The 2010 Tour de France results were made official yesterday. One of the 2010 Tour de France results was expected, although the results were formed differently than expected. Last year, Alberto Contador took control against Lance Armstrong late, and was not challenged for the final week. This time, Andy Schleck offered a deeper run against him, and could have held him off if not for a break or two. Given the way the 2010 Tour de France results were formed, it made this year’s race quite a heated one.
This time, the event was not overshadowed by doping or Lance Armstrong, although Floyd Landis did his part to change that. Doping talk around this year’s competition was at a minimum, despite one rider being banned early. In fact, fighting and brawls made a fair share of headlines this time around.
The 2010 Tour de France results came after three weeks of clashes, early crashes, and even sheep blocking the route. With these kinds of altercations, and some rough routes in the opening stage, it took a few people out early. One of them was Armstrong, who conceded his final Tour very quickly.
After that happened, the 2010 Tour de France results came down to Alberto Contador vs. Andy Schleck. They were in the top two for the final two weeks, with Schleck up in week two. Everyone waited for Contador to blow him away at the Pyrenees, like last year, but it came with a lot of controversy in this case.
Since Contador passed Schleck last Monday while Schleck’s chain was malfunctioning, it violated an unwritten rule in cycling. But, by doing so, it ensured that the 2010 Tour de France results would favor Contador for a third time. He out-dueled Schleck by 39 seconds in Stage 15 – and that was his overall margin of victory, making it more debatable.
By Saturday, it was clear that the yellow jersey was Contador’s. In addition, the mountain jersey was already locked up by Anthony Charteau. The last of the 2010 Tour de France results to be settled on Sunday was the green jersey, fought over by Alessandro Petacchi, Thor Hushovd, and Mark Cavendish.
Stage 20 gave Cavendish his fifth stage-win of the Tour, and his second in a row at the Champs Elysees. However, Cavendish put himself in a big hole early, and had too big of a deficit to make up against Petacchi. As such, Cavendish finished 11 points back, despite winning the most amount of stages.
The 2010 Tour de France results were weird like that in many ways. With a questionable pass deciding things, a seven-time champion going out meekly, and a race actually in doubt in the final days, this was an unusual Tour indeed.
Sources
Yahoo Sport- “Overall Time Standings: Stage 20”
Christian Science Monitor- “Tour de France 2010 delivers drama – without the doping”
The Independent- “Cavendish fails to go green despite glorious final day sprint
