Daniele Bennati (Photo: capture-the-peloton.com)

PARIS, Jul 29 (CP) - Italian Daniele Bennati of Lampre has won the last stage in the Tour de France, beating Thor Hushovd at the finish. Alberto Contador Velasco wins the overall classification, and Tom Boonen keeps the Green Jersey.

The 20th and last stage traditionally led to the French capital city, Paris, where the riders arrived on the famous Champs-Élysées.

After the start in Marcoussis, the first part of the stage was uneventful with no attacks taking place.

The riders took their time to celebrate and the classification jerseys were shown to the public.

On the first intermediate sprint, points classification leader Tom Boonen sent teammates Carlos Barredo Llamazales and Steven De Jongh to take the points. The two Quickstep riders allowed Lilian Jégou to cross the line first.

Agritubel rider Freddy Bichot was first to try an attack when the peloton reached the Champs-Élysées, but he alone could not compete with the general pace.

A group of ten then rode away, with Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni, Alessandro Ballan, Nicolas Portal, José Ivan Gutierrez Palacios and Simon Gerrans. The latter took the points at the second and last intermediate sprint, which improved Boonen's situation even more.

Barloworld then took the initiative in the peloton, working for the number two in the points classification, Robert Hunter.

Murilo Antonio Fischer, Christian Knees, Ronny Scholz, Anthony Charteau and Mickaël Delage also formed part of the front group, which continued to gain terrain on the pack.

The maximum gap stood at about 45 seconds but when Crédit Agricole began to help Barloworld in the peloton, the lead quickly went down.

When the group had ten seconds left over the peloton, Flecha and Gutierrez attacked in an attempt to avoid being reeled in.

But the two Spaniards didn't succeed and the final mass sprint seemed imminent.

At this point it was Lampre to set the pace in the peloton, as Daniele Bennati announced his candidature for the victory.

And the Italian did not disappoint, as he took his second win in this Tour de France. Thor Hushovd came in second, and Erik Zabel was third to cross the line.

Robert Hunter took the fourth place ahead of Tom Boonen, who thereby wins the Points Classification.

Discovery Channel's Alberto Contador finished in the pack, and is the fifth Spaniard to win the world's most important cycling race.

Stage results:

1. Daniele Bennati (Ita-LAM) 3h51'03"
2. Thor Hushovd (Nor-C.A) s.t.
3. Erik Zabel (Ger-MRM) s.t.
4. Robert Hunter (RSA-BAR) s.t.
5. Tom Boonen (Bel-QSI) s.t.
6. Sébastien Chavanel (Fra-FDJ) s.t.
7. Fabian Cancellara (Sui-CSC) s.t.
8. David Millar (GBr-SDV) s.t.
9. Robert Förster (Ger-GST) s.t.
10. Manuel Quinziato (Ita-LIQ) s.t.

General classification:

1. Alberto Contador Velasco (Esp-UKR) 91h00'26"
2. Cadel Evans (Aus-PRL) 0'23"
3. Levi Leipheimer (USA-UKR) 0'31"
4. Carlos Sastre Candil (Esp-CSC) 7'08"
5. Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Esp-EUS) 8'17"
6. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Esp-GCE) 11'37"
7. Kim Kirchen (Lux-TMO) 12'18"
8. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr-UKR) 12'25"
9. Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Esp-EUS) 14'14"
10. Oscar Pereiro Sio (Esp-GCE) 14'25"

Points classification:

1. Tom Boonen (Bel-QSI) 256pts
2. Robert Hunter (RSA-BAR) 234
3. Erik Zabel (Ger-MRM) 232
4. Thor Hushovd (Nor-C.A) 186
5. Sébastien Chavanel (Fra-FDJ) 181

Mountains classification:

1. Mauricio Soler (Col-BAR) 206pts
2. Alberto Contador Velasco (Esp-UKR) 128
3. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr-UKR) 105
4. Cadel Evans (Aus-PRL) 92
5. Laurent Lefevre (Fra-BTL) 85

Young riders classification:

1. Alberto Contador Velasco (Esp-UKR) 91h00'26"
2. Mauricio Soler (Col-BAR) 16'51"
3. Amets Txurruka (Esp-EUS) 49'34"
4. Bernhard Kohl (Aut-GST) 1h13'27"
5. Kanstantin Siutsou (Blr-BAR) 1h15'16"

Teams classification:

1. Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team (USA) 273h12'52"
2. Caisse D’Epargne (Esp) 19'36"
3. Team CSC (Den) 22'10"
4. Rabobank (Ned) 36'24"
5. Euskaltel-Euskadi (Esp) 46'46"

Results by Jeroen Michiels

© Jonathan Roorda