Contador in Yellow: The Tour Straggles to an End

The Tour de France, c'est fini. The tour closed today with a whimper, not a bang, as 24 year-old Alberto Contador stayed securely in the peloton to cross the finish line in Paris as the nominal winner of what has been a scandal-plagued Tour de France 2007. Contador's individual accomplishments were meritorious enough: superb mountain stage performances, including a thrilling duel with Michael Rasmussen at the finish of stage 14. Contador ran an intelligent and ferocious race, biding his time on the flatter, more sprint-y stages and making his bones in the mountains. Events beyond his control have sadly diminished his accomplishments in sport's most grueling race.

Cadel Evans did Australia proud by finishing just 23 seconds behind Contador, and American Levi Leipheimer squeaked in just eight seconds behind Evans for third.

The controversy, not exactly fini. The fallout from the numerous high-profile doping cases exposed during the tour--most notably Alexandre Vinokourov's positive read for blood doping late in the tour--has unleashed a storm of invective from critics and the accused themselves. The Herald called their post-race analysis "a post-mortem;" the Independent called Contador's victory "hollow."

At least the International Herald Tribune kept its sense of humor, suggesting that the scandals provided entertainment for fans. Which had to be a joke. Right? Right?

And yet...a close race. Yet even with the catastrophic doping scandals, this should not be overlooked: this Tour featured a new generation of riders who, notable and openly punished exceptions aside, rode slower times than prior tours. The rule, suggests Richard Williams of the Guardian, is simple: as older "dope-generation" riders step down from the ranks, cycling will become a cleaner but slower sport.

Hard as it may be for those inside the sport to accept, standards will have to be lowered. The Tour is slower in overall terms this year, probably because fewer people are doping. Yesterday's 211km stage from Cahors to Angoulême, for instance, was ridden at an average of around 40kph, rather than the predicted 42-46kph.

The tour may not be dead...but it's definitely slowing down, a possible testament to doping standards actually working.

And the jerseys are... Alberto Contador wins the yellow jersey of the leader, as well as the white jersey for the best rider under 25. Tom Boonen takes the sprinter's green jersey for the tour, and Juan Mauricio Soler takes the polka-dotted King of the Mountains jersey. Amets Txurruka takes what we have to argue is the most fun ceremonial award of all, the "Most Aggressive Rider" award, for which he gets to wear a special number on his jersey.