold
"I hope it sends out a fantastic message to all survivors around the world," he said. "We can return to what we were before -- and even better." A few days ago I received the August 2010 issue of GQ in the mail. Casually flipping through its pages, I abruptly halted about a quarter of the way in upon noticing a headline that read, "Lie Strong: Is Lance Armstrong a Doper?" The essay's focal point wasn't questioning whether or not the accusations are true, but instead pleading with Armstrong to never turn his back on his side of the story. Imploring Lance, begging and pleading with him, to please take heed of the consequential saying "lie till you die."
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Michael Pina: Lance Armstrong: A Pariah on Hold
The Art of Personal and Political Assassination
In the men's work in which I engaged for many years, we called them "king-killers." These are men--or women, why not?--so consumed by greed or envy, ambition, insecurity or fear of weakness, that they are driven to bring down the one whom they have chosen, or the one who stands up for leadership. They tend to show up, like their cousins, the wolves, or like sharks in the ocean, when they smell blood; or when they sense weakness or hesitation. Then they attack in swarms...
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Peter Clothier: King Killers: The Art of Personal and Political Assassination
Bruyneel on Schleck, Contador and Armstrong
Tour de France runner up Andy Schleck has come in for both praise and criticism from RadioShack team manager Johan Bruyneel in the wake of his narrow overall defeat to Alberto Contador, one of the smallest margins in the race's history. Writing his final column from this year's Tour for Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, Bruyneel put a philosophical spin on the failure of a team managed by him to feature on the individual overall podium for only the third time since 1999.
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Bruyneel On Schleck, Contador And Armstrong | Cyclingnews.com
Lance Armstrong still a hero for fighting cancer
Lance Armstrong pedals into an uneasy retirement knowing numerous athletes familiar with performance-enhancing drugs are saying he's a cheater. They say it among themselves and in confidence to those they trust. "He might be the dirtiest athlete in sports," a former NFL star recently told me. Some of us have seen and heard enough to believe that Armstrong, who on Sunday finished 23rd in his final Tour de France, had considerable artificial assistance while winning an unprecedented seven consecutive Tour races (1999-2005). Though he never has tested positive, I'm not sure I'd trust Lance's pleas of innocence any more than I'd trust someone who performs surgeries in the back of a pickup truck. Even if Armstrong is a cheat — and the feds, led by Barry Bonds' nemesis Jeff Novitsky, are hot on his tail — I hope he's never caught. I hope he fights the allegations for as long as he lives. I can shrug off the possibility that the International Cycling Union (UCI) is complicit in Armstrong's usage.
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Monte Poole: Lance Armstrong still a hero for fighting cancer - San Jose Mercury News
Contador soars in Spain's super sports summer
Alberto Contador returned home Monday and presented a replica of his yellow Tour de France jersey to the prime minister of Spain, who is fast becoming an old hand at these sorts of things. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero seems to be spending his summer greeting triumphant homegrown athletes. "Spanish sport is on a spectacular streak," he said. Contador, who has won the Tour de France three of the last four years, was received by hundreds of fans — mostly from his native Pinto — at Madrid's Barajas airport before meeting Zapatero.
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The Associated Press: Contador soars in Spain's super sports summer
Armstrong Could Never Leave Well Enough Alone
For all his other outsized traits, that restlessness still defines him. It propelled Armstrong to revolutionize a sport, become its greatest champion and a hero to cancer survivors worldwide. That same impulse is what drove him to get back on his bike barely two years ago and risk it all. Back then, Armstrong was retired with his legacy largely intact, still every bit as powerful and public a figure as he desired. He dated starlets, swapped text messages with Bono, testified before lawmakers and linked arms with Bill Clinton to announce an ambitious global initiative to combat the disease that nearly killed him almost 15 years earlier.
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Armstrong Could Never Leave Well Enough Alone - ABC News
Lance Armstrong finishes, Greg LeMond surprised
It was fitting that even though Lance Armstrong was not in contention for any individual prizes Sunday when the Tour de France ended in Paris, he still was big news. Armstrong and his RadioShack teammates came to the start line of the final, and mostly ceremonial, stage wearing black cycling outfits with the yellow number 28 on the back. The 28 was symbolic of 28 million cancer survivors in the world.
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Tour de France: Lance Armstrong finishes, Greg LeMond surprised | The Fabulous Forum | Los Angeles Times
Drug testers winning fight as race is cleanest in years – so far
For the first time in over a decade, the Tour may have taken place without a major drugs scandal – with the emphasis on "may". The race has not lacked indirect links to doping stories, with Floyd Landis' continuing allegations against former team-mate Lance Armstrong the most significant. There is also the case of green jersey winner Alessandro Petacchi being summoned to talk to the Carabinieri in Italy next week over possible use of banned substances.
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Tour de France: Drug testers winning fight as race is cleanest in years – so far - Others, More Sports - The Independent
You might be a legend, but you can't wear that kit
Lance Armstrong wanted to end his Tour de France career on a winning note. Instead, his chances of victory long since gone, he was denied even the dignified exit he must have hoped for yesterday when, as the final stage of his final Tour was getting under way, officials told him and his team-mates to stop riding and change their kit.
Link:
Tour de France: Sorry, Lance. You might be a legend, but you can't wear that kit - Others, More Sports - The Independent
Lance Armstrong retires from cycling for second time
Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong has announced he is to retire from cycling for a second time. The 38-year-old American quit the sport in 2005 before returning last year but he announced last month that 2010 would be the last time he rode the Tour. Armstrong finished 40 minutes behind winner Alberto Contador in 23rd place. "This race has been good to me but I can't lie - I'm ready to retire part two," said Armstrong, who crashed on a number of occasions during the race.
Link:
BBC Sport - Cycling - Lance Armstrong retires from cycling for second time
Armstrong team removes special jerseys for cancer survivors
The start of the final stage of the Tour de France was delayed Sunday when race officials asked Lance Armstrong and his team to remove their commemorative jerseys for cancer survivors. The officials told Armstrong and his team to remove the all-black jerseys and continue to wear their official jerseys throughout the race, according to CNN's Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta, who was at the event. Armstrong was not a top finisher in his last Tour de France ever, but he and his team had planned to ride into Paris' Champs-Elysees with pride Sunday, wearing jerseys with the number 28 emblazoned on them. The number represents the 28 million people currently living with cancer worldwide -- a cause near to cancer survivor Armstrong's heart.
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Armstrong team removes special jerseys for cancer survivors - CNN.com
Contador Wins By One Bike Chain
In the context of an average Monday, 39 seconds isn’t much. After nearly 92 hours spread over 21 Tour de France stages, it seems even briefer. But those 39 seconds were enough of a cushion to ensure that Spain’s Alberto Contador won his third yellow jersey in four years at the end of this year’s Tour de France. How Contador built that lead on Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck was controversial, but the meaning of Contador’s third Tour de France win isn’t. “Of all his three wins, this has been the greatest,” the London Daily Telegraph’s Ned Boulting writes. “He has had to draw on reserves of mental strength and control which have compensated for a visible lack of ‘edge,’ the effortless accelerations in the mountains and the cool sustained speed of last year’s time-trialling form.”
Link:
Tour de France 2010: Alberto Contador Beats Andy Schleck by 39 Seconds, or the Length of One Bike Chain - The Daily Fix - WSJ
UCI launch disciplinary proceedings against RadioShack and Bruyneel
The UCI has announced that it is launching disciplinary proceedings against Team RadioShack “for breaching the regulations governing riders clothing.” The American squad took to the start of Sunday’s final stage of the Tour de France wearing an all-black kit advertising Lance Armstrong’s Livestrong charity rather than their usual RadioShack jerseys, but failed to inform race commissaires beforehand.
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UCI Launch Disciplinary Proceedings Against RadioShack And Bruyneel | Cyclingnews.com
Cavendish falls short in bid to steal green
Cavendish, the Manx Missile, fired successfully on the Champs Elysees for the second year in a row. But it still wasn't enough for the HTC-Columbia sprint ace from taking the green jersey, the only prize that was still up for grabs on the final day of the three week enduro from Longjumean to Paris. That honour went to the Italian Alessandro Petacchi of Lampre. Still Cavendish goes home with a stunning five stage wins to take his tally to 15 in just three short years.
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Mark Cavendish falls short in bid to steal green | The Australian
Dean ponders what could have been
New Zealand rider Julian Dean capped off his best Tour de France by landing another podium finish today, but an elusive stage win will have to wait another year. The Garmin-Transitions rider finished behind Britain's Mark Cavendish and Italian Alessandro Petacchi through the largely ceremonial 102.5km course, from Longjumeau to the Champs-Elysees.
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Cycling: Dean ponders what could have been in Tour de France | OTHER SPORTS News
Tour de France 2010 delivers drama – without the doping
A new rivalry was cemented – winner Alberto Contador of Spain barely defeated Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck on the penultimate day – as the race bid adieu to seven-time champion Lance Armstrong, riding in his final Tour amidst a developing federal doping investigation. But this year’s race will be remembered for the course as much as for the riders. The 2,263-mile journey was one of the toughest in recent years, with stages over cobblestones and two trips up the brutal Col du Tourmalet, an iconic Pyrénéan mountain pass.
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Tour de France 2010 delivers drama
RadioShack to be investigated over jerseys
Lance Armstrong's RadioShack team is facing disciplinary proceedings because its riders wore unapproved jerseys to the Tour de France's final stage, causing a 20-minute delay at the start. The cyclists tried to wear black jerseys Sunday with "28" on the back. The number honors the 28 million people fighting cancer, a theme of Armstrong's Livestrong Foundation.
Link:
Prosecutors Step Up Armstrong Probe - Google News
Contador the champ on Champs-Elysees
On his way to the finish line of a long and bumpy Tour de France, Spanish rider Alberto Contador let his success sink in. He cruised along in the largely ceremonial Stage 20 yesterday, holding up two fingers and a thumb for the cameras, in recognition of his third Tour victory in four years. He sipped champagne, laughed, and even broke out a tiny blue squirt gun to soak the riders and cameramen around him.
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Contador the champ on Champs-Elysees - The Boston Globe
Julian Dean eyes next challenge after 'tough' Tour de France
All New Zealand cyclist Julian Dean can think of now is to take a well-earned break. Dean, finished off his sixth Tour de France in style, snatching his third podium finish in the three-week tour which ended in the heart of Paris this morning (NZ time). British sprint king Mark Cavendish claimed his fifth stage victory on this tour and the 15th of his career in the largely ceremonial 102.5km course from Longjumeau to the Champs-Elysees, with Italian Alessandro Petacchi second. Dean held off renowned sprinters such as Norwegian Thor Hushovd and Australian Brett Lancaster to finish third in the 20th and final chapter of the tour.
Link:
Dean satisfied with Tour podiums | Stuff.co.nz
Five-star show from Cav
Mark Cavendish produced a sensational display to win the Tour de France's final stage in Paris as Alberto Contador confirmed his overall victory. HTC-Columbia rider Cavendish powered to the front on the Champs-Élysées at the end of the 102.5-kilometre route from Longjumeau, leaving Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) trailing in his wake as he claimed his fifth stage win of this year's race. Cavendish was well positioned into the final bend and burst up the right side of the road, giving his rivals no chance as he won by four bike lengths.
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Sky Sports | Home | News | Five-star show from Cav
Armstrong in hot water over Tour clothing breach
Lance Armstrong and his team RadioShack will face disciplinary proceedings for breaching riders' clothing regulations during the Tour de France, the International Cycling Union (UCI) has revealed. The American, who was diagnosed with cancer before going on to win seven successive Tours from 1999-2005 and returning to the sport in 2009, was riding the famous race for the last time and attempted to wear a black Livestrong shirt instead of his team's red and grey strip during the final day early yesterday (NZ time). The 38-year-old was halted from publicising his Livestrong foundation by wearing the new jerseys with the number 28 - a reference to the estimated 28 million people living with cancer - which delayed the start of the race, though he did wear it on the podium at the end.
Link:
Armstrong in hot water over Tour clothing breach | Stuff.co.nz
Baby-faced Contador shows killer instinct again
Alberto Contador leaves Paris on Sunday with yet another Tour de France crown, and the same angelic smile that paints a picture of a no-frills cycling champion. Behind that facade is a rider who, like cancer survivor Lance Armstrong, has realised there are more painful things than suffering for long hours in the Alps and Pyrenees. In 2004 Contador crashed in the Tour of Asturias. It later emerged he had crashed while unconscious, prompting a check-up which revealed a cavernoma, an aneurism.
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Baby-faced Contador shows killer instinct again - Cycling - More Sports - Sports - The Times of India
Cav wins as Contador makes it three
Record-breaking Mark Cavendish won the showpiece final stage on the Champs Elysees as Alberto Contador became a triple Tour de France winner. HTC-Columbia's Cavendish beat Julian Dean (Garmin-Transitions) and Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) with an emphatic dash to the line to become the first rider in Tour history to win successive stages on the Champs Elysees.
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Tour de France - Cav wins, Contador makes it three - Yahoo! Eurosport
Armstrong's cycling team to appear before disciplinary hearing
Lance Armstrong's RadioShack cycling team must go before a disciplinary hearing after delaying the final stage of the Tour de France on Sunday when team members "[breached] the regulations governing riders' clothing," the International Cycling Union said in a press release Monday. The race was delayed 20 minutes while Team RadioShack changed out of its unapproved anti-cancer-themed attire, a move that the union says could have disrupted the televised coverage of the race.
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Armstrong's cycling team to appear before disciplinary hearing - CNN.com
Contador pushes pain threshold for victory
The degree of stress and fatigue that defending Tour de France champion Alberto Contador had been hiding as the threat of Andy Schleck mounted was shown in the result sheet of the 52-kilometre, 19th-stage time trial that all but assured the Spaniard a third overall victory. Contador (Astana) ensured he could ride into Paris on Sunday for the last and 20th stage as an almost certain winner of this 3642km Tour. In the stage, won by Swiss world time trial champion Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) in one hour 56 seconds at an average speed of 51.204km/h, Contador held off the challenge by Schleck.
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Contador pushes pain threshold for victory
Armstrong's RadioShack Team to Face Hearing After Delaying Last Tour Stage
Lance Armstrong’s RadioShack cycling team will face disciplinary hearings after delaying the final stage of the Tour de France yesterday when riders wore unapproved clothing featuring an anti-cancer theme. The race was delayed 20 minutes while the team changed, which could have disrupted television coverage, the International Cycling Union said. Armstrong, who said this year’s Tour was his last, is behind LiveStrong, a cancer support group.
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Armstrong's RadioShack Team to Face Hearing After Delaying Last Tour Stage - Bloomberg
Van den Broeck performance pleases Coucke
Jurgen Van den Broeck's mature performance at the Tour de France has Belgian cycling fans swooning, not least of all Omega Pharma boss Marc Coucke. With his fifth place overall, Van den Broeck became the first Belgian since Claude Criquielion in 1986 to make the top quintet of riders at the Tour by race's end and it signals a new era of optimism in the Omega Pharma-Lotto squad.
Link:
Van Den Broeck Performance Pleases Coucke | Cyclingnews.com
Alberto Contador adds to a spectacular month for athletes from Spain
Astana rider Alberto Contador returned home Monday and presented a replica of his yellow Tour de France jersey to the prime minister of Spain, who is fast becoming an old hand at these sorts of things. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero seems to be spending his summer greeting triumphant homegrown athletes. "Spanish sport is on a spectacular streak," Zapatero said. Contador, who has won the Tour de France three of the last four years, was received by hundreds of fans — mostly from his native Pinto — at Madrid's Barajas airport before meeting Zapatero.
Link:
Other Sports | Alberto Contador adds to a spectacular month for athletes from Spain | Cycling | Seattle Times Newspaper
Andy Schleck must be ruthless if great rivalry is to develop with Alberto Contador
One incident above all in this year’s Tour de France, which finished in Paris on Sunday, provoked obsessive debate among cycling fans: an alleged breach of etiquette by the ultimate winner Alberto Contador that allowed him to gain 39 seconds – the same margin as his eventual victory – on his rival Andy Schleck after the latter’s chain came off in the Pyrenees.
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Andy Schleck must be ruthless if great rivalry is to develop with Alberto Contador - Herald Scotland | Sport | Other Sports News
Contador cements Spain's dominance with Tour win
Alberto Contador returned home Monday after winning his third Tour de France title, a triumph that capped another summer of Spanish dominance in world sport. Contador was received by hundreds of fans - mostly from his native Pinto - at Madrid's Barajas international airport before meeting with Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. "It's wonderful to contribute to this moment in Spanish sport, which is in such healthy shape and is the envy of so many other countries," Contador said after presenting Zapatero with a replica yellow Tour jersey.
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Contador cements Spain's dominance with Tour win
Garmin-Transitions celebrates Hesjedal's Tour de France success
The Garmin-Transitions team rightly celebrated late into the night in Paris after placing yet another rider in the top 10 overall with Ryder Hesjedal's surprise seventh place. When Christian Vande Velde pulled out after stage two with fractured ribs and Tyler Farrar fractured his elbow and had problems in the sprints, team manager Jonathan Vaughters knew he had to come up with an alternative strategy. He put his hopes in Hesjedal, knowing that the Canadian had the form and ambition to step up and become the team's hope for overall success.
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Garmin-Transitions Celebrates Hesjedal's Tour De France Success | Cyclingnews.com
Seventh overall repays Hesjedal for three weeks of suffering
Ryder Hesjedal got a special hug from his girlfriend and lots of congratulations from his teammates outside the Garmin-Transitions team bus parked in the Place de la Concorde, just a few hundred metres from the finish line of the Tour de France.
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Seventh Overall Repays Hesjedal For Three Weeks Of Suffering | Cyclingnews.com
Spanish PM to meet Tour champion Contador
Alberto Contador will meet with the Spanish prime minister as he returns home after winning his third Tour de France title. It is Spain's latest sports success after its first World Cup title and Rafael Nadal's wins at Wimbledon and the French Open. Contador was greeted by hundreds of supporters from his hometown Pinto, just outside Madrid, when he arrived Monday at the Spanish capital's airport. After a brief meeting with Madrid's regional government president, Contador was to attend a reception with Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero at the Moncloa government palace.
Link:
Spanish PM to meet Tour champion Contador - Cycling - More Sports - Sports - The Times of India
A tale of what could have been
The 2010 Tour de France will go down in history as the race that could have been better. The most tense, nail-biting final stage in Tour history could have taken place, and the eight-second margin of victory set by Greg LeMond in 1988 could have been surpassed. Instead, Alberto Contador celebrated his third yellow jersey by sipping champagne through the Champs-Elysees, winning by 39 seconds over Andy Schleck on cycling's greatest stage.
Link:
2010 Tour de France: a tale of what could have been - KansasCity.com
Spanish PM praises 'tenacity' of Tour winner Contador
Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero praised Tour de France winner Alberto Contador as an example of "tenacity and hard work" on Monday at a reception for the cyclist at his official residence. "I want to thank you for always having defended with pride the colours of our flag. You are an example of hard work and tenacity and of how to behave and compete in sports," he said as Contador looked on.
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AFP: Spanish PM praises 'tenacity' of Tour winner Contador
Petacchi emotional about green jersey success
Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Farnese Vini) finished second behind Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) but had plenty to celebrate as he looked up to the Arc du Triomphe after crossing the finish line on the Champs-Élysées. With Thor Hushovd (Cervélo TestTeam) only finishing seventh, Petacchi was confirmed as the winner of the points competition.
Link:
Petacchi Emotional About Green Jersey Success | Cyclingnews.com
Chief minister praises Cavendish
Manx chief minister Tony Brown has praised cyclist Mark Cavendish, as an "inspiration for future generations" of island sport stars. Cavendish, 25, from Douglas, secured his fifth win of the 2010 Tour de France, by coming first in the Champs-Elysees final stage on Sunday. The win was his 15th tour success overall. Mr Brown said that his win with a lead of four bike lengths had been "nothing short of phenomenal".
Link:
BBC News - Chief minister praises Cavendish cycling success
Manx missile fires again on Champs Élysées
For the second year in a row, the sprint festival on the Champs Élysées has been won by Mark Cavendish, the Manxman outsprinting Alessandro Petacchi by five bike lengths on the most famous piece of pavement in the world.
Link:
Manx Missile Fires Again On Champs Élysées | Cyclingnews.com
Contador kept friend close and enemy closer
Spanish Tour de France champion Alberto Contador talked up his friendship with Andy Schleck during this year's race with the aim of blunting the Luxembourg rider's killer instinct to attack him when he was vulnerable. That was the view of French cycling legend Laurent Fignon as the 3642-kilometre Tour ended in Paris, with Contador taking his third career title by 39 seconds from Schleck.
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Contador kept friend close and enemy closer, says French legend
Contador conquers the Tour for a third time!
Alberto Contador of Spain (holding aloft the Spanish flag) joined a rare pantheon when he won the Tour de France for a third time on Sunday, 25 July. The 27-year-old was 39 seconds clear of the competition and had technically sealed the win by the 19th stage itself. Although he showed weakness in the mountains, he made up for any deficiency in the time-trail sectors. He also gained considerably when his closed rival Andy Schleck suffered a mechanical mishap in Stage 15.
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Contador conquers the Tour for a third time!
Menchov finally on the podium in Paris
After finishing two minutes ahead of Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) in the all-deciding time trial from Bordeaux to Pauillac, Denis Menchov (Rabobank) will be the one joining overall winner Alberto Contador (Astana) and Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) on the podium on the Champs Elysées in Paris on Sunday.
Link:
Menchov Finally On The Podium In Paris | Cyclingnews.com
Can Schleck ever beat Contador?
For the second year running, Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck occupy the top two steps of the Tour de France podium, clear of all other rivals by a significant margin but with Spaniard Contador again on the top step after winning overall for the third time in four years. "They have great duels [like] Nadal-Federer in tennis," said Tour director Christian Prudhomme. Much has been made of the friendly nature of the rivalry between the two, both by the riders and the media.
Link:
BBC Sport - Cycling - Can Schleck ever beat Contador?
Friendly rivalry dims Tour lustre
The Tour de France used to be all about arch-rivalry, bitter disputes, fierce contests and doping scandals. This year's version was so well-behaved that some even found it a little dull. Although there were stories and minor controversies, from crashes on the cobbles to a peloton strike on slippery Belgian roads, for many ex-champions and cycling experts the only deciding moment was a minor mechanical incident.
Link:
Friendly rivalry dims Tour lustre | Sport | Reuters
Before the Stage
Contador poised for win
Wiping away tears, Alberto Contador is ready for the champagne to flow. After three daunting weeks of crashes, biting cold, fog and searing heat, he is set to become the Tour de France champion again. The Spaniard all but captured his third title in four years Saturday by holding off a full-bore challenge from his main rival, Andy Schleck of Luxembourg, in a 52-kilometre individual time trial in the next-to-last stage. Today’s ride into Paris is a mostly ceremonial affair.
Link:
Contador poised for win - - thechronicleherald.ca
Cavendish Races For Green Jersey
Cavendish is set to sprint up the Champs Elysees in Paris with four stage wins under his belt. The Manx rider needs to win by a significant margin in Paris to get ahead of the current leader Alessandro Petacchi. Any chances of success for Team Sky's Bradley Wiggins were dashed in the early days of the annual cycle race across France. He currently sits in 24th place, a disappointing finish after coming fourth in last year's race.
Link:
Mark Cavendish Hopes To Win Green Jersey In Final Stage Of Tour De France In Paris | World News | Sky News
Green jersey at stake in Sunday's final stage
The Tour de France winner may have been effectively decided but the green jersey for the best sprinter in the race will be at stake in the final 102.5-km stage to Paris later on Sunday. Briton Mark Cavendish has already won four stages this year and a repeat of his victory on the Champs-Elysees in 2009 would take his tally to 15 wins in three appearances in the event. The green jersey was his main goal at the start of the Tour but he relinquished important points in the early stages, notably two won by Alessandro Petacchi.
Link:
Green jersey at stake in Sunday's final stage | Sports | Reuters
