Thaindian News

Paris, July 26 (DPA) Alberto Contador won the 2009 Tour de France Sunday, the second Tour title of his career, outsprinting Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck and seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong.
The 26-year-old Contador’s margin over the 24-year-old Schleck was 4 minutes 11 seconds, the largest winning margin in several years. Armstrong was 5 minutes 25 seconds adrift to finish third in his comeback after four years away from the race.

Contador proved himself the strongest climber by far, and the Astana rider won one time trial and came in second in the other.

Teammate Armstrong appeared to suffer on several of the Alpine climbs, but he showed determination and some of his old power on the climb to the top of Mont Ventoux Saturday to retain his place on the podium.

The winner of Sunday’s stage, 164 km from Monterau-Fault-Yonne to the Champs Elysees in Paris, was the “British Rocket”, Mark Cavendish, who took his sixth stage win of this year’s Tour and the 10th in two years.

However, despite his domination in the sprints, he could not win the sprinters’ points title, which was taken by Norwegian Thor Hushovd, who won only one stage but ran a clever race.

Italian Franco Pellizotti won the Tour’s King of the Mountains title.

Cavendish’s Team Columbia mate Mark Renshaw finished second, with American Tyler Farrar coming in third.

The winner’s time was 4 hours 2 minutes 18 seconds, an average speed of 40.61 kph.