If you’ve been watching the Tour de France, I don’t think it will be a spoiler to let you know that at today’s finish the three men standing on the podium were the ones who’ve been leading for the past week — Contador, Schleck, and Armstrong, in that order: Contador crowned Tour champion.

Although the disagreements never really surfaced in public (unlike Greg LeMond’s legendary feud with Bernard Hinault), there isn’t much camaraderie between Lance Armstrong and teammate Alberto Contador; Armstrong skipped Contador’s victory party on Saturday night.

British sprinter Mark Cavendish won the final stage on the Champs Elysees, his sixth stage win of the Tour. I know Lance says it’s not about the bike, but it doesn’t hurt when your bike looks really fast.

Alberto Contador collected the final yellow jersey of the 2009 Tour de France on Sunday as Mark Cavendish won the 21st and final stage on the Champs-Élysées.

“The Tour is the hardest race in the world, but this year it was particularly difficult. That’s why I am so happy,” said the Astana captain after finishing the 96th Tour with 4:11 over Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank) and 5:24 over teammate Lance Armstrong.

The runner-up credited his brother for his success. “I owe part of this achievement to my brother Fränk, who for three weeks sacrificed himself trying to help me,” said the younger Schleck.

As for Armstrong, the seven-time Tour champ said he had no regrets about finishing third. “I came here to do my best and I came across some guys who were clearly better than me,” he said. “I don’t have any regrets. I got put out a couple of times, but considering my age and recent racing, it’s not a bad performance overall.”

Here’s the official Tour de France Summary of the Day video, complete with French accent:

FLV Video