2000 Tour De France
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The 2000 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", re ...
held from 1 to 23 July, and the 87th edition of the
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...
. There was no overall winner following a vacating of results by 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 ...
announcement on 24 August 2012 that they had disqualified Lance Armstrong from all his results since 1 August 1998, including his seven Tour de France wins from
1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...
to
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; the
Union Cycliste Internationale The Union Cycliste Internationale (; UCI; ) 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 licenses to riders and enforces di ...
confirmed the result. The Tour started with an individual time trial in
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(not an official prologue because it was longer than 8 km) and ended, traditionally, in Paris. The distance travelled was 3663 km (counter-clockwise around France). The Tour passed through Switzerland and Germany. Before the race started, there were several favourites: Armstrong, after his
1999 Tour de France The 1999 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 3 to 25 July, and the 86th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Ant ...
victory;
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, Australia, Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in fro ...
, having won the
1997 Tour de France The 1997 Tour de France was the 84th edition of the Tour de France and took place from 5 to 27 July. Jan Ullrich's victory margin of 9:09 was the largest margin of victory since Laurent Fignon won the 1984 Tour de France by 10:32. Since 1997 no r ...
, finishing second in the
1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...
and
1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...
tours, and not entering the 1999 Tour due to an injury; and 1998 Tour winner
Marco Pantani Marco Pantani (; 13 January 1970 – 14 February 2004) was an Italian road racing cyclist, widely regarded as one of the greatest climbing specialists in the history of the sport by measures of his legacy, credits from other riders, and record ...
.
Richard Virenque Richard VirenqueRichard Virenque's name is pronounced Ree-shah Vee-rahnk. Virenque considers himself a man of the South but pronounces his name in standard French. Confusion is caused by the southern habit of pronouncing "en" as "ang" or "eng", ...
finished 8th place in the 1999 Tour despite bad preparation, and for the 2000 edition he was considered an important rider. Fernando Escartín, Bobby Julich,
Alexander Vinokourov Alexander Nikolayevich Vinokourov ( Kazakh and Russian: ; born 16 September 1973) is a Kazakhstani former professional road bicycle racer and the current general manager of UCI WorldTeam . He is of Russian origin. As a competitor, his achieveme ...
and
Alex Zülle Alex Zülle (born 5 July 1968) is a Switzerland, Swiss former professional road bicycle racer. During the 1990s he was one of the most successful cyclists in the world, winning the 1996 and 1997 Vuelta a España, taking second place in the 1995 ...
were also considered contenders.


Teams

17 teams were automatically selected based on their UCI rankings. In addition, three teams were given wildcards by organisers of the Tour,
Amaury Sport Organisation The Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO and also A.S.O.) is a private company, founded in 1992, that is part of the privately-owned French media group Éditions Philippe Amaury (EPA). ASO organises the Tour de France and other cycling races, as well a ...
(ASO). Each of these 20 teams sent 9 cyclists, for a total of 180: Before the start, each rider had to do a health check. Three riders failed this health check;
Sergei Ivanov Sergei Borisovich Ivanov (, ; born 31 January 1953) is a Russian senior official and politician who has been serving as the Special Presidential Envoy on the Issues of Environmental Activities, Ecology and Transport since 12 August 2016. He h ...
, from Farm Frites;
Rossano Brasi Rossano Brasi (born 3 June 1972) is an Italian former professional racing cyclist. He competed in the Cycling at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Men's team pursuit, team pursuit at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He was professional from 1995 to 2002 wit ...
, from ; Andrei Hauptman, from ; all because they had a
hematocrit The hematocrit () (Ht or HCT), also known by several other names, is the volume percentage (vol%) of red blood cells (RBCs) in blood, measured as part of a blood test. The measurement depends on the number and size of red blood cells. It is nor ...
value above 50%. The race thus started with 177 cyclists. The teams entering the race were: Qualified teams * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Invited teams * * *


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 France, French Dauphiné Alps near Grenoble. It is the eighth List of highest paved roads in Europe, highest paved road in the Alps, and recurrently the List of highe ...
mountain pass on stage 15.


Race overview

The first stage was won by British cyclist David Millar, with Lance Armstrong only 2 seconds behind in second place. Of the other pre-race favourites,
Laurent Jalabert Laurent Jalabert (born 30 November 1968) is a French former professional road racing cyclist, from 1989 to 2002. Affectionately known as ''"Jaja"'' (slang for a glass of wine; when he continued drinking wine as a professional, the nickname stuck ...
,
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, Australia, Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in fro ...
and
Alex Zülle Alex Zülle (born 5 July 1968) is a Switzerland, Swiss former professional road bicycle racer. During the 1990s he was one of the most successful cyclists in the world, winning the 1996 and 1997 Vuelta a España, taking second place in the 1995 ...
all lost less than 20 seconds. Virenque, Vinokourov and Escartin lost around 1:30 on Armstrong, while Marco Pantani lost more than 2 minutes. The next two stages were sprinter stages, both won by Tom Steels, not changing much in the overall classification. Stage 4, a team time trial, was won by the
ONCE cycling team ONCE cycling team, () also known as Liberty Seguros, Liberty Seguros–Würth and in succession in its final year, Astana–Würth and Astana was a Spanish cycling team. It road bicycle racing, competed in the Union Cycliste Internationale, UCI U ...
, and after that stage the top 10 included 8 ONCE cyclists, including leader
Laurent Jalabert Laurent Jalabert (born 30 November 1968) is a French former professional road racing cyclist, from 1989 to 2002. Affectionately known as ''"Jaja"'' (slang for a glass of wine; when he continued drinking wine as a professional, the nickname stuck ...
. In stage 6, 12 cyclists broke away and kept a 7:49-minute lead, which shook up the classification.
Alberto Elli Alberto Elli (born 9 March 1964) is an Italian former road racing cyclist, who wore the yellow jersey for 4 days in the 2000 Tour de France. Elli was called up late for the 2000 Tour de France, and after a group of 12 cyclists stayed away from t ...
, one of the escapees, took over the yellow jersey. In stage 10, the Tour entered the mountains. The stage, which finished at Hautacam, was won by Spaniard Javier Otxoa, but Lance Armstrong finished second and took the yellow jersey, with Ullrich in second place, more than 4 minutes behind. The 12th stage, finishing on
Mont Ventoux Mont Ventoux (; ) is a mountain in the Provence region of southern France, located some northeast of Carpentras, Vaucluse. On the north side, the mountain borders the department of Drôme. At , it is the highest mountain in the region and h ...
, was won by Marco Pantani, but Lance Armstrong finished second with the same time, so Armstrong increased his lead. Stage 15 was also won by Pantani, but again Armstrong gained time on second-place Ullrich, who was 7:26 behind. On the 16th stage, Armstrong had a bad day and lost time. Ullrich's gap shrunk to 5:37. On stage 17,
Erik Dekker Hendrik "Erik" Dekker (born 21 August 1970) is a retired Netherlands, Dutch professional road racing cyclist active from 1992 until 2006. He was a member of the Rabobank (cycling), Rabobank cycling team from 1992 till 2006. From 2007 to 2015 he ...
won his third stage of the Tour. Stage 19, an individual time trial, was the last chance to change the general classification, although it was very unlikely that time trial specialist Armstrong would lose his 5:37 lead. Armstrong eventually went on to win the stage, and secured his Tour win. He maintained his lead in the final two stages.


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; ) 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 licenses to riders and enforces di ...
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 several classifications in the 2000 Tour de France. The most important was the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage. The cyclist with the least accumulated time was the race leader, identified by the yellow jersey; the winner of this classification is considered the winner of the Tour. Additionally, there was a
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 c ...
, which awarded a green jersey. In the points classification, cyclists got points for finishing among the best in a stage finish, or in intermediate sprints. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, and was identified with a green jersey. There was also a mountains classification. The organisation had categorised some climbs as either ''
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 th ...
'', first, second, third, or fourth-category; points for this classification were won by the first cyclists that reached the top of these climbs first, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, and wore a white jersey with red
polka dot Red polka dots on a yellow background Alison Jackson wears a cycling_jersey.html" ;"title="Queen of the Mountains polkadot cycling jersey">Queen of the Mountains polkadot cycling jersey The polka dot, also written polkadot, and also called s ...
s. The fourth individual classification was the
young rider classification Young rider classification () in a cycling jersey competition in multi-day stage race events, such as the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and many others, is an award for the current leader by overall time for riders below the age of twenty-six years ...
. This was decided the same way as the general classification, but only riders under 26 years were eligible. Up until
1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...
the leader received a white jersey. After 1989 the white jersey was no longer awarded, but the classification was still held. In 2000 the race organisers decided to start awarding the white jersey. For the
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 ...
, the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added; the leading team was the team with the lowest total time. In addition, there was a combativity award given after each mass-start stage to the cyclist considered most combative, who wore a red number bib the next stage. The decision was made by a jury composed of journalists who gave points. The cyclist with the most points from votes in all stages led the combativity classification. Erik Dekker won this classification, and was given overall the super-combativity award. 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 ...
was given in honour of Tour founder
Henri Desgrange Henri Desgrange (; 31 January 1865 – 16 August 1940) was a French cycle sport, bicycle racer and Sports journalism, sports journalist. He set twelve world track cycling records, including the hour record of on 11 May 1893. He was the first o ...
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 France, French Dauphiné Alps near Grenoble. It is the eighth List of highest paved roads in Europe, highest paved road in the Alps, and recurrently the List of highe ...
. This prize was won by Pascal Hervé during stage 15. There was also a Souvenir in honour of
Gino Bartali Gino Bartali, (; 18 July 1914 – 5 May 2000), nicknamed Gino the Pious and (in Italy) Ginettaccio, was a champion road cyclist. He was the most renowned Italian cyclist before the Second World War, having won the Giro d'Italia twice, in ...
, winner of the
1938 Events January * January 1 – state-owned enterprise, State-owned railway networks are created by merger, in France (SNCF) and the Netherlands (Nederlandse Spoorwegen – NS). * January 20 – King Farouk of Egypt marries Saf ...
and
1948 Events January * January 1 ** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated. ** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
Tours, given first rider atop the
Col d'Izoard Col d'Izoard () is a mountain pass in the Alps in the department of Hautes-Alpes in France. It is accessible in summer via the D902 road, connecting Briançon on the north and the valley of the Guil in Queyras, which ends at Guillestre in the so ...
on stage 14. This award was won by Santiago Botero. *In stage 2,
Lance Armstrong Lance Edward Armstrong (''né'' Gunderson; born September 18, 1971) is an American former professional road bicycle racing, road racing cyclist. He achieved international fame for winning the Tour de France a record seven consecutive times fro ...
wore the green jersey. *In stages 2 through 4,
David Cañada David Cañada Gracia (11 March 1975 – 28 May 2016) was a Spanish professional road racing cyclist. His win at the 2006 Volta a Catalunya is his best career accomplishment. In the 2005 Tour de France, he was in a break-away on stage 2 (the fir ...
wore the white jersey.


Final standings


General classification


Points classification


Mountains classification


Young rider classification


Team classification


Combativity classification


See also

*
List of doping cases in cycling The following is an incomplete list of doping cases and recurring accusations of doping in professional cycling, where doping means "use of physiological substances or abnormal method to obtain an artificial increase of performance." It is neither ...


Notes


References


Bibliography

* * * *


Further reading

*


External links

*
2000 Tour de France
at Cyclingnews.com {{DEFAULTSORT:2000 Tour de France Tour de France by year
Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage cycle sport, bicycle race held primarily in France. It is the oldest and most prestigious of the three Grand Tour (cycling), Grand Tours, which include the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a ...