The final stage for the Tour de France saw the glory of its riders in Paris. There’s much to look forward to for 2011’s Tour de France and despite the scandals and controversies, it remains the most exciting race of the year.
The 97th Tour de France saw Alberto Contador of Astana taking the crown without a stage win. Amidst all the controversy, Contador raised the bar after winning for the third time. Contador shares, “It was a Tour where I had a lot of pressure, especially physically as I was not at my best form. It took a lot of confidence to face difficult situations…The three victories were very different. The first, in 2007, was special, because that was the first; last year, the situation was difficult and this made it difficult. And this year I had difficult moments; but I could count on a strong team. I realize that…
Stage 19 of the 2010 Tour de France was one to remember. At the start of Stage 19, Alberto Contador had a 8 second lead on Andy Schleck, but Schleck had promised to give his all in the time trial, and going after the yellow jersey.
Other then climbs, Contador is known for his time trial ability, and was favored to win the stage. With winds picking up which affected Schleck, Contador kept riding.
Winning stage 19 was Fabian Cancellara. Contador came in 45th place, finishing 4 minutes, 52 seconds behind, and Schleck finished in 41st, 5 minutes 9 seconds behind Cancellara. Dennis Menchov of Rabobank pushed Samuel Sanchez out of third place.
From the start of the time trial, a rumored spread that he had a 4 second lead over Schleck. Throughout the stage, Contador continued to extended that lead, and now is 39 seconds ahead of…
Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) vowed that he would put Alberto Contador (Astana) off his back on the Col du Tourmalet, Schleck kept his word by winning stage 17 of the 2010 Tour de France.
Despite the hazy dump weather conditions, the two titans were seen clashing their way down on one of the Tour’s notorious mountains. Schleck and Contador were just 8 seconds apart in the general classification and to the delight of the excited crowd, the Luxemborg rider challenged Contador who followed him throughout the race. The defending champion Astana rider denied Schleck a glorious win by crossing the line tailing him at half a bike length to keep the yellow jersey.
Schleck did what he could to get Contador off his back to no avail. Both riders staged an attack against each other resulting to an exchange of riding expertise and maneuvers. The Luxembourg rider failed to leave Contador…
Andy Schleck of Saxo Bank and Alberto Contador are two opposites, but they have one thing in common. Both ride the Specialized Tarmac SL3. As of late, Contador and Schleck have been going at each other, and the tension seems to build with each stage.
Specialized issued a commercial for their contest which started at the beginning of the Tour de France called “In It To Win It”. With the 21 stages of the tour, you have a chance to win 1 of 21 Tarmac SL3 Astana edition or Saxo Bank. All you have to do is pick up a promo code at your local Specialized dealership, and sign up on the website. For the commercial, it is pretty funny, the two are trying to “outdo” each other, and then argue like they are children.
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During Stage 15 of the Tour de France, Andy Schleck’s chain popped off, which has been the talk of the Tour as of late. As you can see in the video, Alberto Contador passes right by Schleck, with minimal hesitation. After the Stage, Contador is wearing the yellow jersey, and Schleck is knocked to second place. What many are debating, should Contador have waited for Schleck? Leave a comment on your opinion.
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In Bagneres du Luchon this afternoon, stage 15 of the Tour de France was solely won by Bbox Bouygues Telecom rider, Thomas Voeckler. The relentless drama between Alberto Contador (Astana) and Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) on its boiling point never bothered the Frenchman a bit as he cherished his stage 15 win of the Tour de France, his second year in a row.
Voeckler admitted that he nearly abandoned the Tour, “I worked hard for this stage win. It has been a really difficult race for me and, if there had been crosswinds on (the stage during) July 14 instead of a headwind, I would almost certainly have pulled out. In the past three days I’ve been feeling much better.”
Voeckler, nicknamed, “le chouchou” or “France’s darling” was in no doubt to be the strongest among the breakaway group of 10 riders halfway through the 187 km stage from Pamiers. After…
Friday launched Stage 12 of the Tour de France, and Alberto Contador moved up to 2nd place in overall standings, while Joaquin Rodriguez won the stage, a 131.5 mile race. As you may know, Contador was last years Tour de France winner, who is known for his vicious uphill accelerations, pushing him towards the number 1 spot.
On the overall standings, Contador is in 2nd place, only 10 seconds behind Andy Schleck, both are crowd favorites for the year. Schleck’s team Saxo Bank had to play some serious defense, but it was not enough.
Bjarne Riis, Saxo Bank team manager said “We never declared that Andy would run away with this race,”.
Even with the heat in the 90 degree range, all cyclists showed a tremendous amount of dedication. “This is the hottest tour I’ve ever been a part of,” said Lance Armstrong about the 2010 Tour de France. …
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