Spaniard Contador poised to win Tour de France

Jul 25, 10:38 am EDT

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MONT VENTOUX, France, July 24 (Reuters) - Spaniard Alberto Contador was poised to win the Tour de France after he finished fourth in the penultimate stage to the Mont Ventoux on Saturday.

Contador, 26, won the greatest cycling race for the first time in 2007.

Spain’s Juan Manuel Garate won the stage ahead of German Tony Martin and Luxemburg’s Andy Schleck.

Going into Sunday’s parade to the Champs Elysees, overall leader Contador is ahead of Andy Schleck by four minutes 11 seconds and American Lance Armstrong by 5:24.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Ken Ferris

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Updated Jul 25, 10:38 am EDT
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108 Comments

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  1. Patxidog
    108. Posted by Patxidog Sat Jul 25 12:01pm EDT

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    cyrus-" strategy, leadership, popularity and if not making TDF interesting to watch/monitor...and blogging would not be so intense - right? "

    Interesting for the spectators, but not sure how it helped support AC in winning the TdF?
  2. cyrus o
    107. Posted by cyrus o Sat Jul 25 11:49am EDT

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    patxidog - strategy, leadership, popularity and if not making TDF interesting to watch/monitor...and blogging would not be so intense - right?
  3. cyrus o
    106. Posted by cyrus o Sat Jul 25 11:43am EDT

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    California Prediction - i know about Merck, Indurain, Henault, Lemond and don't pretend to know better. What matters is that Armstrong will podium and even at 3rd place it is a great exploit for a 37 years old. Just take stock with the way Armstrong bridge the gap between Andy SCHLECK and CONTADOR, on Mont Ventoux - making him the fastest rider on the summit on certain stretch, however he was then supporting Contador...Contador is strongest in 2009 but he will just be one of the strong cyclist in 2010.
  4. Patxidog
    105. Posted by Patxidog Sat Jul 25 11:22am EDT

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    @cyrus- "Contandor is strong but his win lost luster since he got it through the support of Armstrong and Astana - the strongest team. "

    Yes Astana was the strongest team, but let's remember that the team was built for Contador for the 2008 TdF. I'm not sure what Armstrong brought to the Astana team (besides himself) when he joined. And how exactly did Armstrong support AC? If anything he made it more difficult on AC with the in-team/director alliances.
  5. cyrus o
    104. Posted by cyrus o Sat Jul 25 11:17am EDT

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    man of the people - did you not noticed how Armstrong managed to bridge the gap in the ascent to the finish line after being dropped - despite the determined attacks by the SCLECK bros, which Contador failed to control...Armstrong is GREAT and he is the most popular cyclist of 2009 - right? that is something plus his 3rd place finish...
  6. cyrus o
    103. Posted by cyrus o Sat Jul 25 11:12am EDT

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    man of the people, i am here and i want you to open your eyes. LA will finish not lower than third, and it is a great accomplishment for a 37 years old. So that with enough training, conditioning and team behind him, expect him to grab his 8th TDF title in 2010. Contandor is strong but his win lost luster since he got it through the support of Armstrong and Astana - the strongest team.
  7. Gayle
    102. Posted by Gayle Fri Jul 24 11:14am EDT

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    I disagree somewhat with your logic California Prediction ..... If a tennis player wins the most Wimbledons ever (which is the most prestigious of the slams) he will be considered one of th greatest EVEN if he never wins a French open.

    And the TdF IS the most prestigious bike race, bar none.

    Would it be better to win all of them? probably, but you can still be one of the greatest if you perfect the and obliterate the competition year after year and set records in the premier evnt like Wimbledon or the TdF.
  8. Blank4242
    101. Posted by Blank4242 Tue Jul 21 12:05pm EDT

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    um.... did anyone see lance today? he was outstanding, it seems like when he try's he's just as good or even better than contador, i mean seriously the speed at which he brought down like that 30 second gap was just breath taking. but itscontadors time so he will win unless they have some weird plan that lance will all of a sudden push away from the pack which is unlikely because that is my imagination but hey. he had a bad stage 15 but he was the best rider other than maybe vandenbroek in stage 16. the problem with vdv is that he covers and attacks too much wastes his energy sometimes so its hard for him to win stages.
  9. jackaroo
    100. Posted by jackaroo Tue Jul 21 11:58am EDT

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    I am really impressed with Contador, Kloden, and Armstrong & the rest of the Astana team. They defended the yellow jersey well. I would love to see Contador win, Lance take second, and Kloden jump one spot to third. HOPE!!!

    I am really worried about Jens Voigt. That was really a nasty fall and I hope that he was not badly hurt. He is such a stalwart of the cycling sport. Every year he is out there pushing it to the limit. He is a great example of a cyclist who never gives up and pushes himself beyond the limit all the time.
  10. davetropeano
    99. Posted by davetropeano Tue Jul 21 11:47am EDT

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    1:37 is probably too much to overcome - especially if your job is to support as a domestique.

    But what happens at the timetrail? If the lead gets cut to 1:30 or under that seems to be within range for Armstrong perhaps. And the time trial is an individual thing.
  11. Hans Gruber
    98. Posted by Hans Gruber Tue Jul 21 11:33am EDT

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    Lance just misses Matthew McConaughey's loving arms around him at night.
  12. Toeless_Joe_Jackson
    97. Posted by Toeless_Joe_Jackson Sun Jul 19 1:42pm EDT

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    Lance is the greatest of ALL TIME! His farts don't stink!! Heck, even his poop don't stink. He still has a good chance of winning. That's why they call it the Tour de Lance.
  13. TC
    96. Posted by TC Sun Jul 19 1:28pm EDT

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    My day is done. I really don't know who the greatest is but I do know that to say we don't know what Lance Armstrong might of done if he was cancer free is true, but we do have the time before his first TDF win which other than some wins in races not like TDF he didn't win often. So maybe being focused and a goal made him better because when he was cleared of all cancer he was on a mission. Maybe going the other way he doens't win any without having the cancer and the motivation that came after.
  14. man of the people
    95. Posted by man of the people Sun Jul 19 1:27pm EDT

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    cheryl - 2 out of 3 - better than i expected.
  15. AK
    94. Posted by AK Sun Jul 19 1:24pm EDT

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    Mark R, it's an interesting thought. I doubt it, though. It just isn't in it for someone who has won 7 times to come in and play second fiddle voluntarily. Like Michael Jordan, Brett Favre, David Beckham and countless others, they are in it to win it until someone takes it away from them. That's why they keep coming back. That said, now that he's conceded this year's Tour, my guess is he'll be a team player. 2010 is another story. In Armstrong's mind, it is possible that TdF 2009 is like Michael Jordan's 1995 (a warmup for the real return to dominance the next year).

    Anyway, Lance has now made it official that the torch has passed at least for now, declaring Contador to be the greatest cyclist...

    http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/news;_ylt=AiLrcQlT_I0XcltAT8bKbFaJgrcF?slug=reu-tourarmstrong&prov=reuters&type=lgns
  16. cheryl g
    93. Posted by cheryl g Sun Jul 19 1:22pm EDT

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    milan san remo, paris nice, paris roubaix
  17. cheryl g
    92. Posted by cheryl g Sun Jul 19 1:22pm EDT

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    also, love how you "know" so much about cycling....and you said lance could not follow albertos wheel? he is on the same team, why would he follow contadors wheel and drag one of the schleck brothers up to him? if johan tells contador to go, then he does, and tells lance not to follow....
    never mind, you know so much about cycling so you would know that you dont attack your own team mate.
  18. man of the people
    91. Posted by man of the people Sun Jul 19 1:20pm EDT

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    cheryl -
    this should be easy for even you - try to name three classics races.
  19. cheryl g
    90. Posted by cheryl g Sun Jul 19 1:19pm EDT

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    dreamin...your full of it, i have seen your posts before, not only today, but previous days....i came on here today, posted my comment, (not directed at anyone in particular) and then you decided to run your mouth in my direction........i saw the state live today....he suffered, so what, like i said, i dont care if he loses this year, the fact that he is where he is.
  20. Mark
    89. Posted by Mark Sun Jul 19 1:15pm EDT

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    Possible that Armstrong and Contador have played the field to perfection? Lance makes noises, everyone watches him, and Contador goes riding off into the sunset. The rest of the race (at least those who could possible pose a threat) wake up too late, and Contador has an insurmountable lead.....
  21. cheryl g
    88. Posted by cheryl g Sun Jul 19 1:15pm EDT

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    winners since lance left, sastre, contador , periero
  22. California Prediction
    87. Posted by California Prediction Sun Jul 19 1:14pm EDT

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    Cheryl G. I typically do not reply to comments from people who cannot have a civilized argument. I'll let you steam your frustration of seeing Lance's face in agony as he could not follow Alberto's wheel today. I hope that you do something nice for yourself this beautiful Sunday. I will.
  23. AK
    86. Posted by AK Sun Jul 19 1:13pm EDT

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    All this "Greatest Ever" discussion is as senseless in cycling as it is in any other sport. It's like Jordan vs. Kobe. We'll never know since sports is always evolving. Eddy Merckx raced in an era before the intense team strategizing. Indurain and Armstrong didn't face each other in their respective primes, and we won't know how well Armstrong might have been had he not had cancer. Contador is racing in a post-EPO era. If he can pull off a string like Armstrong did, he may eclipse him because of his other racing accomplishments. That's a long way off, though, and perhaps a better topic for 2014.
  24. cheryl g
    85. Posted by cheryl g Sun Jul 19 1:12pm EDT

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    10 times more than i do? hardly....how do you come to that conclusion?
  25. C
    84. Posted by C Sun Jul 19 1:11pm EDT

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    Hey Asstrong, guess it aint so easy without all that dope is it?
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