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The Progress Report



The official start of the 164km 21st and final stage of the 2009 Tour de France began at 1.35pm. There were 156 riders at the start with no one eliminated during the race to Mont Ventoux yesterday. The stage featured no climbs but included two intermediate sprints, the first on the second passage of the Haut des Champs-Elysées (120km), the second on the fourth lap (133km).







First Attack… At 111km



After the flag fell to signal the start of racing, there was a brief mock attack from Contador but from the first kilometer until the 111th, the peloton rode at a tranquil pace. Once on the streets of Paris, however, the attacking began. The first to surge ahead was Calzati (AGR) but he was quickly chased down. Then Beppu (SKS) launched an attack before the Haut des Champs and took six others with him. The escape was: Veikkanen (FDJ), Coyot (GCE), Dumoulin (COF), Pichot (BBO), Barredo (QST), Wegmann (MRM) and Beppu (SKS). By the third of the eight laps they were ahead by 35”. Ignatiev (KAT) made a bid to try and join the leaders but failed. Columbia took control of the peloton and all nine riders from Cavendish’s team stayed on the front of the bunch from the moment it arrived on the Champs-Elysées.







Cavendish 1st, Renshaw 2nd… Daylight Third



The peloton was led by Columbia-HTC since it arrived on the streets of Paris. There was only one instance when another squad took over the pacesetting and it was Garmin for about three kilometers. The team of Farrar spent a few minutes ahead head of the peloton moments after the capture of the escapees (5km from the finish). After passing under the ‘Flamme Rouge’ it was all over for all teams but Columbia. Hincapie bolted to the front of the bunch and set things up perfectly for the final two men in the impressive lead-out train: Mark and Mark… Renshaw set things up so well for Cavendish that the Australian got to celebrate second place behind his team-mate who claimed a sixth stage victory in the 2009 Tour.



The victory was so comprehensive that there was daylight between the two Columbia riders and the rider in third, Garmin’s sprinter Tyler Farrar.







Contador Takes His Second Title



Alberto Contador finished the final stage in 97th place but, as expected, there was no lost time in the general classification. He became the second Spanish rider to win more than one title of the Tour de France, finishing 4’11” ahead of Andy Schleck and 5’24” ahead of his American team-mate Lance Armstrong.



Pellizotti (LIQ) was crowned the King of the Mountains, the first time an Italian has won the polka-dot jersey since 1992. And Andy Schleck earned his second successive white jersey as the leader of the youth classification. Finally, Thor Hushovd may not have been able to challenge Cavendish for the stage but he was sixth and is now a two-time winner of the green jersey.