Tour de France

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For other uses, see Tour de France (disambiguation).

Le Tour de France (Tour of France), often referred to as La Grande Boucle, Le Tour or The Tour, is the most famous and prestigious road bicycle race in the world. With the exception of war years, it has been held annually since 1903. It is a long-distance stage race competition for professional cycling teams, traveling through France and other countries over three weeks each July. The winner is the individual who finishes in the least accumulated time.

The Tour de France, Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy) and Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain) are the three major stage races and the longest of the UCI Calendar at three weeks each. The Giro d'Italia, Tour de France, and World Cycling Championship constitute the Triple Crown of Cycling. While the other two European Grand Tours are well-known in Europe, they are relatively unknown outside the continent, and even the UCI World Cycling Championship is familiar only to cycling enthusiasts. The Tour de France, in contrast, has long been a household name around the globe, even among those not generally interested in professional cycling; it is for cycling what the FIFA World Cup is to football (soccer) in global popularity.

[edit] History

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 from:1903 till:1904 text:"1st Maurice Garin" color:France
 from:1904 till:1905 text:"2nd Henri Cornet" color:France
 from:1905 till:1906 text:"3rd Louis Trousselier" color:France
 from:1906 till:1907 text:"4th René Polthier" color:France
 from:1907 till:1908 text:"5th Lucien Petit-Breton" color:France
 from:1908 till:1909 text:"6th Lucien Petit-Breton 2" color:France
 from:1909 till:1910 text:"7th François Faber" color:Luxembourg
 from:1910 till:1911 text:"8th Octave Lapize" color:France
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 from:1919 till:1920 text:"13th Firmin Lambot" color:Belgium
 from:1920 till:1921 text:"14th Philippe Thys 3" color:Belgium
 from:1921 till:1922 text:"15th Léon Scieur" color:Belgium
 from:1922 till:1923 text:"16th Firmin Lambot 2" color:Belgium
 from:1923 till:1924 text:"17th Henri Pélissier" color:France
 from:1924 till:1925 text:"18th Ottavio Bottecchia" color:Italy
 from:1925 till:1926 text:"19th Ottavio Bottecchia 2" color:Italy mark:(line,linemark2)
 from:1926 till:1927 text:"20th Lucien Buysse" color:Belgium
 from:1927 till:1928 text:"21st Nicolas Frantz" color:Luxembourg
 from:1928 till:1929 text:"22nd Nicolas Frantz 2" color:Luxembourg
 from:1929 till:1930 text:"23rd Maurice de Waele" color:Belgium
 from:1930 till:1931 text:"24th André Leducq" color:France
 from:1931 till:1932 text:"25th Antonin Magne" color:France
 from:1932 till:1933 text:"26th André Leducq 2" color:France
 from:1933 till:1934 text:"27th Georges Speicher" color:France
 from:1934 till:1935 text:"28th Antonin Magne" color:France
 from:1935 till:1936 text:"29th Romain Maes" color:Belgium
 from:1936 till:1937 text:"30th Sylvère Maes" color:Belgium
 from:1937 till:1938 text:"31st Roger Lapébie" color:France
 from:1938 till:1939 text:"32nd Gino Bartali" color:Italy
 from:1939 till:1940 text:"33rd Sylvère Maes 2" color:Belgium
 from:1940 till:1947 text:"World War II" color:War shift:(25, 35)
 from:1947 till:1948 text:"34th Jean Robic" color:France
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 from:1950 till:1951 text:"37th Ferdinand Kubler" color:Switzerland
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 from:1956 till:1957 text:"43rd Roger Walkowiak" color:France
 from:1957 till:1958 text:"44th Jacques Anquetil" color:France
 from:1958 till:1959 text:"45th Charly Gaul" color:Luxembourg
 from:1959 till:1960 text:"46th Federico Bahamontes" color:Spain
 from:1960 till:1961 text:"47th Gastone Nencini" color:Italy
 from:1961 till:1962 text:"48th Jacques Anquetil 2" color:France
 from:1962 till:1963 text:"49th Jacques Anquetil 3" color:France
 from:1963 till:1964 text:"50th Jacques Anquetil 4" color:France
 from:1964 till:1965 text:"51st Jacques Anquetil 5" color:France
 from:1965 till:1966 text:"52nd Felice Gimondi" color:Italy
 from:1966 till:1967 text:"53rd Lucien Aimar" color:France
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 from:1969 till:1970 text:"56th Eddy Merckx" color:Belgium
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 from:1975 till:1976 text:"62nd Bernard Thévenet" color:France
 from:1976 till:1977 text:"63rd Lucien van Impe" color:Belgium
 from:1977 till:1978 text:"64th Bernard Thévenet 2" color:France
 from:1978 till:1979 text:"65th Bernard Hinault" color:France
 from:1979 till:1980 text:"66th Bernard Hinault 2" color:France
 from:1980 till:1981 text:"67th Joop Zoetemelk" color:Netherlands
 from:1981 till:1982 text:"68th Bernard Hinault 3" color:France
 from:1982 till:1983 text:"69th Bernard Hinault 4" color:France
 from:1983 till:1984 text:"70th Laurent Fignon" color:France
 from:1984 till:1985 text:"71st Laurent Fignon 2" color:France
 from:1985 till:1986 text:"72nd Bernard Hinault 5" color:France
 from:1986 till:1987 text:"73rd Greg LeMond" color:US
 from:1987 till:1988 text:"74th Stephen Roche" color:Ireland
 from:1988 till:1989 text:"75th Pedro Delgado" color:Spain
 from:1989 till:1990 text:"76th Greg LeMond 2" color:US
 from:1990 till:1991 text:"77th Greg LeMond 3" color:US
 from:1991 till:1992 text:"78th Miguel Induráin" color:Spain
 from:1992 till:1993 text:"79th Miguel Induráin 2" color:Spain
 from:1993 till:1994 text:"80th Miguel Induráin 3" color:Spain
 from:1994 till:1995 text:"81st Miguel Induráin 4" color:Spain
 from:1995 till:1996 text:"82nd Miguel Induráin 5" color:Spain
 from:1996 till:1997 text:"83rd Bjarne Riis" color:Denmark
 from:1997 till:1998 text:"84th Jan Ullrich" color:Germany
 from:1998 till:1999 text:"85th Marco Pantani" color:Italy
 from:1999 till:2000 text:"86th Lance Armstrong" color:US
 from:2000 till:2001 text:"87th Lance Armstrong 2" color:US
 from:2001 till:2002 text:"88th Lance Armstrong 3" color:US
 from:2002 till:2003 text:"89th Lance Armstrong 4" color:US
 from:2003 till:2004 text:"90th Lance Armstrong 5" color:US
 from:2004 till:2005 text:"91st Lance Armstrong 6" color:US
 from:2005 till:2006 text:"92nd Lance Armstrong 7" color:US

The Tour was founded as a publicity event for the newspaper L'Auto (predecessor to the present l'Équipe) by its editor, Henri Desgrange, to rival the Paris-Brest et retour ride (sponsored by Le Petit Journal), and Bordeaux-Paris. ^{[citation needed]} The idea for a round-France stage race came from one of Desgrange's youngest journalists, Georges Lefèvre, with whom Desgrange had lunch at what is now the TGI Fridays bar in Montmartre in Paris on November 20, 1902. L'Auto announced the race on January 19, 1903. It proved a great success for the newspaper; increasing circulation from 25,000 before the 1903 Tour to 65,000 after it; in 1908 the race boosted circulation past a quarter of a million, and during the 1923 Tour it was selling 500,000 copies a day. The record circulation claimed by Desgrange was 854,000, achieved during the 1933 Tour. ^{[citation needed]} Today, the Tour is organized by the Société du Tour de France, a subsidiary of Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), which is part of the media group that owns l'Équipe.

The Tour is a "stage race" divided into a number of stages, each being a race held over one day. The time each rider takes to complete each stage is recorded and accumulated. Riders are often awarded time bonuses as well as their prizes for finishing well. Riders who finish in the same group are awarded the same time. Two riders are said to have finished in the same group if there is less than the length of a bike between them. A rider who crashes in the last three kilometres is given the time of the group in which he would have otherwise finished. The ranking of riders by accumulated time is known as the General Classification. The winner is the rider with the least accumulated time after the final day. It is possible to win the overall race without winning any individual daily stages (which Greg LeMond did in 1990). Winning a stage is considered a great achievement, more prestigious than winning most single day races. Although the number of stages has varied, the modern Tour has consisted of about 20 stages and a total length of 3,000 to 4,000km. There are subsidiary competitions within the race (see below), some with distinctive jerseys for the best rider.

The Tour is contested by teams backed by commercial sponsors, but the event began for individuals; slipstreaming and other tactics were savagely condemned by Desgrange and he accepted their inevitability only during the 1920s. Even when commercial teams had become commonplace in other events, the Tour was contested by national teams from 1930 to 1961 and again in 1967 and 1968, in both cases because the organisers felt that sponsors were detracting from the sporting quality of the race.

Most stages take place in France though it is common to have stages in nearby countries, such as Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, the Netherlands, the Republic of Ireland, and the United Kingdom (visited in 1974 and 1994 and start of the 2007 tour). The three weeks usually includes two rest days, sometimes used to transport riders long distances between stages.

In recent years, the Tour has been preceded by a short individual time trial (1 to 15km) called the prologue. Since 1975, the finish has been in Paris on the Champs-Élysées, the only time the city's most symbolic avenue is closed other than for the processions of July 14, the national holiday.

Stages of the Tour can be flat, undulating or mountainous. They are normally contested by all the riders starting together with the first over the line being accorded the victory, but they can also be run as races against the clock for individuals or teams. The time-trials often have a significant effect on the overall outcome because they separate riders by significant margins, whereas in some conventional stages the participants finish together or in a few large groups. The overall winner is almost always a master of the mountain stages and time trials.

The race alternates each year between clockwise and anti-clockwise circuits of France. For example, 2005 was a clockwise direction Tour — visiting the Alpes first and then the Pyrenees — while the 2006 race went in reverse order. For the first half of its history, the Tour was a near-continuous loop, often running close to France's borders. Rules intended to restrict drug-taking have since the 1960s limited the overall distance, the daily distance and the number of days raced consecutively, and the modern Tour frequently skips between one city or one region and another.

A feature of the Tour almost from the start has been the mountains. The roads that climb them are now in good condition but at first they were no more than tracks of hard-packed earth on which riders frequently had to get off and push their bicycles. Even into the 1950s and 1960s, the road at the summit of mountains could be potholed and strewn with small rocks.

Mountain passes such as the Tourmalet in the Pyrenees have been made famous by the Tour de France and they attract large numbers of amateur cyclists every day in summer, anxious to test their fitness on roads used by the champions. The difficulty of climbs is established in a complex formula that rates a mountain by its steepness (the Tourmalet is around 10 per cent most the way), its length (14km for the Tourmalet) and its position on the course. The easiest climbs are graded 4, most of the hardest as 1 and the exceptional (such as the Tourmalet) as unclassified, or "hors-catégorie".

Some recur almost annually. The most famous hors-catégorie peaks include the Col du Tourmalet, Mont Ventoux, Col du Galibier, the climb to the ski resort of Hautacam, and Alpe d'Huez.

From 1984 to 2003 there was a race called La Grande Boucle Féminine Internationale, often considered Tour de France for women.

[edit] Tour directors

• 1903 to 1939 Henri Desgrange
• 1947 to 1961 Jacques Goddet
• 1962 to 1986 Jacques Goddet and Félix Lévitan
• 1987 to 1988 Jean-François Naquet-Radiguet
• 1988 to 1989 Jean-Pierre Courcol
• 1989 to 2005 Jean-Marie Leblanc
• 2005 to present Christian Prudhomme

[edit] Famous stages

Since 1975, the final stage always finishes on the Champs-Élysées in Paris, which is cobbled, making it a difficult to cycle, though not as hard as the Paris-Roubaix. The race takes multiple turns over the avenue, which is lined with enormous crowds. This stage is not usually competitive in terms of the overall lead since it is a flat sprinters' stage, and the leader is likely to have a sufficiently large margin to be unchallengeable. There have been exceptions, however. In 1987, with the Irish rider Stephen Roche leading the Spaniard Pedro Delgado by only 40 seconds, Delgado broke away from the peloton on the Champs-Élysées, threatening to snatch victory at the last minute. In the end he was caught, he and Roche both finished in the peloton, and Roche thereby won the Tour.)

In 1989 the Tour organizers returned to holding a time trial as the final stage. In it, Greg LeMond of the United States overtook the Frenchman Laurent Fignon, who held a 50-second lead, to win by eight seconds, the closest margin in the Tour's history.

The particularly tough climb of Alpe d'Huez is a favourite, providing a stage finish in most Tours. In 2004, in another experiment, the mountain time trial ended at Alpe d'Huez. This seems less likely to be repeated, following complaints of abusive spectator behavior from the riders <ref>http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour04.php?id=letters/2004/jul23tourletters</ref><ref>http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=11807</ref>. Another famous mountain stage is the climb of the Mont Ventoux, often claimed to be the hardest climb in the Tour due to the harsh conditions there. The Tour usually features only one of these two climbs in a year.

To host a stage start or finish brings prestige and business to a town. The prologue and first stage are particularly prestigious. Usually one town will host the prologue (which is too short to go between towns) and also the start of stage 1. In some years, like 2005, there is no prologue. The Tour alternates between starting inside and outside France; the first few stages often go into or start in a neighbouring country.

[edit] Prize money

Since the first Tour in 1903, prize money is awarded. From a total 20.000 francs the first year, the total amount of prize money increases each year. Prizes and bonuses are awarded according to the classification in each stage and the overall classifications at the end of the race. A smaller amount is paid to teams as participation expense or presence bonus. In 2006, a total of over 3 million Euro was awarded, the winner of the individual general classification receiving 450,000 Euros.<ref>Règlement de l'épreuve et Liste des prix pp. 21-25</ref> Notwithstanding these increasing amounts, the importance of the prize money decreased through the years, as riders are well paid by their employers -the cycling teams- by contract.

[edit] Physical rigor

"The Tour de France’s is arguably the most physiologically demanding of athletic events. The distance and time of the Tour is comparable to running a marathon several days a week for nearly three weeks. The vertical distance climbed traversing the Alps and Pyrenees is equivalent to climbing three Everests. Participants consume and burn as much as 10,000 calories per day.<ref>“What He’s Been Pedaling” The New York Times, July 16, 2006.</ref>

[edit] Classification jerseys

Apart from the overall competition of winning the Tour, each race has two further classifications: the points and the mountain competitions. Tallied at the end of each stage, the current leaders of the three competitions are required to wear a distinctive jersey next day. Jerseys are awarded in a ceremony after each stage, sometimes before trailing riders have finished the stage. When a single rider is entitled to more than one jersey, he wears the most prestigious and the second-placed rider in each of the other classifications wears the corresponding jersey. For example, in the first week it is common for the overall classification (yellow jersey) and points (sprint) competition (green jersey) to be led by the same rider. In this case the leading rider will wear the yellow jersey and the rider placed second in the points competition will wear the green jersey.

The Tour's jersey colours have been adopted by other cycling stage races, and have thus come to have meaning within cycling generally, rather than solely in the Tour. For example, the Tour of Britain has yellow, green, and polka-dot jerseys with the same meaning as in the Tour de France. The Giro d’Italia differs in awarding the overall leader a pink jersey, having been organized and sponsored by La Gazzetta dello Sport, an Italian sports daily newspaper with pink pages.

[edit] Overall leader

Main article: maillot jaune

Image:Lance Armstrong Tour de France Pforzheim 2005-07-09.jpg The maillot jaune (yellow jersey), which is worn by the overall time leader, is the most prized. It is awarded by calculating the total combined race time up to that point for each rider. The rider with the lowest total time is the leader, and at the end of the event is declared the overall winner of the Tour. Desgrange added the yellow jersey in 1919 because he wanted the race leader to wear something distinctive and because the pages of his magazine, L'Auto, were yellow. ^{[citation needed]} Additional time bonuses, in the form of a number of seconds to be deducted from the rider's overall time, are available to the first 3 riders to finish the stage or cross an intermediate sprint (see below). As of 2005, the first 3 places to finish are awarded bonuses of 20, 12, and 8 seconds respectively, while the first 3 places at intermediate sprints are awarded 6, 4, and 2 seconds. However, these bonuses are rarely significant enough to cause major upset in the classement géneral (General Classification).

Sometimes a rider takes the overall lead during a stage and gets sufficiently far ahead of the yellow jersey wearer his current lead is greater than his time deficit to the yellow jersey in the general classification; when this happens, this rider may be referred to as being "the yellow jersey on the road". Obviously, no jerseys can be exchanged in this situation, which is why in some other languages the leading rider is referred to as the "virtual yellow".

[edit] Points competition

Main article: maillot vert

The maillot vert (green jersey) is awarded for sprint points. At the end of each stage, points are earned by the riders who finish first, second, etc. The number of points for each place and the number of riders rewarded varies depending on the stage - flat stages give 35 points down to 1 point for 25th; medium mountain stages give 25 points down to 1 for 20th; high mountain stages give 20 points down to 1 for the 15th. This is because, generally speaking, the more mountainous a stage is, the less likely is a sprint finish between many riders. Points are also awarded for individual time trials: 15 for the winner down to 1 for 10th. Additional points are available for sprints along the route, often two or three times a day, with the idea of pepping up the race.

[edit] King of the Mountains

Main article: Polka dot jersey

The "King of the Mountains" wears a white jersey with red dots (maillot à pois rouges), referred to as the "polka dot jersey" and inspired by a jersey that the former organiser, Félix Lévitan saw while at the Vélodrome d'Hiver track in Paris in his youth. The vivid design of red dots on a white background is not popular with riders.

The competition is calculated by points awarded to the first riders at the top of designated hills and mountains, the greatest number of points being awarded for the hardest ascents. Although the best climber was first recognised in 1933, the jersey was not introduced until 1975.

[edit] Other classifications

There are three lesser classifications, though only one awards the leader with a jersey. The maillot blanc (white jersey) is for the best-placed rider less than 25 years old on January 1 of the year the Tour is ridden.

The "prix de combativité" goes to the rider who has done most to animate the day's racing, usually by trying to break clear of the field. The rider with most points wears a number printed white-on-red instead of black-on-white. At the end of the Tour, an award is given to the rider who was thought to be the most aggressive bike racer throughout the entire three week tour.

The team prize is assessed by adding the times of each team's best three riders each day. The competition does not have its own jersey but since 2006 the leading team has worn numbers printed black-on-yellow instead of black-on-white. The number of riders in a team has varied widely but is now normally nine. Until 1930, teams represented countries, groupsd of countries or French regions. From 1930, but with the exception of 1967 and 1968 when there was a return to geographical teams, riders have been entered by commercial teams.

As in all road races, national and world champions wear not their ordinary teram colours but their world or national championship jerseys when competing in the appropriate race: the time-trial champion in the time-trial, the road race in massed stages.

[edit] Historical jerseys

Previously, there was a red jersey for the standings in non-stage-finish sprints: points were awarded to the first three riders to pass two or three intermediate points during the stage. These sprints also scored points towards the green jersey and bonus seconds towards the overall classification, as well as cash prizes offered by the residents of the area where the sprint took place. The sprints remain, with all these additional effects, the most significant now being the points for the green jersey. The red jersey was abolished in 1989. ^{[citation needed]}

There was also a combination jersey, scored on a points system based on standings for the yellow, green, red, and polka-dot jerseys. The design was a patchwork, with areas resembling each individual jersey design. This was abolished in the same year as the red jersey.

[edit] Stages

See also: Stage (bicycle race)

[edit] Mass-start stages

Image:TourDeFrance 2005 07 09.jpg In an ordinary stage, all riders start simultaneously and share the road. The real start (départ réel) usually is some 2 to 5 km away from the starting point, and is announced by the Tour director in the officials' car waving a white flag.

Riders are permitted to touch (but not push or nudge) and to shelter behind each other, in slipstream. The latter is called drafting in the USA and sitting on a wheel in Britain. Riders The one who crosses the finish line first wins. In the first week of the Tour, this usually leads to spectacular mass sprints.

While only finishers are awarded sprint points, all riders finishing in an identifiable group (with no significant gap to the rider in front, as determined by race officials) are deemed to have finished the stage in the same time as the lead rider of that group for overall classification purposes. This avoids what would otherwise be dangerous mass sprints. It is not unusual for the entire field to finish in a single group, taking some time to cross the line, but being credited with the same time as the stage winner.

Time bonuses are awarded at some intermediate sprints and stage finishes to the first three riders who reach the specified point. These bonuses generally are a maximum of 20 seconds, and can allow a good sprinter to qualify for the yellow jersey early in the Tour.

Riders who crash within the last 3 kilometres of the stage are credited with the finishing time of the group that they were with when they crashed [1]. This prevents riders from being penalised for accidents that do not accurately reflect their performance on the stage as a whole given that crashes in the final kilometre can be huge pileups that are hard to avoid for a rider farther back in the peloton. A crashed sprinter inside the final kilometre will not win the sprint, but avoids being penalised in the overall classification. The final kilometre is indicated in the race course by a red triangular pennant - known as the flamme rouge - raised above the road.

Some ordinary stages take place in the mountains, almost always causing major shifts in the General Classification. On ordinary stages that do not have extended mountain climbs, most riders can manage to stay together in the peloton all the way to the finish; during mountain stages, however, it is not uncommon for some riders to lose 40 minutes to the winner of the stage. The so called mountain stages are often the deciding factor in determining the winner of the Tour de France. With the exception of the now traditional finish at the Champs-Elysées all famous stages, like Alpe d'Huez and Mont Ventoux, are mountain stages, and these often bring out the most spectators who line up the roads by the thousands to cheer and encourage the cyclists and support their favorites.

[edit] Individual time trials

See also: Individual time trial and Time trialist

Image:Lance-Armstrong-TdF2004.jpg In an individual time trial each rider rides individually. The first stage of the tour is often a short time trial known as a prologue. Here, riders start in reverse order of race number, meaning the weakest rider on the lowest ranked team will be first off, with the final rider being the defending champion, wearing Number 1. If the winner of the previous year does not take part, number 1 will be given to the first rider of the team of the former champion. The prologue is to decide who wears yellow on the opening day, and provide a spectacle for the organising city.

There are usually three or four time trials during the Tour. One may be a team time trial (see below). Traditionally the final time trial has been the penultimate stage, and effectively determines the winner before the final ordinary stage which is not ridden competitively until the last hour. On a few occasions, the race organisers made the final stage into Paris a time trial. The most recent occasion on which this was done, in 1989, yielded the closest ever finish in Tour history, when Greg LeMond beat Laurent Fignon by eight seconds overall. Fignon wore the yellow jersey for the final stage, with a lead of 50 seconds, and was beaten by LeMond's superior time trial performance. LeMond's unusual handlebars which placed his forearms close together and reduce wind resistance, and his streamlined helmet, were considered a major factor in his victory. ^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Team time trial

See also: Team time trial

Often in the first week of the Tour there is a team time trial (TTT), in which each team rides together without interference from competing teams. The team time is determined by the fifth rider to cross the line; all riders ahead of the fifth rider, and those finishing within one bike length of each other, are awarded this same time. Riders who finish more than one bike-length behind their respective teams are awarded their own individual times.

The TTT has been criticized for strongly favoring strong teams and handicapping strong riders in weaker teams. To address this criticism, the 2004 and 2005 editions of the Tour limited the maximum team time difference relative to the fastest team, according to the team rankings on the stage. The following table indicates the maximum time penalty added to the winning team's time that a team will receive, according to its team time placing. However, this does not apply to riders finishing behind their own teams, and does not protect riders in case of crashing in the last kilometre, unlike during normal stages.

For example, a team that finishes in 14th place, six minutes behind the winning team, would lose only two minutes and 20 seconds in the General Classification relative to the winners of the TTT. If the team time had been 2:13 behind the winning team, then the team time will be 2:13 assuming that this were still the 14th place.

In 2006 there was no TTT in the Tour.

[edit] Culture

The Tour is immensely popular and important in France, not only as a sporting event but also as a matter of national identity and pride. Any Frenchman who has won the Tour becomes an object of public adoration in his native land. It is said that any French rider who has worn the yellow jersey, even for a day, will never go hungry or thirsty again in France. ^{[citation needed]} Millions of spectators line the route every year , some having camped a week in advance to get the best views. A recognizable part of the crowd each day is Didi Senft who, dressed in a red devil costume, has been known as the Tour de France devil or El Diablo since 1993. The inspiration for the costume is attributed to the final kilometre of each Tour stage, indicated by a red triangle suspended over the road.

In the hours before the riders pass, a carnival atmosphere prevails. Any amateur cyclist is free to attempt the course on his bicycle in the morning, after which begins a garish cavalcade of advertising vehicles blaring music and tossing hats, souvenirs, sweets and free samples . As word passes that the riders are approaching, the fans sometimes encroach on the road until they are an arm’s length from the riders.

[edit] Customs

The riders temper their competitiveness and enthusiasm with an elaborate but unwritten code of conduct. When possible, a rider is allowed to lead the race through his home village or on his birthday. It is considered unsporting to attack a leading rider delayed by a mechanical breakdown or other misfortune, one who is eating in the feed zone or one who is enjoying un besoin naturel (roughly translated to "a natural need", referring to urinating. Not sticking to these customs can lead to animosity . Unless the final stage is a time trial, riders generally do not attack on the final stage, leaving the leader to bask in the glory of winning.

The rider ranked last in the general classification, who may wind up in Paris with an overall time five or more hours slower than that of the winner, is called the lanterne rouge. Such was the sympathy shown to the last rider in the past that he could command higher fees in other races than riders who finished better. This custom has died along with the round-the-houses races one run off all over France in the weeks after the Tour.

[edit] Terminology

Further information: Bicycling terminology

Much of the terminology used to describe the Tour de France is used in bicycle racing across the world. Terms specific to the Tour de France include:

• flamme rouge, or red kite - the red pennant hanging as close as possible to a kilometre from the finish.
• lanterne rouge - meaning "red lantern" (as found at the end of a rail train), the name for the overall last-place rider.
• voiture balai - the "broom wagon" follows the race to collect riders who cannot continue. Some riders prefer to be picked up by their team's car instead. Riders are generally expected to finish the race within 10–12 percent of the winner’s time or risk being dropped from the tour.

[edit] Films

A casual fan, Scott Coady attended the 2000 Tour de France with the aim to follow the entire Tour de France with a handheld video camera. By chance, he got a press accreditation and went on to make The Tour Baby! which has gained cult status among cyclist . He made the film to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation raising more than $160,000 for the foundation.<ref>Ian Melvin, The Tour Baby!, Cycling News, October 8, 2004</ref>

In 2005, two films chronicled the efforts of a single team competing in the Tour de France. The German film Höllentour, translated as "Hell on Wheels" in English, records the Tour in 2003, the centenary year, from the perspective of Team Telekom. The film was directed by Pepe Danquart who won an Academy Award for Live Action Short Film in 1993 for Black Rider (Schwarzfahrer).<ref>Blood, sweat and gears, The Sydney Morning Herald, May 27, 2005</ref> Also released was Danish film Overcoming by Tómas Gislason, which records the 2004 Tour de France from the perspective of Team CSC.

One of the most famous films about the Tour is Vive Le Tour by Louis Malle. This 18 minute short takes a humorous look at the 1962 edition. The 1965 Tour was filmed by Claude Lelouch in Pour un Maillot Jaune. This 30 minute documentary contains no narration and relies on the sights and sounds of the Tour itself.

• Höllentour at the Internet Movie Database
• Overcoming at the Internet Movie Database
• Vive Le Tour at the Internet Movie Database
• Pour un Maillot Jaune at the Internet Movie Database

In fiction, the plot of the 2003 cartoon "Les Triplettes de Belleville" (The Triplets of Belleville) ties into the Tour De France.

• Triplettes de Belleville, Les at the Internet Movie Database

[edit] Music

The Tour de France also inspired Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of Queen, to write the song "Bicycle Race" in 1978.

In 1983, the German music group Kraftwerk released the single Tour de France which was described as a minimalistic "melding of man and machine".<ref name="kraftwerk">Chris Jones, Kraftwerk, Tour De France Soundtracks, BBC, August 4, 2003</ref> The single was later included on an entire Kraftwerk record dedicated to the race, the Tour de France Soundtracks album from 2003.

The German band Sweetbox wrote a song titled Tour De France dedicated for the race which was supposed to be on the European edition of the Adagio album in 2004. It didn't make the album cut, but was later released on the Raw Treasures Volume 1 album in 2005, a special album with some of the demos and songs that were unreleased.

[edit] Doping

Main article: Doping at the Tour de France

Allegations of doping have plagued the Tour almost since its beginning in 1903. Early Tour riders were said to have consumed alcohol and used ether, among other substances, as a means of dulling the pain of competing in endurance cycling. As time went by, riders began using substances as a means of increasing performance rather than dulling the senses, and organizing bodies such as the Tour and the International Cycling Union (UCI), as well as government bodies, enacted policies to combat the practice.

On July 13, 1967, British cyclist Tom Simpson died climbing Mont Ventoux following use of amphetamines, complicated by the now defunct practice of drinking as little as possible. His now-supposed last words, "put me back on my bike", were invented by Sid Saltmarsh of the British magazine "Cycling" and the daily paper "The Sun"..<ref>Memorial section of Tour de France</ref>

At the 1998 Tour de France, dubbed the "Tour of Shame", a doping scandal erupted when Willy Voet, one of the soigneurs for the Festina cycling team, was arrested for possession of erythropoietin (EPO), growth hormones, testosterone and amphetamine. French police raided several teams in their hotels and found doping products in the possession of the TVM team. The riders staged a it-down strike" on stage 17. After mediation by Jean-Marie Leblanc, the Director of the Tour, police agreed to limit the most heavy-handed tactics and the riders agreed to continue. Some riders and teams had already abandoned and only 96 riders finished the race. In a 2000 criminal trial, it became clear that the management and health officials of the Festina team had organised the doping.

In the years following the Festina scandal, further anti-doping measures were introduced by race organizers and the UCI, including more frequent testing of riders and new tests for blood doping (transfusions and EPO use). A new, independent organization, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), was also created. Evidence of doping has however persisted. In 2002, the wife of Raimondas Rumsas, third in the 2002 Tour de France, was arrested by French police after EPO and anabolic steroids were found in her car. Rumsas, who had not failed a doping test, was not penalised. In 2004, Philippe Gaumont, a rider with the Cofidis team, told investigators and the press that doping with various substances was endemic to the team. Fellow Cofidis rider David Millar confessed to EPO use. In the same year, Jesus Manzano, a rider with the Kelme team, described in detail how he had allegedly been forced by his team to use banned substances.<ref>“Ex-Kelme rider promises doping revelations” Velo News, March 20, 2004.</ref>

Image:Armstrong dope.jpg Doping controversy has surrounded seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong for some time, although there has never been evidence sufficient for him to be penalised by any sports authority. In late August 2005, one month after Armstrong's seventh consecutive victory, the French sports newspaper l'Équipe claimed to have uncovered evidence that Armstrong had used EPO in the 1999 Tour de France.<ref>“L’Equipe alleges Armstrong samples show EPO use in 99 Tour” Velo News, August 23, 2005.</ref> Armstrong denied using EPO and the UCI did not penalise him. In response to the L'Equipe allegations, an investigation was begun by the UCI in October 2005. The investigation reported that Armstrong did not engage in doping and that the actions of the World Anti-Doping Agency were "completely inconsistent" with testing rules.[2] At the same 1999 Tour, Armstrong's urine showed traces of a glucocorticosteroid hormone, although the amount detected was well below the “positive” threshold. However, by the UCI's rules , Armstrong should in fact have been penalised. The cream was not listed on Armstrong's list of unavoidable medical requirements. ^{[citation needed]} Armstrong explained that he had used the skin cream Cemalyt containing triamcinolone to treat of saddle sores<ref>“Armstrong's journey” CNNSI</ref>. Armstrong had, in fact, received permission from the UCI to use this skin cream for his saddle sores.<ref name="Lance Armstrong">It's not about the bike: My journey back to life. Penguin Putnam (New York) 2000.</ref>

The 2006 Tour had been plagued by the Operación Puerto doping case before its beginning, when many of the riders considered to be favorites, such as Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso were banned from competing by their respective teams one day prior to the Prologue due to doping allegations. 17 riders were implicated . Then, one of the most serious doping outrages in Tour history emerged when four days after winning the 2006 Tour de France, the American rider Floyd Landis was announced as having given a positive test result for a testosterone imbalance, in his 'A' or initial test sample, after he won stage 17 . This was confirmed in his 'B' sample result published on August 5, 2006. The decision to strip Landis of the victory rests with the International Cycling Union, but Tour de France director Christian Prudhomme said: "It goes without saying that for us Floyd Landis is no longer the winner of the 2006 Tour de France". Landis has stated that he will fight to clear his name.<ref> [3]</ref>

[edit] Deaths

See also: List of professional cyclists who died during a race

• 1910: French racer Adolphe Helière drowned at the French Riviera during a rest day.
• 1935: Spanish racer Francisco Cepeda died after plunging down a ravine on the Col du Galibier.<ref name="deaths">The KOM Fabio Casartelli Memorial Page</ref>
• 1967: July 13, Stage 13: English rider Tom Simpson died of heart failure on the ascent of Mont Ventoux. Amphetamines and alcohol were found on Simpson's jersey and in his bloodstream. His death prompted tour officials to begin a program of drug testing.<ref name="deaths" />
• 1995: July 18, stage 15: Italian racer Fabio Casartelli crashed at approximately 88 km/h descending the Col de Portet d'Aspet. Casartelli received massive head trauma from a concrete block and died on the scene.<ref name="deaths"/> He did not have a helmet, although it is unlikely wearing one would have saved him at that speed.

Apart from the deaths of riders, another two fatal accidents have also occurred.

• 1957: July 14, motorcycle rider Rene Wagter and his passenger journalist for Radio Radio-Luxembourg Alex Virot slipped on road metal (gravel) off a road without railing in the mountains near Ax-les-Thermes.<ref name="deaths" />
• 1958: An official, Constant Wouters, died after an accident with sprinter Andre Darrigade in the 6^th stage of the tour.

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Competition winners

One rider has won the Tour a record seven times:

• Lance Armstrong (USA) in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005 (seven consecutive years).<ref name="Armstrong">Lance Armstong has retired after last 7th win</ref>

Four other riders have won the Tour five times:

• Jacques Anquetil (France) in 1957, 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1964;
• Eddy Merckx (Belgium) in 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972 and 1974;
• Bernard Hinault (France) in 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1985;
• Miguel Indurain (Spain) in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994 and 1995 (the first to do so in five consecutive years).

Three other riders have won the Tour three times:

• Philippe Thys (Belgium) in 1913, 1914, and 1920;
• Louison Bobet (France) in 1953, 1954, and 1955;
• Greg LeMond (USA) in 1986, 1989, and 1990.

Gino Bartali holds the record of longest time span between titles, having earned his first and last Tour victories 10 years apart (in 1938 and 1948).

Riders from France have won most Tours (36), followed by Belgium (18), United States (11), Italy (9), Spain (8), Luxembourg (4), Switzerland and the Netherlands (2 each) and Ireland, Denmark and Germany (1 each).

One rider has won the points competition a record six times:

• Erik Zabel (Germany) 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 (six consecutive years)

One rider has won the "King of the Mountains" a record seven times:

• Richard Virenque (France) in 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2003 and 2004.

Two riders have won the "King of the Mountains" six times:

• Federico Bahamontes (Spain) in 1954, 1958, 1959, 1962, 1963, 1964
• Lucien Van Impe (Belgium) in 1971, 1972, 1975, 1977, 1981, 1983

[edit] Physical statistics

To finish the Tour de France, a cyclist must be in a very good physical state. That said, even a rider who is chosen to ride but does not finish the race will have had to have been very fit to be selected. Analysis of the 2005 competitors shows that:

• The tallest rider was Johan Van Summeren at 1.98 metres (6 ft 5.5 in).
• The shortest was Samuel Dumoulin at 1.58 metres (5 ft 2 in).
• The heaviest rider was Magnus Bäckstedt at 95 kg (209 lb or 14 stone 13 lb).
• The lightest was Leonardo Piepoli at 57 kg (126 lb or 9 stone).
• Chris Horner and Laurent Lefevre shared the lowest resting heart rate, 35 beats per minute.
• The average rider in 2005 was 1.79 metres (5 ft 10 in) tall, weighed 71 kg (157 lb, 11 stone 3 lb), and had a resting heart rate of 50 beats per minute.

[edit] See also

• Detailed list of Tour de France winners
• UCI ProTour
• Grand Tours
  • Giro d'Italia
  • Vuelta a España

[edit] References

<references />

[edit] External links

• Tour de France Official Website
• Tour de France Official 2006 Rules and Prize Money (PDF)
• Tour de France race news from Bicycling Magazine
• Tour weblog & directory
• Tour de France on Roadcycling.com
• Cycling Forums - Tour de France forum
• Le Tour de France on France2
• Le Tour de France 2005 in Mulhouse
• Detailed placemarks of the 2005 stages for use in Google Earth
• Tour de France historical statistics (in French)
• TourdeFrance.net - Tour de France Photos, Route & Statistics

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