festina 2013 tour de france

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Twenty years on the Festina affair casts shadow over the Tour de France

As France celebrated a World Cup win 20 years ago, a drugs scandal broke that almost killed the race

T he echoes are everywhere. In July 1998, as an irresistible French football team closed on World Cup victory, the Grand Départ of that year’s Tour de France was overshadowed by a fast-developing doping controversy. In Ireland, where the peloton was gathering for the Tour’s start, there was fear and loathing in the air.

What was at first a whisper eventually became a scream as the controversy exploded into the Festina Affair. The revelation of widespread doping throughout cycling accelerated the founding of Wada, the world anti-doping body. The Festina scandal began when Willy Voet, the personal soigneur — they now call them carers — to French cycling’s top star, Richard Virenque, then leader of Festina, the world’s top team, was pulled over on the Franco-Belgian border as he drove towards the Channel ports.

There were enough performance-enhancing drugs in the boot of Voet’s car to fuel an army of Ibizan ravers, all summer long. Initially Virenque and his Festina teammates denied all knowledge of doping, as did the Tour’s own director, Jean-Marie Leblanc.

It was an isolated incident, said Leblanc dismissively, a one-off renegade event and nothing to do with the Tour itself. Yet this was untrue. The Festina team in fact ran a meticulously orchestrated doping programme, financed by the riders themselves. Within a week of the Dublin start, after police raids, arrests, and searches of vehicles and hotel rooms, the Festina team had been kicked off the race and the 1998 Tour was falling apart.

There is no doubt that, 20 years after Festina, Chris Froome’s presence on the Vendée start line this year, despite being cleared by the UCI’s anti-doping investigation, is going to stir up bad memories. The French are short of faith when it comes to cycling. They have not forgotten Festina, nor have they forgotten the many scandals that followed. Virenque long maintained his innocence of any wrongdoing.

The Festina scandal finally came to a head in la France profonde , in a shabby bar-tabac , Chez Gillou, in the Correze. In a cramped back-room, Virenque and his teammates tearfully protested their innocence as they were kicked off the race. Virenque finally confessed to doping in October 2000.

The former International Cycling Union (UCI) president Pat McQuaid, was director of the Dublin Grand Départ. “Forty-eight hours before the Tour started, when Voet was arrested, Jean-Marie Leblanc called us into a meeting and said: ‘I’ve got some bad news …’

“He said he would do his best to keep a lid on it until the race got back to France. He was as good as his word and once the race got to France, the shit really hit the fan.”

A flood of doping revelations emerged and the Tour became a nightmare for the race organisers as police intervention intensified. “There was no end to it,” McQuaid said. “Police raids, sit-down protests, walkouts. A total nightmare.”

Leblanc says now that he was powerless. “We’d hear a story on the news each morning about the cops raiding one team or another,” he said, “going through their hotel rooms, seizing products and accusing a rider of doping.”

By the time the convoy reached the Alps the Tour had become an embarrassment. The Spanish teams and media stormed out in protest at the police raids, fans mooned and jeered at the riders as they rode past, and French newspaper Le Monde called for the Tour to be scrapped for good.

Leblanc, meanwhile, punch drunk and out of his depth, remained in denial. “Contrary to what some intellectuals and Paris newspapers suggest, the Tour must continue,” he said. “The public is still loyal.”

Finally, at the stage start in Albertville, the Tour teetered on the brink of complete collapse as the remaining riders again went on strike. Only after assurances of no further police raids or arrests on the riders themselves did they agree to start.

“If the stage hadn’t taken place,” Leblanc said, “the Tour would have been stopped. If it had, I think it would have struggled to continue, because the loss of confidence among our sponsors would have been crippling.”

Of the 189 starters only 98 made it to the French capital and the Champs Élysées. The race winner, Marco Pantani, already winner of that year’s Giro d’Italia, seemingly oblivious to the funereal atmosphere, dyed his goatee yellow in celebration.

Virenque, still protesting his innocence, came back to the Tour the following year, when Lance Armstrong took the first of his seven wins, in a race that was, laughably, called the “Tour of Renewal”.

“They said I wasn’t welcome on the 1999 Tour because I was the ‘incarnation of doping,’” Virenque said. “And that was at the start of the Armstrong era!”

There were other long-term consequences of Festina. French cycling slipped into a sustained depression, with several key races lost due to lack of investment, and sponsors drifting away. There has not been a homegrown Tour de France champion since Bernard Hinault in 1985.

With the Froome controversy set to overshadow the Grand Départ of this year’s race, how much has really changed in 20 years? Can cycling really claim to have recovered from the crisis in credibility that brought the 1998 Tour to its knees and threatened its very existence?

Froome has vehemently protested his innocence throughout and acknowledged on Monday the saga’s effects on cycling’s perception among the public. “I appreciate more than anyone else the frustration at how long the case has taken to resolve and the uncertainty this has caused,” he said. “I am glad it’s finally over. It means we can all move on and focus on the Tour de France.”

But despite being free to race Froome is not wanted by many at this year’s Tour, both because of his team’s unrelenting domination and because of the continuing scepticism towards his performances. Some of this stems from chauvinism, but much also flows from the string of deceits that began 20 years ago with Festina.

When the French look at Froome many see the latest in a long line of suspicious foreigners who, since the traumas of 1998, have exploited the fragility of the once-proud French scene and made the Tour their own. He may have been cleared by cycling’s governing body, but there’s little doubt that Froome is in for a rough ride.

• Tour de France
• Tour de France 2018
• Drugs in sport

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Festina Chronobike 2013 Tour De France F16659/6 is an amazing and very impressive Gents watch. Case material is Stainless Steel and the Blue dial gives the watch that unique look. The features of the watch include (among others) a chronograph and date function. 100 metres water resistance will protect the watch and allows it to get submerged in the water for everyday usage including swimming, but not high impact water sports. We ship it with an original box and a guarantee from the manufacturer.

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The journalist who broke the Festina scandal

We caught up with reuters cycling correspondent francois thomazeau regarding how he told the world about the infamous doping affair..

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Twenty years ago this summer, cycling forever changed. Or at least the perception of cycling did.

In July 1998, what started as a few paragraphs in a report on the French wires about a Festina team car being searched at the Belgian border soon exploded into the biggest doping scandal in cycling history. Before the Tour de France ended that July, scores of riders and teams were ejected, others were arrested, and more simply quit in protest. In what would become the “Festina Affaire,” cycling would never be the same.

We caught up with Francois Thomazeau, the Reuters cycling correspondent who helped break the Festina scandal. Thomazeau wrote the first dispatches about the Festina scandal on the Friday evening before the eve of the Tour’s big depart, starting that year with much fanfare in Dublin, Ireland.

So how did cycling’s biggest doping scandal break? It’s a reminder of how old-school journalism works, based on contacts, context, intense competitiveness, and a bit of luck.

“Our stringer in Lille called me and it was over the weekend, but I quickly put the story on the wire,” Thomazeau recalled. “It was just pure luck. The customs guy who busted Willy Voet was friends with our stringer. From the very first moment, we had the best sources feeding us information.”

It all started innocuously enough. Customs officers stopped Voet at the Belgian-French border near Lille and discovered a loot of doping products in the car, including steroids, EPO, syringes, and other doping paraphernalia. France had recently passed a strong anti-doping law, so Voet was held. Festina officials initially denied knowing him, but the story soon started to unravel. Within a week, Festina’s team manager and doctor were arrested. Contrary to some reports, officials insist they were not tipped off.

“It was a bit of luck on both sides — good and bad — and it changed Tour history,” Thomazeau said. “We didn’t know it would explode into the ‘Festina Affaire.’ It was Friday in London and the big boss was gone. I posted a story based on my feeling that this was big, but I could have been fired. We were ‘alone’ with the story for about two hours before AFP had their own story. We were on the safe side, because we had the guy who was doing the investigation feeding us information.”

Thomazeau is quick to give credit to a Reuters colleague who was based in Lille, the city in northern France where the courts, police, and prosecutors would dig into cycling’s biggest doping scandal. The stringer had deep connections that fed the wires inside scoops on a daily basis.

“I had been a journalist for 12 years, but I had no idea it would be that big,” Thomazeau said. “I had enough instincts and the thing is, it looked odd. I could have just written a short story, but I sent it out as a breaking story. I felt it was important enough to be sent as an urgent story.”

The story seemed to stall over the weekend because in those days, everyone checked out in France. Voet was being held in a French jail cell, but all the judges and prosecutors ultimately involved in the case didn’t begin to seriously dig until the following week. And France had just won soccer’s World Cup. By the time the Tour de France left Dublin and arrived in France on the Tuesday, the story was starting to heat up.

“We broke the story with just a few paragraphs and then slowly started to fill out the details,” Thomazeau said. “By the time we got to France, the story started to blow up.”

As the story developed, Reuters leaned on its sources in Lille in the courts and police to get out information. The game was played both ways, as officials used the media to squeeze teams and Tour officials.

“It was the World Cup final and France just beat Brazil. No one cared about a doping story,” he said. “It started to gain steam when we realized who Willy Voet is. He wasn’t just anyone, he was the top soigneur for the team. We got to Cholet [stage 4] and [team manager Bruno] Roussel was arrested. Then it went wild.”

Thomazeau, who’s covered 26 complete Tours, said the technology and media landscape at the time hampered but also helped the story. Cell phones and the internet were still in their infancy and Twitter had yet to be invented. The journalistic standards of the day were much higher than in today’s 24-7, Twitter-fueled immediacy.

“We had a cell phone, but we didn’t use them much in those days. We still used a fixed line to transmit stories,” he said. “The standards of the day were much higher then. Today people just copy other reports or take something off social media. In those days, we really needed the source and a source that we knew and trusted.”

Thomazeau, who is a regular on The Cycling Podcast, shared an interesting anecdote about how the news moved decades ago. One day before one Tour started, legendary Reuters cycling correspondent Mike Price had stopped to fill up his gas tank when he spotted Stephen Roche dressed in street clothes. Price asked what was up and Roche told him he was out of the Tour.

“Roche said, ‘I hurt my knee, my Tour is over.’ We called it in from the gas station and we owned the story for hours,” he said. “These days, we’re lucky to have a story for five minutes. Now it’s a vicious circle. Today if you get a nice story everyone just copies it instantly.”

That year’s Tour dissolved into chaos. By 1999, the “Tour of Renewal” began with the arrival of Lance Armstrong and another decade of doping scandals were still to come. It’s hard to say how much cycling has changed since those days, but Thomazeau is sure that the foundation of good journalism remains unchanged.

“Good journalism is like good cuisine,” he concluded. “If you want to cook pasta, it takes seven minutes, you cannot do it faster. Good journalism is not a question of the old school or a new way; it is the only way. There is one way to do it. If you want it fast and easy, you get McDonald’s.”

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\"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"police called to scott sports headquarters as corporate drama roils brand\"}}\u0027>\n police called to scott sports headquarters as corporate drama roils brand\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"update: no concussion for primo\u017e rogli\u010d after nasty crash at itzulia basque country","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/primoz-roglic-crashes-heavily-but-continues-in-itzulia-basque-country\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/primoz-roglic-crashes-heavily-but-continues-in-itzulia-basque-country\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"update: no concussion for primo\u017e rogli\u010d after nasty crash at itzulia basque country\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": 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\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/paris-roubaix-on-gravel-bikes-factor-gravel-bikes-to-be-raced-this-weekend\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"paris-roubaix on gravel bikes factor gravel bikes to be raced this weekend\"}}\u0027>\n paris-roubaix on gravel bikes factor gravel bikes to be raced this weekend\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"remco evenepoel fuming over tt \u2018head-sock\u2019 botched ban as primo\u017e rogli\u010d races with it for the win","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/remco-evenepoel-fuming-over-head-sock-tt-miscue-michael-rogers-leaves-uci-post\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/remco-evenepoel-fuming-over-head-sock-tt-miscue-michael-rogers-leaves-uci-post\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"remco evenepoel fuming over tt \u2018head-sock\u2019 botched ban as primo\u017e rogli\u010d races with it for the win\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/remco-evenepoel-fuming-over-head-sock-tt-miscue-michael-rogers-leaves-uci-post\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"remco evenepoel fuming over tt \u2018head-sock\u2019 botched ban as primo\u017e rogli\u010d races with it for the win\"}}\u0027>\n remco evenepoel fuming over tt \u2018head-sock\u2019 botched ban as primo\u017e rogli\u010d races with it for the win\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"\u2018we have to rethink the way we race\u2019: vingegaard, evenepoel\u2019s tour de france plans in balance after brutal itzulia basque crash","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/itzulia-basque-country-vingegaard-evenepoels-plans-in-balance\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/itzulia-basque-country-vingegaard-evenepoels-plans-in-balance\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"\u2018we have to rethink the way we race\u2019: vingegaard, evenepoel\u2019s tour de france plans in balance after brutal itzulia basque crash\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/itzulia-basque-country-vingegaard-evenepoels-plans-in-balance\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"\u2018we have to rethink the way we race\u2019: vingegaard, evenepoel\u2019s tour de france plans in balance after brutal itzulia basque crash\"}}\u0027>\n \u2018we have to rethink the way we race\u2019: vingegaard, evenepoel\u2019s tour de france plans in balance after brutal itzulia basque crash\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"report: grand tour-smashing lead sport director to leave visma-lease a bike","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/grand-tour-smashing-ds-zeeman-to-leave-visma-lease-a-bike\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/grand-tour-smashing-ds-zeeman-to-leave-visma-lease-a-bike\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"report: grand tour-smashing lead sport director to leave visma-lease a bike\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/grand-tour-smashing-ds-zeeman-to-leave-visma-lease-a-bike\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"report: grand tour-smashing lead sport director to leave visma-lease a bike\"}}\u0027>\n report: grand tour-smashing lead sport director to leave visma-lease a bike\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"\u2018as bad as 2021\u2019: paris-roubaix cobblestones caked in mud ahead of weekend races","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/as-bad-as-2021-paris-roubaix-cobblestones-caked-in-mud-ahead-of-weekend-races\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/as-bad-as-2021-paris-roubaix-cobblestones-caked-in-mud-ahead-of-weekend-races\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"\u2018as bad as 2021\u2019: paris-roubaix cobblestones caked in mud ahead of weekend races\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-racing\/as-bad-as-2021-paris-roubaix-cobblestones-caked-in-mud-ahead-of-weekend-races\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"\u2018as bad as 2021\u2019: paris-roubaix cobblestones caked in mud ahead of weekend races\"}}\u0027>\n \u2018as bad as 2021\u2019: paris-roubaix cobblestones caked in mud ahead of weekend races\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"review: specialized\u2019s new search \u2018all-road\u2019 helmet & updated recon shoes","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/gravel\/gravel-gear\/review-specialized-search-helmet-recon-2-shoes\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/gravel\/gravel-gear\/review-specialized-search-helmet-recon-2-shoes\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"review: specialized\u2019s new search \u2018all-road\u2019 helmet & updated recon shoes\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/gravel\/gravel-gear\/review-specialized-search-helmet-recon-2-shoes\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"review: specialized\u2019s new search \u2018all-road\u2019 helmet & updated recon shoes\"}}\u0027>\n review: specialized\u2019s new search \u2018all-road\u2019 helmet & updated recon shoes\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"bike check: lotte kopecky\u2019s paris-roubaix winning specialized tarmac sl8","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/lotte-kopeckys-paris-roubaix-winning-specialized-tarmac-sl8-full-gallery\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/lotte-kopeckys-paris-roubaix-winning-specialized-tarmac-sl8-full-gallery\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"bike check: lotte kopecky\u2019s paris-roubaix winning specialized tarmac sl8\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/road-gear\/lotte-kopeckys-paris-roubaix-winning-specialized-tarmac-sl8-full-gallery\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"bike check: lotte kopecky\u2019s paris-roubaix winning specialized tarmac sl8\"}}\u0027>\n bike check: lotte kopecky\u2019s paris-roubaix winning specialized tarmac sl8\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n "},{"title":"paris-roubaix essentials: cobbles, contenders, weather, maps, start lists, tv listings and more","url":"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/paris-roubaix-essentials-cobbles-contenders-weather-maps-start-lists-tv-listings-and-more\/","markup":" \n \n\n\n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/paris-roubaix-essentials-cobbles-contenders-weather-maps-start-lists-tv-listings-and-more\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"paris-roubaix essentials: cobbles, contenders, weather, maps, start lists, tv listings and more\"}}\u0027>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n >\", \"path\": \"https:\/\/velo.outsideonline.com\/road\/paris-roubaix-essentials-cobbles-contenders-weather-maps-start-lists-tv-listings-and-more\/\", \"listing_type\": \"recirc\", \"location\": \"list\", \"title\": \"paris-roubaix essentials: cobbles, contenders, 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Tour's 100 most significant moments

The Tour de France started in 1903, but due to World Wars I and II, 11 editions of the race were not held. That makes this year's Tour the 100th race, and fans will celebrate the occasion by watching riders climb up Alpe d'Huez twice during Stage 18.

The riders, meanwhile, might not be quite so excited about the Double Alpe.

But grueling stages have always been a part of the Tour, beginning with the very first stage that covered nearly 300 miles and took almost 18 hours for the winner to complete. Given that, it's a miracle there was ever a Stage 2.

In recognition of the 100th Tour, here are the 100 most significant moments in the race's history. Don't mistake that with the 100 greatest moments. Significant isn't always great. In fact, as you'll see, sometimes significant is downright tragic.

But, like the Tour itself, significant is also frequently inspiring and almost always compelling.

(Note: Tour histories like, "Blazing Saddles" by Matt Rendell, "Tour de France" by Graeme Fife, and "Tour de France/Tour de Force" by James Start were helpful sources for early Tour moments.)

No. 100: The first (1903)

In what tyrannical founder Henri Desgrange first imagined as a five-week race, Maurice Garin won the first Tour de France (which covered roughly 1,500 miles) by nearly three hours, still the largest margin of victory. It was not televised.

No. 99: Did His Bike Play a Little Tune, Too? (1954)

Federico Bahamontes rode up the Col de Romeyere ahead of everyone, then stopped to eat ice cream while everyone caught up. As Rendell quotes his teammate, Jesus Lorono, "He's a very good climber but completely mad." Five years later, Bahamontes somehow won the Tour.

No. 98: Flattened (2012)

Some malicious morons tossed nails and tacks on the roadway during Stage 14, leading at least 30 riders to punctured tires. This was not the first time this was done at the Tour. In fact, fans usually behave much, much better than they once did (even if they do wear devil costumes and man-kinis).

No. 97: Snow tires (1909)

Luxembourg's Francois Faber won the Tour, surviving one mountain stage in which, according to Rendell, he rode through snow, was blown off his bike twice by wind and attacked by a horse. Does this happen to Mark Cavendish?

No. 96: Trainspotting (1935)

Romain Maes won the 1935 Tour thanks to a train. As Fife relates, on the opening stage, Maes rode through a railroad crossing just ahead of a train. The rest of the riders had to wait until the train had passed.

No. 95: Make way for the caravan (1930)

In one of his greatest contributions to the Tour, Desgrange added the publicity caravan, which now often excites fans more, as it slowly rolls through towns dispensing candy and trinkets, than the sight of the actual cyclists whipping through at 30 mph.

No. 94: The Rosie Ruiz of France (1904)

During the first stage, a rider known only as Chevalier was caught taking a ride in a car. And you thought cheating was something recent at the Tour.

No. 93: Tragedy strikes Tour (1935)

Spain's Francisco Cepeda crashed on a descent and died of his injuries a few days later. He was the first rider to die during the Tour. Unfortunately, he would not be the last.

No. 92: Ink-stained wretch (1905)

Back when riders had to prove themselves by signing in at certain spots, Louis Trousselir won the Tour after slowing his rivals by breaking the ink stands at one checkpoint.

No. 91: Barbed wire (2011)

In an accident that left recreational cyclists cringing, Jonny Hoogerland was hit by a car and sent flying into a barbed-wire fence. Although his flesh had been badly torn, he not only resumed the race, but he also took over the King of the Mountains lead that day.

No. 90: Three-peat (1913)

Belgium's Philippe Thys won his first of three Tours, though those three would be spread over eight years due to World War I.

No. 89: Three-Peat Deux (1953)

France's Louison Bobet won his first Tour en route to becoming the first rider to win three in a row. You don't see that much from the French these days.

No. 88: Aluminum men (1931)

The Tour allowed the use of aluminum wheels for the first time. They were much better than the stone wheels Desgrange probably favored.

No. 87: Less is more (2000)

As new materials made bikes lighter and lighter, the International Cycling Union (UCI) required that they must weigh at least 14.999 pounds, or slightly more than some of the riders.

No. 86: But was it carbon fiber? (1928)

In the second Tour de Frantz, Luxembourg rider Nicolas Frantz won again despite (as Rendell describes) breaking his forks on a stage and having to replace his bike with a ladies bicycle.

No. 85: Irish eyes smile (1987)

Ireland's Stephen Roche became the first Irish cyclist to win the Tour. He also won the Giro and the world championships, only the second cyclist to win all three in one year.

No. 84: National colors (1930)

Desgrange started a temporary period in which riders competed for national teams -- France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, etc. -- along with some regional teams. Red Sox Nation was curiously absent.

No. 83: High climbers (1975)

The polka-dot jersey was added for the best climber because, after all, what symbolizes the power, endurance and pain threshold of a great climber more than red polka dots?

No. 82: Carry the load (1921)

The Tour directors allowed riders to use spare parts for their bikes, but they had to carry those parts with them. Leon Scieur had to carry a spare wheel strapped and cutting into his back for nearly 200 miles. As Rendell details, Scieur won the Tour but also carried the scars on his back for the rest of his life.

No. 81: The Grand Tour (1906)

The Tour grew to nearly 3,000 miles and circled France, along with rides into Germany, Spain and Italy. Not a bad vacation, unless you have to cover the whole distance on bike.

No. 80: Free-wheeling (1912)

The Tour allowed free wheels for the first time -- which lets the wheels and bike to move without pedaling -- and thereby allowed riders to (occasionally) coast. Slackers.

No. 79: More tragedy (1960)

Frenchman Roger Riviere crashed and broke his back on a descent, and was found with stimulants in his pocket. He never fully recovered from the crash and was confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. He died from throat cancer at age 40 in 1976.

No. 78: The guns of June and July (1914)

The 1914 Tour started the same day Austria-Hungary's archduke Ferdinand was assassinated (June 28), an event that touched off World War I. The Tour would be completed two days before the war started (Thys won his second title) but would not be raced again for five years.

No. 77: Debut of the yellow jersey (1919)

After a four-year absence due to World War I, the Tour resumed in 1919, and the directors marked the occasion by introducing the now-legendary yellow jersey for the race leader and overall winner.

No. 76: A close call (1955)

Jean Mallejac, who had doped before the race, collapsed in the heat on the ride up Mont Ventoux. He survived. Ten years later, another rider would not be so fortunate. As Rendell quoted L'Equipe in the aftermath of the scandal: "The fight against doping seems to have been won."

No. 75: Lance bagged (2003)

Riding up the Luz-Ardiden, Lance Armstrong's handlebar got caught on a fan's musette bag, bringing Armstrong and his bike to the ground. He got back up quickly but, as TV analyst Paul Sherwen described it, "He almost lost his manhood on the crossbar" when his foot came out of his pedal clip. Yet he recovered (possibly due to Jan Ullrich slowing to wait for him) and won the stage en route to his fifth Tour title.

No. 74: Technical winner (1988)

Pedro Delgado won the Tour even though he tested positive for a substance that was banned from the Olympics and would be banned from cycling the next month.

No. 73: Hitting the Wall (1987)

Two years before the fall of the Berlin Wall, the Tour de France started … in West Berlin. Fortunately, the stage did not include a race up and over the Wall.

No. 72: Gathering storm (1939)

In a race that included no German, Italian or Spanish riders, Belgium's Sylvere Maes won the Tour. It would be the last Tour until 1947 due to World War II, which broke out two months later.

No. 71: War's end (1947)

The Tour returned after a seven-year gap with Jean Robic winning after taking over the yellow jersey on the race's last day.

No. 70: The war resumes (1950)

On the Col d'Aspin, French fans threw rocks at Italy's Gino Bartali and knocked him to the ground. If only they had known what he did in the war (see No. 69).

No. 69: Birth of a champion (1938)

Bartali won his first Tour and would go on to win a second 10 years later (see No. 16) and probably would have won more had it not been for World War II. But his greatest accomplishment was during the war, when the Italian rider hid a Jewish family in his cellar and also carried messages to the Italian resistance while on his bike.

No. 68: Bonjour , pack mules (1925)

The Tour officially began allowing the domestique system, in which cyclists ride in support of another teammate. Welcome lads, now get me some water!

No. 67: Wire to wire (1924)

The first Italian to wear the yellow jersey, Ottavio Bottecchia, also wore the yellow jersey from start to finish that year. Bottecchia died mysteriously 18 months after his final Tour in 1926. He was found dead on a roadside with a fractured skull, possibly murdered by Fascists.

No. 66: W2W2 (1928)

The 1927 winner, Luxembourg's Frantz duplicated Bottecchia's performance of leading the Tour from start to finish.

No. 65: Indurain wins Numero Uno (1991)

Spain's Miguel Indurain won the first of his then-record-setting five consecutive Tours. In the 15 years from 1991-2005, two men (Indurain and Armstrong) would finish in yellow in 12 of the Tours. Indurain, however, is still the official winner of his races.

No. 64: "The Pistolero" fires (2007)

In a scandal-plagued race (see No. 32), Alberto Contador won his first Tour in one of the race's closest finishes, as podium finishers Cadel Evans and Levi Leipheimer each finished within 31 seconds of Contador.

No. 63: Today's riders have it cushy (1904)

Not only did riders have to contend with competitors accepting rides in cars in the second Tour (see No. 93), but they also had to survive angry mobs which scattered nails on the road, blocked their paths and even physically attacked them. Hope those guys had big bags of courage to dig into.

No. 62: Brother, can you spare a tire? (1919)

As Fife details, Scieur rode a stage in the 1919 Tour with four spare tires around his neck, and they all wound up used and punctured. He bought two new tires and repaired the punctures all that night.

No. 61: Lance joins the Tour (1993)

Armstrong competed in his first Tour, though he did not complete the race. He won Stage 8 before retiring after Stage 12. The Tour would not be the same by the time he ended his career.

No. 60: "The Cannibal" pushes away from the table (1977)

Belgium's Eddy Merckx ended his brilliant career with a disappointing sixth-place finish in a race won by Bernard Thevenet, who later admitted he used cortisone against the rules.

No. 59: Curtain time for Poulidor (1976)

Raymond Poulidor ended his 14-year Tour career with another third-place finish, the eighth time he made the podium without winning. He never wore the yellow jersey.

No. 58: A tyrant's reign ends (1936)

Desgrange fell seriously ill during the second stage of the 1936 Tour and was hospitalized. The man who demanded so many almost-inhumane sacrifices from riders was replaced by Jacques Goddet.

No. 57: Bad cow disease (2010)

Months after Contador won the Tour, it was revealed he tested positive for a banned substance. Contador blamed it on tainted beef he ate but was eventually stripped of the title and suspended for two years.

No. 56: "Fill this up, please" (1966)

After decades of abuse by riders, the Tour began testing for drugs by randomly checking urine and inspecting suitcases. Oddly, this did not quite take care of the problem.

No. 55: The last French champion? (1983)

Laurent Fignon won the first of consecutive Tours. While previous champ Bernard Hinault would win again in 1985, there has been no new French champion in the Tour since then.

No. 54: "The Badger" wears yellow (1978)

Hinault won the first of what would be five Tours. He is the only cyclist to win each of the three Grand Tours more than once. No wonder they called him "the Badger."

No. 53: The Whizzinator (1978)

After winning the stage on Alpe d'Huez, Michel Pollentier was caught trying to cheat drug testers with a balloon of clean urine hidden under his armpit.

No. 52: Seven for Hinault (1979)

Hinault won his second Tour by winning seven stages, including the final stage on the Champs-Elysees against second-place finisher Joop Zoetmelk.

No. 51: Not even close (1981)

Hinault won his third Tour by 14 minutes, 34 seconds, which remains the largest margin of victory since 1973.

No. 50: Another champion emerges (1957)

One of the sport's great champions, Jacques Anquetil, won the first of his five Tours, this race by nearly 15 minutes.

No. 49: Hinault doubles (1982)

Hinault joined Merckx, Fausto Coppi and Anquetil by winning the Tour and Giro d'Italia in the same year. It was also his fourth Tour win.

No. 48: "The Cannibal" diets (1973)

After winning that year's Giro d'Italia and Vuelta Espana (which was held earlier in the season in those days), Merckx decided not to ride the Tour. The decision kept him from winning more Tours than anyone and gave Luis Ocana a chance to win instead.

No. 47: "The Cannibal" keeps feasting (1970)

Despite a pelvis injury the winter before that would hinder him the rest of his career, Merckx won his second Tour. It took so much out of him he needed oxygen and an ambulance after winning the Ventoux stage.

No. 46: Lance wins second Tour (2000)

Just to prove his first victory wasn't a fluke, Lance won the Tour again, with Jan Ullrich finishing second to Armstrong for what would be the first of three times (he also finished third behind Lance once).

No. 45: Lance wins third Tour (2001)

Lance won for the third time, and Ullrich finished second again.

No. 44: Lance wins fourth Tour (2002)

Lance won his fourth Tour and was midway through his reign.

No. 43: Lance strikes back (2009)

Convinced he could still win at age 37, Lance came out of retirement to ride the Tour again. He dueled with his unhappy new teammate, Contador, and finished third overall. That gave him incentive to come back the next year. Big mistake.

No. 42: Tour de Pain? (1926)

The Tour was roughly 3,600 miles long, the longest ever. The average stage took more than 14 hours. There must have been some very, very sore saddles.

No. 41: Make that Tour de Agony (1926)

Lucien Buysse won that year's Tour despite a 200-mile stage through the Pyrenees in a terrible thunderstorm. The stage was so excruciating that many riders still hadn't finished by midnight, and some were so lost in the dark they had to be rescued. Buysse's daughter also died while he was riding in the race, but he continued on anyway.

No. 40: A little mercy (1937)

Riders breathed a little easier when Tour directors allowed the use of rear derailleurs for the first time.

No. 39: Bartali wins again (1948)

After 10 years, including seven Tours lost to the war, Bartali won the Tour again, still the longest gap between Tour wins.

No. 38: Coppi/Bartali duel (1949)

In an epic race with Bartali, Coppi won his first Tour to become the first to win it and the Giro in the same year.

No. 37: Storm clouds (1971)

Merckx and Ocana were riding intensely for the lead when a tremendous storm struck in the Pyrenees, hitting the riders with hail and turning the road into a slick, muddy mess. Ocana went down, was hit by another crashing rider and unable to complete the stage. Merckx declined to wear the yellow jersey the next day in recognition of the accident but went on to win his third Tour.

No. 36: Mountain view (1951)

The Tour rode up the daunting moonscape of Mont Ventoux for the first time. Or, as some riders sometimes likely feel, they were riding up to the moon itself.

No. 35: King of the mountains (1952)

The directors added the 21-bend, 14-kilometer ascent up Alpe d'Huez to the Tour for the first time, with Coppi winning the stage.

No. 34: Permanent fixture (1976)

The directors made Alpe d'Huez a regular part of the Tour after previously being ridden every other year. It would become the Tour's iconic stage, its own version of Yankee Stadium, only with even more drunken fans.

No. 33: King of the mountain (1997)

Marco Pantani, who would later die of a cocaine overdose in 2004, rode up the Tour's iconic climb in a record 37 minutes, 35 seconds. Hmm.

No. 32: "The Badger" drops (1980)

Excruciating tendinitis forced Hinault, the eventual five-time winner, to abandon the Tour even though he was in the yellow jersey in the 14th stage.

No. 31: Rasmussen drops out (2007)

Despite holding an insurmountable lead after Stage 16, Michael Rasmussen did not win the Tour because his team kicked him off the roster amid doping suspicions. Earlier this year, the Dane admitted to doping for 12 years.

No. 30: Contador and Schleck ride Tourmalet (2010)

In a highly anticipated duel, Andy Schleck and Contador rode up the Tourmalet together through fog and even herds of sheep. Schleck dropped the sheep but was never able to drop his rival (until a couple years later -- see No. 57).

No. 29: Down Under on top (2011)

After mechanical issues, Cadel Evans rallied to chase Schleck up the Galibier during Stage 18 -- the highest stage finish in Tour history -- and make up enough time to go on to win the race and become Australia's first Tour champ.

No. 28: Not Viva la France (1985)

Hinault won his fifth Tour de France. Little did anyone know then that it would be the last Tour won by a French rider. Teammate Greg LeMond would begin an American era the next year.

No. 27: LeMond's third (1990)

LeMond won his third Tour despite not winning a single stage.

No. 26: It hurts to lose (1968)

Poulidor finished second three times and third five times in the Tour, but he never won it. Perhaps his most painful loss was when a race official bike clipped his back wheel when he was in good position to win. He hit the ground hard, broke his nose …

and lost again.

No. 25: chain-gate (2010).

What is the etiquette when the Tour leader or top competitor has a mechanical issue? Fans are still arguing whether Contador should have waited for Schleck after the latter's chain slipped on a climb. Contador didn't, though Schleck wound up with the yellow jersey a couple years later due to Contador's doping penalties.

No. 24: Indurain wins No. 5 (1995)

Indurain became the fourth cyclist to win five Tours -- and the first to win five consecutive titles (though a certain American riding that year would eventually come home in first place seven straight times).

No. 23: Rule Britannia (2012)

In the greatest season in British cycling history, Bradley Wiggins won the Tour to become the first Englishman to do so (he won the time trial at the London Olympics two weeks later) and set off a cycling explosion in his country.

No. 22: Casartelli killed (1995)

Italy's Fabio Casartelli, the 1992 Olympic gold medalist, crashed into a rock on a descent and suffered a fatal skull fracture. He was not wearing a helmet, which soon would become mandatory equipment for Tour riders except for mountaintop finishes.

No. 21: Lance wins sixth Tour (2004)

Armstrong did what neither Merckx nor any other rider ever had when he won his sixth Tour (all consecutive). And he wasn't done yet.

No. 20: "The look" (2001)

While racing up Alpe d'Huez, Armstrong glanced back and gave Ullrich a withering stare that basically said, "I dare you to keep up." Ullrich couldn't, and Lance won the stage.

No. 19: Cavendish wins first stage (2008)

Mark Cavendish began providing British broadcasters and writers plenty to cover when he won the first of what is now 23 Tour stage victories.

No. 18: Mr. Armstrong's wild ride (2003)

When Joseba Beloki's tire caught on the melting tarmac, Armstrong steered his way off the road and across a field, braked, got off his bike and leaped with it across a ditch, and then got back on and continued riding as if nothing had happened. He was great to watch.

No. 17: A ride too good to be true (2006)

Riding with a bad hip that would later require replacement surgery, Floyd Landis broke away early and gained nearly eight minutes on his rivals to put himself in position to win the Tour. Even though he later finally admitted he had doped, it still remains one of the great rides in Tour history.

No. 16: Positively true (2006)

Just days after winning the Tour, Landis was busted for testing positive during Stage 17. He initially blamed it on alcohol, authored a book denying he doped and then brought down Armstrong when he finally admitted the truth.

No. 15: Duel (1964)

In one of the most celebrated stage finishes in Tour history, Anquetil and Poulidor battled so fiercely up a mountain climb that they literally leaned against each other at times. Neither won the stage, but Anquetil went on to win his fifth Tour.

No. 14: The Festina Affair (1998)

Doping had always been a part of the Tour, but this scandal stained cycling forever when a driver carrying human growth hormone and other banned drugs was stopped just days before the first stage. The Festina team was kicked out of the race.

No. 13: Sit-down strike (1998)

Showing how misguided they so often were, the riders of the peloton protested the Festina investigation, by twice stopping during Stage 18, which was eventually annulled.

No. 12: Lance wins last Tour (2005)

Armstrong extended his Tour record by winning his seventh consecutive yellow jersey, then retired from the sport. He should have stayed away.

No. 11: The Blacksmith (1922)

In perhaps the best Tour story of all, Eugene Christophe's forks broke high on the Col du Tourmalet. He carried the bike five miles to a village where he borrowed the local blacksmith's forge to repair his bike. And then, the Tour directors penalized him for receiving help pushing the bellows.

No. 10: Why do you think they call it dope? (1924)

The Pelissier brothers, Henri and Francis, revealed that, to improve their performance, they rubbed cocaine in their eyes, chloroform on their gums and ointment on their knees. "Basically, we're on dynamite."

No. 9: "The Cannibal" attacked (1975)

The greatest cyclist of all time might have won a record sixth Tour title, but a fan rushed out of the crowd near the end of Stage 14 up the Puy-de-Dome and punched Merckx in the kidney. He wasn't able to recover enough to win the Tour.

No. 8: Simpson dies on Ventoux (1967)

Tom Simpson, who had been using amphetamines, had a heart attack and died while riding up Mont Ventoux. There is a granite memorial marking the spot where he died.

No. 7: Americans in Paris (1986)

The 7-Eleven racing team made its Tour debut with future Tour TV commentator Bob Roll. More impressive: 7-Eleven's Alex Stieda won the 1986 Tour's first stage to become the first American to wear the yellow jersey. Another American would wear it a little longer that same year. So began the American era in cycling.

No. 6: LeMond beats "the Badger" (1986)

LeMond became the first American to win the Tour when he held off Hinault, a teammate who was not quite willing to concede the race. The two did, however, famously clasp hands when they finished the stage up Alpe D'Huez.

No. 5: Lance crumbles (2010)

Lance's comeback took a nasty turn when he punctured across the cobbles in an early stage, then crashed several times in later stages. It was a symbolic end to his racing career -- and the literal end would be much, much worse.

No. 4: "Assassins!" (1910)

Pyrenees mountain stages were added for the first time, including the Col du Tourmalet. Octave Lapize rode over the summit of the Tourmalet, then shouted, "You're all murderers!" at the Tour directors. Considering this was back when derailleurs weren't allowed in the Tour, he probably wasn't far off.

No. 3: "The Cannibal" feasts (1969)

Merckx won his first Tour while also becoming the only cyclist to win the green and mountain jerseys, as well. Yeah, he was good.

No. 2: LeMond beats Fignon (1989)

In the closest Tour in history, LeMond (who had been shot by his brother-in-law in a hunting accident two winters before) introduced the aerodynamic helmet and triathlon handlebars to overcome a 50-second gap and beat Fignon in a time trial along the Champs-Elysees on the final day to win the Tour by eight seconds. Yes, there was a time when the final stage meant something other than a chance for the announcers to express their love for Cavendish.

No. 1: Lance wins first Tour (1999)

Just three years after brain and testicular cancer nearly killed him, Lance rode to victory, his first of seven consecutive Tour wins (well, they were wins at the time). Sigh ... if only his story had stayed so inspiring.

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The Top 10 Biggest Cycling Scandals in Tour de France History

Forget about Lance Armstrong. These ten scandals rocked cycling to its core.

Heading out the door? Read this article on the Outside app available now on iOS devices for members! >","name":"in-content-cta","type":"link"}}'>Download the app .

While the 100th edition of the Tour de France has been blessedly free of scandal so far ( despite insinuations that Team Sky was suspiciously dominant on the mountain stages ), throughout its history La Grande Boucle has had more disgrace and drama than the Kardashians. Although it remains one of the world’s most beautiful sporting events—a grand showcase of athleticism, grit and courage—since its earliest days the Tour has been sullied by epic displays of cheating, stupidity, and generally bad behavior. With that fact in mind, we offer the following short tour of some of Le Tour’s lowest points.

The Biggest TdF Scandals: 1904—The Last Tour

“The Tour de France is finished and I’m afraid its second edition has been the last.” So wrote race founder Henri Desgrange following the conclusion of the scandal-plagued 1904 Tour. During the race, nine riders were disqualified for hopping trains or taking rides in cars and trucks.

Along the route, overexcited fans showed their support for their favorite competitors by beating up their rivals. When the race finally reached Paris, it appeared that inaugural Tour winner Maurice Garin had triumphed again. But after ongoing complaints to the French Cycling Union about cheating, the top four finishers were all disqualified, making Garin the first Tour winner to be stripped of his title.

In the modern era, three cyclists have been stripped of their titles post-race: Americans Lance Armstrong and Floyd Landis, and Spaniard Alberto Contador. All had their victories revoked for doping violations.

The Biggest TdF Scandals: 1910—The Assassins

Today, a Tour de France without brutal climbs snaking over snow-capped peaks would be unthinkable. However, in 1910, when Tour organizers announced the race route would include the Pyrenees, more than two dozen cyclists withdrew from the starting list in protest of what the considered a dangerous stunt.

Stage 10 of that year’s Tour included ascents of the Tourmalet and the Col d’Aubisque. Only one rider, Gustave Garrigou, was able to conquer the Tourmalet without dismounting his bike (for which he received a prize of 100 francs). At the top of the Aubisque, eventual overall winner Octave Lapize shouted, “Assassins!” as he rode by race organizers, who’d driven to the top to watch the suffering cyclists from the safety of a car.

The Biggest TdF Scandals: 1966—The First Drug Tests

Widespread use of performance enhancing drugs was common since the first days of the Tour de France. In an effort to control drug use in sport, France passed a national anti-doping law in 1965 and introduced drug testing at the 1966 Tour. The first doping control was carried out following the eighth stage, with several riders being ordered to submit to testing.

Among those told to provide a urine sample and submit to an examination by doctors was French hero Raymond Poulidor. The following day, the entire peloton protested the tests by walking their bikes for the first part of the ninth stage in Bordeaux while shouting, “No to pissing in test tubes!”

The Biggest TdF Scandals: 1967—The Death of Tom Simpson

In 1962, Tom Simpson made history as the first British racer to don the yellow jersey as the Tour’s overall leader. He lost it the next day, but the feat signaled he was a rider to watch. Indeed, more success followed, including victory at the 1965 World Road Race Championships, stage wins at the Vuelta a Espana, and the overall at Paris-Nice.

In 1967, Simpson entered the Tour hoping for a podium finish and to wear yellow for a portion of the race. He started well but unfortunately got sick as the race passed through the Alps. By stage 13, weakened and unwell, Simpson was determined to fight on. That day’s route went over the infamous Mont Ventoux, the feared “Giant of Provence,” a hellish climb snaking over barren, moonscape-like slopes to a brutally exposed summit. Simpson hit the Ventoux with the leading group but then fell off the pace, slipping back though the shattered field of riders.

Soon he started zigzagging erratically across the narrow road. A kilometer from the summit, he toppled over. Helped back on his bike he road another few hundred meters before again nearly crashing. Caught and held upright by spectators, Simpson was now unconscious, still sitting on his bike gripping the handlebars. The Tour’s medical staff was unable to revive him and he was airlifted to a hospital in Avignon, where he was pronounced dead.

The official cause of death was heart failure due to dehydration and heat exhaustion. However, traces of amphetamine were found in Simpson’s body and medical officials said the drugs were a contributing factor to his death, as they likely allowed him to push his body too far. A memorial on the Ventoux near where Simpson collapsed is a popular pilgrimage site for cyclists from all over the world.

The Biggest TdF Scandals: 1986—Hinault vs. LeMond

After three weeks of torture, only one man stands on the top step of the podium in Paris as the overall winner of the Tour de France. But no one gets there without the help of teammates. In 1986, Greg LeMond was poised to become the first (and to this day the only official) American champion.

To accomplish that feat, LeMond was counting on the assistance of his French teammate Bernard Hinault, whom LeMond had helped to victory the previous year. Hinault, still a great rider and a five-time winner of the Tour, repeatedly pledged that he and the entire La Vie Claire team were on board to help LeMond. However, Hinault’s actions out on the roads seemed to indicate otherwise. Hinault repeatedly attacked LeMond, forcing the American into the awkward position of chasing down the aggressive Frenchman.

On stage 18 of the ’86 Tour, one of the most memorable stages in history, with LeMond already wearing the leader’s yellow jersey, the putative teammates went mano-a-mano up the switchbacks of the legendary climb to L’Alpe d’Huez. Hinault could not crack LeMond and the two men crossed the finish line side by side. Five days later, LeMond rode into Paris the overall winner. Hinault finished second and then retired from pro racing.

The Biggest TdF Scandals: 1998—The Festina Affair

Forget about the lance armstrong. these ten scandals rocked cycling to its core..

While doping had been an omnipresent seamy underside of the Tour since its first days, the tawdry ugliness of banned performance enhancing drugs exploded into the spotlight on a grand scale in 1998. The scandal known as the Festina Affair began when an employee of the Festina team, Willy Voet, was arrested by police three days before the Tour at the Belgian-French border.

A search of Voet’s car turned up EPO, banned steroids, syringes and other doping-related products and paraphernalia. Eventually, Festina’s team director, team doctor and nine of its riders were all arrested. Under questioning, the doctor, Bruno Roussel, admitted Festina operated a systematic doping operation. French police, suspecting doping wasn’t limited only to Festina, conducted raids on other teams throughout the Tour.

The raids incensed the racers, who felt they were being treated as criminals, and tensions reached a height on stage 17. First, the peloton held a sit-down strike at the start of the stage. Once on the road riders agreed not to race and dawdled along at a slow tempo. Stopping again, riders threatened to withdraw from the race en masse. Finally, they walked across the finish line in Aix-les-Bains and the day’s stage was nullified. By day’s end, French national champion Laurent Jalabert and all of the race’s Spanish teams had quit. Of the 189 starters, just 96 finished in Paris on August 2.

The Biggest TdF Scandals: 2006—Le Tour de Dope

Forget about the doping. these ten scandals rocked cycling to its core..

Seventeen years on from the Festina Affair, if anyone had hoped cycling had made progress regarding its problems with banned substances they were in for a rude awakening. The 2006 Tour de France was bookended with doping scandals.

Beginning in May, a Spanish police investigation dubbed Operación Puerto uncovered an alleged massive doping ring involving several top cyclists. Due to the unfolding investigation, on the eve of the Tour’s start in Strasbourg, nine riders with ties to Puerto were kicked off the start list, including the 2005 edition’s 2nd through 5th place finishers: Ivan Basso, Jan Ullrich, Francisco Mancebo, and Alexandre Vinokourov (2005 “winner” Lance Armstrong had retired).

Once underway, the Tour was enthralling, with American Floyd Landis eking out a victory in an excruciatingly tight three-way battle with Spaniard Oscar Pereiro and German Andreas Kloden. Landis wore yellow into Paris, but his victory celebration was short, as four days after the Tour wrapped up it was announced that his urine sample following his epic win on stage 17 had tested positive for banned synthetic testosterone. Landis claimed innocence, but after exhausting the appeals process his title was stripped in September 2007.

The Biggest TdF Scandals: 2007—Firing Michael Rasmussen

Scandal continued to plague the Tour in 2007. During the race, three riders were expelled for doping violations and the entire teams of two of the three offenders left as a result. Then, after winning stage 16, race leader Michael Rasmussen, a Dane riding for the Dutch Rabobank squad, was sacked by his team management for violating team rules.

Rabobank claimed Rasmussen had lied about his whereabouts the month before the Tour started (teams must know where their riders are at all times in case anti-doping officials wish to conduct tests). Rasmussen said that he was training in Mexico, but was spotted by a former cycling pro on the road in Italy instead.

Rasmussen’s removal from the race was unprecedented. The only other Tour leader expelled mid-race—Belgian Michel Pollentier in 1978—was removed for trying to cheat a doping test. Rasmussen is the only leader to have been fired by his own team.

The Biggest TdF Scandals: 2010—Chaingate

On stage 15 of the 2010 Tour, Luxembourger Andy Schleck was riding in the yellow jersey when he attacked a group of his rivals near the summit of the Port de Balès, a high mountain pass in the central Pyrenees. But soon after Schleck darted up the road he came to a dead stop and hopped off his bike. He’d dropped his chain.

While he struggled to get it back on, Schleck’s closest competitor, Alberto Contador, who was trying to mark Schleck’s attack, rode past him in anger with two other riders. Contador looked back a few times to check on Schleck’s progress, but he did not slow down and wait for Schleck. A desperate Schleck tried to reconnect with Contador but failed, eventually losing the yellow jersey at day’s end and never regaining it.

The stage 15 incident will forever go down in history as “chaingate.” The reason for the controversy has to do with the unwritten rules of the road at the Tour de France—in this case the rule that the leader’s closest rivals should not attack him if he has a mechanical issue. The thinking goes that profiting from the leader’s bad luck is dishonorable, and that the battle for the lead should be held on an even playing field.

Never before has this “rule” been put to the test like it was in 2010. Footage of “chaingate” has been dissected as closely as any in history, and opinion remains split to this day on whether Contador should have waited for Schleck to fix the chain and rejoin the group, or since Schleck attacked first, whether Contador was “allowed” to drop him.

The Biggest TdF Scandals: 2011—TV Car Crashes Riders

Anywhere in the world, cars and cyclists can be a dangerous combination. But given that the Tour route is closed to traffic, it’s safe to say that few riders are worried about being toppled off their bikes by some distracted or dangerous driver. But that’s just what happened in 2011, when a car that was part of the official Tour caravan smashed into the day’s breakaway riders on stage 9.

Trying to pass on the left, a car from broadcaster France Télévisions inexplicably bumped rider Juan Antonio Flecha, knocking him violently to the pavement. Riding behind Flecha, Belgian Johnny Hoogerland was vaulted into the air and landed on a barbed wire fence marking a field alongside the road.

Amazingly, Flecha was OK—he remounted his bike and received treatment for a scraped and banged elbow by Tour medical staff. Even more amazingly, Hoogerland was able to finish the stage, despite sustaining deep cuts to his legs that required 33 stitches. Sadly Hoogerland’s bad luck with cars didn’t end there: in February 2013 he collided with a car while training in Spain, fracturing five ribs and injuring his liver and spine.

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Tour de France past winners

2012 1 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling 2 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale

2011 1 Cadel Evans (Aus) BMC Racing Team 2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek 3 Frank Schleck (Lux) Leopard Trek

2010 1 *Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 2 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 3 Samuel Sánchez Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi

2009 1 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana 2 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team Saxo Bank 3 Lance Armstrong (USA) Astana

Note: Lance Armstrong was stripped of all race results from August 1, 1998 onwards following the US Anti-Doping Agency’s investigation into doping at the US Postal Service team. Oscar Pereiro was awarded the victory on October 16, 2007, after original winner Floyd Landis was disqualified for doping. Austria's Bernhard Kohl tested positive for EPO-CERA on October 13, 2008. He admited to its use on October 15, 2008.

2012 RadioShack-Nissan 2011 Team Garmin-Cervelo 2010 Team RadioShack 2009 Astana 2008 Team CSC Saxo Bank 2007 Discovery Channel 2006 T-Mobile 2005 T-Mobile 2004 T-Mobile 2003 Team CSC 2002 ONCE-Eroski 2001 Kelme-Costa Blanca 2000 Kelme-Costa Blanca 1999 Banesto 1998 Cofidis 1997 Team Deutsche Telekom 1996 Festina 1995 ONCE 1994 Festina 1993 Carrera 1992 Carrera 1991 Banesto 1990 Z 1989 PDM 1988 PDM 1987 Systeme U 1986 La Vie Claire 1985 La Vie Claire 1984 Renault 1983 Peugot 1982 Coop-Mercier 1981 Peugot 1980 Miko-Mercier 1979 Renault 1978 Miko-Mercier 1977 TI-Raleigh 1976 Kas 1975 Gan-Mercier 1974 Kas 1973 Bic 1972 Gan-Mercier 1971 Bic 1970 Salvarini 1969 Faema 1968 Spain 1967 France 1966 Kas 1965 Kas 1964 Pelforth-Lejeune-Sauvage 1963 Saint Rapael-Gitane 1962 Saint Raphael-Helyett 1961 France 1960 France 1959 Belgium 1958 Belgium 1957 France 1956 Belgium 1955 France 1954 Switzerland 1953 Netherlands 1952 Italy 1951 France 1950 Belgium 1949 Italy 1948 Belgium 1947 Italy 1939 Belgium 1938 Belgium 1937 France 1936 Belgium 1935 Belgium 1934 France 1933 France 1932 Italy 1931 Belgium 1930 France 1929 Alcyon 1928 Alcyon 1927 Alcyon 1926 Automoto-Hutchinson 1925 Automoto-Hutchinson 1924 Automoto-Hutchinson 1923 Automoto-Hutchinson 1922 Peugot-PneusLion 1921 La Sportive 1920 La Sportive 1919 La Sportive 1914 Peugot 1913 Peugot 1912 Alcyon Pneus Dunlop 1911 Alcyon Pneus Dunlop 1910 Alcyon Pneus Dunlop 1909 Alcyon Pneus Dunlop 1908 Peugot 1907 Peugot 1906 Peugot 1905 Peugot 1904 La Francaise Dunlop 1903 La Francaise Dunlop

Points classification

2012 Peter Sagan (Svk) 2011 Mark Cavendish (GBr) 2010 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) 2009 Thor Hushovd (Nor) 2008 Oscar Freire (Spa) 2007 Tom Boonen (Bel) 2006 Robbie McEwen (Aus) 2005 Thor Hushovd (Nor) 2004 Robbie McEwen (Aus) 2003 Baden Cooke (Aus) 2002 Robbie McEwen (Aus) 2001 Erik Zabel (Ger) 2000 Erik Zabel (Ger) 1999 Erik Zabel (Ger) 1998 Erik Zabel (Ger) 1997 Erik Zabel (Ger) 1996 Erik Zabel (Ger) 1995 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) 1994 Djamolodin Abduzhaparov (Uzb) 1993 Djamolodin Abduzhaparov (Uzb) 1992 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) 1991 Djamolodin Abduzhaparov (Uzb) 1990 Olaf Ludwig (Ger) 1989 Sean Kelly (Ire) 1988 Eddy Planckaert (Bel) 1987 Jean-Paul Van Poppel (Ned) 1986 Eric Vanderaerden (Bel) 1985 Sean Kelly (Ire) 1984 Frank Hoste (Bel) 1983 Sean Kelly (Ire) 1982 Sean Kelly (Ire) 1981 Freddy Maertens (Bel) 1980 Rudy Pevange (Bel) 1979 Bernard Hinault (Fra) 1978 Freddy Maertens (Bel) 1977 Jean Escalssan (Fra) 1976 Freddy Maertens (Bel) 1975 Rik van Linden (Bel) 1974 Patrick Sercu (Fra) 1973 Herman Vanspringel (Bel) 1972 Eddy Merckx (Bel) 1971 Eddy Merckx (Bel) 1970 Walter Godefroot (Bel) 1969 Eddy Merckx (Bel) 1968 Franco Bitossi (Ita) 1967 Jan Janssen (Ned) 1966 Walter Planckaert (Bel) 1965 Jan Janssen (Ned) 1964 Jan Janssen (Ned) 1963 Rik van Looy (Bel) 1962 Rudi Altig (Ger) 1961 Andre Darrigade (Fra) 1960 Jean Graczyck (Fra) 1959 Andre Darrigade (Fra) 1958 Jean Graczyck (Fra) 1957 Jean Forestier (Fra) 1956 Stan Ockers (Bel) 1955 Stan Ockers (Bel) 1954 Ferdi Kubler (Swi) 1953 Fritz Shaer (Swi) 1952 Fausto Coppi (Ita) 1951 Raphael Geminiani (Fra) 1950 Louison Bobet (Fra) 1949 Fausto Coppi (Ita) 1948 Gino Bartali (Ita) 1947 Pierre Brambilla (Ita) 1946 No race 1945 No race 1944 No race 1943 No race 1942 No race 1941 No race 1940 No race 1939 Sylvere Maes (Bel) 1938 Gino Bartali (Ita) 1937 Felicien Vervaecke (Bel) 1936 Julio Berrendero (Spa) 1935 Felicien Vervaecke (Bel) 1934 Rene Vietto (Fra) 1933 Vicente Treuba (Spa)

King of the Mountains

2012 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) 2011 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez (Spa) 2010 Anthony Charteau (Fra) 2009 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) 2008 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) [note] 2007 Mauricio Soler (Col) 2006 Michael Rasmussen (Den) 2005 Michael Rasmussen (Den) 2004 Richard Virenque (Fra) 2003 Richard Virenque (Fra) 2002 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) 2001 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) 2000 Santiago Botero (Col) 1999 Richard Virenque (Fra) 1998 Christophe Rinero (Fra) 1997 Richard Virenque (Fra) 1996 Richard Virenque (Fra) 1995 Richard Virenque (Fra) 1994 Richard Virenque (Fra) 1993 Tony Rominger (Swi) 1992 Claudio Chiapucci (Ita) 1991 Claudio Chiapucci (Ita) 1990 Thierry Claveyrolat (Fra) 1989 Gert-Jan Theunisse (Ned) 1988 Steven Rooks (Ned) 1987 Luis Herrera (Col) 1986 Bernard Hinault (Fra) 1985 Luis Herrera (Col) 1984 Robert Miller (GB) 1983 Lucien Van Impe (Bel) 1982 B Vallet (Fra) 1981 Lucien Van Impe (Bel) 1980 Raymond Martin (Fra) 1979 Giovanni Battaglin (Ita) 1978 Mariano Martinez (Fra) 1977 Lucien Van Impe (Bel) 1976 G Bellini (Ita) 1975 Lucien Van Impe (Bel) 1974 Domingo Perurena (Spa) 1973 Pedro Torres (Spa) 1972 Lucien Van Impe (Bel) 1971 Lucien Van Impe (Bel) 1970 Eddy Merckx (Bel) 1969 Eddy Merckx (Bel) 1968 A Gonzalez (Spa) 1967 J Jiminez (Spa) 1966 J Jiminez (Spa) 1965 J Jiminez (Spa) 1964 Federico Bahamontes (Spa) 1963 Federico Bahamontes (Spa) 1962 Federico Bahamontes (Spa) 1961 Imerio Massignan (Ita) 1960 Imerio Massignan (Ita) 1959 Federico Bahamontes (Spa) 1958 Federico Bahamontes (Spa) 1957 Gastone Nencini (Ita) 1956 Charly Gaul (Lux) 1955 Charly Gaul (Lux) 1954 Federico Bahamontes (Spa) 1953 Jesus Lorono (Spa)

Best young rider

2012 Tejay van Garderen (USA) 2011 Pierre Rolland (Fra) 2010 Andy Schleck (Lux) 2009 Andy Schleck (Lux) 2008 Andy Schleck (Lux) 2007 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) 2006 Damiano Cunego (Ita) 2005 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) 2004 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) 2003 Denis Menchov (Rus) 2002 Ivan Basso (Ita) 2001 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) 2000 Francesco Mancebo (Spa) 1999 Benoit Salmon (Fra) 1998 Jan Ullrich (Ger) 1997 Jan Ullrich (Ger) 1996 Jan Ullrich (Ger) 1995 Marco Pantani (Ita) 1994 Marco Pantani (Ita) 1993 Antonio Martin (Spa) 1992 Eddy Bouwmans (Ned) 1991 Alvaro Meija (Col) 1990 Gilles Delion (Fra) 1989 not awarded 1988 Eric Breukink (Ned) 1987 Raul Alcala (Mex) 1986 Andy Hampsten (USA) 1985 Fabio Parra (Col) 1984 Greg LeMond (USA) 1983 Laurent Fignon (Fra) 1982 Phil Anderson (Aus) 1981 Peter Winnen (Ned) 1980 Johan Van De Velde (Ned) 1979 Jean-Rene Bernaudeau (Fra) 1978 Henk Lubberding (Ned) 1977 Dietrich Thurau (Ger) 1976 Enrique Martinez-Heredia (Spa) 1975 Francesco Moser (Ita)

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