Contador wins Tour de France, Schleck 2nd, Menchov 3rd (LIONEL BONAVENTURE/AFP/Getty Images)

Alberto Contador has won the Tour de France for the third time; Andy Schleck is in 2nd place and Denis Menchov in 3rd. Mark Cavendish sprinted to win the final stage in Paris, making it his 5th stage win in this Tour.

Cavendish wins last stage of Tour de France 2010 (PASCAL PAVANI/AFP/Getty Images)

Cavendish sprints to finish line (PASCAL PAVANI/AFP/Getty Images)

Green jersey: Alessandro Petacchi
Red peas jersey: Anthony Charteau
White jersey: Andy Schleck
Team: Radio Shack

Most significant moments in this year’s Tour:

• Cobblestones stage in Belgium causing many riders to crash including Frank Schleck, Andy’s brother, who broke his collarbone and had to leave the Tour.
• Disqualification of Mark Renshaw who was caught on camera headbutting Julian Dean at the finish of stage 11 (Mark is Cavendish’s teammate and the one who had been protecting him at the end of each sprint). However, it did not matter in the end. Cav won just about every sprint after that including the final in Paris.
• The chain that caused Andy Schleck to lose the Tour: Andy’s chain fell off in stage 15 as he was attacking up the mountain. Contador saw Schleck in trouble and counterattacked and that was more or less the end of Andy Schleck’s chance to win the Tour.
• End of Lance Armstrong’s TdF adventures: Armstrong announced this is his last Tour. After crashing several times and finishing in the middle of the peloton, it’s time to hang up the bike.

Disappointments of this year’s Tour:

• Why is it Cav wins the sprints and he does not get the green jersey?
• How can a guy like Contador not win a single stage and still win the Tour?
• Why, after a very exciting start, did the Tour become boring in the middle and final stages, except for the Andy-Alberto battle? There weren’t enough attacks, the riders seemed to be kicking back too much.

Andy Schleck congratulates Alberto Contador (Photo by Bryn Lennon/Getty Images)

Tour de France peloton rides into Paris (JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)

The peloton rides towards the Arc de Triomphe (JOEL SAGET/AFP/Getty Images)

See great Tour de France 2010 last stage photos:
http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/gallery

General classement Stage 15 Tour de France 2010

Luck plays a huge role in winning the Tour de France and Andy Schleck’s bad luck may determine the winner. Today, as Andy Schleck (yellow jersey holder as of the start of this stage) was making his way almost at the summit of the Port de Balès suddenly his chain came off. What horrible timing! Contador was right behind him. Seeing Schleck in mechanical trouble, Contador just took off and naturally, finished ahead of him, taking the yellow jersey. Now, Schleck is 8 seconds behind Contador in the general classement. There are still two stages in the Pyrenees so the race is not yet over. Debate is raging as to whether he should or should not have waited for Schleck. However, when Schleck did get his chain back on, he attacked like a madman, showing what an amazing rider he is.

Thomas Voeckler (BTL) won this stage 15; Alessandro Ballan came in second.

If you read UK and US blogs and commentaries, you’d think most people find the disqualification of Mark Renshaw (head-butting Julian Dean at the stage 11 sprint of the Tour de France 2010 – see video below) to be excessive and unfair. But that’s not the case.

I’ve been reading the comments submitted by readers on Dutch and German cycling websites, and the vast majority agree with the Tour de France’s decision to expel Renshaw. The French and the Belgians, however, are divided on the issue.

Mark Cavendish wins stage 11 of Tour de France 2010 (photo: Reuters)

Another victorious stage for Cavendish and it wasn’t even close. In a post-race interview, Cavendish remarked: “It was really more like a breakaway than a sprint, at least for me.” Cavendish has won 3 stages in this year’s Tour de France, making it his 13th Tour de France win (beating the record of Erik Zabel, his coach at HTC Columbia). Andy Schleck keeps the maillot jaune. Alessandro Petacchi surprisingly takes the green jersey (from Thor Hushovd).

UPDATE: Oh no, Mark Renshaw, who has been crucial in protecting Cavendish and getting him in the right spot to finish first, has been kicked out of the Tour for head-butting Julian Dean in the final seconds of the race, so as not to allow Dean to get his teammate, Tyler Farrar, in position. This is a very unfair decision, in my view, absolutely excessive. Remember only a few days ago, two riders – Barredo and Costa – were beating up one another after the race. They got away with fines.

Notes about this stage from Sisteron to Bourg-Les-Valence: The scenery changes from Alpine to Mediterranean, from lush steep mountainsides to dry, shrubby plains and valleys, with craggy hillsides topped by ruins of  fortified batiments and towers. The peloton rode past endless fields of lavender and sunflowers. The area is north of Avignon and the Luberon.