Contador wins his second Tour de France

July 27, 2009

Contador wins his second Tour de France

Alberto Contador became the second Spaniard to win the tour more then once; his last victory came in 2007 and could not take part in the 2008 as his team Astana was banned from the tour due to a drug scandal. After the 20th stage it was quite clear that Contadore would take victory in Paris, as the last day is considered as a day of enjoying the stage, moving in to Paris and enjoy the grandeur of Champs-Elysées.

The stage also saw another display of the sprinting ability of the fastest sprinter in the world, Mark Cavendish. This was his 6th stage in the tour this year making a total of 10 stages including 4 from previous year. Cavendish gave another stage win to his Team Columbia-HTC.

The 21st and final stage of the tour was 164 kilometers from Montereau-Fault-Yonne to Paris Champs-Élysées. The last stage had no climbs but two intermediate sprints, first at Haut des Champs-Elysées at 120 kilometer mark and the second on the fourth lap at Champs-Elysées at 133 kilometer mark.

Team Colombia-HTC took control of the pace making from the time the peloton entered the Champs-Elysées. All the nine riders of the team were committed to get their man, Cavendish a stage win. Colombia train worked in an excellent manner and the effort was lead by Renshaw and Gorge Hincapie, Renshaw took the second spot behind his teammate. Garmin – Slipstream rider Tyler Farrar took the third spot.

This year’s tour saw excellent results for the young Luxemburg rider Andy Schleck who came on the second place in the tour and also won the white jersey in the young rider classification. Another impressive result came from Lance Armstrong who came back to the tour after years of game, he finished third. The King of the Mountains crown went to Franco Pellizotti of team Liquigas. Thor Hushovd of Cervelo Test Team took the green jersey.