2003 Tour de France
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The 2003 Tour de France was a multiple stage
bicycle race "Bicycle Race" is a song by the British rock band Queen. It was released on their 1978 album ''Jazz'' and written by Queen's lead singer Freddie Mercury. It was released as a double A-side single together with the song "Fat Bottomed Girls", rea ...
held from 5 to 27 July, and the 90th edition of the
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist
Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. Regarded as a sports icon for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times from 1999 Tour de ...
originally won the event, the
United States Anti-Doping Agency The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, ) is a non-profit, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization and the national anti- doping organization (NADO) for the United States. To protect clean competition and the integrity of sport and prevent ...
announced in August 2012 that they had disqualified Armstrong from all his results since 1998, including his seven Tour de France wins from
1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
to
2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
; the
Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing ...
has confirmed this verdict. The event started and ended in Paris, covering proceeding clockwise in twenty stages around France, including six major mountain stages. Due to the centennial celebration, this edition of the tour was raced entirely in France and did not enter neighboring countries. In the centenary year of the race the route recreated, in part, that of 1903. There was a special ''Centenaire Classement'' prize for the best-placed in each of the six stage finishes which match the 1903 tour -
Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...
,
Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...
,
Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...
,
Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...
,
Nantes Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
and Paris. It was won by
Stuart O'Grady Stuart O'Grady (born 6 August 1973) is a retired Australian professional road bicycle racer, who rode as a professional between 1995 and 2013. A former track cyclist, O'Grady and Graeme Brown won a gold medal in the Men's Madison at the 2004 S ...
, with
Thor Hushovd Thor Hushovd (born 18 January 1978) is a Norwegian former professional road bicycle racer. He is known for sprinting and time trialing; Hushovd is a three-time Norwegian national road race champion (2004, 2010, 2013), and was the winner of th ...
in second place. The 2003 Tour was honored with the
Prince of Asturias Award The Princess of Asturias Awards ( es, Premios Princesa de Asturias, links=no, ast, Premios Princesa d'Asturies, links=no), formerly the Prince of Asturias Awards from 1981 to 2014 ( es, Premios Príncipe de Asturias, links=no), are a series of a ...
for Sport. Of the 198 riders the favourite was again Armstrong, aiming for a record equalling fifth win. Before the race, it was believed that his main rivals would include
Iban Mayo Iban Mayo Diez (born 19 August 1977 in Igorre, Basque Country, Spain) is a former professional road bicycle racer. Biography Renowned as a climber, Mayo turned pro with in 2000, and became one of the Basque Country's prospects for glory. He ...
,
Aitor González Aitor González Jiménez (born 27 February 1975) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 1998 and 2005, and was the winner of the 2002 Vuelta a España. Career Born in Zumárraga, Gipuzkoa, Gonzá ...
,
Tyler Hamilton Tyler Hamilton (born March 1, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racer. He is the only American rider to win one of the five Monuments of cycling, taking Liège–Bastogne–Liège in 2003. Hamilton became a professional cycli ...
,
Ivan Basso Ivan Basso (born 26 November 1977) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 1999 and 2015 for seven different teams. Basso, nicknamed Ivan the Terrible, was considered among the best mountain riders in ...
,
Gilberto Simoni Gilberto Simoni (born 25 August 1971 in Palù di Giovo, Trentino) is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer, most recently for . Simoni is twice winner of the Giro d'Italia cycling race (2001 and 2003 editions). Simoni might have wo ...
,
Jan Ullrich Jan Ullrich (; born 2 December 1973) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Ullrich won gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in front of a home crow ...
, and
Joseba Beloki Joseba Beloki Dorronsoro (born 12 August 1973) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. Tour successes Beloki turned professional in 1998 with , joined in 2000, and then in 2001. A strong climber in the high mountains and a top p ...
but Armstrong was the odds-on favourite. Though he did go on to win the race, it is statistically, and by Armstrong's own admission, his weakest Tour from his seven-year period of dominance over the race.


Teams

The team selection was done in three rounds: in November 2002, the fourteen highest-ranking
Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing ...
(UCI) teams would automatically qualify; four
wildcard Wild card most commonly refers to: * Wild card (cards), a playing card that substitutes for any other card in card games * Wild card (sports), a tournament or playoff place awarded to an individual or team that has not qualified through normal pla ...
invitations were given in January 2003, and four more in mid-May. The race started with 22 teams of 9 cyclists. The teams entering the race were: Qualified teams * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Invited teams * * * * * * * *


Pre-race favourites

Some notable cyclists excluded from the race were
Mario Cipollini Mario Cipollini (; born 22 March 1967), often abbreviated to "Cipo", is a retired Italian professional road cyclist most noted for his sprinting ability, the longevity of his dominance (his first pro win came in 1988, his last in 2005; 170 pro ...
and
Marco Pantani Marco Pantani (; 13 January 1970 – 14 February 2004) was an Italian road racing cyclist, widely regarded as the greatest climbing specialist in the history of the sport by measures of his legacy, credits from other riders, and records. He rec ...
, whose teams and were not selected. Especially the absence of Cipollini, the reigning
world champion A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
, came as a surprise. The Tour organisation gave the reason that Cipollini had never been able to finish the race. In the first round, the Coast team had been selected to compete, and in January 2003 they signed
Jan Ullrich Jan Ullrich (; born 2 December 1973) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Ullrich won gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in front of a home crow ...
. Financial problems then almost prevented the team from starting, but after Bianchi stepped in as a new sponsor, Team Bianchi was allowed to take the place of Team Coast.


Route and stages

The highest point of elevation in the race was at the summit of the
Col du Galibier The Col du Galibier (el. ) is a mountain pass in the southern region of the French Dauphiné Alps near Grenoble. It is the eighth highest paved road in the Alps, and recurrently the highest point of the Tour de France. It connects Saint-Mi ...
mountain pass on stage 8.


Race overview

The Tour proved to be one more hotly contested than the previous years. Tyler Hamilton and
Levi Leipheimer Levi Leipheimer (born October 24, 1973) is an American former professional road racing cyclist. He was twice US national champion, winning the time trial title in 1999 and the road race in 2007, and is an Olympic medalist. Leipheimer was born a ...
were involved in a crash early in the Tour. Leipheimer dropped out, Hamilton continued and got fourth place in the end while riding with a broken
collarbone The clavicle, or collarbone, is a slender, S-shaped long bone approximately 6 inches (15 cm) long that serves as a strut between the shoulder blade and the sternum (breastbone). There are two clavicles, one on the left and one on the right ...
. In the Alps, Gilberto Simoni and
Stefano Garzelli Stefano Garzelli (born 16 July 1973) is an Italian former professional road racing cyclist, who competed as a professional between 1997 and 2013. The high point of his career was his overall win in the 2000 Giro d'Italia, after a close three-wa ...
, first and second in the Giro d'Italia earlier the same year, could not keep up with Lance Armstrong and the other favourites. The same held for last year's number 4,
Santiago Botero Santiago Botero Echeverry (born October 27, 1972) is a Colombian former professional road bicycle racer. He was a pro from 1996 to 2010, during which time he raced in three editions of the Tour de France and four editions of the Vuelta a Españ ...
.
Joseba Beloki Joseba Beloki Dorronsoro (born 12 August 1973) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer. Tour successes Beloki turned professional in 1998 with , joined in 2000, and then in 2001. A strong climber in the high mountains and a top p ...
could, and was in second-place overall (just 40 seconds behind Armstrong) when he crashed on a fast descent from the Cote de La Rochette, shortly after passing the
Col de Manse The Col de Manse () is a mountain pass located in the Massif des Écrins approximately north-east of Gap in the Hautes-Alpes department of France. The pass connects Gap with the high Champsaur valley and the ski resort of Orcières-Merlette. T ...
into Gap. The crash was a result of a locked brake, caused by a lack of traction from melting tar on the road, which led to the tyre coming off the rim. Beloki broke his right femur, elbow and wrist, and had to leave the Tour. Armstrong made a detour through the field beside the road to avoid the fallen Beloki. Armstrong was in yellow, but Jan Ullrich won the first time trial by one minute and 36 seconds. He and Alexander Vinokourov were both within very short distance from Armstrong.


Doping

Subsequent to Armstrong's statement to withdraw his fight against
United States Anti-Doping Agency The United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA, ) is a non-profit, non-governmental 501(c)(3) organization and the national anti- doping organization (NADO) for the United States. To protect clean competition and the integrity of sport and prevent ...
's (USADA) charges, on 24 August 2012, the USADA said it would ban Armstrong for life and stripped him of his record seven Tour de France titles. Later that day it was confirmed in a USADA statement that Armstrong was banned for life and would be disqualified from any and all competitive results obtained on and subsequent to 1 August 1998, including forfeiture of any medals, titles, winnings, finishes, points and prizes. On 22 October 2012, the
Union Cycliste Internationale The ''Union Cycliste Internationale'' (UCI; ; en, International Cycling Union) is the world governing body for sports cycling and oversees international competitive cycling events. The UCI is based in Aigle, Switzerland. The UCI issues racing ...
endorsed the USADA sanctions, and decided not to award victories to any other rider or upgrade other placings in any of the affected events.


Classification leadership and minor prizes

There were four main individual classifications contested in the 2003 Tour de France, as well as a team competition. The most important was the
general classification The general classification (or the GC) in road bicycle racing is the category that tracks overall times for riders in multi-stage races. Each stage will have a stage winner, but the overall winner in the GC is the rider who has the fastest cumulat ...
, which was calculated by adding each rider's finishing times on each stage. There were time bonuses given at the end of each
mass start {{refimprove, date=February 2018 Mass start is a format of starting in some racing sports such as long-distance running in sport of athletics, speed skating, long-distance cross-country skiing and biathlon. There are usually many competitors in s ...
stage. If a crash had happened within the final of a stage, not including time trials and summit finishes, the riders involved would have received the same time as the group they were in when the crash occurred. The rider with the lowest cumulative time was the winner of the general classification and was considered the overall winner of the Tour. The rider leading the classification wore a yellow jersey. The second classification was the
points classification The points classification is a secondary award category in road bicycle racing. Points are given for high finishes and, in some cases, for winning sprints at certain places along the route, most often called ''intermediate sprints''. The points cl ...
. Riders received points for finishing in the highest positions in a stage finish, or in
intermediate sprint This is a glossary of terms and jargon used in cycling, mountain biking, and cycle sport. For ''parts of a bicycle'', see List of bicycle parts. 0–9 ; 27.5 Mountain bike: A mountain bike with wheels that are approximately in diameter and a ...
s during the stage. The points available for each stage finish were determined by the stage's type. The leader was identified by a green jersey. The third classification was the
mountains classification The King of the Mountains (KoM) is an award given to the best climbing specialist in a men's cycling road race; in women's cycle racing A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a femal ...
. Most stages of the race included one or more categorised climbs, in which points were awarded to the riders that reached the summit first. The climbs were categorised as fourth-, third-, second- or first-category and ''
hors catégorie ''Hors catégorie'' (HC) is a French term used in stage bicycle races to designate a climb that is "beyond categorization". The term was originally used for those mountain roads where cars were not expected to be able to pass. The HC climb is the ...
'', with the more difficult climbs rated lower. The leader wore a white jersey with red
polka dot Red polka dots on a yellow background Girl wearing polka dot dress Polish ceramics German ceramics Polka dot is a pattern consisting of an array of large filled circles of the same size. Polka dots are commonly seen on children's clothing, ...
s. The final individual classification was the
young rider classification Young rider classification (french: classement général des jeunes) is a cycling jersey competition in multi-day stage race events, such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and many others, which awards the current leader by overall time for rid ...
. This was calculated the same way as the general classification, but the classification was restricted to riders who were born on or after 1 January 1977. The leader wore a white jersey. The final classification was a
team classification The team classification is one of the different rankings for which competitors can compete in a multiple stage cycling race. It differs from the other usual rankings (general classification, points, king of the mountain and best young rider competi ...
. This was calculated using the finishing times of the best three riders per team on each stage; the leading team was the team with the lowest cumulative time. There was special classification, the ''Centenaire'', which combined times of riders across the six stages involving cities visited during 1903 Tour. The cities were: Lyon, on stage 6; Marseille, on stage 10; Toulouse, on stage 11; Bordeaux, on stage 17; Nantes, on stage 19; and Paris, on stage 20. In addition, there was a
combativity award The combativity award is a prize given in road bicycle racing to a stage's or the overall race's most aggressive rider. References {{cycling-stub Cycling jerseys ...
given after each mass start stage to the rider considered, by a jury, to have "shown the greatest effort and demonstrated the greatest sporting spirit". The winner wore a red number bib the following stage. At the conclusion of the Tour, Alexander Vinokourov () won the overall super-combativity award. There were also two special awards each with a prize of €5000, the
Souvenir Henri Desgrange The Souvenir Henri Desgrange is an award and cash prize given in the yearly running of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tour races. It is won by the rider that crosses a particular point in the race, mostly the summits of the highest a ...
, given in honour of Tour founder and first race director
Henri Desgrange Henri Desgrange (31 January 1865 – 16 August 1940) was a French bicycle racer and sports journalist. He set twelve world track cycling records, including the hour record of on 11 May 1893. He was the first organiser of the Tour de France. Yo ...
to the first rider to pass the summit of the
Col du Galibier The Col du Galibier (el. ) is a mountain pass in the southern region of the French Dauphiné Alps near Grenoble. It is the eighth highest paved road in the Alps, and recurrently the highest point of the Tour de France. It connects Saint-Mi ...
on stage 8, and the
Souvenir Jacques Goddet The Souvenir Jacques Goddet is an award and cash prize in the Tour de France bicycle race that began in 2001. The Souvenir is named in honour of the historically second Tour de France director and French sports journalist Jacques Goddet. It is aw ...
, given in honour of the second director
Jacques Goddet Jacques Goddet (21 June 1905 – 15 December 2000) was a French sports journalist and director of the Tour de France road cycling race from 1936 to 1986. Goddet was born and died in Paris. His father, Victor Goddet, was co-founder and finance di ...
to the first rider to pass the summit of the
Col du Tourmalet Col du Tourmalet (; elevation ) is one of the highest paved mountain passes in the French Pyrenees, in the department of Hautes-Pyrénées. Sainte-Marie-de-Campan is at the foot on the eastern side and the ski station La Mongie two-thirds of ...
on stage 15. Stefano Garzelli won the Henri Desgrange and Sylvain Chavanel won the Jacques Goddet. *In stage 1,
David Millar David Millar (born 4 January 1977) is a Scottish retired professional road racing cyclist. He rode for Cofidis from 1997 to 2004 and Garmin-Sharp from 2008 to 2014. He has won four stages of the Tour de France, five of the Vuelta a España an ...
wore the green jersey. *In stage 8,
Rolf Aldag Rolf Aldag (born 25 August 1968 in Beckum, West Germany) is a former professional road bicycle racer who rode for Team Telekom from 1993 to 2005. He raced in 10 Tour de France, 1 Giro d'Italia and 5 Vuelta a España. Prior to joining Telekom, h ...
wore the polka-dot jersey.


Final standings


General classification


Points classification


Mountains classification


Young rider classification


Team classification


Centenaire classification


Notes


References


Bibliography

* *


Further reading

*


External links

*
2003 Tour de France
at
Cyclingnews.com Cyclingnews.com is a website providing cycling news and race result owned by Future. History In 1995 Australian Bill Mitchell, a keen cyclist and professor of economics at the University of Newcastle, created the website titled "Bill’s Cycli ...
{{DEFAULTSORT:2003 Tour De France Tour de France 2003 Tour de France by year
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...