The RadioShack team came into the Tour de France with the intention of helping seven-time winner Lance Armstrong to his eighth Tour crown, but instead the American icon had to settle for a spot on the podium in Paris as part of the team classification prize. On paper RadioShack looked to have the strongest squad to bring an overall contender to the finish, boasting three former podium finishers in their ranks. But after Armstrong began to lose time in the mountains, the wheels came off as his focus began to wane.
Armstrong had lost the edge that saw him ride practically incident-free to his record seven wins in the event. He clearly wasn't riding with the swagger and instinct that had previously helped him rise to the occasion and seemingly take control of his own destiny. The lack of concentration opened up the door for bad luck to creep in. Instead, one-by-one the race incidents, whether it be a flat tire, a close call or a nasty tumble, took their toll on his bid to reach the overall podium one last time.
RadioShack entered the race with Armstrong, Levi Leipheimer and Andreas Kloden, who all have a solid history in the Grande Boucle. Surprisingly, it was Chris Horner who ended up carrying the team's overall torch with his tenth place finish. He accomplished that while riding the bulk of the race in the service of his three team leaders, which makes his effort all the more impressive.
While the teams classification isn't something that is typically aspired to prior to the start of the Tour de France, it does come with a healthy paycheck at the end of the race. Three of the past four years have seen the classification won by the team that has also secured the maillot jaune, but early on in Armstrong's Tour winning days it was dominated by the Spanish formations who would battle it out with attacks in the mountains.
The competition is scored by taking the cumulative times of each team's first three riders across the finish line each day. With the classification Armstrong's only chance at the final podium, the competition was brought to the fore for the first time in its history. Its lack of drama has kept it as a part of the race that has normally only been mentioned in passing, so it will be interesting to see if the contest gains any steam in future Tours.
RadioShack rider contributions to the Team Classification
Prologue: Armstrong, Leipheimer, Brajkovic
1: Sprint
2: Neutralized
3: Armstrong, Horner, Brajokovic (Cobbles)
4: Sprint
5: Sprint
6: Sprint
7: Armstrong, Leiphemer, Brajkovic (Mountains)
8: Leipheimer, Kloden, Horner (Mountains)
9: Leipheimer, Armstrong, Kloden (Mountains)
10: Sergio Paulinho won out of break followed by bunch finish
11: Sprint
12: Kloden, Leipheimer, Horner (Mountians)
13: Sprint
14: Leipheimer, Horner, Kloden (Mountains)
15: Leipheimer, Kloden, Armstrong (Mountains)
16: Horner, Armstrong, Leipheimer, Brajkovic, Kloden, Paulinho (Mountains) *
17: Horner, Kloden, Armstrong (Mountains)
18: Sprint
19: Dmitriy Muavyev, Yaroslav Popovych, Levi Leipheimer (time trial)
20: Sprint
* - If there were more than three riders that came in with the same time, all riders that could have contributed to the team's standings were listed