Norway’s Edvald Boasson Hagen claimed his maiden Tour de France win when he powered to victory in the sixth stage on Thursday.
Winds and half-empty stands gave no sense of the usual Parisian glamour as last year’s French Open runner-up Samantha Stosur began with an easy win.
A year after taking the opportunity to show his strength to win the Tour de France, Alberto Contador claimed his third title by hiding his weaknesses.
Alberto Contador grabbed the Tour de France’s yellow jersey on Monday after a broken chain slowed down Andy Schleck.
Tour de France leader Andy Schleck said his main rival, Alberto Contador, should be worried after failing to shake him off in Sunday’s 14th stage.
Lance Armstrong was looking forward to the end of the Tour de France and it came much sooner than expected.
The usual suspects for honours are likely to be cautious when the Tour de France enters the Alps on Sunday but the mind games have already started.
Alessandro Petacchi produced a sparkling sprint to grab his second victory of the 2010 Tour on Wednesday in the 153,5-km fourth stage to Reims.
The cobblestones of stage three took their toll on two leading Tour de France contenders on Tuesday.
Alberto Contador emerged as the new cycling boss on Sunday when the Spaniard wrapped up his second Tour de France title.