Mark Cavendish takes final stage as Alberto Contador wins Tour
British rider Mark Cavendish won the final stage of the Tour de France for the second year in succession. But it was not enough for his to claim the points classification's green jersey.
The HTC-Columbia rider won the 102.5-kilometre 20th stage from Longjumeau to the Champs-Élysées in Paris for his fifth win of the 2010 Tour and the 15th of his career - but Alessandro Petacchi, of Lampre-Farnese, runner-up to keep hold of the sprinters' jersey, with Julian Dean, from Team Garmin-Transitions third.
"My Tour didn't start too well and in the first week I was wondering how it would turn out," Cavendish said on his team's website. "But the team rode incredibly strongly for me and I tried to make amends. As the race progressed my feelings got better and better and winning here in Paris on the most spectacular finish of them all is a great way to end the race. When you win you get confident, when you're confident you win. It's as simple as that.
"[HTC-Columbia teammate] Bernie Eisel took me to the tunnel and then Tony Martin dropped me off where I needed to be to go for the win. It's been a real rollercoaster event, but the people here in France always make it special and I want to thank all of them, the team and support staff and all the other people who have helped me all the way."
The final stage had no real importance in terms of the overall classification as Astana rider Alberto Contador enjoyed the traditional final-day procession to win his third Tour title in four years, having been absent from the 2008 Tour when his team was barred.
His victory by 39 seconds from Andy Schleck, of Team Saxo Bank, who finished as runner-up as he did 12 months ago and took the white jersey awarded for the best young rider, has not been universally welcomed because of the way that it was achieved.
Schleck held the yellow jersey going into Monday’s stage but lost it to Contador when Schleck suffered a mechanical problem as the chain slipped from his bike. The unwritten and, therefore unenforceable rule, is that the yellow jersey can only be won in open competition.
Contador victory still leaves him with ground to make up on American Lance Armstrong, the seven-time winner, who completed his final Tour in 23rd place one ahead of Britain’s Bradley Wiggins.
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