Time-trial specialist Fabian Cancellara wins the 8.9km Tour de France prologue - as the 97th running of cycling's premier event begins on Saturday 3 July
But the first stage of the Tour is surprisingly won by veteran Italian Alessandro Petacchi, who outsprints his rivals after avoiding a big crash 500m from the finish line
There are more bumps and bruises during a wet second stage. Here Garmin's Tyler Farrar is seen waiting for assistance after a nasty fall. Sylvain Chavanel wins the stage and takes the yellow jersey
There is disappointment on stage three for Saxo Bank rider and Tour contender Frank Schleck - the Luxembourg rider calls it a day after breaking his collarbone. Cancellara re-takes yellow, with Briton Geraint Thomas in second
After losing out to Petacchi in the fourth stage, Isle of Man sprint ace Mark Cavendish finally wins his first stage before repeating the feat a day later
There is more French joy at the Tour as Sylvain Chavanel wins his second stage and reclaims the yellow jersey in the first hilly stage - but Geraint Thomas fades on the 14km climb up Cote de Lamoura
Lance Armstrong's (centre) hopes of winning an eighth Tour are over after falling twice and losing 12 minutes. The new leader is Cadel Evans, with stage eight winner Andy Schleck second and Alberto Contador third
The challenge of Australian Cadel Evans (right) fades on stage nine. Having suffered a fractured elbow, the world champion finishes eight minutes behind new race leader Andy Schleck
Mark Cavendish takes the 11th stage - his 13th Tour stage win - but his victory is marred by team-mate Mark Renshaw's disqualification for head-butting Julian Dean in order to make space for Cavendish
The race at the top begins to hot up as reigning champion Alberto Contador closes the gap on Andy Schleck to 31 seconds following his burst on the Montee Jalabert
Astana's Kazakh rider Alexandre Vinokourov is overwhelmed with emotion after winning the 13th stage having narrowly missed out on taking the 12th
The riders enter the first day of four in the unforgiving Pyrenees. Frenchman Christophe Riblon takes stage 14, while Denis Menchov and Samuel Sanchez gain 14 seconds on leader Andy Schleck
Controversy strikes the Tour. Alberto Contador (second left) races on after leader Andy Schleck (right) loses his chain attempting an attack. The Spaniard converts a 31-second deficit into an eight-second lead
Lance Armstrong (far right) cuts a dejected figure as he is pipped by Frenchman Pierrick Fedrigo in a sprint finish during stage 16, meaning the American finishes his last Tour without a stage win
Andy Schleck fails to get away from leader Alberto Contador on an epic battle up the 15.5km climb of the Col du Tourmalet. Contador survives the mind games and holds on to his eight-second lead in the last mountain stage
Manxman Mark Cavendish gets the better of Julian Dean again, this time without his lead-out man Mark Renshaw, to win his fourth stage of the Tour and keep alive his hopes of winning the green jersey
Despite Andy Schleck's brave attempts to close the gap on Alberto Contador in the time trial, the Spaniard increases his lead to 39 seconds to effectively secure overall victory
Alberto Contador is understandably the toast of the Tour during the final stage - surrounded here by photographers snapping him and his Astana team-mates sipping champagne
Contador safely finishes with the main pack, but the final stage honours go to Mark Cavendish, who wins in Paris for the second successive year
Contador (right) reigns supreme for the third time in four years, but Andy Schleck (left) will be keen to stop the Spaniard from winning a fourth next year
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