Alberto Contador Wins the 2009 Tour de France

The 2009 Tour de France is over. Alberto Contador has won. Andy Schleck was second. Lance Armstrong was third. Nothing else matters.

No matter what you think, two Tour de France champions on the same team leads to disaster. Greg LeMond and Bernard Hinault were teammates. Hinault won a Tour and LeMond won a Tour. Greg LeMond claims that he could have won both Tours. The amimosity between Greg LeMond and Bernard Hinault are the stuff of legend. Those who refuse to learn from historical precedent are doomed to folly. Thus Team Astana during the 2009 Tour de France.

Nevertheless, could Lance Armstrong ever beat Alberto Contador in a Tour de France on the same team? Probably not, given the age disparities. Lance Armstrong is thirty eight, Alberto Contador is twenty six. Nevertheless, the Team Astana experiment with two Tour de France winners is over. Lance Armstrong and Johan Bruyneel are off to Team Nabisco for the 2010 Tour de France. Alberto Contador is expected to stay with a newly reformulated Team Astana, consisting of mainly Spanish support riders.

Then shall we see who is the best rider, Alberto Contador or Lance Armstrong? Shall we see if the rider is more important or if total team strategy, effort, and strength is more important? What is most important the strongest rider or the strongest team?

Good questions that will be pondered next year perhaps. But for now Alberto Contador can bask in his glory as Tour winner. Lance Armstrong made the podium, in third place, at thirty eight years of age. 2009 was a vintage year for the Tour de France.

Sour Grapes

There are those who think that Lance Armstrong is the sort of man who demands total obeisance from his teammates. They cite Roberto Heras, Floyd Landis, George Hincapie, loyal lieutenants who sacrificed their legs so that Lance Armstrong could chalk up seven successive Tour de France wins. Some people think that Lance Armstrong expected Alberto Contador to work as a team domestic to ensure that Lance Armstrong would win an eighth Tour de France.

At the start of the 2009 Tour de France a pissing contest emerged over who would be alpha dog of Team Astana. Lance Armstrong had the best time at 0:00 behind Fabian Cancallara after the Team Time Trial. But, Alberto Contador was not far behind Lance Armstrong and the mountain stages were to come where the true classification would be sorted out.

Stage 17 decided the 2009 Tour de France when Alberto Contador attacked Andy and Frank Schleck. Unfortunately, for Team Astana, both Andreaus Kloden and Lance Armstrong were dropped. This attack by Alberto Contador was a questionable tactic if the goal of Team Astana was to place three riders on the final podium. If Alberto Contador would have shown more restraint, it is arguable that both Lance Armstrong and Andreaus Kloden could have made the final podium.

Nevertheless, the Stage 17 attack did establish Alberto Contador as the alpha dog of Team Astana, and Lance Armstrong did recognize this fact. Lance Armstrong did work for Alberto Contador by forcing Bradely Wiggins to eat wind and pull. The main goal of Stage 17 was to drop Bradely Wiggins from contention, even Andy and Frank Schleck admitted this fact.

But Alberto Contador barely acknowledged the role of Lance Armstrong in helping him win the 2009 Tour de France. In fact, Alberto Contador stated several times that he could have won the Tour without any help from Lance Armstrong.

Meanwhile, Lance Armstrong was saying he did not mind being a team player. "I have seven Tour de France wins, I am proud of Alberto Contador."

But some people will always question the sincerity of Lance Armstrong, no matter what.

After the Stage 17 attack Alberto Contador established himself as the unquestioned 2009 Tour de France champion. The time gaps on General Classification between Alberto Contador and his main rivals continued to widen. Alberto Contador should be very proud of his achievement.


Until the doping tests result in a positive for PEDs?