Stage 19

The road

At the start

Fifty-two kilometres, eight seconds

The Tour comes down to a time trial: 52 kilometres out of Bordeaux through the Médoc, past the grand cru vineyards, on rolling roads that should suit a specialist. Eight seconds separate Contador and Schleck; Sánchez at 3:32 and Menchov at 3:53 are still racing for the last podium step. After twenty days this is as much about who has anything left as about who is quickest.

How it was won

1. 141 km to go

   Eight seconds, fifty-two kilometres

   Andy Schleck starts last with eight seconds to find on Alberto Contador over flat Médoc roads. He has been improving against the clock all year; whether he can hold the concentration for 52 kilometres of it is the question the whole Tour has come down to.

2. 227 km to go

   Cancellara on the hot seat

   Fabian Cancellara finishes early and then waits, and waits, while every specialist in the race comes through slower than he did.

3. 313 km to go

   Martin, second again

   Tony Martin, runner-up to Cancellara in Rotterdam three weeks ago, is runner-up to Cancellara again — seventeen seconds this time, with Bert Grabsch third at 1:48.

4. 45 km to go

   Contador takes time, not just holds it

   The Spaniard does not merely defend the maillot jaune in the last kilometres; he adds to it. Eight seconds become thirty-nine — precisely what Schleck lost to a dropped chain on the Port de Balès.

5. 5At the line

   Cancellara wins, Contador seals it

   Cancellara stops the clock at 1:00:56 for the fourth win of his Tour. Contador comes down from the podium in tears, with the race won and the argument about how it was won still running.

The result