Hat off for Andy Schleck:

Tears.Tears that worth like diamonds and that remind us that,before of being athletes,cyclists and champions,the Tour de France riders are boys.Young boys with their own personalities, dreams,friends,manias and problems,with their own fears and with their own hopes.

Tears.There are different kind of tears.Someone can cry because they're happy,because they're sad,because they're afraid,because they're angry...And what kind of tears were those that both Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck left on the asphalt of Pauillac,after today's decisive TTs?

Alberto Contador began this Tour as the absolute favourite of the race.His main advesary, according to many people,was going to be Lance Armstrong,his former teammate and winner of 7 Tours de France.When,on the climb towards Morzine,Armstrong disappeared from the high floors of the GC,Contador probably felt relieved.Relieved but also worried because a new adversary was ready to face him.He had already arrived on the podium last year and Contador already knew that it was going to be an adversary for him.This latter fact became even clearer that evening in the Alps.That lanky boy had become stronger,braver and was more determined than ever.

Before of that day in the Alps,Contador had already lived some important moments: the 'defeat' (as someone called it) of the TT,when Armstrong rode faster than him; the mechanical problem that he had to face on the cobblestones of Arenberg; the breakdown of his enemy,of his rival,of his former teammate Lance Armstrong.

In the following days,then, Contador would have lived other important moments.The victory of Spain in the soccer world championship gave him some happy moments immediately after Morzine's stage; Mendè created a little fracture between him and his teammate,his chief,his most precious man,Vinokourov; the following day,Vinokourov fixed it with a great proof of courage; in Aix 3 Domains he had to undergo Andy Schleck's pressure; and the following day,on Port de Balés,he dropped his rival,his friend,the main contender to his crown with the help of a mechanical problem of that young boy from Luxembourg.After that,Aberto faced debates, polemics,booes and excused his rival,his friend,the main contender to his throne.On Tourmalet he hanged to the wheels of that boy and tried to drop him,without managing to.Then,knowing he had the TT on his side,he left the victory of that epic stage to his rival,to his friend,to the main contender for his throne."You get this stage,I get the Tour",that was the deal between the boy in yellow and the rider in white.

The last TT was the last obstacle before of the Champs Elysées and Contador knew it already on that day,inside the fog of Tourmalet. On that day,Bordeaux TT looked as an apparently easy task for the man who,last year,rode even stronger than Cancellara in Annecy.

But sometimes maths and reality don't get on well.Contador had always defeated his rival in every TT they had faced over the last years, but this afternoon things were different.Contador's saddle was extremely slippery and the young,determined rival was riding the TT of his life.At a certain point,he almost caught Contador,he almost took the yellow jersey away from him.But then,at the end,the young boy slowed down and Alberto Contador won his third Tour de France.

After the finish-line,the Spaniard hugged his teammate,his chief,his most precious man, Vinokourov.Then,he broke into tears.Tears of freedom,of tension,of nervousness. 39" separated him from his main rival-the 39" that Alberto had gained on that tall boy during the Port de Balés stage.

At the beginning of this Tour,Andy Schleck was extremely confident.The world press didn't pay a lot of attention to him,but he didn't care.He knew he was strong and he had faith in himself,in his brother and in his team.He knew that Contador was the man he had to beat,but he also knew that he had improved a lot since the 2009 Tour de France.He was ready to fight for yellow.

The start of the race wasn't that good for Andy Schleck.On the first day every GC contender rode faster than him on the slippery roads of Rotterdam.At that point,there were more than 3000 kms to face before of arriving to Paris and the 42" he lost from his main rival,his friend,the man he wanted to defeat didn't look that important.

Two days after,on a slippery descent in Belgium,he crashed and his teammate Cancellara stopped the whole peloton in order to help his captain in his attempt of coming back on the other riders.The following day,on the Roubaix cobblestones,Andy Schleck gained some seconds on every other GC rider with the help of the Swiss rider,who took the yellow jersey back from Chavanel.But that same day, on the Roubauix cobblestones, Andy also lost his most precious teammate,his best friend,his brother Frank.

After the first days of race,however,things started to go wonderfully for Andy.In Morzine he got his first Tour de France stage victory ever,the first one of a career that will probably be full of joys; on the following day,he got the yellow jersey from the world champion Evans; in Mendé he lost 10" from Contador,but that day showed that the Spaniard was extremely nervous.So nervous to steal a stage victory to a teammate.

A few hours later,however,the joy that Andy was feeling in front of the chance of winning the Tour turned into anger.On Port de Balés,Andy Schleck attacked and,while riding up on his pedals,forgot an essential cycling rule: never change gear while you're accelerating so fast.His chain popped and Schleck had to stop.He was alone in that moment.No team car,no teammates, just a supporter who tried to help him.Angry,Andy hopped on his bike again after more than 30 long seconds.In front of him,Contador,Menchov and Samuel Sanchez were speeding up.The lanky 25 year old launched himself in the descent,trying to forget the risks of the road.Then,he rode desperately into Bagneres de Luchon,where he found out that he had lost the yellow jersey for 39 bloody seconds.

At that point,it seemed that he had just one way to win this Tour.And that way was dropping his friend,his main rival,the new yellow jersey on the Tourmalet.Andy didn't manage to drop the Spaniard in the fog of Tourmalet,but he won that epic stage.The young Luxembourgian, however,thought that he hadn't lost the race yet.He was still confident and he was still hoping for a miracle.

This afternoon,Andy Schleck started his TT knowing that he had to ride as fast as he had never done before.As said,he was still hoping in a miracle.And during the first 20 kms,it looked as the miracle could happen.Schleck was just 2" behind his rival,but then he started to slow down.He reached Pauillac,got off his bike,sat down on the asphalt,shoulders towards the road.From the silence of the audience,he understood that he had lost this Tour.Lost for just 39".The seconds that he had lost that day,during the Port de Balés stage.

The tears that he hadn't shown to the cameras before,that he had kept inside his blue eyes on many other occasions in the last weeks,finally appeared.The young boy started to cry and the support of the public couldn't do anything.Tears of disappointment,of anger,of tension.Tears that worth like diamonds.

There is still one stage before of the end of this Tour and right now 39" divide Alberto Contador and Andy Schleck. An unwritten cycling rule says that GC contenders can't attack on the last day of a Grand Tour,but everything is still possible.

Anyway,in spite of the final result of this year Tour de France,one thing is already sure: this year race was bitter for Andy Schleck,but it was the birth of a champion.In 2007 Schleck was young and unexperienced in the Giro won by Di Luca.People knew that he could become a champion, but they also knew that he could lose himself in the fog of unexperience.In 2008 he actually lost himself in the rain of Hautacam.In 2009 he won Liége,but never looked as strong as Contador during the Tour.Now,instead, we can state that Andy Schleck from Luxembourg is a champion.

As far as Contador is concerned,he was incredible in resisting psychological pressure and in not giving in when Andy Schleck was going to take the yellow jersey away from him.But still,I don't think he'll be totally happy with this victory.This Tour will be always reminded as the Tour in which Andy Schleck's chain came off on Port de Balés.Everyone will always remember that moment and many will always believe that,without that problem,Andy Schleck would have won this Tour.And Contador will surely be saddened by that.He will always repeat himself and the others that he would have dropped Andy on Tourmalet,if he had needed to.But nevertheless, he'll never be able to prove that.

So,here I end this definitely too long and far too poetical post (ok,I admit it: sometimes I like wasting time writing this kind of long poetical bullshits). Like many other Schleck supporters,I lived today's TT in a condition of 'trance'.I was so tense that I even bit my nails more than once (and this isn't a habit of mine) and I was going to cry for nervousness.

I believe that Andy Schleck's chain problem decided this Tour and no matter what the others think.But I also believe that today's stage proved that Andy is a champion and I'm sure that he'll be back stronger and more determined next year.

And then,irony (or sadism,if you prefer) of destiny,me has one thing to point out.The one who today had to race the TT of his life was Andy.But in team SB,also someone else raced the TT of his life without even thinking too much about it.In fact,Chris Sorensen was 21st in today's TT.The Danish climber (and my second favourite rider in this Tour) in fact was faster than guys like Vinokourov and Leipheimer, and 57" faster than Contador.I'm glad he rode well,but I can't avoid thinking about what could have happened if Andy had ridden as fast as Chris did this afternoon.

Anyway,now I close this long post.A part of me still says that it ain't over 'till it's over.After all, someone tomorrow might start his sprint one lap earlier than predicted,cause a big crash and in said crash both Contador and his main man Vinokourov (btw,coudn't it be that Contador this afternoon cried because,after the finish-line,he found Vinokourov and not his girlfriend waiting for him?) could be involved and lose a minute each,while Andy could fly to victory.Ok,I know I'm daydreaming-but I just can't believe that Andy lost a Tour de France for just 39".

Now I leave you-for real-and go to dine with my relatives.Some of them have already expressed admiration for Andy and my sister told me that,if she was an Andy's supporter,she would have started crying like mad in the last km of the TT.But still,I would have preferred to hear them complain about Andy's Tour victory rather than hear them saying that 'Andy Schleck was strong,but Contador was better and luckier than him'.