The 2004 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 3 July to 25 July 2004, and the 91st edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Anti-Doping Agency announced in August 2012 that they had disqualified Armstrong from all his results since 1998, including his seven Tour de France wins from 1999–2005; the Union Cycliste Internationale has confirmed this verdict.
The event consisted of 20 stages over 3,391 km.[1] Armstrong had been favored to win, his competitors seen as being German Jan Ullrich, Spaniards Roberto Heras and Iban Mayo, and fellow Americans Levi Leipheimer and Tyler Hamilton. A major surprise in the Tour was the performance of French newcomer Thomas Voeckler, who unexpectedly won the maillot jaune in the fifth stage and held onto it for ten stages before finally losing it to Armstrong.
This Tour saw the mistreatment of Filippo Simeoni by Armstrong on Stage 18. Armstrong also made a "zip-the-lips" gesture on camera, apparently referencing Simeoni.
The route of the 2004 Tour was remarkable. With two individual time trials scheduled in the last week, one of them the climb of Alpe d'Huez, the directors were hoping for a close race until the end. For the first time in years, the mountains of the Massif Central made an appearance.
Participating teams
The first 14 teams in the UCI ranking at 31 January 2004 were automatically invited. These were:[2]
Wildcards were sent to
Initially the organisers had an option for a 22nd team, which would be Kelme, but after Jesús Manzano exposed doping use in that team, Kelme was not invited, and the race started with 21 teams of nine cyclists.[3]
Stages
Classification leadership
- Jersey wearers when one rider is leading two or more competitions
Doping
The book L. A. Confidentiel, by David Walsh and Pierre Ballester, came out shortly before the 2004 Tour, accusing Lance Armstrong of doping. Lance Armstrong and his lawyers asked for an emergency hearing in French court to insert a denial into the book. The French judge denied this request. Armstrong also launched defamation suits against the publisher and the authors, as well as magazine L'Express and UK newspaper The Sunday Times which both referenced it.[6][7][8]
The 18th stage saw mistreatment of Filippo Simeoni by Lance Armstrong, after Simeoni had testified about doping and doctor Michele Ferrari.[9]
Teams
188 riders in 21 teams started; 147 riders finished.
Results
General classification
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Points classification
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Mountains classification
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Youth classification
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See also
References
- ↑ Jacques Augendre (2009). "Guide Historique" (PDF) (in French). Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived from the original on 2009-10-09. Retrieved 30 September 2009.
- ↑ "Invitations for the Tour de France 2004". Letour.fr. 2004-01-31. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-18.
- ↑ "Press release from the organisers of the Tour de France". Letour.fr. 2004-01-31. Archived from the original on 21 October 2012. Retrieved 2012-07-18.
- 1 2 "91ème Tour de France 2004" (in French). Memoire du cyclisme. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
- ↑ Zwegers, Arian. "Tour de France GC Top Ten". CVCC. Archived from the original on 2009-06-10. Retrieved 15 Aug 2011.
- ↑ CYCLING; Armstrong Is Suing Accuser, By RICHARD SANDOMIR; Samuel Abt in Paris contributor, June 16, 2004, New York Times, retr 2012 10 20
- ↑ Armstrong wants doping denial in book, ABC News (Australia) Jun 19, 2004, retr 2012 10 20
- ↑ Judge calls Armstrong's request 'abuse' of system, Associated Press, 2004 6 21, via espn.go.com, retr 2012 10 20
- ↑ The USADA Report Against Lance Armstrong, by the Numbers, Thursday, October 11, 2012 By Adventure Lab, Outside Magazine, retr 2012 10 18
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Andreas Klöden (Germany)
Ivan Basso (Italy)
Robbie McEwen (Australia)
Richard Virenque (France)
Vladimir Karpets (Russia)
Individual time trial 
Fabian Cancellara (SUI)
Plain stage 
Jaan Kirsipuu (EST)
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Tom Boonen (BEL)
Thor Hushovd (NOR)
Hilly stage 
Stage with mountain(s) 
Aitor González (ESP)
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