Tour de France: Garmin takes podium in Paris as Tour’s top team

The Tour de France ended Sunday for Team Garmin-Cervélo just as it began – with the argyle armada atop the podium. In a three-week race that saw Team Garmin achieve its first of many objectives on the second day by winning the Stage 2 Team Time Trial, their best Tour by far wrapped up on the Champs Elysees when they accepted the award for being the best overall team. Even Dave Zabriskie, who was so instrumental in the TTT and setting the pace in the Tour's early days, was there in spirit after crashing out with a broken wrist. While our own Captain America recovers back home, the team carried a cardboard cutout of DZ up on stage to round out the roster.

And thanks to impressive showings in Saturday's individual time trial, Tom Danielson finished an amazing ninth overall in the general classification in his debut, and fellow GC riders Christian Vande Velde and Ryder Hesjedal secured three Garmin spots in the Tour's top 18. These accomplishments added to an already impressive list that included world champion Thor Hushovd spending a week in the leader's yellow jersey, and four stage victories – the TTT, Thor's two wins in the mountains and American sprinter Tyler Farrar's emotional triumph on the Fourth of July.

So be sure to follow @GarminUK and @Ride_Argyle on Twitter and visit SlipstreamSports.com for pictures from Paris, insiders' perspectives and in-depth race reports.