Prudhomme salutes Contador, more 'human' Armstrong

Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme paid homage to champion Alberto Contador's mental strength and said he had also discovered a human side to Lance Armstrong during the three weeks of the race.

The rivalry between Spaniard Contador and his Astana team-mate Armstrong was one of the biggest talking points of the Tour and gave the race an edge, said Prudhomme.

"Contador is first of all a great climber, very elegant and flowing," Prudhomme told journalists. "But he also showed a great strength of character."

Armstrong, 37, finished third behind Contador and Luxembourg's Andy Schleck and Prudhomme said the American had revealed a more human side that had been missing in his seven-year reign between 1999 and 2005.

"He gave a different image from that of an inhuman robot. People sometimes laugh at me when I say this but he perhaps only came back because he wants to be loved," he said.

"People have seen him suffer, they've seen his face in the climb to Verbier. He appeared more human to the fans. As a result I only saw one anti-Armstrong banner in the whole Tour.

"Armstrong provided us with a rivalry and that's the strongest thing in sport - Nadal vs Federer in tennis, or Hinault vs LeMond in cycling. The real rivalry was actually between Contador and Andy Schleck but the Contador/Armstrong row attracted most of the media attention," Prudhomme added.

For Prudhomme, the 2009 Tour paved the way for an even more exciting race next year.

"I'm already looking forward to 2010 when Contador, Armstrong and the Schleck brothers will be in different teams. We're in for a great fight," he said.