Contador's Tour de France win caps off banner summer of sports for Spain
Alberto Contador's Tour de France win – with only a 39-second lead over rival Andy Schleck, who finished second – is the latest triumph in an amazing summer of sports for Spain.
Alberto Contador of Spain, wearing the overall leader's yellow jersey, gestures to indicate his impending 3rd Tour de France victory, before the 20th and last stage of the Tour de France. The win caps off a strong summer for Spanish sports.
Bas Czerwinski/AP
Paris
It's another day of celebration for Spain after Alberto Contador wrapped up his third Tour de France title in four years.
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Mr. Contador's Tour de France win – with only a 39-second lead over rival Andy Schleck of Luxembourg, who finished second – capped a banner summer of sports for Spain. Spain’s soccer team won the World Cup in South Africa, tennis star Rafael Nadal took this year’s French Open and Wimbledon trophies, and Spain's top basketball player, Pau Gasol, played a pivotal role in lifting the Los Angeles Lakers to an NBA championship.
“[Our] sports are in great health across the board,” Contador said yesterday. “We’re feeling good.”
IN PICTURES: Scenes from the Tour de France
Feeling good, indeed.
Throughout Stage 20, won in a sprint by Briton Mark Cavendish, Contador was fêted by fans and colleagues.
He bantered with fellow riders, including Schleck, enjoyed a glass of champagne, and soaked up the roadside atmosphere as the peloton rolled along the 63.7-mile stage towards the Champs-Élysées.
After the race, he put on the winner's yellow jersey atop the podium and smiled widely.
“I'm very happy,” he said. “I've had difficult days from a psychological and a physical point of view.”
A controversial breakaway
The 2,263-mile Tour de France started in Rotterdam on July 3 and weaved its way through Belgium and the French Alps before arriving in the Pyrénées for the final week.
