Tour de France

Stage 20:  Longjumeau to Paris, 102.5km/64mi

By Cathy Mehl

Even the final day of the Tour de France provided drama as the peloton of 170 prepared to ride to Paris.  Team RadioShack appeared on the start line in a new black kit with the number ‘28’ on the back, representing the 28 million people living with cancer.  With the UCI rejecting the change of kit, the team quickly switched back to the originals until their appearance on the final podium for winning the Teams classification.  As all nine men lined up to the loud applause of the massive crowd, the message of hope to those dealing with cancer went around the world, bringing to the forefront once more that the battle against cancer continues and everyone is affected by this disease.

Defending champion Alberto Contador of Astana secured his third Tour win after 92 hours of racing by a slim 39-seconds over three-time Best Young Rider Andy Schleck of Saxo Bank.  After yesterday’s strong time trial, Denis Menchov (Rabobank) climbed onto the third spot on the podium.  The Shack’s  Chris Horner was the best-placed American rider in tenth, his best finish ever in the Tour de France.  

With the Teams classification win,  Lance Armstrong  appeared on the Tour de France podium for the final time in his long career.  After three weeks in the saddle and more than 2,200 miles of riding, the exciting 2010 Tour de France marked the last time Armstrong will ride the Tour.

Asked if he had a lot of emotions today, Lance replied, "Not really strong emotions.  Just a lot of happiness.  This race has been good to me and I hope I have been good to the race.  But I can't lie:  I'm ready to retire Part Two."  Regarding the jerseys, he continued, " They told us on the radio that if we didn't take off the jersey we would be kicked out of the race.  Our first reaction was, 'Ok, kick us out.'  But of course then we would not have our Teams GC win.  The delay of the start probably brought more attention to the issue than wearing them in the stage," Armstrong concluded. 

Once the racing began, there was much celebration on the road to Paris with riders goofing off and consuming champagne before hitting the Champs-Élysées for a final eight laps of action-packed racing.  Team Astana led Contador onto the famous boulevard and then the racing was full gas.   On the second lap a group of eleven rode off the front and included Sandy Casar (FDJ), Karsten Kroon (BMC), Christian Knees (Milram), Nikki Sorensen (Saxo Bank) and Tony Martin (HTC-Columbia).   The gap went to more than 24-seconds with a peloton in hot pursuit, finally reeling them back with 6km to go.  It was Cervelo on the front for Thor Hushovd as the group made the final sweeping right-hander onto the finishing straight.  Hushovd opened up his sprint while Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre) went for the left side, but from the middle Mark Cavendish roared up the course to take his 5th stage win in this year’s Tour, making it 15 career Tour stage wins in three Tours for the fastest man in cycling.

Team Note:  It’s no easy feat to cover the Tour de France and I personally want to thank press officer Philippe Maertens for always providing me with great quotes to use in the daily reports, making for unique content for our team website.  Also a special thanks to Chris Brewer for reporting from the road and giving us his personal insights to the Tour.  And of course a hearty congratulations to Lance, Jani, Chris, Levi, Andreas, Dimi, Popo, Sergio and Gregy for successfully completing the ride to Paris, and to the hard-working staff for making the trip run smoothly.  Enjoy your celebration in Paris tonight; you all deserve it!

Beyond the Finish Line:  At the top of the Champs-Élysées stands the Arc de Triomphe.  This rose-marble arch was built by Napoleon to celebrate various military triumphs.  Beneath the Arc is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier from the First World War. It has the first eternal flame lit in Western and Eastern Europe since the Vestal Virgins' fire was extinguished in the year 394. It burns in memory of the dead who were never identified from both World Wars.

Top Ten Results

1              Mark Cavendish (GBr) Team HTC - Columbia       2:42:21                   

2              Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini                    

3              Julian Dean (NZl) Garmin - Transitions                     

4              Jurgen Roelandts (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto                       

5              Oscar Freire Gomez (Spa) Rabobank                        

6              Gerald Ciolek (Ger) Team Milram                              

7              Thor Hushovd (Nor) Cervelo Test Team                                  

8              Matti Breschel (Den) Team Saxo Bank                     

9              Robbie McEwen (Aus) Team Katusha                      

10           Daniel Oss (Ita) Liquigas-Doimo

Team RadioShack Results

45           Christopher Horner (USA)

51           Andreas Klöden (Ger)

67           Jani Brajkovic (Slo)

98           Levi Leipheimer (USA)

106         Lance Armstrong (USA)

109         Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)

115         Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz)

130         Gregory Rast (Swi)

Final General Classification

1              Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana                 91:58:48                

2              Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank        0:00:39  

3              Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank               0:02:01  

4              Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi          0:03:40  

5              Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto          0:06:54  

6              Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank                 0:09:31  

7              Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Transitions            0:10:15  

8              Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha 0:11:37  

9              Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo 0:11:54  

10            Christopher Horner (USA) Team Radioshack        0:12:02

Team RadioShack on Final General Classification

13           Levi Leipheimer (USA)   0:14:40                   

14           Andreas Klöden (Ger)   0:16:36

23           Lance Armstrong (USA)   0:39:20 

43           Jani  Brajkovic (Slo)  1:23:26        

46           Sergio Paulinho (Por)  1:25:43    

85           Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)  2:37:56

114         Gregory Rast (Swi)  3:14:11

148         Dmitriy Muravyev (Kaz)  3:41:47

Photo courtesy of Graham Watson