Tour De France 2010: Stage 20 - Results

Mark Cavendish (Isle of Man/HTC-Columbia) won the twentieth stage of the 2010 Tour de France, his fifth stage victory of the Tour, and the fifteenth of his career. He completed the stage, the final stage, a 63.7-mile (102.5 kilometers) ride Longjumeau to Paris in 2:42:21, averaging 23.5 mph (37.8km/h). The first 161 of the 170 finishers received the same time as Cavendish.

Top 10 Finishers:
1. Mark CAVENDISH (Isle of Man/HTC-Columbia) 2:42:21
2. Alessandro PETACCHI (Italy/Lampre) + 00:00
3. Julian DEAN (Australia/Garmin) + 00:00
4. Jürgen ROELANDTS (Belgium/Omega Pharma) + 00:00
5. Oscar FREIRE (Spain/Rabobank) + 00:00
6. Gerald CIOLEK (Germany/Milram) + 00:00
7. Thor HUSHOVD (Norway/Cervello) + 00:00
8. Matti BRESCHEL (Denmark/Saxo Bank) + 00:00
9. Robbie MC EWEN (Australia/Katyusha) + 00:00
10. Daniel OSS (Italy/Liquigas) + 00:00

Alberto Contador (Spain/Astana) and Andy Schleck (Luxembourg/Saxo Bank) finished the stage 81^st and 88^th, respectively. Essentially, their battle ended yesterday in the time trial, when the Spaniard extended his lead by 31 seconds over his Luxembourg rival.

Contador defeated Schleck by 39 seconds, for the fifth closest winning margin in the history of the Tour. In 2007, the Spaniard won the second closest finish, 23 seconds over Cadel Evans of Australia. Having won his third Tour, Contador joins Greg LeMond (1986, 1989-1990), Louison Bobet (1953-1955) and Philippe Thys (1913-1914, 1919) as three time champions.

The Associated Press reported that "Contador sipped champagne during the leisurely ride and held up three fingers to signal his third Tour win." Nicknamed "El Pistolero" for his signature finger-firing salute, the Spaniard "took a blue plastic squirt gun and sprayed photographers." As he and his Astana teammates made their ride down the Champs-Elysees, they exchanged hugs and chanted "Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole . . . ."

The Top 10 Overall:
1. Alberto Contador (Spain/Astana) 91:58:48
2. Andy Schleck (Luxembourg/Saxo Bank) + 0:39
3. Denis Menchov (Russia/Rabobank) + 02:01
4. Samuel Sanchez (Spain/Euskatel) + 03:40
5. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Belgium/Omega Pharma) + 06:54
6. Robert Gesink (Netherlands/Rabobank) + 09:31
7. Ryder Hesjdal (Canada/Garmin) + 10:15
8. Joaquin Rodriguez (Spain/Katyusha) + 11:37
9. Roman Kreuziger (Czech Republic/Liquigas) + 11:54
10. Chris Horner (USA/RadioShack) + 12:02

Finishing the stage in 106^th, Seven-time champion, Lance Armstrong completed what most likely will be his Tour in 23^rd, 39:20 behind Contador, with who he rode as a member of Astana in 2009, when he stood on the podium in third place. Despite his lackluster individual performance, the Texan stood on the podium this year as well as a member of the victorious RadioShack team.

Yet his final day was not without controversy, as his RadioShack team attempted to wear an improper jersey, which temporarily barred the team from starting, and delayed the start of the race for fifteen minutes. They attempted to wear black jerseys with the number 28 on the back, in tribute to the 28 people currently fighting cancer, which is the focus of Armstrong's Livestrong Foundation. Although the team eventually changed back into their regulation jerseys, Armstrong stated that " Today, we're riding for every one of the 28 million people all over the world whose lives and families are affected by this disease." Diagnosed as having advanced testicular cancer in 1996, Armstrong defeated the disease, before going undefeated in the Tour from 1999 to 2005.

The Top 10 Teams:
1. RadioShack 276:02:03
2. Caisse d'Epargne + 9:15
3. Rabobank + 27:49
4. AG2R + 41:10
5. Omega Pharma + 51:01
6. Astana + 56:16
7. Quick Step + 1:06:23
8. Euskaltel + 1:23:02
9. Liquigas + 1:29:14
10. Bbox Bouygues 1:54:18

References:

Associated Press, "Contador Wins Tour; Lance Walks Away" ESPN (July 25, 2010)
ESPN, "RadioShack Denied Black-Jersey Tribute," ESPN (July 25, 2010)
ESPN, Cycling 2010, ESPN website