Well after 20 days (21 including the Prologue) and 2200 miles or so, today capped off the 2010 Tour de France with a ceremonial ride of 102.5 km – one of the shortest proper stages in recent history – from Longjumeau to Paris. The beginning was substantially delayed as the RadioShack Team led by Lance Armstrong all wore black cycling shirts with the number 28 on the back, representing the 28 million people worldwide who are fighting cancer. Race organisers would not allow them to race in these non-official shirts, so they had to be changed and their numbers switched over onto their usual red jerseys. The procession then set of at a leisurely pace, as is the normal tradition on the final day, many of the riders pausing for photos along the way during the first hour.
Eventually, the teams all reached Paris together, and the Astana Team lined up at the front to introduce their Champion Alberto Contador to the huge crowds. All had reached the Capital without incidents – except for Schleck having gear problems and requiring a quick change of bike – and the climax was an 8 lap race around the Champs-Elysees. Rather unluckily, right at the beginning of the real action, Hincapie (BMC) got a puncture and needed a wheel change, and a serious turn of pace to fight his way back into the fold.
None of the sprint teams bothered to try and gain points during the two intermediate sprints, with the current Green Jersey watching the progress of Hushovd and Cavendish very closely. As it turned out, as breakaway group attacked and neutralised any intent the chasersfor Green might have had – which suited Petacchi just fine.
As the kilometers counted down, a more serious group of escapees formed, consisting of eleven riders: Casar (FDJ), Hondo (LAM), Knees (MRM), Kroon (BMC), Martin (HTC), Pauriol (COF), Perez Arrieta (FOT), Perez Lezaun (EUS), Riblon (ALM), Roux (FDJ) and Sorensen (SAX). Together they chiseled out a maximum lead of 25 seconds, but kept the peloton at bay effectively for a worrying length of time, threatening to ruin the day for the sprinters. At one point there was news that Cavendish had radioed his team car to get them to pull Martin back out of the leading group to help him close the gap.
Lampre were happy to sit on things as their man Petacchi was safe in the Green Jersey if no sprint happened and the breakaway escaped successfully. So it was up to HTC-Columbia to do the lion’s share of the work chasing down the leaders. Team Sky and Katusha also chipped in with useful contributions upping the pace of the chasers, and they began to make rapid progress. As they began the last lap of the Champs-Elysees, the gap fell away rapidly to zero and the field became grupo compacto, a single peloton once more.
Now it was time for the sprinters to ply their trade, and Sky began to lead out with a trio of riders from 1500 meters out. Other teams began to pile on the pressure, as first Lampre and then Cervelo Test Team bringing lead out teams to the fore. Hushovd was in a great position to sprint at the last corner. He hesitated and sat on the wheel of his team mate, watching Petacchi zoom past him on the left. Hushovd then reacted, ducking out from behind his lead out man and accelerating. As they charged for the line, the Manx Missile, Mark Cavendish burnt past them both with a burst of speed that killed off Hushovd, who subsequently came in seventh. Cavendish achieved his goal of winning five stages, and repeating last year’s Paris stage win, and although gaining maximum points could only climb to second place in the Points Classification for the Green Jersey. It would have needed Petacchi to come in sixth or worse for Cav to grab the Green at the death of the Tour.
So sadly, that concludes the action on the Tour de France for another year, and here is today’s result along with the final General Classification Standings, which did not change from yesterday:
1. Contador (AST)
2. Schleck (SAX)
3. Menchov (RAB)
4. S.Sanchez (EUS)
5. Van Den Broeck (OLO)
6. Gesink (RAB)
7. Hesjedal (GRM)
8. Rodriguez Oliver (KAT)
9. Kreuziger (LIQ)
10. Horner (RSH)
1. Cavendish
2. Petacchi
3. Dean
4. Roelandts
5. Freire
6. Ciolek
7. Hushovd
8. Breschel
9. McEwen
10. Oss
So it’s been one of the most exciting Tours for years, and the competition seems to be set for future years now with a healthy rivalry between Contador and Schleck. There are still a few “what ifs” from this year’s race, which of course it is too late to change. What if Contador had hung on and let Schleck fix his technical difficulty in the Pyrenees? That 39 seconds lost back then is the same as the winning margin that Contador built up by the end! Then there is the Green Jersey competition; back in Stage 4, when Cavendish realised he wouldn’t win the stage, he sat up, and rolled in in twelfth place, instead of hammering it to the line for the points. This might have made all the difference today. But it is what it is, and that’s the end of the competition. The winners for 2010 are:
General Classification Winner – Yellow
Alberto Contador – Astana
Points Classification Winner – Green
Alessandro Petacchi – Lampre
King of the Mountains Classification Winner – Polka Dot
Anthony Charteau – BBOX Bouygues Telecom
Young Rider Classification Winner – White
Andy Schleck – Saxo Bank
(Photo of Alberto Contador by Haggisnl. Reproduced under Creative Commons licence.)
