Contador Wins Tour de France

Spain’s Alberto Contador, riding for Team Astana, won his third Tour de France, followed by Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck of Team Saxo Bank in second place—only 39 seconds behind Contador—and the Russian Denis Menchov, of Rabobank, in third. After a disappointing race spoiled by bad luck and several crashes, US champion and seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong, riding for his new team Radioshack, finished nearly 40 minutes off the winning time.

British rider Mark Cavendish, of Team HTC Columbia, finished first in today’s 20th and final stage, the sprint down the Champs Elysées, with Italy’s Alessandro Petacchi of Lampre-Farnese second and New Zealander Julian Dean, with Garmin-Transitions, third.

Plagued by accidents in its early days, the 2010 Tour finished on an uneventful note, enlivened during Friday’s 18th stage in southwest France by an amateur fan who raced fiercely alongside the peloton, on horseback, carrying a lance. Unfazed, Cavendish took first place in that stage too.