MADRID, July 26, 2009 (AFP) – When Alberto Contador stepped up to the podium on Sunday after winning the Tour de France for the second time, the Spanish rider was greeted with a recording of the Danish national anthem due to an embarrassing mistake on the part of organizers.

The 26-year-old took off his cap and stood at attention while the wrong anthem played, looking off to the side at one point and occasionally breaking into a grin, images broadcast on public Spanish television TVE showed.

When the victory ceremony was repeated, this time with the Spanish anthem, the more up-tempo “Royal March” military tune, Contador smiled broadly and held his cap over his heart as he looked ahead.

The television station said Contador, the 2007 Tour champion, himself alerted tour organizers of the error, which it called a “serious mistake”.