Tour de France - Glory for Contador, Cav wins again

Eurosport - Mon, 27 Jul 13:56:00 2009

Astana's Alberto Contador claimed his second yellow jersey at the Tour de France as Mark Cavendish became the first Briton to win the final stage on the Champs-Elysees.

CYCLING 2009 Tour de France Mark Cavendish - 0

Cavendish, riding for Columbia-HTC, underlined his status as the fastest sprinter in the world by streaking away from his rivals to win by a huge margin.

Contador finished four minutes and 19 seconds ahead of Saxo Bank's Andy Schleck in the overall standings, with Contador's team-mate Lance Armstrong taking the final place on the podium on his return to cycling following three years away from the sport.

Bradley Wiggins (Garmin) finished fourth, equalling the best performance in the overall standings by a Briton since Robert Millar back in 1984.

The final stage of the Tour mirrored the rest of the sprinters' stages, with Columbia-HTC dominant in the final kilometre.

Until the riders reached Paris, the final stage had been the traditional, high-spirited trundle towards the French capital, with Contador and his team-mates sipping champagne and savouring their moment of glory.

As the riders hit the first of their eight laps of central Paris, Samuel Dumoulin (Cofidis), Alexandere Pichot (BBox Bouygues), Carlos Barredo (Quick Step), Arnaud Coyot (Caisse d'Epargne), Fabian Wegmann (Milram), Jussi Veikkanen (FdJ) and Fumiyuki Beppu (Skil-Shimano) managed to break clear of the Astana-led peloton, and built up a lead that grew out to 35 seconds over the pack.

Cavendish's Columbia team were left to reel the septet back in on their own, with their time-trial specialists Michael Rogers and Bert Grabsch taking long turns on the front of the peloton.

The likes of Garmin and Cervelo sat back, content to let Columbia work on their own to bring the plucky escapees back in, though the strain began to show five kilometers from home as Tony Martin was suddenly left on his own as the Garmin team emerged en masse at the front of the peloton.

On the Rue de Rivoli with a kilometre remaining, however, George Hincapie burst through on the right hand side, with Mark Renshaw and Cavendish in his wheel. The trio took the final bend at the Place de la Concorde with the perfect line, allowing Renshaw to slingshot Cavendish clear down the Champs Elysees to the finish line.

The Manxman crossed the finish line well ahead of Renshaw, who was second with Garmin's Tyler Farrar a distant third.

The win was not enough to take the green jersey from Thor Hushovd, however, who sprinted safely to finish in sixth position on the stage.

Liquigas's Franco Pellizotti claimed the first polka dot jersey of his career as the best rider in the mountains, while Andy Schleck took the white jersey as best young rider.

Mick FitzGerald / Eurosport

Comment 37 - 56 of 56

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  1. sinead, I suggest you read my post again. It seems you­ have taken it as an attack. I have noted many posts on­ the subject, I was just hoping to clarify the situation­ for those involved. I guessed from your first post that­ you were either born on the Island or anti English.­ Seems from your last post I was right on both counts. I­ made no reference to the nationality of Manx people nor­ did I argue a point. I'm Welsh by the way.

    From terrytrudgian, on Mon 27 Jul 7:58PM

  2. Dear Terry - Post 55. Cav is Manx as he was born in­ the Isle of Man. How do i know? Because am also Manx­ as I was also born in the Isle of Man. Just like the­ rest of the United Kingdom, Manx people are classed as­ BRITISH....NOT 'ENGLISH'. My point is proven. ­ I do not need to revert to any website to clarify my­ nationality and certainly not wikipedia. Thank you

    From Spedgey, on Mon 27 Jul 6:59PM

  3. I'm not a cycling expert, but I was surprised that­ Garmin got the line so wrong before HIncapie moved to­ the other side. Was it just a schoolboy error?

    From sandeeppradhan21, on Mon 27 Jul 6:10PM

  4. 'Trouble' you must be on of the ignorant­ football supporters that we spawn evey year. Now­ that's what you call a boring excuse for a sport!

    From richardsnoel86, on Mon 27 Jul 1:50PM

  5. As others have mentioned, it was a pity that Wiggo­ couldn't have made the podium but 4th place is­ brilliant, he can only get better. On the plus side,­ it was great to see Pants Egostrong on the step below­ the other two guys (who thoroughly deserved their 1st­ and 2nd positions) looking like the cat who had lost­ the cream and found a sour lemon to eat instead. It­ will be very interesting next year if Andy Schleck­ concentrates on trying to win the Tour over Contrador­ and not try to drag his bro along - although they are­ both great cyclists it's obvious Andy is destined­ for greater things. Brilliant tour this time, hope for­ similar next year

    From richardsnoel86, on Mon 27 Jul 1:40PM

  6. sinead post 42 and all those arguing about Cav's­ nationality. Check out 'British people' on­ Wikipedia.

    From terrytrudgian, on Mon 27 Jul 12:30PM

  7. That must have been the biggest winning margin on the­ Champs by a sprinter as opposed to a breakaway. The­ fact that Renshaw, who normally would have been pased­ by three to six riders after dying, finished second­ seem to support my contention. If I'm wrong,­ perhaps some Tour historian can provide the details.

    From charly.beagrie, on Mon 27 Jul 11:24AM

  8. In a bunch finish there can only be one winner, Cav­ everytime but his 5th stage win proved he can stay up­ there (with a little help from his friends) when the­ going gets steep. We will hopefully see a more rounded­ performance next year with some intermediate sprint­ points but what a star. Well done!

    From mgh0302, on Mon 27 Jul 11:07AM

  9. Well done CAV and WIGGO BRITAIN at its best,WIGGO has­ got to be a future winner. your performance was­ fantastic.

    From powermouse, on Mon 27 Jul 9:40AM

  10. Cav is the very definition of a one-trick-pony, but­ what a trick! Shame about the DQ, otherwise, probably­ would've won the green jersey. Had it been closer,­ there's no way Columbia would've allowed Thor­ to ride solo to the intermediate sprints in the Alps. ­ As for the GC - well the best man won. Amazing­ performance by Armstrong considering the circumstances,­ but I wish Brad Wiggins could have hung on for a podium­ place. Had it not been for the 40 seconds or so that­ LA gained in the wind-driven split on Stage 5, he­ would've been right up there!

    From pedro118118, on Mon 27 Jul 8:29AM

  11. congrats ! poor old Armstrong ;D

    From Renan, on Mon 27 Jul 4:58AM

  12. No. 38 - The way who behaved on the podium, Thor or­ Lance? What did they do to annoy you and how did you­ expect them to behave? They behaved as I would have­ expected them to.

    From jazzzzdude, on Mon 27 Jul 2:16AM
  13. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Did Cavendish win the Tour De France? don't think­ so, or the green jersey? Nope. But he's british,­ top of the headline NOW!! Pathetic

    From Creaven91, on Mon 27 Jul 2:10AM

  14. Rule brittania.

    From iancampbell11, on Sun 26 Jul 11:36PM

  15. I'm so pleased for Cav for having the win today.­ Nice to see Thor and Cav on the podium today for their­ different reasons. Well done Lance. What a­ performance.
    Roll on the coming years. It will be­ interesting. Vive le tour.

    From honister92, on Sun 26 Jul 11:14PM

  16. It's not often I comment but this year's tour,­ especially, but not solely from a Brit standpoint, has­ been totally mesmerising, right up to Saturday's­ Ventoux stage. Let me say first of all that­ Armstrong's performance has been unbelievable. ­ What a ride by him – he is some athelete - chapeau! ­ 2020 with Radio Shack will be very interesting. ­ 'Sir Twiggie's' 4th place is incredible and­ more than well deserved, especially on his climbing­ performances. (It was perhaps aided in part by that­ counting TTT at the start - I don't agree that­ TTT's should count to the individual overall­ winning position - but the overall team, yes. Too many­ individual positions were prejudiced by poor TTT­ performances e.g. Evans, Sastre etc and left team­ leaders of the weaker teams at a definite­ disadvantage). And as for Cav: well, he may appear to­ sit there and wait to be led out for the finish (not­ the case of course), but isn't he a talent - a­ rocket/missile! Terrific performances - and­ level-headed and, yes, modest and recognises the team­ contribution. Was very hard dealt with on the Hushovd­ protest - officials' over-reaction for his Bastille­ Day win? For me, this has been a great Tour, not least­ because of the Astana leadership question which made­ the first week quite intriguing, but also the­ Brits' performance. Well done to all the riders! ­ Cancellara was a real gent - very impressive on and off­ the bike, as were Andy and Frank Schleck. Contador is­ very impressive, if a bit cocky (a bit more modesty a­ la Sastre would be appreciated). And I was disappointed­ that Evans and Menchov failed to deliver as expected. ­ As for those contributors who have been moaning­ (intelligently and otherwise), failing to see beyond­ Lance and apparently unaware of the European cycling­ pedigree (No, being American doesn't imply­ invincibility) or just complaining about something -­ wake up! This has been a great Tour! Well worth 3­ weeks of backache c

    From Norrie Batchelor, on Sun 26 Jul 11:07PM

  17. feetonground, my name is irish but that doesn't­ make me irish...just like mark isn't english. Born­ in the Isle of Man makes him MANX not English. You­ have posted such a stupid comment

    From Spedgey, on Sun 26 Jul 10:04PM

  18. I like Cavendish is a good English name. and by the way­ he won 6 stages. Brythonic Nordish? same as the rest of­ us Paul and Lyndsay your obviously foreign and­ don't understand the chemistry of the British Isles­ most of us are of the same mix som way or other.

    From FeetonGround, on Sun 26 Jul 9:44PM

  19. d20h00- That's just plain stupid. There is a nice­ cash price, a trophy and a spot on the podium for each­ stage winner and Cav got his share of that. So­ impressive the way they tactically managed every­ sprint. Renshaw's timing on the last corner to­ completely cut off Garmin and create a huge gap. A­ great team and finishing with 9 riders and 6 stages­ says a ton about them.

    From Maxx92, on Sun 26 Jul 9:41PM

  20. Thor Hushov, must be even more ashamed than last time­ he won the Green Jersey without winning any­ sprints.
    evryone knows who's realy the fastest.­ Britain is best again.

    From FeetonGround, on Sun 26 Jul 9:40PM
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