Well it is over for another year and once again it as been riveting viewing.
Cav won two more stages, to bring his Tour win’s this year up to five!
He won on Friday
and again today at in Paris – the most glamorous and coveted stage win in world cycling.
The winner overall in the Tour was the Spaniard Alberto Contador.
It really was all about his duel with Andy Schleck (Luxembourg) as many had predicted before the race started – they are by miles the best two riders in world cycling.
The big controversy of this years Tour happened on Monday as the rode up a bloody big mountain. Andy who was at the time winning by 31 seconds sprinted off up the mountain to try and break Albert – and he very well might have done to but disaster happened – incredibly at this level of cycling Schleck’s chain came off and he had to waste precious time putting it back on again. Alberto saw this and shot off – ending up taking 39 seconds (remember this amount because it becomes very important later) off Schleck to have a 8 seconds lead at the end of the day.
Now in cycling there are rules and etiquette. Although what Contador did was well within the rules it did break cycling’s most fundamental rule of etiquette which is that you never profit from them due to a mechanical fault.
You beat the man on equal terms – not because he was unlucky to have his bike break down and yours didn’t.
Although there was other days in the mountain Alberto was now in the winning position in that just so long as he kept up with Schleck he would win the Tour – because he was by far the better Individual Time Trial rider of the two (a stage that had to be rode yesterday) and that somehow Schleck had to crack Contador and get some time back on him (knowing that he would lose some of it on the Time Trial stage).
Well Contador sat behind Schleck through the rest of the mountains – and indeed went on to win more time on the Time Trial stage – to win the Tour by – wait for it – precisely 39 seconds! The exact same time he had gained when Schleck’s chain came off!
In footballing terms it is like when one of the opposition players gets injured – and instead of kicking the ball out to play so he can get treated – you play on and score a goal that turns out to be the winner!
Ok, Alberto won – but his win is in cycling terms tainted.
Was he right to do what he did – the cycling world is pretty much split down the middle on this.
Schleck to his credit as not made anything of it – and Contador is a great rider who probably would have won anyway – but then again he may not have!
Well that’s the Tour for you – everyone is full of drama and excitement.
Those of you who have read my ramblings should really try and get into next years Tour – it really is facinating and gripping viewing – it really is.
