Stage 18 – 20 of the 2007 Tour de France
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Well we’re only a couple days away from Paris hot sun again now as the Riders cover another near 6 hours in the saddle as the tour to France approaches its final weekend today they’ll pass to the beautiful Department of the lot the Doon and they finish in the shant and they’ll
See some great scenery where is sure to be another tough day in the toour the France well let’s have a look back at the St today in C all the lead Jersey the poad up worn by solar of Columbia the white jersey being worn today by amage cheruka it’s on loan from the
Yellow Jersey Alberto contador that’s first day in yellow for him there’s the green jersey in the hot seat of Tom bonen out on the highway after 15 kilm little Breakaway trying to get clear this is frederique willims being chased by joh Pino and Sandy casar they just
Got away from the pelaton three2 and one points over the top of the Cod salvu onto the second climb Breakaway being established now with levra going in ahead of Bogart and kasar almost to climb number three which is the code to Sam martiel and the breakaway have been joined by Axel MKS
After a long Jak of vills had gone missing because of a collision with the dog and note the short here the ran white uh because he’s got half of them missing that’s Sandy casar well as we join the live pictures now I can tell you this Breakaway is
Shot up nobody’s chasing it and there is to Door being escorted by team Discovery Channel and the Gap now is in excess of 14 minutes which has moved Bogard up by almost half of his overnight deficit and it’s moved him up if we’ to stopped the race right now Michael Bogard would have
Actually climbed up into ninth position in the overall classification which makes me think maybe one or two Riders are going to chase a little bit later on great racing conditions on the course this afternoon 81° fah really sunny throughout the latter part of the afternoon not much of a Bree
Theoretically it should be the day for the sprinters however with that Breakaway 14 minutes in front they’re going to really have to do a serious Chase running down towards the end and we’ve got watches on there heart rates on kristofh rello Carl strum Peter Rish Garcia aosta Marcus bartter the boys
Wearing our pulsometer today we’ll have a look how the Cs continue but really it’s a pretty routine bridging stage now the Breakaway is gone this is what cadell Evans wanted was a breakaway to get clear the pressure to turn off in the bunch because he’s trying to save as
Much strength as he can for tomorrow but as you can see despite all of the controversy of the tour to France the crowd will refuse to turn its back on this race they’re applauding the Riders all of the way yes of course we all want
A clean tour but this race has lost none of its spectacle no it hasn’t the people will turn out anyway because although we know there’s a great battle going on against the the problem of doping in not just this sport field but every sport in
In the world the crowd know that the Tor of France is a spectacle and they know now they’re looking at a bunch of guys who pretty much made it right around the hexing of France these guys we’re looking at here they can almost see up the road and what they’re looking for is
The Eiffel Tower and that’s where they want to get to on Sunday well there start 189 we got 141 heading for the final weekend two of the teams still intact Tom bonan quickstep team and G Steiner as well so German team and the Belgian team feeding time in the zoo
Today as we just passed through the feeding station here this is in Zak in the peror region of France and uh no big action here they’ll have to react I think in the end to the attack by Michael bogot he was determined to get into a breakaway today
Moral in the team as you can understand after yesterday when they stopped uh the yellow Jersey from continuing in Michael rson was rock bottom and halfway along the road Denny menof abandoned the race the rest finished there are six r Bank ride is still in the race and apparently
At breakfast time this morning the morale had returned and it looks as though Michael Bogart riding his last tour to France is making a big day out it’s important for him I think to go out with a Fanfare but at the moment we’re looking at the main field being almost a
Quarter of an hour in AAR for that Breakaway to succeed it depends on how the tactics are in the main field and if the teams of the sprinters decide they want to have a crack at the victory today if for example Tom bonan wants to try and get the Victory he’s going to
Have to send up quick step in the latter part of the race cuz still for the moment 14 minutes is not unassailable attentive he waited to see if anybody else was actually going to make the move and as soon as he saw that lfra was making the move he backed off casar is
Actually conserving a little bit of energy over these last couple of kilometers he’s never really had to kick he’s saving the only kick that he’s got for the final 500 M now Merks goes well this is the way you’re going to hit hit and hit until somebody calls it right Ms
Looks over leev is very very observant but that’s fainted leev thought he’d answered him and Ms kicked again now he’s got to close the gap but you know I’d really like Axel Ms to win this at 3 kilometers to go though it is still four men the one man who’s hoping to survive
He will try and follow all the moves is 161 in the white jersey at the back Sandy casar is battered look at that move that’s the way to go he’s taken the inside they all never saw him go that is a great move by Sandy kasar he’s got to
Take his chance there he’s got to give it a go and look at that by the man who is injured well he was injured but he had a beautiful move he got the surprise that’s the only way to get the Gap now they’re going to make Michael Boger do
All of the pacemaking to try and pull it back lra right onto his wheel axel M look at his body now rocking around on the top of his saddle Sandy casar May well have broken his duck here this afternoon never won a stage of the T France he’s been second three times he’s
Two and a half kilometers to go and he’s hit them really hard well I don’t think they were expecting that from casar and he got them at the right time he used that obstruction in the road to take the shorter way round Bogart will be fuming
Here he’s going to try and put matters to right he’s gone again he’s realized at 2 kilm to go and a slight uphill finish casar has got a jet motor on here he is absolutely flying but Michael Bogard has got the bit between his teeth he’s not giving any victories away here
This afternoon he’s had a tough tour to France he’s ridden on the front end of the main Field Mile after Mile in the mountains now in the final kilometers here he’s looking to try and nail back Sandy casar he’s almost into the wheel of the Frenchman he will not give up
Until he gets there neither will the Frenchman give up until he sees that there’s somebody right in his slipstream looks over his should don’t do that when you’re in a baker way like this you must not look back because you lose a little bit of your momentum 1.4 km from the
Line now as they start to race up for the finish here Merks is suffering badly he’s trying to hang on to lafra who in inspired by the fact he is French and that’s a very typical Bogart move stick to your guns and try and Claw this man
Back before the line they are under one kilometer to go there’s absolutely nothing in this casar now has gone underneath the 1,000 me to go but look at Michael bogot he’s finding something deep inside his body Lauren lefer has had the easy ride cuz he’s right on the
Wheel of Bogard Axel Ms though is in the slipstream he’s looking weak he’s looking tired Bogard nice and calm now he feels he’s got himself into the slit stream of the Frenchman he’s checking his gears he knows it’s a slightly uphill finish he knows the explosion to
The line is going to be very important casar gave a big move there Bogard is in the ideal position but watch out for this late burst from Axel Ms he will not give up himself either casar is still in first position Bogard is looking very nervous you can almost feel the
Twitching he’s waiting for the moment to start the Sprint I don’t think he’s going to be denied here this afternoon 300 M to go to the line and now it is the France ride how he’s he how he’s kept that two or 3 meter Advantage this could be Advantage mer or the fbra
Because if you take a look at Bogart he’s not going to start the spin till the last minute and now he’s got to go because Sandy gar thinks they’re not going to catch him if he gets away with this he was the carrot right in front of
Them now they’re ripping for the line now and still Sandy casar he’s trying to go Axel Ms is fading away casar has got a terrific win and they’ve only themselves to blame that was a fabulous finish by Sandy gasar the man who fell off the injured man of the Breakaway is
The stage winner of the tour to France well he did the superb move there he waited he was at the front he always had one or two meters Advantage he waited until the last possible moment because everybody was tied nobody could go for the long Sprint here and his kick gave
Him about five bicycle length o over Michael Boger Michael Boger has never been the great Sprinter Axel m accelerates up through the minute up through the middle there Phil but basically that was just a question of survival second for Merks third leev fourth for Michael Bogard so the man who
Was born in Paris where the tour to France will end in just 48 Hours time as reminded us all that the tour the franch is on occasions for the French a great Victory by sandic cada they just got onto him but he never gave up hope and
He never gave up putting the pressure on and they were confused because none of the three behind wanted to open up that final killing instinct to get on the back of Sandy gai got the win well done well he’s wanted that win for an awful
Long time Phil but that was a great move and it was the uphill finish down towards the end that caught everybody’s by surprise Axel M will have to say thank you for Michael to Michael Bogard for his second place because Bogard was the man who really dug deep to pull this
All back but the Frenchman gets the win there the win that he’s been chasing for many many years it just shows you never give up trying because the way casar did that it was absolutely superb I mean Sandy kasar here he was caught it was all over but
He never slowed down and they couldn’t get bid for it today so we can expect to see those three sprinters break clear of this pack there’s still another round about to go around here before we get into the 1 kilometer to go as I say the time doesn’t really matter over seven
And a half minutes it now passed by at the Finish it’s gar one the day well Tom bonan has 22 points advantage over Robbie hunter in this competition and for fifth place by the way gives you 22 points and that’s why they have to battle it out at this stage right on the
Front there head Stager man is looking for his man Tom boner Robbie Hunter is not very far away and you can see Robbie Hunter locked almost well you can almost see him locked onto the wheel there of Eric zabble zabble right on the wheel of
Tom bonan boan in the green he’s the big man of of the Sprint now they’re launching the Sprint for him look at Julian Dean on the right hand side as well five 400 to go now the last lead out man as Tom bowan is tucked right
Into his stream and in fact Julian Dean has been ritten out of this one now Sebastian chavanel coming on the far right with Robert Foster on his wheel and hush off’s in the center Here Comes Robbie Hunter through the middle a late bid by hun no is he trying to get up
Alongside Tom Bolen the hill Mike favor Hunter as Hunter dicks deep it is bone and on the line over Robbie Hunter a battle of Prestige Congratulations by Hunter I think that will do for Tom Bolan to win the green jersey but the two greatest sprinters of the tour
Finish side by side in fifth and sixth position great Sprint there to the line by Tom bonan ahead of his arch Rivals Robbie Hunter and Eric zarel yes he’s increased his Advantage slightly in that competition fi by a couple of points to Hunter a few more points to Eric zabble
But it’s still a battle that’s going to go right the way down to the Shan Z look at big Tom here that man just looks like sheer power he’s concentrating on the line he’s not even looking to see if there’s going to be any challenge all he’s looking for is that white line
Across the road and at the moment that his wheel crosses it that’s the time when he’ll cross his effort and look to see what damage have I done and he looks back to see the face of cadell Evans well as the spined pack comes in towards the end an average speed for the
Day of 40 km an hour that’s a very high finish tomorrow it is Showdown time with the big time trial the sprinters now can have a backseat tomorrow as they haven’t had today they’ve had to Sprint and the winner of the stage a Frenchman we’ve had two French winners now top Ro here
Riv shiran there is Sandy casar 5 hours 13 minutes today Merks got second they tied him at 1 second leev alongside Michael bogar completing the four breakaways boner coming in at 8 and 1/2 minutes later for the all important green jersey third place Sprint Hunter right behind him ASO top three in the
Sprints they really are the top three sprinters now in this race chavanel in eighth Isel in ninth and to Hush off there in 10th Place 8:34 everybody getting the same time in that big field can me show you some more Robert Foster in 12 even papovich has a go in the
Sprint these days and Evans keeping his nose clean with a fine finish there in 14th Place they’re showing us here at the moment a 3C game by Goodell Evans and we’re not sure why unless they’ve somehow split time the field and that will come out later when we uh have our
Enhanced Prime Time show with Al and Bob cadel Evans in second and leimer in third everybody else pretty much remaining the same Alejandro Val in sixth place Kim kirkin in seventh yis papovich up into eighth place Michael Boger though climbed up today to 13th with his long break at the end of this
At the end of the tour to France what a great way to finish uh your your one of your last stages can you tell us what was going through your mind those final few kilometers thinking this is your your last to to France to be honest I uh
I I don’t know how long we were in a break for but it was just pure enjoyment I think it I knew it was the last time and I was so happy that I could give something uh to the people on the side of the road that uh supported me all
Year long and uh it was just uh just a hard day you know but uh I’m glad that I I was there and I I got lots of people cheer me and supporting me all year long and congratulations Axel in emotional time there for Axel
Merks and um let’s go down to the podium and as we’re watching here the presentation to Sandy casar we are hearing the referees have split time that bunch and contador has conceded 3 seconds in the Sprint now that’s a sign of inexperience but there’s the winner today Paul Sandy
Kasa in the tour to France the St town of KAC The Finnish town is on gulm by the end of the day we should know who will go to Paris in the final yellow Jersey of this year’s controversial TOA France well the charant is ready cognac
Is famous for its art and its history we certainly going to see some history today this is the Finishing Line the one where Sandy kasar yesterday brought this race into town but this is the important day of the whole tour right now hi everybody and Good Morning America Phil
With Paul showing Paul it’s all about three men it is it really is a it has been a very unpredictable tour since the start and today again I have to say it’s impossible to predict who is going to run out of the end of this day in the
Yellow Jersey it is so close between Alberto contador cadel Evans and even Levi leimer well it doesn’t happen a lot but the time trial over the last years of its long history has played a big part in the toil of front and let’s begin with one or two memorable flashbacks
Well I remember 1989 it was the big duel between Greg lemond and lauron feno on the final day the outcome was going to be decided on the Shan on this occasion I got it completely and utterly wrong because Fon started with a 50c advantage over Greg lemon in theory that was
Impossible yes when Fon finished he fell to the ground he had lost the tour to France in the time trial by 8 seconds but there’s always a winner and it was Greg lemon then what about Yan olrick in 2003 well in 2003 was probably the worst ever year when Lance Armstrong was
Looking to win the Tour to France he was going into the 19th stage time trial with a minute and 4 seconds over rri but then disaster for rck when he went into a wet roundabout and he crashed to the ground well that was a horrible day on the road tonight there and Armstrong
Knew that R had fallen so he knew he’d won the Tour to France in the time trial out there west of the country well what can we expect now from Young Alberto contador he leads in the hot seat in yellow pole 24 years of age it’s his
Chance it’s his huge chance he’s got big pressure on his shoulders but he’s also got the yellow Jersey on his shoulders and very probably Lance Armstrong in the car following him and I’m sure that is going to be a big boost to his morale we
Have seen a ripper of a time trial the fourth fastest in the history of the tour to France at 53.1 kilm an hour it’s been won by Levi leimer who almost gave Discovery a onew in the classification was on well the situation is that contador re has been
Revived Because by the fact he had the yellow Jersey on he has now kept his yellow Jersey but we are faced with a situation of a spread of only 31 seconds at top at top the three overall this was the man who set the CH at every point he
Left the blocks full of determination and fired up he was really aiming to beat the man at the who was ahead of him cadell Evans he set out with that in mind he was already up at cadel when he set the first check at 17 A2 kilm by the
Time he got down to the Finish he was way ahead of everybody else who’d finished before him at 53.1 km an hour so he’s now doing the time equal to Lance Armstrong and Miguel injured ey so it’s been a day for Levi Li pimer Honda ATV stage results here here as
Liim 1244 51 seconds better than Evans 156 ahead of Vladimir carage important though that Alberto contador weighs about 60 kilos managed to get round this race with the fifth best time in 2 minutes and 18 seconds a climber who can also time trial and that’s why he’s
Still the yellow jersey in the tour to France the time trial champion of Spain finished in sixth place Hy pulled out a great ride today Discovery Channel doing well to keep the lead and increase today in the team Race uh because George backs up as third counter Pereira is in there
And also of course papovich I forgotten about him he also did a great ride top 10 completed by Miku aosa and Stephan schumacker who was the early leader at the checks faded away eventually finished in 15th Place the world time trial champion kelara in 12th well it was a remarkable day all around
But watch out for cadel Evans he knew he had to do the ride of his life he left for a minute and 50 seconds over the rider who would start behind him he almost got it in fact he closed in in the end to just uh 23 seconds behind him
He he actually took down 1 minute 27 seconds on what was a great ride he had to pull out something special because in the last 5 kilometers Levi leimer was only looking for 8 seconds to go over him in the overall classification I don’t know where cadell found it from
But in that last couple of kilometers he destroyed himself to lose no time and in fact go a second quicker than leimer over those last 5 kilomet so he saved his second place what a day as we go down now to see the stage winner well there he is Paul fully
Deserve it not just by the fact he’s done such a great time trial but by the fact he is now a stage winner for Discovery challenge you know he’s he spent his whole tour he’s never complained about the fact he started his team leader he’s pushed out by this young kid he’s helped
Him put him where he is and he still does a ride like that well the only impressive thing as well is he helped with Alberto contador to try and dislodge Michael rasmason on the big stage that went up to the summit of the C bis so Not only was he a team worker
And a team helper throughout the race this was his goal before the start of the tour is it enough cadell Evans at 23 seconds Levi leimer at 31 between the three of them there’s never been a Podium like that ever we’ve had 8 seconds for Greg Londo Vino we’ve had 38
Seconds for Steven roach over Perico delgardo but we’ve never had three Riders covered by 31 in the history of the tour to France we then go out to 7 minutes and 8 seconds to Callos sastra zubeldia in fifth further down in fact all of these riders for the first eight
Kept their places with out of ninth when Soler the king of the mountains in came aosa and up completing the top 10 there was um periro now back to the podium there he is this time he can smile he’s looking back at 23 seconds but there won’t be a
Great opportunity tomorrow we should remind ourselves two time bonuses on the road of six seconds each 20 seconds for the man that wins the stage theoretically it is possible for him to lose the tour to France the may have been doubt at time but we are now home Paris is on the
Horizon the ride is starting just 30 km away from the Eiffel Tower and they’ll be taking the long way home today all 141 of them Paris is on fet as the French say everybody is here now to welcome the arrival of the 94th tour to France you’re looking there at some of
The most famous cobblestones in the world right here on the most famous Road in Europe hello everyone yes sadly Welcome to our final live coverage here on verses of this 94 to the France I’m Phil lier this is Paul sharing we have seen despite all the controversy I feel Paul
A great event a phenomenal event how many times can you think that the time trial is looking to decide the top three positions in the total front yes we’ve seen in the past a battle between top the top two places but yesterday it looked as if it was all going to change
In the last 5 kilometers that on the final day there is not normally a battle but there are time bonuses available on the Shan there 6 4 and two time bonus seconds and at chatan malab at 74 km there are time bonuses available there too and of course let’s not forget that
On the Finish Line 20 12 and 8sec time bonuses available for the first three men to cross the line so those bonuses might prove particularly important today we’ll see if they decide to go for them Evans is the man who needs the most and there are all the winners of the principal Jersey
Well let’s correct that the leaders of the principal competition at the moment they’ve come to the front at the start here in marusi this was moment ago by the way as the Riders started their roll out heading now to the end of what we’ve always called the neutralized section
Before the flag goes in the champion of France in the tricka Jersey he represents France Kristoff Morrow he’s been very disappointing he was amongst the favorites in the first week and he fell away yeah well certainly the Riders I think will move away fairly slowly in
The first part of the race it was actually raining at the finish in the early part of the morning the temperature today 64° fah there have been a number of shallow Shadows showers but on the Finish Line at the moment the weather is dry and we’re hoping that
That will dry up down towards the end and uh it is starting to dry out those hallowed cobblestones on the Sha well as we look down now what we’re going to see is a lot of these shots with the crowd lining the route here saluting Alberto contador he might be
Put under pressure he doesn’t know he doesn’t think so Jud you by these pictures thumbs up to French television room to smile now I guess after the way he’s ridden to the Pyrenees in particular well he’s completely and utterly decked out in yellow here this afternoon even his bicycle is yellow I
Must admit Phil I think that he’s still a little bit worried about the fact that his Advantage is only 23 seconds over cadell Evans 31 seconds over his own teammate Levi leimer and that’s the amount of time that if he has a mechanical incident on the last lap on
The Sha there’s a a big problem there well Paul the 189 who started in London for one reason or another in the first week it was all broken bones I’m afraid only 141 are reaching the Finish that’s about right for the dropout rate 48 Riders have gone but two teams giner
From Germany and Tom bonin’s quickstep team are bringing all their Riders home which is terrifically impressive and for Tom bowan of course could be a huge advantage in the final Sprint today well I wonder if at the front end of the race the yellow Jersey and of course the men
Who finished second and third overall start to analyze their races tonight Phil because Levi leimer lost 10 seconds because he was given a Time penalty on one of the Alpine stages when he was uh slipstreaming behind the car after his accident to get back into the race that
10sec time penalty would have put him up into second place or Wilk could elans wonder about the 55 seconds that he lost on the stage down into lonel he would have been a one minute leader in the to of France this afternoon I hope they all think and remember that they’ve given
Their best and it all went down to a magnificent battle yesterday on the road between conac and angu well I guess when you look back from your the comfort of your own home in a week of time or so you’re going to say now how did I lose
The tour the laws you places when you could have picked up time where you threw it away where you weren’t paying attention where you chased the wrong Rider down and let’s face it rasmon caused a lot of confusion for nine days as race leader cadel Evans in particular
Spent a lot of wasted energy trying to contain him and then he’s sent home by team time I can tell you though that the Riders have just been caught uncan so almost as Lance predicted in sight of the last lap they’re now all together as they race towards the final last quarter
Lap of the tour to France it’s Lampe trying to control at the front everybody is in the pack now the yellow Jersey going around the corner of Alberto contador and George hppy behind as the r guard making sure he just keeps out of trouble as he heads towards the victory
In the tour to France and now as they disappear under the rudo onto the come out here on the rud TI swinging down to the left as we’re now seeing them line up here for the finishing line here down the side the flags of Norway flying Paul
The flags of to Hof indeed this might be a big finish for him now but they’re trying to lead out Daniela bonarti this is going to be all of the sprinters together well right there in second position Julian d i cannot see the position of to Hof to for at all I can
See moving up there Yaris laav popovic looking pretty good A couple of riders from quickstep Toman moving up the main field now into a roundabout eighth position on the Shan zier that’s not bad he’s right on the wheel of Robbie Hunter he is indeed he’s trying to get over the
Top of Robbie Hunter here now and Robbie Hunter and Tom bowan are about sixth or seventh as they come across the pace plaster the Concord now when they turn up for the Finish it’s about 250 m to the line the sprinters are remember bonan has won here before but this one
Is special he needs the points the teammates are swinging off now as they head on to the front of the now they can see the Finish watch for the green jersey of Robbie Hunter cador also this is the big lead out now bti sitting awaiting Hush off the third whe Z goes
On the right of the 2007 tour oh the relief now as contador wins the tour to France and congratulations from paulinho enough points to remain in the green Jersey he will win the green jersey of the 2007 to of France this year as well what a confusing Sprint that
Was well let’s have a look at the result berarti is the winner in 3 hours 51 Hush off zal Hunter Tom bone and takes five Paul they are the top five sprinters of this year’s toour of France I would make it the top six chaanel in six I was
Going to say Sebastian chaanel has ridden very well he’s made himself in positions in the top 10 a lot more than his brother Silva chaanel bonen giving up there on the right hand side berati let’s not forget he crashed a couple of days ago as well but here he’s got the
Victory that was a fine move and he’s got two wins to his credit now he had to work hard for the other one it was a long breakway before he won that one and he was nearly outwitted by the men we always refer to as the stayers and not
The sprinters but no it wasn’t to be well this is the lead out which really should have gone the way this is Sebastian rosair the time trialist on quickstep leading out giving it everything he’s got to set it for bonan so he gets the win equal to the one he
Got in Castle szan that was from a small Breakaway of five Riders I think it was and now he beats the whole lot to the line on the end of the tour to France but let’s not forget the man who’s won this tour to France it is a win for
Alberto contador with just that small 31 second spread across the top three finishes cadell Evans becomes the first Australian to get a place on the podium he finishes in second place and Levi Li pimer well no the Americans have won this tour a few times but leimer for him
That’s a superb result in third and I think is Lance Armstrong said to us a little bit earlier Phil the important thing is that leimer was looking for the podium place in the time trial wasn’t bad for a guy that doesn’t ride a great time trial up against the superior time
Trials of cadell Evans and Levi leimer so there is a great future for a 24 year old he’s just won the Tour to France and let’s also say Well done to garon Thomas as well the British Rider the youngest rider in the race of 21 he also finishes
The tour at the first attempt a very very good performance indeed final result tells us the same as this morning in fact Evans finished his second 23 seconds short of the win leimer just 31 Carlo saster always tip for a Podium or not far away you can’t get closer than
Fourth 708 Downs zelia in fifth place equals his best ever finish in a tour to France valy gets the end this time and finishes in six that’s his first tour finish Kim kirken brilliant in seventh place and popovic in eighth place and a re Ren of Mikel aosa who once won the
Tour down under in Australia that’s his only win finishes ninth in the tour to France welcome back as the mayor of Paris and the mayor of London make their way to walk towards the podium and now comes the man who won the stage here in the Sprint finish thanks to the lead out
Of quick step his rival team there’s Bernardino seven times five times winner of the Tour of France welcomes him aboard Daniela berarti fraed perfectly of the AR Triumph behind [Applause] benati right in the middle of the road here which in the next six takes the flowers well looking now here at Tom
Boner and he’s W here before so he knows what berarti feels like but this is he’s dreamed about this you know the sprinters they want to win on the Sha Tom bonan has won on the Sha in a prior tour to France but his goal before the
Start of the tour was this green jersey and the difficult thing for a sprinter is not only getting the points but it’s also difficult getting the green jersey and dragging it over the big mountain passes because these guys almost every day in the mountains they worry about getting eliminated because they’re not
Good at going up mountains but when they turn on the speed on the flat stages they are impressive he was very worried nine days ago when he he was involved in the crash approaching the Finishing Line in M pelier Robbie Hunter W to maximum 35 points and he thought one more day
Like that and I won’t win of King of the mountains of the Tour of France so he steps off the podium with a shake of the hand of Bernardino probably doesn’t know who he is ory probably never watched the tour and Bernardi know was winning it five times but I tell you
He’s delighted with this here King of the mountain standings then solar wins it convincingly of course 206 points plays 128 of who else but contador the Magic Man in the Pyrenees papovich absolutely brilliant 105 for him cadel Evans if you weren’t good in the mountains on this particular to of FR
You weren’t going to finish high up overall certainly not but this is the man who finished high up overall what a great performance the reason I like this man’s performance feel is cuz he went and attacked whenever the race went uphill he went on the attack he wasn’t
Scared he wasn’t even thinking about conserving any edgy at all he wasn’t riding a sensible race he wanted to battle this is the first jersey that he’s going to receive here this afternoon the white jersey of the best rookie of the tours sounds rather strange saying that but in view of the
Fact we’re about to see him win the race but Alberto contador has got the white jersey as best rookie and he’s only 24 years of age and he’s about to do the double and get yellow as well just shaking hands just a few words there and now the flowers he’s all
Smiles we only really met him in the tour Switzerland this year B where we interviewed him good job he did wasn’t it it certainly was a very good job we interviewed him but we did know his story way back in the tour down under when he was the winner of a very
Impressive stage into H off he was with his teammate Lu Leon Sanchez who himself is tip for stardom for Spanish cycling and this young man was on his way back from a very nasty accident in a bike race he passed out because of an aneurism and was in a coma for an awful
Long time and since then he’s battled his way back to form and battled his way back to the top of the sport and of course he did admit that when he was in hospital trying to recover from that illness he was inspired by a certain Lance Armstrong well this is the
Standings of the white jersey competition he wins by 16 minutes over Maro Soler Tera who’s been voted the most aggressive rid of the race and that’s not fighting that’s attacking uh who was 49 minutes further back so big gaps well I’m glad you qualified that because certainly the man we’re looking
At now coming on to the top end of the podium here is the man who wore the white jersey on the tour to France stage today because he was the best Rider after of course the man contador and after solo he’s third in that competition but here he’s receiving the
Award as the most aggressive the most attacking Rider of the tour and he’s certainly was he was in the breakup ways for an excess of 500 km com com ahed Tua we saw a lot of him and again another new name in the tour as far as we’re concerned he’s made a very
Big impression in this race and yet another Spanish Rider coming forth into the world of cycling comes from the north of the country he’s a basque Rider and uh they’re going to be pretty proud of him now when he goes home because if anybody knows their sport is the people
From the north of Spain so we’re watching here now the parade for the Mayo je the final one of the tour to France the two Mayes of London and gay per come out now to present the prizes isn’t it quite ironic Livingston Ken Livingston on the right
Hand side mayor of London saw the race in his country in in our country in incredible weather conditions and a little bit of rain starting to come down here for the finish of the the the Tour of France the sh and this is it we wait for the Applause this
Time and there you can hear it and the music for the last time in the 94 tour to France Alberto contador now salutes the crowd as the winner of this race as Ken Livingstone says to Danielle L mer of Paris time to step forth and jointly present the final Mayo from London to
Paris Alto that’s the first time we’ve actually seen the podium surrounded in Yellow by the people below them people have worked on this toour to France yes and I can imagine how he feels I think this young man did a phenomenal performance throughout the whole of this race he came here with one
Goal at the start of the tourto France and that was to win the white jersey competition for the best young Rider well he was Head and Shoulders above everybody in that competition the third Rider by the way finished 49 minutes behind this man though the yellow Jersey
Race was an awful lot closer than that 23 seconds to cadell Evans of Australia 31 seconds to Levi liim his own teammate that I think Phil is the fresh new face of the sport of professional cycling what are we talking about 31 seconds a kilometer or so if that time trial had
Gone that much further yesterday then he might have lost the tour to France by one or two seconds but instead he’s won it and tonight he can look at the final at yellow Jersey it’s been a terrific race for Te Discovery Channel you heard from Lance Armstrong they can’t believe
It’s happening because they got first third they’ve won the team by 19 minutes so the whole lot will be up here shortly and now they can and they’ve won two stages as well well that was a phenomenal performance by the whole team and as you say Phil certainly I think very much Unexpected looking here as he looks across you see somebody in the who said something rather funny to him he doesn’t speak any English yet but he’s learning it and uh he is really enjoying being on team Discovery Channel they’ve plucked him at the right time let’s have a look at the final standings
Then with mclo ultra of the tour to France this year contador of Spain nobody tipped him at the start 23 seconds ahead of cadel Evans first Australian Podium has been a great day and I think now Alberto contador can can breathe a big sigh of relief B what do
You think this means I mean he said said it was a dream to win a stage and now to stand there finally on that Podium Levi leimer a long career with a highlight no question oh I think that Levi will look to the Future now and maybe like to move
Up a couple of STS steps in the podium he’s only missed by 31 seconds and that’s not a hard equation to solve for Levi life bomber it’s been his most successful Tour Ever when the pressure was on and then we have the Spanish national anthem for Alberto contador [Applause] For
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What happened to stage 19 and 20