occupation alberto contador
The Avenue des Champs - Élysées is an avenue in the 8th arrondissement of Paris , long and wide , running between the Place de la Concorde and the Place Charles de Gaulle , where the Arc de Triomphe is located . It is known for its theatres , cafés and luxury shops , for the annual Bastille Day ___MASK13___ parade , and as the finish of the Tour de France cycle race . The name is French for the Elysian Fields , the paradise for dead heroes in Greek mythology . The French proudly call their world - famous boulevard "" la plus belle avenue du monde "" (" the world ' s most beautiful avenue "). LAlpe d ' Huez is a ski resort at . It is a ___MASK7___ pasture in the Central French Alps , in the commune of Huez , which is part of the department of Isère in the region of Rhône - Alpes . It is part of the massif , over the Oisans , and is from Grenoble . The Alpe d ' Huez resort is accessible from Grenoble by the , which runs along the Romanche Valley passing through the communes of Livet - et - Gavet and Le Bourg - d ' Oisans as well as Haut - Oisans via the Col de Sarenne . Alpe d ' Huez is used regularly in the Tour de France cycle race , including twice on the same day in 2013 . The African Plate is a ___MASK25___ tectonic plate straddling the equator as well as the prime meridian . It includes much of the continent of Africa , as well as oceanic crust which lies between the continent and various surrounding ocean ridges . Between and , the Somali Plate began rifting from the African Plate along the East African Rift . Since the continent of Africa consists of crust from both the African and the Somali plates , some literature refers to the African Plate as the Nubian Plate to distinguish it from the continent as a whole . The Giro d ' Italia ( aka Corsa Rosa or Giro ) is an annual multiple - stage bicycle race primarily held in Italy , while also occasionally passing through nearby countries . The race was first organized in 1909 to increase ___MASK37___ of the newspaper " La Gazzetta dello Sport "; however it is currently run by RCS Sport . The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1909 , except when it was stopped for the two world wars . As the Giro gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened , and the peloton expanded from primarily Italian participation to riders from all over the world . The Giro is a UCI World Tour event , which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI Proteams , with the exception of the teams that the organizers can invite . A stopwatch is a handheld timepiece designed to measure the amount of time elapsed from a particular time when it is activated to the time when the piece is deactivated . A large digital version of a stopwatch designed for viewing at a distance , as in a sports stadium , is called a stopclock . In manual timing , the ___MASK36___ is started and stopped by a person pressing a button . In fully automatic time , both starting and stopping are triggered automatically , by sensors . The 2010 Tour de France was the 97th edition of the Tour de France cycle race , one of cycling ' s Grand Tours . It started on with an 8 . 9 km prologue time trial in Rotterdam , the first start in the Netherlands since 1996 . The race visited three countries : the Netherlands , Belgium and France , and finished on on the Champs - Élysées in Paris . Carlos Sastre Candil ( born 22 April 1975 ) is a former Spanish professional road ___MASK77___ and winner of the 2008 Tour de France . He consistently achieved great results in the Vuelta a España and equally good showings in the Tour de France . Sastre established himself as a strong and stable climbing specialist , and after working to improve his individual time trial skills , he became a contender for the top GC spots in the Grand Tours . In total , Sastre finished in the top ten overall of fifteen Grand Tours during his career . The 2009 Tour de France was the 96th edition of the Tour de France , one of cycling ' s Grand Tours . It started on 4 July in the principality of Monaco with a individual time trial which included a section of the Circuit de Monaco . The race visited six countries : Monaco , France , Spain , Andorra , Switzerland and Italy , and finished on 26 July on the Champs - Élysées in Paris . The 2008 Vuelta a España was the 63rd edition of the Vuelta a España , one of cycling ' s Grand Tours . The race began with a team time trial on August 30 in Granada . The Vuelta came to a close twenty - three days later with a flat stage , which brought the peloton into the streets of Madrid . Nineteen teams entered the race , which was won by the Spaniard Alberto Contador of . Second and third respectively were the American Levi Leipheimer of and the Spanish Carlos Sastre of . Mount Etna ( or Etna or " Mongibello " , or " â Muntagna ") is an active stratovolcano on the east coast of Sicily , Italy , in the Metropolitan City of Catania , between the cities of Messina and Catania . It lies above the convergent plate margin between the African Plate and the Eurasian Plate . It is the tallest active volcano in Europe , currently high , though this varies with summit eruptions . It is the highest peak in Italy south of the Alps . Etna covers an area of with a basal circumference of 140 km . This makes it by far the largest of the three active volcanoes in Italy , being about two and a half times the height of the next largest , Mount Vesuvius . Only Mount Teide in Tenerife ( owned by Spain ) surpasses it in the whole of the European  North - African region . In Greek Mythology , the deadly monster Typhon was trapped under this ___MASK7___ by Zeus , the god of the sky and thunder and ___MASK44___ of gods , and the forges of Hephaestus were said to also be located underneath it . France , officially the French Republic , is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories . The European , or metropolitan , area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea , and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean . Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic , Pacific and Indian oceans . France spans and had a total population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017 . It is a unitary semi - presidential republic with the capital in Paris , the country ' s largest city and main cultural and ___MASK41___ centre . Other major urban centres include Marseille , Lyon , Lille , Nice , Toulouse and Bordeaux . Riccardo Riccò ( born 1 September 1983 in Formigine ) is a former professional road ___MASK77___ from Italy . He remains under contract to UCI Continental team Meridiana - Kamen , but is suspended from all competition until 2024 . He was previously ejected from the 2008 Tour de France for doping violations and suspended . Riccò returned to competition in late - 2010 , but in February 2011 he was fired by his team , , after he became seriously ill allegedly through a self - administered autologous blood transfusion . Rotterdam is a city in the Netherlands , located in South Holland , within the Rhine  Meuse  Scheldt river delta at the North Sea . Its history goes back to 1270 when a dam was constructed in the Rotte river by people settled around it for safety . In 1340 Rotterdam was granted city rights by the ___MASK40___ of Holland and slowly grew into a ___MASK25___ logistic and economic centre . Nowadays it is home to Europe ' s largest port and has a population of 633 , 471 ( city proper ), ranking second in the Netherlands . The Greater Rijnmond area is home to approximately 1 . 4 million people and the Rotterdam The Hague Metropolitan Area makes for the 168th most populous urban area in the world . Rotterdam is part of the yet larger Randstad conurbation with a total population of 7 , 100 , 000 . Alberto Contador Velasco ( Spanish pronunciation : ( alerto kontaðor elasko ) ; born 6 December 1982 ) is a Spanish professional cyclist , one of six riders to have won all three Grand Tours of road cycling . He was the winner of the 2007 Tour de France with the Discovery Channel team . With the Astana team he has won the 2008 Giro d ' Italia , the 2008 Vuelta a España and the 2009 Tour de France . He initially also won the 2010 Tour de France with this team , and the 2011 Giro d ' Italia with team Saxo ___MASK51___ - SunGard , only to be stripped of these titles later having been found guilty of a doping offence . Following his return from a suspension , he won the 2012 Vuelta a España , the 2014 Vuelta a España and the 2015 Giro d ' Italia . Notable summit stage finishes on which he has victories include the Alto de El Angliru in the Vuelta , the Plateau de Beille in the Tour and Mount Etna in the Giro . After being widely expected to lose his tenuous lead in the 2007 Tour de France in that race ' s final individual time trial , Contador has become a more accomplished time trialist , with several victories in the discipline . He has earned a reputation as an all - rounder , a cyclist who excels in all aspects of stage racing which are needed for high places in the ___MASK78___ classification . Contador ' s career has been marked by doping allegations . The Operación Puerto doping case led his Astana -- Würth team ( a team restructured to the current Astana team ) to withdraw en masse from the 2006 Tour de France before it began . He was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing . In September 2010 , Contador announced that he had tested positive for clenbuterol in a control taken during that year ' s Tour de France , in which he finished as winner , but although he was suspended during an investigation , he was cleared by the RFEC . A review by the Court of Arbitration for Sport initially set for June 2011 was later deferred several times until February 2012 , when the CAS decided that Contador be stripped of the results obtained in the 2010 Tour de France and later , which also caused him to lose his 2011 Giro d ' Italia victory . He was also suspended until 5 August 2012 , and his contract with Team Saxo ___MASK51___ was annulled . Upon the completion of his ban , Contador rejoined the renamed Saxo ___MASK51___ -- Tinkoff ___MASK51___ team . The Tour de France is an annual multiple stage bicycle race primarily held in France , while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries . The race was first organized in 1903 to increase ___MASK37___ for the newspaper " L ' Auto "; which is currently run by the Amaury Sport Organisation . The race has been held annually since its first edition in 1903 except when it was stopped for the two World Wars . As the Tour gained prominence and popularity the race was lengthened and its reach began to extend around the globe . Participation expanded from a primarily French field , as riders from all over the world began to participate in the race each year . The Tour is a UCI World Tour event , which means that the teams that compete in the race are mostly UCI WorldTeams , with the exception of the teams that the organizers invite . The Alps are the highest and most extensive ___MASK7___ range system that lies entirely in Europe , stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries : Austria , France , Germany , Italy , Liechtenstein , Monaco , Slovenia , and Switzerland . The mountains were formed over tens of millions of years as the African and Eurasian tectonic plates collided . Extreme shortening caused by the event resulted in marine sedimentary rocks rising by thrusting and folding into high ___MASK7___ peaks such as Mont Blanc and the Matterhorn . Mont Blanc spans the French  Italian border , and at is the highest ___MASK7___ in the Alps . The Alpine region area contains about a hundred peaks higher than 4000 metres ( just over 13 , 000 feet ). MILAN (" milan ( e )" is French for kite ) is a European anti - tank guided missile . Design of the MILAN started in 1962 , it was ready for trials in 1971 , and was accepted for service in 1972 . It is a wire guided SACLOS ( semi - automatic command to line - of - sight ) missile , which means the sight of the launch unit has to be aimed at the target to ___MASK83___ the missile . The MILAN can be equipped with a MIRA or MILIS thermal sight to give it night - firing ability . The ___MASK78___ classification ( or the GC ) in bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for bicycle riders in multi - stage bicycle races . Each stage will have a stage winner , but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest time when all the stage results are added together . An individual time trial ( ITT ) is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the ___MASK36___ on flat or rolling terrain , or up a ___MASK7___ road such as Alpe d ' Huez ( in French : " contre la montre "  literally " against the watch ", in Italian : " tappa a cronometro " " stopwatch stage "). There are also track - based time trials where riders compete in velodromes , and team time trials ( TTT ). ITTs are also referred to as " the race of truth ", as winning depends only on each rider ' s strength and endurance , and not on help provided by team - mates and others riding ahead and creating a slipstream . The opening stage of stage race will often be a short individual time trial called a prologue . Marzio Bruseghin ( born 15 June 1974 in Conegliano , Treviso ) is an Italian retired professional road ___MASK77___ , who competed as a professional between 1997 and 2012 . His best achievement was winning the 2006 Italian time - trial championship , as well as winning two time trial stages in the Giro d ' Italia . In 2008 he completed all three Grand Tours , including a podium finish ( Giro ) and a top 10 finish ( Vuelta ). Zeus (" Zeús ", ; Modern , " Días " ) was the sky and thunder god in ancient Greek ___MASK85___ , who ruled as ___MASK44___ of the gods of Mount Olympus . His name is cognate with the first element of his Roman equivalent Jupiter . His mythologies and powers are similar , though not identical to those of the Indo - European deities such as Indra , Jupiter , Perun , Thor , and Odin . The 2008 Giro d ' Italia was the 91st running of the Giro d ' Italia , one of cycling ' s Grand Tours . It began in Palermo on 10 May and ended in Milan on 1 June . Twenty - two teams entered the race , which was won by Spaniard Alberto Contador of the cycling team . Second and third respectively were Italians Riccardo Riccò and Marzio Bruseghin . Palermo ( Sicilian : " Palermu ", , from , " Panormos ", , " Balarm "; Phoenician :    , " Ziz ") is a city of Southern Italy , the capital of both the autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo . The city is noted for its history , culture , ___MASK6___ and gastronomy , playing an important role throughout much of its existence ; it is over 2 , 700 years old . Palermo is located in the northwest of the island of Sicily , right by the Gulf of Palermo in the Tyrrhenian Sea . Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a ___MASK35___ state largely located on the Iberian Peninsula in southwestern Europe , with two large archipelagos , the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea and the Canary Islands off the North African Atlantic coast , two cities Ceuta and Melilla in the North African mainland and several small islands in the Alboran Sea near the Moroccan coast . Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar ; to the north and northeast by France , Andorra , and the Bay of Biscay ; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean . It is the only European country to have a border with an African country ( Morocco ) and its African territory accounts for nearly 5 % of its population , mostly in the Canary Islands but also in Ceuta and Melilla . Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe . Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea , Italy shares open land borders with France , Switzerland , Austria , Slovenia , San Marino and Vatican City . Italy covers an area of and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate ; due to its shape , it is often referred to in Italy as " lo Stivale " ( the Boot ). With 61 million inhabitants , it is the fourth most populous EU ___MASK43___ state . Hephaestus ( or ; eight spellings ; Ancient Greek : " Hphaistos ") is the Greek god of blacksmiths , craftsmen , artisans , sculptors , metals , metallurgy , fire and volcanoes . Hephaestus ' Roman equivalent is Vulcan . In Greek mythology , Hephaestus was the son of Zeus and Hera , the ___MASK44___ and queen of the gods . In another version , he was Hera ' s parthenogenous child , rejected by his mother because of his deformity and thrown off of Mount Olympus and down to earth . A team time trial ( TTT ) is a road - based bicycle race in which teams of cyclists race against the ___MASK36___ ( see individual time trial for a more detailed description of ITT events ). In many racing sports an athlete ( or occasionally a team of athletes ) will compete in a time trial against the ___MASK36___ to secure the fastest time . In cycling , for example , a time trial ( TT ) can be a single track cycling event , or an individual or team time trial on the road , and either or both of the latter may form components of multi - day stage races . In contrast to other types of races , athletes race alone since they are sent out in intervals ( interval starts ), as opposed to a mass start . Levi Leipheimer ( born October 24 , 1973 ) is an American former professional road racing cyclist . He was twice US national champion , winning the time trial title in 1999 and the road race in 2007 , and is an Olympic medalist . Leipheimer was born and raised in Butte , Montana and resides in Santa Rosa , California with his Canadian wife Odessa Gunn . He is the patron of the widely attended ___MASK44___ Ridge GranFondo , a mass participation ride in Sonoma County .