In the overall rankings, Contador (Astana) secured a third Tour title in four years by 39 seconds from Andy Schleck (Team Saxo Bank), who finished as runner-up for a second straight year.

Ireland’s Nicolas Roche finished in 15th place overall, 16 minutes and 59 seconds behind Contador.

Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) won the 102.5-kilometre 20th stage from Longjumeau to Paris for his fifth win of the 2010 Tour and the 15th of his career - but it was not enough to secure the points classification leader's green jersey.

Maillot vert incumbent Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-Farnese) finished second to hold on to the prized sprinters' jersey, with Julian Dean (Team Garmin-Transitions) third.