gear

Congratulations due to both Cadel and Andy as they accomplished their goals.

Cadel won the TDF and Andy beat Contador.

They can sleep well tonight.

OrionKhan

Actually, I think Andy's main goal was to win the TdF, not just beat Contador. His whole team is built around and was dedicated to winning the TdF. He even said earlier in this very Tour that Contador was no longer the main rival and that there was no excuse for him not winning. I don't think he will sleep well tonight at all.

JoelS

Andy seemed to be racing against Contador on every mountain stage. He marked Contador as much as he could. Even so far as to wanting Evans to help pull him back up on the Alpe. Andy didn't look to me like he was racing for the win either, but against Contador.

To be fair, I'm not sure if he even realized it.

europa

Congratulations Cadell. Finally, a tour went right for him, even if he did have to change a bike on the Alp D'Huez stage while the Schlecks and Contador attacked (damned unlucky timing, but luck's a part of the game too, the others had their fair share of bad luck). He proved to be the better all round rider this year, which is what the TdF is all about. Contador wasn't quite strong enough for once (and I won't speculate on the reasons) and the Schlecks showed why you need to be more than a climber to win (as if Contador and Armstrong hadn't already shown them that).

K.Katso

Cadel outright spanked the Schlecks today. Congratulations to him on a well-deserved win. As much as I like watching the Schlecks on those mountain stages, I think best man truly won today.

Hopefully for Andy and Frank, they have some TT training planned for the off season.

OrionKhan

It's been pretty much the same old story for the past two TdFs and this was what they came up with.

NathanL

He said that but in a lot of ways his actions even late into the race this year suggested he was shadowing Contador even when he was out of contention. Yesterday when he got off the bike and said he couldn't understand why Cadel wouldn't help him catch Contador said a lot of what he was actually thinking. I'm not saying he didn't want to win the TDF, he just got ate up in beating Contador and while he did that wasn't his biggest competition.

bkrownd

Uh, Isn't there still one more day left in the race?

What a strange sport...

dstrong 

In case you're not kidding...the final day is largely ceremonial...with the only racing in Paris for the final sprint. Nobody's time will change tomorrow.

nafun

If you won't speculate on the reasons Contador wasn't strong enough, i will. Here are the top 3:
1) he won the giro
2) He Won The Giro
3) HE WON THE GIRO

Seriously. When was the last time someone won the Giro and the Tour in the same season? When was the last time someone even tried? Everyone knew it was a long shot.

daveF

Maybe the top 3 reasons were:

1) Crash #4 (or whatever # the last one was 4 or 5)
2) Crash #1
3) The various other crashes

He came kind of close to falling off the starting ramp today.

Seriously, I think the multitude of crashes were due to fatigue from the Giro. If not, it doesn't bode well for future performances.

Laggard

Um, spoiler alert? There's still one stage left an now I know there was a winner already/

JoelS

GC won't change tomorrow. The yellow jersey will remain on the shoulders of the man who won it today. Tomorrow's stage is a sprint, there is a possibility of the green jersey changing shoulders, but that's about it.

kenji666

What will really make you wonder is if they could beat Contador if he had not crashed so many times? He lost a lot of time on those initial crashes, but he appeared to be pretty strong in the mountains. Let the Monday morning quarterbacking begin.

prettyshady

+1

I don't think he thought he was going to ride in the TDF with the beef thing from 2010, so he probally set his season up for the giro

I love the fact that he tried, he won my respect for his efforts in the last week.

sykerocker 

For years now, the last stage has been more ceremonial than anything. The layout guarantees it. Even if Saxo Bank decided to try a last ditch kamikaze run to pull back the time, there's no way BMC would allow it to happen, and there's no mountains to break up the peloton. If there's going to be any drama tomorrow, it's going to be whether somebody can stop Cavendish.

More than congratulations, I'd like to say "Thank You" to the riders. This has been the most memorable Tour I've ever watched.

1. Thor in yellow as leadout to Tyler Farrar. That picture is going to be wallpaper for me for quite a while.
2. Voeckler. Period. What more can be said? More than anybody, he's going to be my memory of the Tour.
3. Hoogerland. Guts on a level that I'll never be able to match.
4. A gut feeling that I'm not going to have to hold my breath regarding doping accusations two weeks from now.
5. Cadel - you finally lived up to your reputation. Nice job.

Laggard

Yes I know. Next time I will use a sarcasm alert.

bikeride

Congratulations to Evans.

cptsilver

+1 What a great Tour for us on the couch!

Mithrandir

Last stage is flat and short, and traditionally ceremonial. Even if AS attacked it is very unlikely that he'd gain 1:34 to catch Evans. Evans can just follow him and draft while he does all the hard work. It's not going to happen.

Hambonio

ftfy

DiabloScott

Pantani - a name synonymous with clean riding.
And it was the 1998 Tour, with all the Festina festivities.

Shadco 

AC moved up more than a notch in my estimation (not that that really matters) when he gave his interview after stage 19. He didn't have to and he certainly didn't have to try to answer in english. He showed class by standing up and not heading for the bus immediately.

bkrownd

So, if the difference was 2 seconds...would the last day be a mad elbow-jousting race for the win?

Kind of Blued

It's a sprint finish, so it will always "be a mad elbow-jousting race for the win", despite the GC standings.