Contador’s conquest

PARIS – Lance Armstrong’s kids were dressed in yellow. He was not.

When the seven-time Tour de France champion returned to the Tour podium Sunday, his family was there. His fans were there. And so was rival and teammate Alberto Contador – wearing the coveted and hard-won yellow jersey.

Four years after his seventh Tour win, Armstrong capped his return with an impressive third-place finish. He had his clan on hand – son Luke, twin girls Grace and Isabelle, his mom, Linda, ex-wife, Kristin, and his girlfriend Anna Hansen, with their baby Max, sporting bright yellow shoes.

Contador cruised down the Champs-Elysees to win the Tour for a second time Sunday after 2,141 miles over three weeks of racing. He repelled challenges in the mountains, excelled in the two time-trials – winning a pivotal race against the clock in the 18th stage – and won the first Alpine stage.

Andy Schleck of Luxembourg, Contador’s toughest rival in the mountains, was second overall.

Contador said his biggest battle, however, was against his own Astana team.

“It has been an especially difficult Tour for me, but I savor it and it is more special because of it,” he said after the prize ceremony.

The body language on the podium said it all.

As the 37-year-old Armstrong climbed onto the stage, he gave a perfunctory handshake to his teammate Contador, then heartily grabbed Schleck’s hand with both hands.

And as Contador took the victor’s bowl, Armstrong cast a long sideways glance at what had long been his spoils; he gave only a cursory glance to his own crystal trophy.

“I’m realistic, I did everything I could,” Armstrong said before the final stage. “For me, and even more for my kids, it’s probably a healthy thing for them to see, because they saw their dad that never lost, and the kids in their class (say) ‘your dad never loses,’ so it’s good for them to see dad get third and still be cool with that and still be happy.”

For the first time since 2000, the Tour got through three weeks with no positive doping cases. But the leader of France’s anti-doping agency says not all results are in, and more tests still could be carried out down the road.

The 24-year-old Schleck won the white jersey awarded to the Tour’s best young rider. Franco Pellizotti of Italy picked up the polka-dot jersey given to the race’s King of the Mountains. Thor Hushovd of Norway won the green jersey given to the Tour’s best sprinter.

Mark Cavendish collected his sixth stage win of this year’s Tour Sunday in a sprint after the 101.9-mile course ride from Montereau-Fault-Yonne to the Champs-Elysees to become the first rider to win six Tour stages in a sprint.

“For sure, winning on the Champs-Elysees is a dream for every single sprinter…I can’t go home from this Tour being disappointed,” Cavendish said.