Contador Takes Tour de France

Alberto Contador won the Tour de France for a second time today, and Lance Armstrong capped his return to the race with an impressive third-place finish. Mark Cavendish of Britain became the first rider to win six Tour stages in a sprint, collecting his sixth stage win after the 101.9-mile course ride from Montereau-Fault-Yonne to the Champs-Elysees.

Over nearly 3,500 kilometers and 21 stages of races in 3 weeks, Contador repelled many challenges in the mountains, excelled in the two time-trials—winning a pivotal race against the clock in the 18th stage—and won the first Alpine stage. Contador, the 2007 champion, also had to battle a rearguard action within his Astana team, where the comeback of Armstrong to the Tour after 3 1/2 years of retirement raised questions about who would be the team leader. (More Tour de France stories.)