Team HTC-Columbia (Page 7)

A strong cross-head wind came up just in time for the top 10 on GC to take the start, and it seemed to have its greatest effect on Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi). Sanchez started the day in third overall, but saw his podium place snatched away by Denis Menchov (Rabobank), who had the best ride among the top 10 GC contenders.

Spain's Samel Sanchez

MENCHOV Denis (RAB) ASO/B.Bade

World TT Champion and Saxo Bank team rider Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland won the stage

Schleck rode a great time trial

Recap - July 25.  Stage 20 - 102.5km  Longjumeau to Paris Champs-Élysées - Cavendish repeats on the Champs-Élysées as Contador wins his third Tour de France.  Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Farnese) held on for second, cementing his grip on the green jersey, with Julian Dean (Garmin-Transitions) third. 

Contador took the overall win by 39 seconds ahead of Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) with Denis Menchov (Rabobank) third at 2:01.

Cavendish leads the sprint finish along the Champs Elysées ...

... and crosses the line first to notch up stage win number five this year – not bad considering how far off the pace he looked in the first week. He now has a staggering 15 stage wins in total. 

Great job - HTC-Columbia!!

Race winner Alberto Contador (Astana) and the peloton ride past the Eiffel Tower during the final stage into Paris.

The peloton passes in front of the Arc de Triomphe during Stage 20 in Paris.

The jersey winners . . . from left, Andy Schleck of Luxembourg, wearing the best young rider's white jersey, Alberto Contador of Spain the race winner, Alessandro Petacchi of Italy, wearing the best sprinter's green jersey, and Anthony Charteau of France, wearing the best climber's dotted jersey. Photo: AP

Team RadioShack won the team competition, wearing controversial "28" kits on the podium at the Tour de France on Sunday in Paris. The number 28 represents the 28 million people living with cancer, but race officials made the riders wear their normal jerseys during the race.

Andy Schleck of team Saxo Bank (L) Alberto Contador (C) of team Astana and Denis Menchov of team Rabobank celebrate on the podium after the twentieth and final stage of Le Tour de France 2010, from Longjumeau to the Champs-Elysees in Paris on July 25, 2010 in Paris, France.

This has been one of the most exciting TdF.  Once again, our team had a great tour, with Mark Cavendish winning 5 stages, and now has a record 15 stage wins.  I can't wait for next year.

And if you want to see more great pix, visit

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/07/2010_tour_de_france_-_part_i.html and

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/07/2010_tour_de_france_-_part_ii.html

Thanks Patricia for keeping us updating the past 3 weeks.  It was fun, too bad we couldn't pull it off.  I will definitely do it again next year.