Tour de France: Contador Wins

Alberto Contador, riding for Astana, sailed through the 21st and final stage today, in the middle of the peloton and at one point holding a glass of champagne, to win the Tour de France for the second time, after his first win in 2007. As expected, Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) took second in the overall standings, trailing Contador by 4’11”, and seven-time Tour winner Lance Armstrong (Astana), trailing by 5’24”, was a more-than-respectable third in his big Tour comeback.

Contador didn’t win today’s 21st and final stage—that honor went to Britain’s Mark Cavendish of Team Columbia-HTC, who sprinted in all alone ahead of the pack on the Champs-Elysées to score his sixth stage victory in this year’s race—a record. His teammate Mark Renshaw followed in second place, and Tyler Farrar, of Garmin Slipstream, was third.