Le Tour de France... Fin

Well, the Tour is now a part of history. It was a great twenty-one stages, and arguably one of the most exciting ones I've seen recently. I was thinking back on the Tour and talking to someone, thanks "td" about the Tour and he put some things in perspective, that I want to take a quick minute to share. I have been, perhaps unduly, critical of Contador during the Tour. I still think he is a bit cocky, it might be a cultural thing, I don't know. I still think that he could use a few year of maturity under his belt. Bottom line, I think I got a bit caught up in the media hype of Contador negativity. "td" brings up a very good point that while, I was complaining, "Contador was riding for himself, not the team", often the best way to ride for the team is to ride for yourself. The bottom line is you are riding for the podium, and in turn you are doing what's best for your team. Interesting thought.

Well, on to the race. Lance comes back to racing after four years at age 37, and leaves in third place... Excellent! Second time in history a Japanese, Fumiyuki Beppu, rider finishes a Tour de France, how awesome is that? Cavendish has his first, first rider to get six stage wins in a sprint. Lance announced that he will leave Astana in 2010 to go to RadioShack. Now there is talk that Johan Bruyneel might be going with. Who will follow Lance in 2010? What will happen with Asatan as, at least a few riders are likely to leave?

Final thought, before I get to the final standings of the 2009 Tour de France standings. You have to applaud the riders for the tradition and camaraderie that they maintain in the TdF. To see them all starting out this morning riding at a slow place, enjoying good conversation, and enjoying the final day of the race. There were the attacks, but there is an amazing amount of respect for each other.

So, for the last time this year, the 2009 Tour de France (final) standings.

Stage:
1. Mark Cavendish (Columbia-HTC) 04:02:18
2. Mark Renshaw (Columbia-HTC) +0:00:00
3. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) +0:00:00
4. Gerald Ciolek (Milram) +0:00:00
5. Yauheni Hutarovich (Francaise Des Jeux) +0:00:00

Overall:
1. Alberto Contador (Astana) 85:48:35
2. Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) +0:04:11
3. Lance Armstrong (Astana) +0: 05:24
4. Bradley WIggins (Garmin-Slipstream) +0:06:01
5. Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank) +0:06:04

For Complete tour standings visit the official site of the Tour de France. You can also view the Stage & Overall