New Delhi: Nothing was ever going to upstage Alberto Contador of winning his second Tour de France title for he only had to finish the stage. He finished at 97th place on the stage, but was officially given an overall winning time of 85 hours 48 minutes and 35 seconds for the three week race that began in Monaco on July 4.
Contador said, "What I can say is that I am very happy to win this second tour. It was a very hard tour for me. I could see from the start that it was going to be a difficult and very special race. Thank you to everybody, I will see you in the future, thank you."
Contador's home town Pinto Madrid celebrated in style as the Spanish rider emerged triumphant at the Champs-Elysees. Hundreds of excited fans cheered their home town hero onto victory at the Tour de France and Contador didn't let them down.
After 3,500 km of racing over 21 stages in three weeks, Sunday's stage was a victory parade for Contador, who toasted his win with Champagne as the Peloton rode into Paris. Contador, who missed last year's Tour after Astana were not invited because of their past doping record, was clearly relieved.
"Yes, it's a deliverance from all that pressure, and all this stress that I have supported," he said.
Lance Armstrong stood on the podium at the Tour de France, two spots below what he was used to. From 1999 to 2005, Armstrong has won the race, but this time, he came thrid. But for the 37-year-old and for many others in the cycling community, it was a victory even though he fell short of crossing the finish line first.
Andy Schleck of Luxembourg finished second and also won the young rider's white jersey, but Contador's victory kept the Spanish flag flying high on the Tour de France as it followed triumphs for Oscar Pereiro in 2006, himself in 2007 and Carlos Sastre last year.
Comments
0 comment