SRAM and Zipp athletes Alberto Contador (Astana) and Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) repeat on podium at 2010 Tour de France

The 2010 Tour de France featured two SRAM & Zipp-equipped athletes battling for the overall until the final kilometers of the penultimate time trial in Bordeaux, a mere 24 hours from the Tour’s finale in Paris. Alberto Contador (Astana) ultimately delivered a 39-second victory over Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) in one of the closest finishes in Tour history.

Maillot Jaune – An emotional Contador fired his traditional pistolero salute to the crowd from atop the podium, admitting that it was his hardest fought Tour ever. The three-time Tour champion stated nearly three years ago, when he first made the leap to SRAM’s DoubleTap shift levers, that the weight and comfort of RED immediately improved his climbing, as was evidenced by his brilliant ascending in 2010.

Andy Schleck proved himself a serious challenger and matched Contador in the mountains, but was unable to gain time in the critical stage 19 time trial. Schleck has proven a challenger for the future and spent six days in yellow and won two mountain stages.

Athletes riding SRAM componentry held the yellow jersey a decisive 17 of Tour’s 20 stages (18 days). In addition to Contador’s yellow jersey, SRAM also captured the white jersey of best young rider (Schleck) and best team overall (RadioShack). Seven SRAM-equipped teams took that start and delivered eight incredible wins.

SRAM’s eight wins:
Prologue (Rotterdam) – Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) – SRAM RED, Zipp wheels
Stage 3 (Arenberg) – Thor Hushovd (Cervelo Test Team) – SRAM RED, Zipp wheels
Stage 8 (Morzine) – Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) – SRAM RED, Zipp wheels
Stage 10 (Gap) – Sergio Paulinho (RadioShack) – SRAM RED
Stage 13 (Revel) – Alexander Vinokourov (Astana) – SRAM RED, Zipp wheels
Stage 14 (Ax 3 Domaines) – Christophe Riblon (AG2R) – SRAM RED
Stage 17 (Col du Tourmalet) – Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) – SRAM LTE, Zipp wheels
Stage 19 (Pauillac) – Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank) – SRAM RED, Zipp wheels

Lance completes the final laps of his finalTour on SRAM’s Limited Tour Edition groupset

Limited Tour Edition – The world’s lightest, fastest, and most efficient groupset, SRAM RED, received a special treatment with black anodization and yellow graphics, a tribute to the Tour’s signature color, and was introduced in Rotterdam as the Limited Tour Edition (LTE) gruppo. LTE was ridden in the 2010 Tour by Lance Armstrong (RadioShack), Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank), Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank), Carlos Sastre (Cervelo Test Team), and Alberto Contador (Astana). It will be available for a limited time beginning September 2010.