 Route of the 1996 Tour de France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Dates | 29 June – 21 July 1996 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 21 + Prologue | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 3,765 km (2,339 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 95h 57' 16" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The1996 Tour de France was the 83rd edition of theTour de France, starting on 29 June and ending on 21 July, featuring 19 regular stages, 2 individual time trials, a prologue and a rest day (10 July).
The 1996 Tour was 'won' by Danish riderBjarne Riis, who controversially admitted in 2007 he was doping throughout the years 1993–1998,[1] and many years later (still officially the 'winner') saying he had "no regrets" that he had doped.[2]
This Tour was noted by the 'fall' of favouriteMiguel Induráin, ending his record run of five consecutive victories. The course included a stage through his home town Villava, however he suffered a bronchitis because of the poor weather in the first week, and was fined and penalised for accepting drinks illegally.[3] Indurain started to lose time in stage 7, and finally ended 11th, failing to win a single stage or spend one day in the yellow jersey.
Stage 9 was scheduled to be a 176 kilometre ride fromVal-d'Isère toSestriere. However, due to appalling weather conditions, including snow, the organisers cut the stage to just 46 km.Bjarne Riis won the stage and opened a crucial 44 second gap over Telekom teammateJan Ullrich. Ullrich, only 22, really broke through in this Tour, and won theindividual time trial of stage 20.
Over a decade after the race, several riders withTeam Telekom confessed todoping offences around the period of the 1996 tour, including support ridersRolf Aldag,Udo Bölts, Christian Henn[4] andBrian Holm and team masseurJef d'Hont has admitted in his autobiography that there was organised use ofEPO in the team.[5] On 24 May 2007,Erik Zabel admitted to using EPO during the first week of the race. The winner of the Tour,Bjarne Riis, admitted on 25 May 2007 that he also used EPO during the Tour, as a result was asked by the International Cycling Union (UCI) to return the yellow jersey he received.[6] So far, runner-upJan Ullrich, who has been under suspicion of doping as a part of theOperación Puerto doping case, has not commented on allegations that he also used EPO. Third placeRichard Virenque and fourth placeLaurent Dufaux were implicated in the 1998Festina scandal.
UCI lawyer Philippe Verbiest stated in 2007 that the statute of limitations for removing Riis as winner of the Tour de France had expired, "you cannot strip him of the title but it is possible not to mention it anymore ... Because of what he admitted, he is not the winner of the Tour de France. Riis did not win." At the same time tour spokesman Philippe Sudres stated that: "We consider philosophically that he can no longer claim to have won."[7] In 2007, Riis's victory was removed from the Tour de France,[8] yet in 2008 they listed Riis as winner of Tour de France 1996, albeit with a remark about his confession.[9]
The 18 teams on top of theUCI rankings at the start of 1996 automatically qualified for the Tour.[10] Fourwildcards were given, for a total of 22 teams.[11]
The teams entering the race were:[11]
Qualified teams
Invited teams
Thehighest point of elevation in the race was 2,035 m (6,677 ft) at the summit of theSestriere climb on stage 9.[b][12][13]
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 29 June | 's-Hertogenbosch (Netherlands) | 9.4 km (5.8 mi) |  | Individual time trial |  Alex Zülle (SUI) |
| 1 | 30 June | 's-Hertogenbosch (Netherlands) | 209.0 km (129.9 mi) |  | Plain stage |  Frédéric Moncassin (FRA) |
| 2 | 1 July | 's-Hertogenbosch (Netherlands) toWasquehal | 247.5 km (153.8 mi) | | Plain stage |  Mario Cipollini (ITA) |
| 3 | 2 July | Wasquehal toNogent-sur-Oise | 195.0 km (121.2 mi) | | Plain stage |  Erik Zabel (GER) |
| 4 | 3 July | Soissons toLac de Madine | 232.0 km (144.2 mi) | | Plain stage | Cyril Saugrain (FRA) |
| 5 | 4 July | Lac de Madine toBesançon | 242.0 km (150.4 mi) | | Plain stage |  Jeroen Blijlevens (NED) |
| 6 | 5 July | Arc-et-Senans toAix-les-Bains | 207.0 km (128.6 mi) |  | Hilly stage | Michael Boogerd (NED) |
| 7 | 6 July | Chambéry toLes Arcs | 200.0 km (124.3 mi) |  | Stage with mountain(s) | Luc Leblanc (FRA) |
| 8 | 7 July | Bourg-Saint-Maurice toVal d'Isère | 30.5 km (19.0 mi) |  | Individual time trial |  Evgueni Berzin (RUS) |
| 9 | 8 July | Le Monêtier-les-Bains toSestriere (Italy) | 46.0 km (28.6 mi) | | Stage with mountain(s) |  Bjarne Riis (DEN) |
| 10 | 9 July | Turin (Italy) toGap | 208.5 km (129.6 mi) | | Hilly stage | Erik Zabel (GER) |
| 10 July | Gap | Rest day | ||||
| 11 | 11 July | Gap toValence | 202.0 km (125.5 mi) | | Hilly stage |  José Jaime Gonzalez (COL) |
| 12 | 12 July | Valence toLe Puy-en-Velay | 143.5 km (89.2 mi) | | Hilly stage | Pascal Richard (SUI) |
| 13 | 13 July | Le Puy-en-Velay toSuper Besse | 177.0 km (110.0 mi) | | Hilly stage | Rolf Sørensen (DEN) |
| 14 | 14 July | Besse toTulle | 186.5 km (115.9 mi) | | Hilly stage |  Djamolidine Abdoujaparov (UZB) |
| 15 | 15 July | Brive-la-Gaillarde toVilleneuve-sur-Lot | 176.0 km (109.4 mi) | | Plain stage | Massimo Podenzana (ITA) |
| 16 | 16 July | Agen toHautacam | 199.0 km (123.7 mi) | | Stage with mountain(s) | Bjarne Riis (DEN) |
| 17 | 17 July | Argelès-Gazost toPamplona (Spain) | 262.0 km (162.8 mi) | | Stage with mountain(s) | Laurent Dufaux (SUI) |
| 18 | 18 July | Pamplona (Spain) toHendaye | 154.5 km (96.0 mi) | | Hilly stage | Bart Voskamp (NED) |
| 19 | 19 July | Hendaye toBordeaux | 226.5 km (140.7 mi) | | Plain stage | Frédéric Moncassin (FRA) |
| 20 | 20 July | Bordeaux toSaint-Émilion | 63.5 km (39.5 mi) | | Individual time trial | Jan Ullrich (GER) |
| 21 | 21 July | Palaiseau to Paris (Champs-Élysées) | 147.5 km (91.7 mi) | | Plain stage | Fabio Baldato (ITA) |
| Total | 3,765 km (2,339 mi)[16] | |||||
The prologue was won byAlex Zülle two seconds ahead of specialistChris Boardman as overall contendersBjarne Riis andMiguel Induráin came in sixth and seventh respectively. Zulle held onto theyellow jersey through the first few flat stages but in stage 4 a half dozen riders not in overall contention escaped in a breakaway and stayed away finishing several minutes ahead of the main field puttingStéphane Heulot in the yellow jersey for a few days.
Stage six was an intermediate stage run in terrible weather conditions and was won by DutchmanMichael Boogerd. The inclement weather caused well over a dozen riders to abandon the race includingLance Armstrong who merely thought he was sick from riding in the rainy, cold weather as most of the other riders who abandoned were, but within a few months he would be diagnosed with the cancer that nearly killed him.
As the Tour entered the Alps there was a mountain ITT in stage eight which was won byEvgeni Berzin, whom had seized the lead in the overall classification following stage seven. In the time trial he finished more than thirty seconds better than Riis and gained just over a minute on Indurain,Tony Rominger and debutantJan Ullrich who was having an impressive start to his first Tour.
Stage nine was a mountain stage that was shortened due to foul weather and was won by Riis, who in the process took enough time to put himself into yellow. He would maintain a narrow lead over the next several stages and by the time the race reached the PyreneesAbraham Olano was in second just under a minute behind with Berzin in third, Rominger in fourth, Riis's teammate Ullrich in fifth and five-time defending champion Miguel Induráin struggling to stay in the top ten nearly 5:00 back.
During stage sixteen Riis made a number of false attacks, even falling back and feigning exhaustion to get a look at Indurain, Rominger,Luttenberger, Virenque, Dufaux,Leblanc and Olano to read their faces before finally launching an attack on theHautacam. He put close to a minute into most of the elite riders and beyond that into everybody else, effectively winning the Tour and putting it beyond doubt that Indurain would not win his sixth tour.
Stage seventeen was won byLaurent Dufaux who in the process moved into fourth place overall, but Riis finished in the same time. A group of eight riders dropped the rest of the field in this stage and as a result Riis distanced himself from all of his rivals with his own teammate Ullrich moving into second overall andRichard Virenque moving into third place overall.
Stage nineteen ITT was the last opportunity for major changes to be made in the general classification and the stage was won by Ullrich who finished nearly a minute ahead of second-placed Indurain who had completely dominated Individual Times Trials at the Tour de France for the previous several years. Riis had plenty of time to spare and was 1:41 ahead of his teammate Ullrich in the General Classification. Richard Virenque rounded out the podium also winning themountains classification.
Even though rider admissions andinvestigations in the subsequent years showed that Tours during this time period were undoubtedlytainted by doping 1996 winner Riis,1997 winner Ullrich and1998 winnerMarco Pantani all officially retain their Tour victories. Pantani died just a few years after his Tour victory, as a result of mental health issues resulting from constant attacks from the press and Ullrich had some results voided later in his career, but his four 2nd-place finishes to Lance Armstrong and his 1996 2nd place to Riis remain on his record.
There were several classifications in the 1996 Tour de France.[17] The most important was thegeneral 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.[18]
Additionally, there was apoints classification, 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.[19]
There was also amountains classification. The organisation had categorised some climbs as eitherhors catégorie, 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 redpolka dots.[20]
The fourth individual classification was theyoung rider classification, which was not marked by a jersey. This was decided the same way as the general classification, but only riders under 26 years were eligible.[21]
For theteam classification, 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.[22]
In addition, there was acombativity award given after eachmass-start stage to the cyclist considered most combative. 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.[23] Richard Virenque won this classification, and was given overall the super-combativity award.[24] TheSouvenir Henri Desgrange was given in honour of Tour founderHenri Desgrange to the first rider to pass the summit of theCol d'Aubisque on stage 17.[c] This prize was won byNeil Stephens.[27]
| Legend | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Denotes the winner of thegeneral classification |  | Denotes the winner of thepoints classification | |
 | Denotes the winner of themountains classification | |||
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bjarne Riis (DEN) | Team Telekom | 95h 57' 16" |
| 2 | Jan Ullrich (GER) | Team Telekom | + 1' 41" |
| 3 | Richard Virenque (FRA) | Festina–Lotus | + 4' 37" |
| 4 | Laurent Dufaux (SUI) | Festina–Lotus | + 5' 53" |
| 5 |  Peter Luttenberger (AUT) | Carrera Jeans–Tassoni | + 7' 07" |
| 6 | Luc Leblanc (FRA) | Team Polti | + 10' 03" |
| 7 |  Piotr Ugrumov (LAT) | Roslotto–ZG Mobili | + 10' 04" |
| 8 |  Fernando Escartín (ESP) | Kelme–Artiach | + 10' 26" |
| 9 | Abraham Olano (ESP) | Mapei–GB | + 11' 00" |
| 10 | Tony Rominger (SUI) | Mapei–GB | + 11' 53" |
| Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Erik Zabel (GER) | Team Telekom | 335 |
| 2 | Frédéric Moncassin (FRA) | GAN | 284 |
| 3 | Fabio Baldato (ITA) | MG Maglificio–Technogym | 255 |
| 4 | Djamolidine Abduzhaparov (UZB) | Refin–Mobilvetta | 204 |
| 5 | Jeroen Blijlevens (NED) | TVM–Farm Frites | 158 |
| 6 |  Andrei Tchmil (UKR) | Lotto | 132 |
| 7 | Bjarne Riis (DEN) | Team Telekom | 129 |
| 8 | Andrea Ferrigato (ITA) | Roslotto–ZG Mobili | 126 |
| 9 | Richard Virenque (FRA) | Festina–Lotus | 124 |
| 10 | Mariano Piccoli (ITA) | Brescialat | 122 |
| Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richard Virenque (FRA) | Festina–Lotus | 383 |
| 2 | Bjarne Riis (DEN) | Team Telekom | 274 |
| 3 | Laurent Dufaux (SUI) | Festina–Lotus | 176 |
| 4 | Laurent Brochard (FRA) | Festina–Lotus | 168 |
| 5 | Luc Leblanc (FRA) | Team Polti | 158 |
| 6 | Tony Rominger (SUI) | Mapei–GB | 148 |
| 7 | Jan Ullrich (GER) | Team Telekom | 131 |
| 8 | Pascal Hervé (FRA) | Festina–Lotus | 110 |
| 9 | Peter Luttenberger (AUT) | Carrera Jeans–Tassoni | 109 |
| 10 | Piotr Ugrumov (LAT) | Roslotto–ZG Mobili | 101 |
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jan Ullrich (GER) | Team Telekom | 95h 58' 57" |
| 2 | Peter Luttenberger (AUT) | Carrera Jeans–Tassoni | + 5' 26" |
| 3 | Manuel Fernández Ginés (ESP) | Mapei–GB | + 24' 47" |
| 4 | Leonardo Piepoli (ITA) | Refin–Mobilvetta | + 25' 55" |
| 5 | Michael Boogerd (NED) | Rabobank | + 1h 12' 04" |
| 6 | José Luis Arrieta (ESP) | Banesto | + 1h 12' 07" |
| 7 | Paolo Savoldelli (ITA) | Roslotto–ZG Mobili | + 1h 13' 39" |
| 8 | Oscar Camenzind (SUI) | Panaria–Vinavil | + 1h 23' 36" |
| 9 | Laurent Roux (FRA) | TVM–Farm Frites | + 1h 34' 30" |
| 10 | Valentino Fois (ITA) | Panaria–Vinavil | + 1h 44' 17" |
| Rank | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Festina–Lotus | 287h 46' 20" |
| 2 | Team Telekom | + 15' 14" |
| 3 | Mapei–GB | + 51' 36" |
| 4 | Roslotto–ZG Mobili | + 1h 22' 29" |
| 5 | ONCE | + 1h 36' 10" |
| 6 | Rabobank | + 1h 53' 14" |
| 7 | TVM–Farm Frites | + 2h 09' 21" |
| 8 | MG Maglificio–Technogym | + 2h 18' 11" |
| 9 | Team Polti | + 2h 31' 13" |
| 10 | Banesto | + 2h 31' 20" |
| Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richard Virenque (FRA) | Festina–Lotus | 49 |
| 2 | Bjarne Riis (DEN) | Team Telekom | 47 |
| 3 | Michele Bartoli (ITA) | MG Maglificio–Technogym | 44 |
| 4 | Danny Nelissen (NED) | Rabobank | 34 |
| 5 | Laurent Roux (FRA) | TVM–Farm Frites | 33 |
| 6 | Djamolidine Abdoujaparov (UZB) | Refin–Mobilvetta | 31 |
| 7 | Luc Leblanc (FRA) | Team Polti | 28 |
| 8 | Rolf Järmann (SUI) | MG Maglificio–Technogym | 22 |
| 9 |  Neil Stephens (AUS) | ONCE | 21 |
| 10 | Rolf Sørensen (DEN) | Rabobank | 20 |
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