Who's following the Tour de France?

[Nomer the Red]

That was an amazing battle between the two best rider in the tournament. Schleck tried his best to break Contador but he couldn't shake him. At one stage Contador attacked Schleck but he immediately responded. Schleck came across the line to win the stage and after wards both men gave each other a big hug. Well deserved stage victory by Schleck and I expect him to do some damage in the mountains of next years Tour. Nicolas Sarkozy was also at the finish line to welcome the winner.

[Nomer the Red]

These are some awesome pictures from the Tour so far.

[Nomer the Red]

Mark Cavendish again wins another sprint stage in the Tour. He did it without his lead out man, Mark Renshaw who was disqualified a few stages back. Today was a sprint stage from Salies-de-Bearn to Bordeaux; Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz were seen riding in a Tour official car and on the route cheering on the riders. Again there was a break away pack but the peloton didn't seem concern as they maintain high tempo that would reel in the break away riders. By the 11 km mark they'd caught up to all but one rider; Daniel Oss of Liquigas rode like hell to remain ahead of the peloton but they caught at around the 5 km marker. Team Sky tried to set up a lead out rider for their sprinter Edvald Boassen Hagen but it was to no avail. Mark Cavendish bide his time and then use the slipstream of Alessandro Petacchi to catapult him to the stage victory.

The two main man vying for the Tour tittle didn't do much racing on this stage, saving themselves for the Time Trial today.

[Red All Over]

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

[Nomer the Red]

Originally Posted by Red All Over

Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?

The Tour is pretty much over and Alberto Contador has retained the yellow jersey. Fabian Cancellera won the time trial but contador did enough to increase his time over Schleck- even though he was push to the limit- to 39 seconds. Tomorrow is the official final day of the tour but normally it is just a victory parade for the winner. The only jersey that is still up for grab is the green one where three riders are still vying to win it, Cavendish, Petacchi and Hushovd; Cavendish is again the favorite for the stage win but can he get enough point to over take is two challengers.

[Nomer the Red]

Pictures of stage 19.

[Nomer the Red]

The Tour de France sadly ended yesterday; this was one of the most exciting ones in the last couple of years. There were so many subplots in this year tour.

* How would Lance Armstrong do in his last Tour de France?
* Would anyone other than Andy Schleck be able to challenge Alberto Contador?
* How many sprint stages would Mark Cavendish win?

Armstrong was competitive for the first couple of day but fell out of contention after he crashed a few times on one stage.

The two main general classification contenders were light years ahead of their nearest challenger. There were times when Contador and Schleck seem like they were toying with the rest of the field- there was a point during one of the mountain stages where they stood still on their bicycles like they were competing in track race. In the end Contador only won by 39 seconds over Schleck but was two minutes ahead of Denis Menchov who finished third. The question now is will Schleck be able to improve enough next year to dethrone the reigning yellow jersey holder.

Final Overall Standing

1 - Alberto Contador (ESP) - Astana - (91:58:48)
2 - Andy Schleck (LUX) - Saxo Bank - (+39)
3 - Denis Menchov (RUS) - Rabobank - (+2:01)
4 - Samuel Sánchez (ESP) - Euskaltel - (+3:40)
5 - Jurgen Van den Broeck (BEL) - Omega Pharma - Lotto - (+6:54)
6 - Robert Gesink (NED) - Rabobank - (+9:31)
7 - Ryder Hesjedal (CAN) - Garmin - (+10:15)
8 - Joaquim Rodríguez (ESP) - Katyusha - (+11:37)
9 - Roman Kreuziger (CZE) - Liquigas - (+11:54)
10 - Chris Horner (USA) - RadioShack - (+12:02)

Green Jersey Standing (Sprinters)

1 - Alessandro Petacchi (ITA) - Lampre - (243pts)
2 - Mark Cavendish (IOM) - HTC - Columbia - (232pts)
3 - Thor Hushovd (NOR) - Cervélo - (222pts)
4 - José Joaquín Rojas (ESP) - Caisse d'Epargne - (179pts)
5 - Robbie McEwen (AUS) - Katyusha - (179pts)
6 - Edvald Boasson Hagen (NOR) - Team Sky - (161pts)
7 - Sébastien Turgot (FRA) - Bbox - Bouygues - (135pts)
8 - Gerald Ciolek (GER) - Milram - (126pts)
9 - Jürgen Roelandts (BEL) - Omega Pharma - Lotto - (124pts)
10 - Lloyd Mondory (FRA) - AG2R - (119pts)

Polka Dot Jersey Standings (King of the Mountains)

1 - Anthony Charteau (FRA) - Bbox - Bouygues - (143pts)
2 - Christophe Moreau (FRA) - Caisse d'Epargne - (128pts)
3 - Andy Schleck (LUX) - Saxo Bank - (116pts)
4 - Alberto Contador (ESP) - Astana - (112pts)
5 - Damiano Cunego (ITA) - Lampre - (99pts)
6 - Samuel Sánchez (ESP) - Euskaltel - (96pts)
7 - Sandy Casar (FRA) - FDJ - (93pts)
8 - Jérôme Pineau (FRA) - Quick-Step - (92pts)
9 - Thomas Voeckler (FRA) - Bbox - Bouygues - (82pts)
10 - Pierrick Fédrigo (FRA) - Bbox - Bouygues - (72pts)

White Jersey Standings (Best Young Riders)

1 - Andy Schleck (LUX) - Saxo Bank - (91:59:27)
2 - Robert Gesink (NED) - Rabobank - (+8:52)
3 - Roman Kreuziger (CZE) - Liquigas - (+11:15)
4 - Julien El Farès (FRA) - Cofidis - (+52:43)
5 - Cyril Gautier (FRA) - Bbox - Bouygues - (+1:24:33)
6 - Jakob Fuglsang (DEN) - Saxo Bank - (+1:37:53)
7 - Rafael Valls (ESP) - Footon - (+1:41:48)
8 - Pierre Rolland (FRA) - Bbox - Bouygues - (+1:46:03)
9 - Geraint Thomas (WAL) - Team Sky - (+1:59:26)
10 - José Joaquín Rojas (ESP) - Caisse d'Epargne - (+2:01:19)

Again Mark Cavendish confirmed that he is the best sprinter in the world at the moment; he started off pretty poorly- he was extremely disappointing in the first two sprint stages- but he turned it on winning the next three sprint stages. Many people though he would be vulnerable after his lead out man mark Renshaw (the best lead out man in the world) was disqualified but just showed that he didn't need much help once he is within touching distance of the finish line. He on to win stage 18 and the final stage in the Champs-Élysées.

One of the most disappointing rider is this year tour has to be Bradley Wiggins. Many people expected him to challenge for a podium place after his fourth place finish in last years tour but he wasn't even competitive at any point during the tour. He is known for his time trial skills but even there he couldn't have an impact. In the end he finished in 24th 39 minutes behind the winner and just one spot behind lance Armstrong.

I'm really sad the tour is over but it's now motivated me to take my bicycle out for a spin a few times. I'll be counting the next until next July.

[Big Dave]

Sorry, but given the standings below, how do you rate Mark Cavendish as the top sprinter? Wouldn't it be Petacchi?

[Nomer the Red]

Originally Posted by Big Dave

Sorry, but given the standings below, how do you rate Mark Cavendish as the top sprinter? Wouldn't it be Petacchi?

Petacchi won the sprint because Cavendish messed up on the first two sprint stages; after those two stages he didn't have any points while Petacchi was leading the sprinters race on about 70 points. Plus Petacchi picked up points on the intermediate sprints out on the road. Cavendish only goes for stage wins. If you watch both men compete in a sprint there is no question that Cavendish would destroy Petacchi.