Contador: Another Victory For Discovery

The final stage of the 94th Tour de France began at 2.01pm. There were 141 riders at the sign-on. The 146km race from Marcoussis to the Champs-Elysees in Paris included two category-four climbs (the cote de St-Remy-les-Chevreuse at 51km and the cote de Chateaufort at 54.5km) and two intermediate sprints: the first in Chatenay-Malabry (at 74km) and the second at the Haut des Champs-Elysees on the third of eight laps of the finish circuit (at 108.5km). _ _ Tranquility The Theme… _ The peloton rode at a tranquil pace until reaching the Champs-Elysees. It crossed the line for the start of the first lap at 4.55pm, 40 minutes later the slowest time in the Tour manual’s schedule. Steegmans (QSI) claimed first place at both climbs and there was no contest for the first intermediate sprint. The points were taken by Jegou (FDJ) followed by two Quickstep riders – Barredo and De Jongh. _ _ 10 Men Animate The Closing Laps… _ With 48km to go, Bichot (AGR) was the first to attack the peloton. He was caught 5km later. Gutierrez and Portal (GCE), Flecha (RAB), Gerrans (A2R), Ballan (LAM), Scholz (GST), Charteau (C.A), Fisher (LIQ), Delage (FDJ) and Knees (MRM) established the first serious escape group when they raced ahead at the 40km to go mark. Discovery Channel led the pursuit initially but then, with 32km to go, Barloworld took over chasing responsibilities. They were 30” behind the escapees. The advantage hovered around half a minute until 5.5km to go when the Lampre-Fondital team took control of the peloton. There was a last-minute attempt by Flecha and Gutierrez to stay ahead of the field but it was rendered void by a strong chase by Lampre-Fondital. _ _ Bennati Claims Victory Number Two _ Other sprint teams came to the fore in the final two kilometers when Credit Agricole and Quickstep joined in the pacesetting at the head of the peloton. It was a frantic finale but Bennati proved finished off the work of his colleagues by claiming his second stage victory in four days ahead of the five men who were ahead of him in the points classification before the start of the stage: Hushovd, Zabel, Hunter and Boonen. _ _ Contador Leads Discovery’s Renaissance _ One year after failing to place a rider in the top 10 of the general classification, the Discovery Channel team ended the 2007 Tour de France with first, third and eighth place. Alberto Contador followed Cadel Evans over the line to finish 36th in the stage but become the latest rider from Johan Bruyneel’s squad to claim the Tour title. Levi Leipheimer was 37th in the day and the fact that the three men at the top of the general classification all crossed the line next to each other reflects how closely they marked each other during the stage. Alberto Contador claimed his maiden Tour de France title, 23 seconds ahead of Evans and 31 seconds ahead of his team-mate. It’s the closest time gaps for the three podium places in the history of the Tour de France.