Tour de France 2010

[Jonezy]

Shame. The minute Schleck finally gains an edge on Contador, he is hit by bad luck. Pretty unsporting behavior to attack the yellow jersey, when it has mechanical problems, but I guess that's cycling. Must admit I enjoyed Contador being booed when being handed the yellow jersey. Well thats the overall race done, now lets hope Schleck uses his frustrations to create some havoc on the Tourmalet over the next few days.

[dandannieldanok]

That left a bitter taste in my mouth, and it's certainly a similar feeling for the French fans if the podium boos are anything to go by. As you say, it's simply a shame that the final result is likely to be decided by a mechanical failure, even more galling for Schleck when you consider it looked like he had finally got the edge over Contador. As for Contador, I personally have lost a lot of respect for him today, especially when you consider the bitter rivalry of Armstrong-Ullrich and how although they wanted nothing more than to beat each other, on separate occasions they waited for the other in similar situations as to today.

I too hope Andy can now cut loose and bury himself up the Tourmalet, and although it's very very unlikely now, I'd love him to get back in yellow.

Also a shame that this has cast a shadow over Thomas Voeckler who produced another stunning ride for the French.

[shen]

That left a bitter taste in my mouth, and it's certainly a similar feeling for the French fans if the podium boos are anything to go by. As you say, it's simply a shame that the final result is likely to be decided by a mechanical failure, even more galling for Schleck when you consider it looked like he had finally got the edge over Contador. As for Contador, I personally have lost a lot of respect for him today, especially when you consider the bitter rivalry of Armstrong-Ullrich and how although they wanted nothing more than to beat each other, on separate occasions they waited for the other in similar situations as to today.

I too hope Andy can now cut loose and bury himself up the Tourmalet, and although it's very very unlikely now, I'd love him to get back in yellow.

Also a shame that this has cast a shadow over Thomas Voeckler who produced another stunning ride for the French.

He does seem prone to conjure up some spectacular rides in the Tour. I remember his amazing 200km solo ride some years back that earned him a stage win as well as the fight he put up when he was in the yellow before he finally lost it to Armstrong.

[dandannieldanok]

Stunning effort from Schleck, set a fantastic tempo up the Tourmalet but Contador was just not going to be shrugged off, he's just so unflappable. Glad to see Contador didn't challenge the stage win considering Schleck had done all of the pace-making. Have to say I loved the last 10km of that stage, although there weren't the fireworks of either rider being able to shrug each other off, just watching them set that pace and try and outlast each other on the atmospheric Tourmalet in those conditions......great stuff.

The general classification is pretty much over now, but Contador still has to pay attention tomorrow. The roads to Bordeaux will be windswept and if SaxoBank set a high pace at the front of the peloton they could cause a split, reminiscent of Stage 3 in the 2009 Tour, where Armstrong got on the right side of a split and gained 41 seconds on Contador. Something like that is not completely unfeasible, it would just be incredibly unlikely that Contador would at any stage be nearer the back of the peloton.

[dandannieldanok]

Fantastic again from Cav, nobody got close, a complete stroll in the park for the Manx Missile.

Petacchi in green and that's how I expect it to stay now, he should manage 4th at worst in Paris, which would be enough to keep Cav at bay . Definitely a two-horse race between Petacchi and Cavendish, Hushovd dropped through the field like a stone today when released by his lead-out man, he's no way good enough to do anything in a straight sprint.

[Edmund]

I see Cav did well yesterday but not enough to get the green jersey.

Well done Contador. Won the tour without winning any stage in the tour. I didn't watch a huge chunk of the last bit of the tour but thought he'd finished first in at least one stage.

[dandannieldanok]

Well done to the winners of each of the 4 jerseys. Been a good tour, thoroughly enjoyed it, can't wait until next year and hopefully Cav in green.

[Uncle Monty]

Sad not to see Cav not get the Green, but i like Petacchi more than thor and the aussie so all is not lost. Wasn't quite as good as last years but then again that was a great tour.