 Route of the 2003 Tour de France | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Race details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Dates | 5–27 July 2003 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Stages | 20 + Prologue | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Distance | 3,427 km (2,129 mi) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Winning time | 83h 41' 12" | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Results | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The2003 Tour de France was amultiple stagebicycle race held from 5 to 27 July, and the 90th edition of theTour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclistLance Armstrong originally won the event, theUnited 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 from1999 to2005; theUnion Cycliste Internationale has confirmed this verdict.
The event started and ended in Paris, covering 3,427 km (2,129 mi) proceeding clockwise in twenty stages around France, including six major mountain stages. Due to the centennial celebration, this edition of the tour was raced entirely in France and did not enter neighboring countries.
In the centenary year of the race the route recreated, in part, that of 1903. There was a specialCentenaire Classement prize for the best-placed in each of the six stage finishes which match the 1903 tour –Lyon,Marseille,Toulouse,Bordeaux,Nantes and Paris. It was won byStuart O'Grady, withThor Hushovd in second place. The 2003 Tour was honored with thePrince of Asturias Award for Sport.
Of the 198 riders the favourite was again Armstrong, aiming for a record equalling fifth win. Before the race, it was believed that his main rivals would includeIban Mayo,Aitor González,Tyler Hamilton,Ivan Basso,Gilberto Simoni,Jan Ullrich, andJoseba Beloki but Armstrong was the odds-on favourite. Though he did go on to win the race, it is statistically, and by Armstrong's own admission,[3] his weakest Tour from his seven-year period of dominance over the race.
The team selection was done in three rounds: in November 2002, the fourteen highest-rankingUnion Cycliste Internationale (UCI) teams would automatically qualify; fourwildcard invitations were given in January 2003, and four more in mid-May.[4] The race started with 22 teams of 9 cyclists.[5]
The teams entering the race were:[6]
Qualified teams
Invited teams
Some notable cyclists excluded from the race wereMario Cipollini andMarco Pantani, whose teamsDe Nardi–Colpack andMercatone Uno–Scanavino were not selected.[7] Especially the absence of Cipollini, the reigningworld champion, came as a surprise. The Tour organisation gave the reason that Cipollini had never been able to finish the race.[8]
In the first round, the Coast team had been selected to compete, and in January 2003 they signedJan Ullrich. Financial problems then almost prevented the team from starting, but after Bianchi stepped in as a new sponsor, Team Bianchi was allowed to take the place of Team Coast.
The route of the centenary Tour de France was announced in October 2002.[9] The route recreated, in part, that of the1903 Tour de France. Starting inParis with a time trial, the race headed clockwise around France including six stage finishes at cities that featured in the 1903 Tour –Lyon,Marseille,Toulouse,Bordeaux,Nantes and Paris.[9] Thehighest point of elevation in the race was 2,642 m (8,668 ft) at the summit of theCol du Galibier mountain pass on stage 8.[10]
| Stage | Date | Course | Distance | Type | Winner | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 5 July | Paris | 6.5 km (4.0 mi) |  | Individual time trial |  Bradley McGee (AUS) |
| 1 | 6 July | Saint-Denis toMeaux | 168.0 km (104.4 mi) |  | Flat stage |  Alessandro Petacchi (ITA) |
| 2 | 7 July | La Ferté-sous-Jouarre toSedan | 204.5 km (127.1 mi) | | Flat stage | Baden Cooke (AUS) |
| 3 | 8 July | Charleville-Mézières toSaint-Dizier | 167.5 km (104.1 mi) | | Flat stage | Alessandro Petacchi (ITA) |
| 4 | 9 July | Joinville toSaint-Dizier | 69.0 km (42.9 mi) | | Team time trial |  U.S. Postal Service (USA) |
| 5 | 10 July | Troyes toNevers | 196.5 km (122.1 mi) | | Flat stage | Alessandro Petacchi (ITA) |
| 6 | 11 July | Nevers toLyon | 230.0 km (142.9 mi) | | Flat stage | Alessandro Petacchi (ITA) |
| 7 | 12 July | Lyon toMorzine | 230.5 km (143.2 mi) |  | Mountain Stage (s) |  Richard Virenque (FRA) |
| 8 | 13 July | Sallanches toAlpe d'Huez | 219.0 km (136.1 mi) | | Mountain Stage (s) |  Iban Mayo (ESP) |
| 9 | 14 July | Le Bourg-d'Oisans toGap | 184.5 km (114.6 mi) | | Mountain Stage (s) |  Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ) |
| 10 | 15 July | Gap toMarseille | 219.5 km (136.4 mi) | | Flat stage |  Jakob Piil (DEN) |
| 16 July | Narbonne | Rest day | ||||
| 11 | 17 July | Narbonne toToulouse | 153.5 km (95.4 mi) | | Flat stage | Juan Antonio Flecha (ESP) |
| 12 | 18 July | Gaillac toCap Découverte | 47.0 km (29.2 mi) | | Individual time trial |  Jan Ullrich (GER) |
| 13 | 19 July | Toulouse toAx 3 Domaines | 197.5 km (122.7 mi) | | Mountain Stage (s) | Carlos Sastre (ESP) |
| 14 | 20 July | Saint-Girons toLoudenvielle | 191.5 km (119.0 mi) | | Mountain Stage (s) | Gilberto Simoni (ITA) |
| 15 | 21 July | Bagnères-de-Bigorre toLuz Ardiden | 159.5 km (99.1 mi) | | Mountain Stage (s) | Lance Armstrong (USA) |
| 22 July | Pau | Rest day | ||||
| 16 | 23 July | Pau toBayonne | 197.5 km (122.7 mi) |  | Hilly stage | Tyler Hamilton (USA) |
| 17 | 24 July | Dax toBordeaux | 181.0 km (112.5 mi) | | Flat stage |  Servais Knaven (NED) |
| 18 | 25 July | Bordeaux toSaint-Maixent-l'École | 203.5 km (126.4 mi) | | Flat stage | Pablo Lastras (ESP) |
| 19 | 26 July | Pornic toNantes | 49.0 km (30.4 mi) | | Individual time trial |  David Millar (GBR) |
| 20 | 27 July | Ville-d'Avray to Paris (Champs-Élysées) | 152.0 km (94.4 mi) | | Flat stage | Jean-Patrick Nazon (FRA) |
| Total | 3,427 km (2,129 mi)[15] | |||||
![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fwikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This sectionneeds expansion with: Full overview of the rest of the race and more references. You can help byadding to it.(October 2017) |
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The Tour proved to be one more hotly contested than the previous years. Tyler Hamilton andLevi Leipheimer were involved in a crash early in the Tour. Leipheimer dropped out, Hamilton continued and got fourth place in the end while riding with a brokencollarbone.
In the Alps, Gilberto Simoni andStefano Garzelli, first and second in theGiro d'Italia earlier the same year, could not keep up with Lance Armstrong and the other favourites. The same held for last year's number 4,Santiago Botero.Joseba Beloki could, and was in second-place overall (just 40 seconds behind Armstrong) when he crashed on a fast descent from theCote de La Rochette, shortly after passing theCol de Manse into Gap.[16] The crash was a result of a locked brake, caused by a lack of traction from melting tar on the road, which led to the tyre coming off the rim.[17] Beloki broke his right femur, elbow and wrist, and had to leave the Tour.[18] Armstrong made a detour through the field beside the road to avoid the fallen Beloki. Armstrong was in yellow, but Jan Ullrich won the first time trial by one minute and 36 seconds. He andAlexander Vinokourov were both within very short distance from Armstrong.[19]
Subsequent to Armstrong's statement to withdraw his fight againstUnited States Anti-Doping Agency'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.[20][21] 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.[1] On 22 October 2012, theUnion Cycliste Internationale endorsed the USADA sanctions, and decided not to award victories to any other rider or upgrade other placings in any of the affected events.[2]
There were four main individual classifications contested in the 2003 Tour de France, as well as a team competition. The most important was thegeneral classification, which was calculated by adding each rider's finishing times on each stage.[22] There were time bonuses given at the end of eachmass start stage.[23] If a crash had happened within the final 1 km (0.6 mi) of a stage, not including time trials and summit finishes, the riders involved would have received the same time as the group they were in when the crash occurred.[24] The rider with the lowest cumulative time was the winner of the general classification and was considered the overall winner of the Tour. The rider leading the classification wore a yellow jersey.[25]
The second classification was thepoints classification. Riders received points for finishing in the highest positions in a stage finish, or inintermediate sprints during the stage. The points available for each stage finish were determined by the stage's type.[26] The leader was identified by a green jersey.[25]
The third classification was themountains classification. Most stages of the race included one or more categorised climbs, in which points were awarded to the riders that reached the summit first. The climbs were categorised as fourth-, third-, second- or first-category andhors catégorie, with the more difficult climbs rated lower.[26] The leader wore a white jersey with redpolka dots.[25]
The final individual classification was theyoung rider classification. This was calculated the same way as the general classification, but the classification was restricted to riders who were born on or after 1 January 1977.[26] The leader wore a white jersey.[25]
The final classification was ateam classification. This was calculated using the finishing times of the best three riders per team on each stage; the leading team was the team with the lowest cumulative time.[26]
There was special classification, theCentenaire, which combined times of riders across the six stages involving cities visited during1903 Tour. The cities were: Lyon, on stage 6; Marseille, on stage 10; Toulouse, on stage 11; Bordeaux, on stage 17; Nantes, on stage 19; and Paris, on stage 20.[23]
In addition, there was acombativity award given after each mass start stage to the rider considered, by a jury, to have "shown the greatest effort and demonstrated the greatest sporting spirit".[27] The winner wore a red number bib the following stage.[25] At the conclusion of the Tour,Alexander Vinokourov (Team Telekom) won the overall super-combativity award.[28]
There were also two special awards each with a prize of €5000, theSouvenir Henri Desgrange, given in honour of Tour founder and first race directorHenri Desgrange to the first rider to pass the summit of theCol du Galibier on stage 8, and theSouvenir Jacques Goddet, given in honour of the second directorJacques Goddet to the first rider to pass the summit of theCol du Tourmalet on stage 15.[29] Stefano Garzelli won the Henri Desgrange andSylvain Chavanel won the Jacques Goddet.[30][31]
| Legend | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 | Denotes the leader of thepoints classification |  | Denotes the leader of themountains classification |
 | Denotes the leader of theyoung rider classification |  | Denotes the winner of thesuper-combativity award |
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| DSQ | Lance Armstrong (USA) | ||
| 2 | Jan Ullrich (GER) | Team Bianchi | + 1' 01" |
| 3 | Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ) | Team Telekom | + 4' 14" |
| 4 | Tyler Hamilton (USA) | Team CSC | + 6' 17" |
| 5 | Haimar Zubeldia (ESP) | Euskaltel–Euskadi | + 6' 51" |
| 6 | Iban Mayo (ESP) | Euskaltel–Euskadi | + 7' 06" |
| 7 | Ivan Basso (ITA) | Fassa Bortolo | + 10' 12" |
| 8 | Christophe Moreau (FRA) | Crédit Agricole | + 12' 28" |
| 9 | Carlos Sastre (ESP) | Team CSC | + 18' 49" |
| 10 | Francisco Mancebo (ESP) | iBanesto.com | + 19' 15" |
| Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Baden Cooke (AUS) | FDJeux.com | 216 |
| 2 | Robbie McEwen (AUS) | Lotto–Domo | 214 |
| 3 | Erik Zabel (DEU) | Team Telekom | 188 |
| 4 |  Thor Hushovd (NOR) | Crédit Agricole | 173 |
| 5 | Luca Paolini (ITA) | Quick-Step–Davitamon | 156 |
| 6 | Jean-Patrick Nazon (FRA) | Jean Delatour | 154 |
| 7 | Stuart O'Grady (AUS) | Crédit Agricole | 153 |
| 8 | Fabrizio Guidi (ITA) | Team Bianchi | 122 |
| 9 | Jan Ullrich (GER) | Team Bianchi | 112 |
| 10 | Damien Nazon (FRA) | Brioches La Boulangère | 107 |
| Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richard Virenque (FRA) | Quick-Step–Davitamon | 324 |
| 2 |  Laurent Dufaux (SUI) | Alessio | 187 |
| 3 | | ||
| 4 | Christophe Moreau (FRA) | Crédit Agricole | 137 |
| 5 | Juan Miguel Mercado (ESP) | iBanesto.com | 136 |
| 6 | Iban Mayo (ESP) | Euskaltel–Euskadi | 130 |
| 7 | Haimar Zubeldia (ESP) | Euskaltel–Euskadi | 125 |
| 8 | Jan Ullrich (GER) | Team Bianchi | 124 |
| 9 | Tyler Hamilton (USA) | Team CSC | 116 |
| 10 | Paolo Bettini (ITA) | Quick-Step–Davitamon | 100 |
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Denis Menchov (RUS) | iBanesto.com | 84h 0' 56" |
| 2 | Mikel Astarloza (ESP) | AG2R Prévoyance | + 42' 29" |
| 3 | Juan Miguel Mercado (ESP) | iBanesto.com | + 1h 02' 48" |
| 4 | Sylvain Chavanel (FRA) | Brioches La Boulangère | + 1h 05' 17" |
| 5 | Andy Flickinger (FRA) | AG2R Prévoyance | + 1h 09' 09" |
| 6 | Michael Rogers (AUS) | Quick-Step–Davitamon | + 1h 17' 44" |
| 7 | Matthias Kessler (GER) | Team Telekom | + 1h 25' 33" |
| 8 | Evgeni Petrov (RUS) | iBanesto.com | + 1h 32' 19" |
| 9 | Jérôme Pineau (FRA) | Brioches La Boulangère | + 1h 51' 49" |
| 10 | Franco Pellizotti (ITA) | Alessio | + 2h 01' 08" |
| Rank | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team CSC | 248h 18' 18" |
| 2 | iBanesto.com | + 21' 46" |
| 3 | Euskaltel–Euskadi | + 44' 59" |
| 4 | U.S. Postal Service | + 45' 53" |
| 5 | Team Bianchi | + 1h 12' 40" |
| 6 | Team Telekom | + 1h 38' 45" |
| 7 | Quick-Step–Davitamon | + 2h 02' 17" |
| 8 | Brioches La Boulangère | + 2h 02' 36" |
| 9 | AG2R Prévoyance | + 2h 08' 06" |
| 10 | Cofidis | + 2h 08' 56" |
| Rank | Rider | Team | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stuart O'Grady (AUS) | Crédit Agricole | 82 |
| 2 | Thor Hushovd (NOR) | Crédit Agricole | 86 |
| 3 | Fabrizio Guidi (ITA) | Team Bianchi | 103 |
| 4 | Luca Paolini (ITA) | Quick-Step–Davitamon | 118 |
| 5 |  Gerrit Glomser (AUT) | Saeco | 123 |
| 6 | Jan Ullrich (GER) | Bianchi | 165 |
| 7 | Damien Nazon (FRA) | Brioches La Boulangère | 169 |
| 8 | Baden Cooke (AUS) | FDJeux.com | 184 |
| 9 | Bradley McGee (AUS) | FDJeux.com | 188 |
| 10 | Christophe Moreau (FRA) | Crédit Agricole | 210 |
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