Discovery Channel team rider Alberto Contador of Spain wearing the leader's yellow jersey celebrates his overall victory after the final 20th stage of the 94th Tour de France between Marcoussis and Paris, July 29, 2007. At left is Predictor Lotto team rider Cadel Evans of Australia, placing overall second, at right is Discovery Channel team rider Levi Leipheimer of the U.S. placing overall third. REUTERS/Bernard Papon
Discovery Channel team rider Contador cycles past the Arc of Triomphe as the final 20th stage of the 94th Tour de France arrives in Paris.
The pack rides along the Seine river near the Eiffel Tower.
Discovery Channel team leader Levi Leipheimer of the U.S., left, rides in front of the pack with his teammates George Hincapie of the U.S. and overall leader, Alberto Contador.
Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong of the U.S., seated in the Discovery Channel team car, right, looks on as he talks with former teammate George Hincapie.
Contador wins Tour as Bennati takes finale - Velo News
America's lone ProTour team capped its best-ever Tour de France on Sunday, locking down the yellow jersey, the white jersey, two places on the final podium and the overall team classification.
Discovery Channel's impressive quartet of achievements - highlighted by Alberto Contador's GC victory - exceeded any of the Lance Armstrong years, and gave the team formerly known as U.S. Postal Service eight Tour wins in the last nine years. Contador also became the first rider since Jan Ullrich in 1997 to win both the maillot jaune and the white best young rider's jersey, while teammate Levi Leipheimer placed third overall and won a stage, completing his best-ever Tour showing.
Sandwiched in between the Discovery duo was Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto), the first Australian to make the Tour's final podium. The Land Down Under's previous best was a pair of fifth-place efforts by Phil Anderson in the 1980s. Evans opted not to chase any of the bonus time available on the final stage, thus maintaining the 23-second gap to Contador, which is the second smallest in the race's 94 renditions, trailing only the eight-second differential between 1989 winner Greg LeMond and runner-up Laurent Fignon.
The 2007 Tour was also a best-ever affair for Tom Boonen and his Quick Step-Innergetic outfit. The Belgian superstar ended the three-week, 3547km journey with two stage wins and his first green-jersey triumph, while his team totaled four stage wins. The Quick Step captain came up short on the final day, placing fifth behind Italian Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital) at the end of stage 20's 146km ride from Marcoussis to Paris. Bennati held off Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) to take his second stage win of the Tour, crossing the line in 3:51:03. Eric Zabel (Milram) was third on the Champs-Élysées, closing out a final day of racing that was devoid of meaningful action until the peloton reached the finishing circuit deep inside the City of Light.
Instead, the race's 141 remaining riders (189 started in London) enjoyed a leisurely start to the day, meandering 90km through the southern suburbs of the French capital. Race director Christian Prudhomme kicked off proceedings at 2:01 p.m., dropping the white start flag. Soon all four jersey holders - Contador, Boonen, KoM winner Juan Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) and white jersey place-holder Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel-Euskadi) - took to the front for photo ops. The ensuing two hours offered more of the same, each team taking a turn at the front of the slow-moving bunch.
There were some who thought Evans and Predictor-Lotto might take a shot at time bonuses. But the passage of the sprint spot at Châtenay-Malabry, the town famous for renowned anti-doping lab, came and went without incident, and by the time the field reached Issy-les-Moulineaux at the 74km mark, they were nearly 40 minutes behind the slowest scheduled arrival time.
Finally, with the field rolling over the cobbles of the Champs-Élysées, Agritubel's Freddy Bichot launched the first attack with 48km to go. It's been a quiet week for the French wild card team, which was clearly in search of a little TV time. Bichot's move was short-lived, and several reshufflings ensued until a group of 10 scooted away with 40km to go.
Back in the bunch Barloworld moved to the front, intent on keeping things under control to give Hunter a shot at his second stage win. With four laps of the 6.5km circuit to go, the 10 escapees led by 34 seconds. That margin would top out at 45 seconds before the pullback began in earnest.
Crédit Agricole was the next team involved in the chase, the French squad hoping for a repeat of 2006 when its sprinting star Hushovd took the win on the Champs-Élysées. With two laps to go the gap was down to 20 seconds, and going into the final lap the field was all together.
That left the endgame to the sprinters, and it was Bennati flying off the front, then powering his way to the line for a convincing win ahead of Hushovd and Zabel.
Stage 20
1. Daniele Bennati (I), Lampre-Fondital
2. Thor Hushovd (N), Crédit Agricole
3. Erik Zabel (G), Milram
4. Robbie Hunter (RSA), Barloworld
5. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic
Final Overall
1. Alberto Contador (Sp), DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM, 91:00:26
2. Cadel Evans (Aus), PREDICTOR - LOTTO, at 00:23
3. Levi Leipheimer (USA), DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM , at 00:31
4. Carlos Sastre (Sp), TEAM CSC, at 07:08
5. Haimar Zubeldia (ESP), EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI, at 08:17
6. Alejandro Valverde (Sp), CAISSE D'EPARGNE, at 11:37
7. Kim Kirchen (Lux), T-MOBILE TEAM, at 12:18
8. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr), DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM, at 12:25
9. Mikel Astarloza (Sp), EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI, at 14:14
10. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Sp), CAISSE D'EPARGNE, at 14:25
---
15. Christopher Horner (USA), PREDICTOR - LOTTO, at 25:19
---
24. George Hincapie (USA), DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM , at 54:50
25. Christian Vandevelde (USA), TEAM CSC , at 55:50
Sprint Points
1. Tom Boonen (B), Quick Step-Innergetic, 256 pts
2. Robert Hunter (RSA), Barloworld, 234
3. Erik Zabel (G), Milram, 232
4. Thor Hushovd (N), Crédit Agricole, 186
5. Sébastien Chavanel (F), Française des Jeux, 181
King Of the Mountains
1. Juan Mauricio Soler Hernandez (Col), Barloworld, 206 pts
2. Alberto Contador (Sp), Discovery Channel, 128
3. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr), Discovery Channel, 104
4. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 92
5. Laurent Lefevre (F), Bouygues Telecom, 85
Best young rider (Under 25), final
1. Alberto Contador (Sp), DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM, 91:00:26
2. Mauricio Soler Hernandez Juan (Col), BARLOWORLD, at 16:51
3. Amets Txurruka (Sp), EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI, at 49:34
4. Bernhard Kohl (A), GEROLSTEINER, at 1:13:27
5. Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr), BARLOWORLD, at 1:15:16
Teams, final
1. DISCOVERY CHANNEL TEAM, 273:12:52
2. CAISSE D'EPARGNE, at 19:36
3. TEAM CSC, at 22:10
4. RABOBANK, at 36:24
5. EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI, at 46:46
