Contador wins Tour de France

PARIS -- Lance Armstrong's children were dressed in yellow. He was not.

When the seven-time Tour de France champion returned to the Tour podium Sunday, his family was there. His fans were there. And so was rival and teammate Alberto Contador -- wearing the coveted and hard-won yellow jersey.

Four years after his seventh Tour win, Armstrong capped his return with an impressive third-place finish. He had his whole clan on hand -- son Luke, twin girls Grace and Isabelle, his mom, Linda, and his girlfriend Anna Hansen, with their baby Max.

They were among the massive crowd that poured onto Paris' most famous avenue for the finish -- Norwegians in Viking helmets, flag-waving Britons and an American in a stars-and-stripes top hat among them.

Contador cruised down the Champs-Elysees to win the Tour for a second time Sunday after 2,141 miles over three weeks of racing. He repelled many challenges in the mountains, excelled in the two time-trials -- winning a pivotal race against the clock in the 18th stage -- and won the first Alpine stage.

Andy Schleck of Luxembourg, wearing the best young rider's white jersey, second overall, Tour de France winner Alberto Contador of Spain, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, and third overall American seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong, left to right, react on the podium after the 21st stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 164 kilometers (101.9 miles) with start in Montereau-Fault-Yonne and finish in Paris, France, Sunday July 26, 2009. (AP Photo/Bernard Papon, Pool)

Andy Schleck of Luxembourg, Contador's toughest rival in the mountains, was second overall.

Contador's biggest battle, however, was against his own Astana team.

"It has been an especially difficult Tour for me, but I savor it and it is more special because of it," he said.

The body language on the winner's podium said it all.

As the 37-year-old Armstrong climbed onto the stage, he gave a perfunctory handshake to his teammate Contador, then heartily grabbed Schleck's hand with both hands.

Asked on French TV what the hardest moment in this race, Contador replied: "It was in the [team] hotel," without elaborating.

Only 26 years old, Contador already is one of cycling's greats, having won all three Grand Tours of France, Italy and Spain.

Armstrong's comeback after 3 1/2 years of retirement raised questions about who would lead Astana during cycling's most prestigious race. And those questions remained through much of the Tour as tensions mounted over who was the No. 1 rider.

"We are totally incompatible," Contador said. "In the end, Armstrong will go his way, and I'll go mine."

On Sunday, they were both headed for Paris and the winner's podium.

"I'm realistic, I did everything I could," Armstrong said. "For me, and even more for my kids, it's probably a healthy thing for them to see, because they saw their dad that never lost, and the kids in their class [say] 'your dad never loses,' so it's good for them to see dad get third and still be cool with that and still be happy."

By the end of the race, Armstrong, who admitted his form wasn't the best, was talking less of squabbling within Astana and more about Contador's greatness as a rider.

Despite the team tensions, Contador said he enjoyed this victory more than in 2007. Four days from the finish that year, then race leader Michael Rasmussen of Denmark was sent home for lying about his whereabouts during pre-Tour doping controls.

"In the key stages of this Tour, I found myself feeling more at ease than I did in 2007. But in situations outside of racing, I didn't feel so comfortable," Contador told Spanish broadcaster TVE.

After Oscar Pereiro's victory in 2006 and Carlos Sastre's in 2008, the Tour has been won by a Spaniard for four straight years.

Contador, who had to sit out last year because Astana was banned, finished in 85 hours, 48 minutes, 35 seconds. The race looped from Monaco, across the Mediterranean rim into Spain, up the Pyrenees, diagonally across central and northeastern France to the Alps, and then down to Saturday's race climax on the dreaded Mont Ventoux in southeast France before the Paris finish.

Schleck was 4:11 seconds behind. Armstrong was 5:24 back.

Armstrong is the second-oldest rider to reach the Tour podium. Raymond Poulidor of France was 40 he placed third in 1976.

After three straight Tours decided by less than a minute between first and second place, Contador's margin of victory was the largest since Armstrong collected his last title in 2005.

The 24-year-old Schleck won the white jersey awarded to the Tour's best young rider. Franco Pellizotti of Italy picked up the polka-dot jersey given to the race's King of the Mountains. And Thor Hushovd of Norway beat the 24-year-old Briton rider Mark Cavendish for the green jersey given to the Tour's best Tour sprinter.

Cavendish collected his sixth stage win of this year's Tour in a sprint after the 101.9-mile course ride from Montereau-Fault-Yonne to the Champs-Elysees to become the first rider to win six Tour stages in a sprint.

He made it look easy, winning by several bike lengths in the last mad dash, trailed in second by his own lead-out man on the Columbia team, Mark Renshaw. Tyler Farrar of the United States was third.

"For sure, winning on the Champs-Elysees is a dream for every single sprinter -- to see the Arc de Triomphe in the distance," Cavendish said.

"I can't go home from this Tour being disappointed."

Neither did Contador.