Contador secures yellow jersey in penultimate Tour stage
Contador finishes Stage 19 time trial.
For three weeks, they raced nearly 2200 miles neck and neck. On Saturday, Alberto Contador sealed the deal in the 32-mile time trial, beating Andy Schleck by 27 seconds, making Contador the Tour de France champion for the third year in a row.
Cancellara wins time trial.
World time trial champion Fabian Cancellara, the man they call Spartacus, won the time trial from Bordeaux to Pauillac in a time of one hour, 56 seconds, beating Tony Martin by 17 seconds. Cancellara also won the Tour prologue ahead of Martin in Rotterdam three weeks ago.
Schleck finishes time trial.
It was an amazing fight to the finish for Schleck, who at the start of the day was only eight seconds behind Contador in the overall standings. At the halfway point in the time trial, Schleck had an advantage over Contador, but the Luxembourger faded in the later part of the race. In the end, Contador proved he was the slightly better time trialist. Contador will end this Tour only 39 seconds ahead of Schleck.
Contador will be on the top of the podium when the Tour de France ends on Sunday in Paris. Schleck will be in second place for a second year in a row. Russian Denis Menchov will be third.
