2005 Tour de France
| 2005 UCI ProTour, race 17 of 28 | |||
 | |||
| Route of the 2005 Tour de France | |||
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | July 2–July 24, 2005 | ||
| Stages | 21 | ||
| Distance | 3,592.5 km (2,232 mi) | ||
| Winning time | 86h 15' 02" (41.654 km/h or 25.883 mph) | ||
| Palmares | |||
| Winner | none | ||
| Second |  Ivan Basso (Italy) |
(Team CSC) | |
| Third | none[N 1] | ||
 |
Points |  Thor Hushovd (Norway) |
(Crédit Agricole) |
 |
Mountains |  Michael Rasmussen (Denmark) |
(Rabobank) |
 |
Youth |  Yaroslav Popovych (Ukraine) |
(Discovery Channel) |
| Team | T-Mobile Team | ||
The 2005 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 2 July to 24 July 2005, and the 92nd 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 comprised 21 stages over 3,592.5 km, the winner's average speed was 41.654 km/h.[3] The first stages were held in the département of the Vendée, for the third time in 12 years. The 2005 Tour was announced on October 28, 2004. It was a clockwise route, visiting the Alps before the Pyrenees. Armstrong took the top step on the podium, for what was then the seventh consecutive time. He was accompanied on the podium by Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich, but in 2012 Ullrich's results were annulled.[2] The points classification was won by Thor Hushovd, and the mountains classification by Michael Rasmussen.
The race was seen by 15 million spectators along the road, and by 2 billion viewers on TV.[4]
Route
The traditional prologue on the first day was replaced by an individual time trial of more than twice the length of a standard prologue.[5] This stage crossed from the mainland of France to the Île de Noirmoutier. The most famous route to this island is the Passage du Gois, a road that is under water at high tide. This road was included in the 1999 Tour. Several of the favorites crashed there that year, and ended that stage 7 minutes behind the peloton. This year they took the bridge to the island.
Later in the race, there was one more time trial, on the penultimate day. Also, there were just three uphill finishes (Courchevel, Ax-3 Domaines and Pla d'Adet), a lower number than in previous years. The finish line of the last stage was, as has been since 1975, on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.
The Tour commemorated the death of Fabio Casartelli. During the 15th stage the riders passed the Col de Portet d'Aspet, where Casartelli died exactly 10 years earlier, in the 1995 Tour de France.[5] The Tour also commemorated the first time there was an official mountain climb in the Tour, the Ballon d'Alsace.[6] During the 9th stage this mountain was passed again, exactly 100 years after the first ascent in the Tour.
Participants
In 2005, the UCI had started the ProTour: 20 teams were given a ProTour licence, and were required to start in all ProTour races, which included the Tour de France. The Tour de France organisation was not happy with this rule, as they wanted to be able to decide which teams would join their race. While negotiations were still ongoing, it was decided to use the UCI rule for the 2005 Tour, so all 20 ProTour teams were automatically invited. The Tour organisation could invite one extra team with a wildcard, and used this to invite the Ag2R team.[7]
All teams were composed of nine cyclists, so 189 riders in 21 teams commenced the 2005 Tour de France. Of them, 155 riders finished.
Of the competitors in the 2005 Tour, the tallest rider was Johan Van Summeren at 1.98 metres and the shortest was Samuel Dumoulin at 1.58 metres. The heaviest rider was Magnus Bäckstedt at 95 kg, the lightest was Leonardo Piepoli at 57 kg. Christopher Horner and Laurent Lefevre shared the lowest resting heart rate, 35 beats per minute. The "average" rider in 2005 was 1.79 metres tall, weighed 71 kg, and had a resting heart rate of 50 beats per minute.
Favourites
The main favourite was (then) six-time winner Armstrong (now stripped of all his victories). Armstrong had had doubts if he should start the 2005 Tour,[8] but decided in February 2005 that he would race. His main rival Ullrich was happy with this decision, as he thought it would be a better race with Armstrong present.[7]
In previous years, Ullrich never had the full support of his team to win the general classification, as his team was also aiming for stage victories. In 2005, Erik Zabel, who had won the points classification six times, was left out of the team, and Ullrich was supported by Klöden and Vinokourov, who both had already reached the podium on the Tour.[7]
On the day before the Tour started, Ullrich crashed into his team director's car, but was not seriously injured.[7]
Race details
In Stage 1, David Zabriskie, a former team mate of Lance Armstrong, beat Armstrong by two seconds.[9] In the team time trial of stage 4, Zabriskie fell in the last kilometers, and Armstrong took over the lead.[9]
Armstrong initially refused to wear the yellow jersey in the fifth stage,[10] but was forced by the Tour organisation, who threatened to remove him from the race.[7]
In the tenth stage, the start was moved from Grenoble to Froges.[11]
Before the 20th stage, an individual time trial, Michael Rasmussen occupied the third place in the general classification. During that stage, Rasmussen fell multiple times and changed bicycles multiple times, and lost so much time that he ended up at the seventh place in the general classification.[9] The race jury invoked the 'rain rule'[12] for the Champs-Élysées, meaning that Lance Armstrong became the winner of the General classification the first time the race passed the finish line, rather than the eighth time as normal. The time bonification for the winner of the stage was still given, and Alexander Vinokourov profited from this as he won the stage after an escape in the last kilometer (the first time since 1994 that the final stage did not end in a sprint[9]), and passed Levi Leipheimer in the general classification to end fifth.
During the final ceremonies in Paris, Armstrong was allowed to talk to the crowds, the first time in the Tour's history that a winner was given this chance.[13] It has since become a regular occurrence.
Stages
The 2005 Tour de France was divided into 21 stages. These stages belong to different categories: 8 were flat stages, 5 were medium mountain stages, 5 were high mountain stages, 2 were individual time trials and 1 was a team time trial.[6] The distinction between flat stage, medium mountain stage and high mountain stage is important for the points classification. There were two rest days, in Grenoble and in Pau.[11]
| Stage | Date | Route | Terrain | Length | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 July | Fromentine – Noirmoutier-en-l'Île |  Individual time trial | 19.0 km (11.8 mi) |  David Zabriskie (USA) |
| 2 | 3 July | Challans – Les Essarts |  Plain stage | 181.5 km (112.8 mi) | .svg.png){kind=small} Tom Boonen (BEL) |
| 3 | 4 July | La Châtaigneraie – Tours | Plain stage | 212.5 km (132.0 mi) | Tom Boonen (BEL) |
| 4 | 5 July | Tours – Blois | Team time trial | 67.5 km (41.9 mi) | Discovery Channel |
| 5 | 6 July | Chambord – Montargis | Plain stage | 183.0 km (113.7 mi) |  Robbie McEwen (AUS) |
| 6 | 7 July | Troyes – Nancy | Plain stage | 199.0 km (123.7 mi) | Lorenzo Bernucci (ITA) |
| 7 | 8 July | Lunéville – Karlsruhe | Plain stage | 228.5 km (142.0 mi) | Robbie McEwen (AUS) |
| 8 | 9 July | Pforzheim – Gérardmer |  Hilly stage | 231.5 km (143.8 mi) |  Pieter Weening (NED) |
| 9 | 10 July | Gérardmer – Mulhouse | Hilly stage | 171.0 km (106.3 mi) | Michael Rasmussen (DEN) |
| 10 | 12 July | Grenoble – Courchevel |  Stage with mountain(s) | 177.0 km (110.0 mi) |  Alejandro Valverde (ESP) |
| 11 | 13 July | Courchevel – Briançon | Stage with mountain(s) | 173.0 km (107.5 mi) |  Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ) |
| 12 | 14 July | Briançon – Digne-les-Bains | Hilly stage | 187.0 km (116.2 mi) |  David Moncoutié (FRA) |
| 13 | 15 July | Miramas – Montpellier | Plain stage | 173.5 km (107.8 mi) | Robbie McEwen (AUS) |
| 14 | 16 July | Agde – Ax 3 Domaines | Stage with mountain(s) | 220.5 km (137.0 mi) |  Georg Totschnig (AUT) |
| 15 | 17 July | Lézat-sur-Lèze – Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d'Adet | Stage with mountain(s) | 205.5 km (127.7 mi) | George Hincapie (USA) |
| 16 | 19 July | Mourenx – Pau | Stage with mountain(s) | 180.5 km (112.2 mi) | Óscar Pereiro (ESP) |
| 17 | 20 July | Pau – Revel | Plain stage | 239.5 km (148.8 mi) | Paolo Savoldelli (ITA) |
| 18 | 21 July | Albi – Mende | Hilly stage | 189.0 km (117.4 mi) | Marcos Antonio Serrano (ESP) |
| 19 | 22 July | Issoire – Le Puy-en-Velay | Hilly stage | 153.5 km (95.4 mi) | Giuseppe Guerini (ITA) |
| 20 | 23 July | Saint-Étienne – Saint-Étienne | Individual time trial | 55.5 km (34.5 mi) | |
| 21 | 24 July | Corbeil-Essonnes – Paris (Champs-Élysées) | Plain stage | 144.5 km (89.8 mi) | Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ) |
In the stages that were not time trials, there were intermediate sprints. Cyclist who crossed the intermediate sprints first received points for the points classification, and bonification seconds for the general classification. Until stage 8, there were three intermediate sprints, and from stage 9 on there were two.[16]
Classification leadership
- Jersey wearers when one rider is leading two or more competitions
- In stage 1, Lance Armstrong wore the green jersey.
Final standings
General classification
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Points classification
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.svg.png){kind=small}
Mountains classification
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Óscar Pereiro was given the combativity award by the jury who chose him as the most attacking cyclist.[3]
Doping cases
During the race, 143 urine tests and 21 blood tests were conducted. None of them returned positive.[17] Still, there were fears that banned substances were being used; the boss of the Amore & Vita–Beretta team (not racing in the 2005 Tour) questioned the increase in velocities.[18]
In 2010, Hans Michael Holczer, the team boss of Gerolsteiner in 2005, said that the UCI had informed him that Leipheimer had shown blood values just under the doping limit, and that Holczer suspected that Leipheimer was doping. The UCI advised Gerolsteiner to find a reason to remove Leipheimer from the race, but Holczer refused, because his team was still facing bad publicity from a previous doping case.[19]
The top five of the general classification of 2005 would not compete the 2006 edition. Armstrong had retired after the 2005 Tour, and a few days before the 2006 edition, after it became public that (among others) Basso, Ullrich and Mancebo were under investigation in the Operacion Puerto doping case, the Tour organisation and team leaders decided to exclude all cyclists under investigation from joining the Tour. Vinokourov, fifth-placed in 2005, was not under investigation, but his team was reduced to five cyclists, below the minimal required amount of six, so he could also not compete.[20]
In February 2012, the Court of Arbitration for Sport found Ullrich guilty of being engaged in Fuentes' doping program, and decided that Ullrich's results since May 2005, including his results from the 2005 Tour de France, would be disqualified.[2]
Subsequent to Armstrong's statement to withdraw his fight against USADA's charges, on August 24, 2012, the USADA said it would ban Armstrong for life and stripped him of his record seven Tour de France titles.[21][22] Later that day it was confirmed in a USADA statement[23] that Armstrong was banned for life and would be disqualified from any and all competitive results obtained on and subsequent to August 1, 1998, including forfeiture of any medals, titles, winnings, finishes, points and prizes.[24] The UCI endorsed the USADA sanctions, and decided not to award victories to any other rider or upgrade other placings in any of the affected events.[25]
Notes
- ↑ Although Ullrich's name still appears on the website page of the 2005 Tour, he has been officially stripped of his finish by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.[1][2]
See also
References
- ↑ "The Tour: Year 2005". Le Tour de France. Retrieved 2014-07-31.
- 1 2 3 "Jan Ullrich given two year ban from CAS". Cyclingnews (Future Publishing limited). 9 February 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
- 1 2 Augendre, Jacques (2009). "Guide Historique" (PDF) (in French). Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived from the original on 2009-10-09. Retrieved 30 September 2009.
- ↑ "Tour de France 2005: welcome on the official website". Archived from the original on 2009-10-09. Retrieved 2009-10-07.
- 1 2 Jean-Marie Leblanc (2005). "Edito". Amaury Sport Organisation. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
- 1 2 "The route". Amaury Sport Organisation. 2005. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
- 1 2 3 4 5 McGann, Bill; McGann, Carol (2008). The Story of the Tour De France: 1965-2007. Dog Ear Publishing. pp. 305–316. ISBN 1-59858-608-4.
- ↑ "Tour bosses announce 2005 route". BBC. 28 October 2004. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "92ème Tour de France 2005" (in French). Memoire du Cyclisme. Archived from the original on 2009-10-09. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
- ↑ It is a tradition that a cyclist who becomes the new leader because the previous leader was injured, does not wear the yellow jersey. Merckx did so in 1971 after Ocaña fell, Zoetemelk did so in 1980 after Hinault left, and LeMond did so in 1991 after Sørensen crashed.
- 1 2 Augendre, Jacques (2009). "Guide Historique, Part 4" (PDF) (in French). Amaury Sport Organisation. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
- ↑ "Tour de France 2005 Newsflashes". letour.fr. Retrieved 2009-10-05.
- ↑ Thompson, Christopher S. (2008). The Tour de France: A Cultural History. University of California Press. p. 264. ISBN 0-520-25630-1.
- 1 2 "92ème Tour de France 2005" (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.
- ↑ "The Stakes". Amaury Sport Organisation. 2005. Retrieved 7 October 2009.
- ↑ Thompson, Christopher S. (2008). The Tour de France: A Cultural History. University of California Press. p. 262. ISBN 0-520-25630-1.
- ↑ "Doping fears haunt Tour de France". Royal Society of Chemistry. 22 July 2005. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
- ↑ Callahan, Ron (4 August 1010). "Gerolsteiner's Holczer implicates Leipheimer & UCI in doping scandal". Bike World News. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
- ↑ "Four of top five '05 finishers won't start Tour this year". EPSN. 1 July 2006. Retrieved 28 March 2011.
- ↑ "Lance Armstrong will be banned from cycling by USADA after saying he won’t fight doping charges". The Washington Post. 24 August 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
- ↑ "USADA to ban Armstrong for life, strip Tour titles". CBS News. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
- ↑ "Lance Armstrong Receives Lifetime Ban And Disqualification Of Competitive Results For Doping Violations Stemming From His Involvement In The United States Postal Service Pro-Cycling Team Doping Conspiracy". USADA. 24 August 2012.
- ↑ "UCI asks USADA to explain case against Armstrong". Google hosted news. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
- ↑ "Press release: UCI takes decisive action in wake of Lance Armstrong affair". Union Cycliste Internationale. 26 October 2012. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
Further reading
- Wilcockson, John; Hood, Andrew (2005). The 2005 Tour de France: Armstrong's Farewell. Boulder, CO: VeloPress. ISBN 978-1-931382-68-7.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2005 Tour de France. |
- Official Website (Archived)
- Outside Online's coverage of the 2005 Tour de France
- 2005 Tour de France coverage
- Cycling’s governing body agrees to strip Lance Armstrong of his 7 Tour de France titles
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