2007 Tour de France

Infobox Cycling race report
name =

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image_caption = Tour de France 2007 - Course Outline
date = July 7–July 29
stages = 20 & Prologue
distance = 3569.9
unit = km
time = 91h 00' 26"
speed = 39.23
first = Alberto Contador
first_team = Discovery Channel
first_nat = ESP
second = Cadel Evans
second_team = Predictor-Lotto
second_nat = AUS
third = Levi Leipheimer
third_team = Discovery Channel
third_nat = USA
points = Tom Boonen
points_team = Quick Step-Innergetic
points_nat = BEL
mountains = Mauricio Soler
mountains_team = Barloworld
mountains_nat = COL
youth = Alberto Contador
youth_team = Discovery Channel
youth_nat = ESP
team = Discovery Channel
team_nat = USAThe 2007 Tour de France, the 94th running of the race, took place from July 7 to July 29, 2007. The Tour began with a prologue in London, and ended with the traditional finish in Paris. Along the way, the route also passed through Belgium and Spain. It was won by Spanish rider Alberto Contador.

The organisers of the Tour and London mayor Ken Livingstone announced on January 24, 2006 that the start of the Tour would take place in London. Livingstone noted the two stages would commemorate the victims of the July 7, 2005 London bombings, saying "Having the Grand Départ on the seventh of July will broadcast to the world that terrorism does not shake our city."

The routes for the Prologue in London and the first full stage through Kent, finishing in Canterbury, were announced on February 9, 2006 at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre. This was the third time the Tour visited England, including Plymouth in (1974) and two stages in Kent, Sussex and Hampshire in (1994).

Tour director Christian Prudhomme unveiled the 2007 route in Paris on October 26, 2006. In total, the route covered 3,569.9 kilometres (2,218.2 mi). [ [http://www.letour.fr/2007/TDF/presentation/us/parcours.html The Route] ]

The Tour was marked by doping controversies, with three riders and two teams withdrawn during the race following positive doping tests, including pre-race favorite Alexandre Vinokourov and his Astana team. Following Stage 16, the holder of the yellow jersey, Michael Rasmussen, was removed from the Tour by his Rabobank team, who accused him of lying about the reasons for missing several drug tests earlier in the year.

The green jersey, given to the best sprinter, was won for the first time by Tom Boonen, who had failed to complete the previous two Tours after leading the green jersey competition at times during each. The polka dot jersey, given to the best mountain climber, was won by Mauricio Soler in his first Tour appearance.

The yellow jersey, given to the overall leader, was closely contested until the final time trial on Stage 19. The top three riders, Alberto Contador in yellow, Cadel Evans in second, and Levi Leipheimer in third, were separated by only 2:49, with both Evans and Leipheimer recognized as far superior time trialists to Contador. In the end, each rider held his place after the final time trial, but with considerably slimmer margins, as the Tour ended with the smallest-ever spread of only 31 seconds among the top three riders. Alberto Contador also won the white jersey as the best young (under age 25) rider.

Teams

21 teams started the race – each had 9 riders at the start of the tour i.e., 189 started in total. The teams [ [http://www.letour.fr/2007/TDF/presentation/docs/cp_07_05_30_us.pdf 21 teams in the Tour de France 2007] June 30, 2007 press release (PDF)] were:

Janez Brajkovič, Damiano Cunego, Tom Danielson and Koldo Gil were all offered at odds within the range of this table, but withdrew before the race field was finalised.

tages

Teams classification

=Young riders' classification=

* Quick Step-Innergetic and Gerolsteiner were the only teams to finish with full nine-man lineup.

Doping scandals

The first scandal arrived when it was made public on July 18 that rider Patrik Sinkewitz from the T-Mobile team had tested positive one month before the Tour started. Sinkewitz had already withdrawn from the race having incurred an injury during the 8th stage. The scandal was big enough to prompt German TV broadcasters ZDF and ARD to drop their coverage. [cite news |url=http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/07/18/sports/EU-SPT-CYC-Sinkewitz-Doping.php |title=T-Mobile rider Patrik Sinkewitz tests positive before the Tour de France |publisher=International Herald Tribune |date=2007-07-18 |accessdate=2007-08-05]

The Tour was dealt a major blow when the first-place Astana Team withdrew from the race on July 24, 2007, after team member and pre-race favorite Alexander Vinokourov from Kazakhstan tested positive for an illegal blood transfusion.Tour de France press release: [http://www.letour.fr/2007/TDF/LIVE/us/1600/communique.html "Le Tour de France obtains the withdrawal of the Astana team"] (July 25, 2007)] Vinokourov's teammates Andreas Klöden and Andrey Kashechkin were in 5th and 7th place respectively at the time.

At the start of the 16th stage on July 25, some teams made a protest against the laxness of the official attitude to doping in the race. [cite news |url=http://www.abcnews.go.com/Sports/wireStory?id=3412099 |title=Tour De France Riders Stage Protest |publisher=ABC News |date=2007-07-25 |accessdate=2007-08-05] After the stage, race officials announced that Cofidis team member Cristian Moreni of Italy had tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone, and the Cofidis team withdrew from the race.

Spanish cyclist Iban Mayo tested positive for EPO on the second rest day of the Tour, on July 24. [cite news|url=http://www.lequipe.fr/Cyclisme/breves2007/20070730_213013Dev.html|title=Mayo positif et suspendu|publisher=l'Equipe|date=2007-07-30|accessdate=2007-07-30|language=French]

Other incidents

German cyclist Marcus Burghardt collided with a Labrador Retriever during Stage 9. The bike struck the dog on its backside, which buckled the front wheel and threw Burghardt over the handlebars onto the road. Remarkably the dog was unhurt by the collision, and it was grabbed by a spectator before any more damage could be caused. [cite news |url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/worldnews.html?in_article_id=469049&in_page_id=1811 |title=Canine spectator falls for Tour de France rider |publisher=DailyMail.co.uk |date=2007-07-17 |accessdate=2007-08-05]

A second incident involving a dog occurred on Stage 18. Sandy Casar and Frederik Willems were in a four-man break when Casar collided with a dog running across the road, causing both him and Willems to fall. Casar was able to rejoin the break with the help of Axel Merckx despite receiving road rash on his right buttock, while Willems returned to the peloton. Casar went on to win the stage. [cite news |url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2007/tour07/news/?id=/news/2007/jul07/jul28news |title=Casar gives French some good news |publisher=CyclingNews.com |date=2007-07-28 |accessdate=2007-08-05] [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZrxyijba50 YouTube - 2007 Tour de France - Rider hits a dog, again! ] ] [ [http://versus.com/?artID=40192&catID=566&playerID=1 Versus - Home ] ] Dead link|date=January 2008

After Stage 16, overall leader Michael Rasmussen was fired by his team, Rabobank, for violating team rules after he told the team that he was in Mexico with his wife in June, then being sighted training in Italy by Italian journalist Davide Cassani. [cite news |url=http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2007/tour07/news/?id=/news/2007/jul07/jul26news2 |title=Rabobank explains Rasmussen sacking |publisher=CyclingNews.com |date=2007-07-26 |accessdate=2007-08-05] Rasmussen disputes this claim, continuing to maintain that he was in Mexico. Thus, at the start of stage 17 there was no holder of the yellow jersey. Afterward the lead and the jersey were transferred to Team Discovery's Alberto Contador. [cite news |url=http://sports.yahoo.com/sc/news;_ylt=Al08HqTE2q4Lygrrlu3_mRw5nYcB?slug=ap-tourdefrance&prov=ap&type=lgns |title=Tour de France faces long ride back after doping scandals |publisher=Yahoo! Sports |date=2007-07-30 |accessdate=2007-08-05]

ee also

* List of teams and cyclists in the 2007 Tour de France
* Doping at the 2007 Tour de France
* List of doping cases in cycling
* Tour de France

References

External links

* [http://www.letour.fr/2007/TDF/COURSE/us/index.html Official website] en icon
* [http://www.tourdefrancelondon.com/en/default.asp Website on the first two stages]
* [http://www.roadcycling.com Tour de France news, results, and analysis]