In Praise of Contador

Much like his native Spain’s World Cup victory, Alberto Contador’s 2010 Tour de France wasn’t pretty or overpowering. However, it still produced the winning formula, and a ceremonial stroll down the Champs-Elysees to claim his third Tour de France is all that remains.

He will ride through the streets of Paris, drinking champagne and savoring the ultimate prize – one final yellow jersey ceremony. He won’t cross the line first, but it won’t matter. He has yet to claim a stage victory over the course of three grueling weeks (the first champion since 1990 to be shut out), but his dominance still shone through when it mattered most.

That ability to seize the moment when it came before him will surely be of comfort during future struggles; this was supposed to be a preordained win, yet his chances often seemed to rest on shakier footing than the cobblestones upon which he rode.

He struggled to a sluggish sixth-place finish in the opening prologue and then bled out time before reeling in 2009 runner-up Andy Schleck. Even his seizure of the yellow jersey left more questions than answers. His attack in stage 15 coincided with a Schleck mechanical error that Contador (perhaps rightly) claimed he never saw. He endured his fair share of criticism for the supposed breach of Tour etiquette, but few pointed out the minute of time that Contador lost when Schleck attacked in stage 3 with many of the favorites impeded by a crash pileup.

The eight seconds that separated them set the stage for the most significant stage of the Tour, a torturous “Beyond Category” climb up the Col du Tourmalet in stage 17. Schleck all but conceded beforehand that he would need to take back the yellow jersey plus a minute of cushion to fend off Contador in the time trial of the Tour’s penultimate stage.

The five-hour long stage featured more foreplay and time killing than “The Decision,” but unlike LeBron’s snoozefest, the last hour produced some of the most compelling drama in the race’s 97-year history.

With roughly six miles to go, Schleck made his move, driving forward and bringing Contador with him up the misty mountaintop. The scene was nearly primal – no barriers to contain the masses of costumed fans who crept dangerously close to the pair as they churned onward. Flags waved, horns honked, voices screamed and the fog grew so thick that it forced cameramen to repeatedly wipe their lenses. If ever there was a place to decide a championship, this was it.

Contador didn’t need to win, but he couldn’t afford to be dropped. Schleck, on the other hand, was in go-for-broke mode, emptying his arsenal in an attempt to crack the defending champion and leave him broken on the mountainside.

For ages they stayed together, Schleck surging forward and varying the pace. At one point, Contador attacked, but it was more speculative than aggressive. After Schleck quickly chased him down, the Spaniard seemed content to sit on his foe’s wheel for the remainder of the ascent.

And so they arrived at the summit, locked together, a victory for Contador and a huge blow to his challenger. Contador, in a show of sportsmanship, allowed Schleck to take the stage win, perhaps as an apology for the incident that occurred only days before. It was a sporting gesture, and certainly repayment enough.

Just as suspected, Contador dug further into the lead in Saturday’s time trial, gaining 21 seconds on Schleck and locking up his third title.

Sunday’s ride will be a coronation that will offer up an unspoken challenge to the sport’s gold standard: Armstrong’s seven titles.

Contador is 27 years old and just now hitting his stride, three Tours in hand. For some perspective, Armstrong won his first at age 28. From 2007 to present, he has entered five Grand Tours – three Tours de France, one Giro d’Italia and one Vuelta a Espana.

He won them all.

Armstrong, meanwhile, owes his former teammate an apology. He spent the 2009 Tour whining like a petulant schoolchild, had Contador carry him to a third-place finish, and then pulled the stunt of stunts to form his own team.

Where’s Lance?

40 minutes back. One year removed from a spot on the podium.

Cycling is a sport increasingly prone to… cycles. Indurain won five Tours, as did Merckx, Hinault, and Anquetil. Armstrong won seven. And now Contador has won three.

That kernel of knowledge lives in Andy Schleck, and will surely haunt his dreams. For every Affirmed, winner of the 1978 Triple Crown, there is an Alydar, who finished second in all three races by a combined margin of less than three lengths. For every Lance Armstrong, there is a Jan Ullrich, who owns five second-place finishes in the Tour.

This was Contador at his weakest, and he still found a way to haul himself up the mountains and grind through the time trials. He did it when it mattered.

Can he get eight?

Don’t bet against it.