tour de france 1999 stage 9

1999 Tour de France results

86th edition: july 3 - july 25, 1999, results, stages with running gc, map, photos and history.

1999 Tour de France map

Dirty Feet: Early days of the Tour de France

Les Woodland's book Dirty Feet: How the great unwashed created the Tour is France is available as an audiobook here . For the print or Kindle eBook versions, just cick on the Amazon link on the right.

1999 Tour de France Quick Facts:

3,686.8 km, traveled at a then record average speed of 40.276 km/hr.

180 starters and 141 classified finishers

Erik Zabel wins his 4th Green Jersey for best sprinter.

Richard Virenque wins his 5th Polka Dot Jersey for best climber.

For various reason, the winners of the previous three Tours (Ullrich, Pantani and Riis) did not participate.

The Tour was effectively won by Armstrong in the second stage when there was a mass crash, destroying the hopes of his competitors, notably Alex Zülle.

This did not become apparent until the stage nine finish at Setrieres, where Armstrong's lead was a solid 6min 3sec

In 2012 Lance Armstrong was stripped of all of his Tour wins after his doping became known.

Lance Armstrong (US Postal) 91hr 32min 16sec
Alex Zülle (Banesto) @ 7min 37sec
Fernando Escartin (Kelme) @ 10min 26sec
Laurent Dufaux (Saeco) @ 14min 43sec
Angel Luis Casero (Vitalicio Seguros) @ 15min 11sec
Abraham Olano (ONCE) @ 16min 47sec
Daniele Nardello (Mapei) @ 17min 2sec
Richard Virenque (Polti) @ 17min 28sec
Wladimir Belli (Festina) @ 17min 37sec
Andrea Peron (ONCE) @ 23min 10sec
Kurt Van De Wouwer (Lotto) @ 23min 32sec
David Etxebarria (ONCE) @ 26min 41sec
Tyler Hamilton (US Postal) @ 26min 53sec
Stéphane Heulot (FDJ) @ 27min 58sec
Roland Meier (Cofidis) @ 28min 44sec
Benoît Salmon @ 28min 59sec
Alberto Elli (Telekom) @ 33min 39sec
Paolo Lanfranchi (Mapei) @ 34min 14sec
Carlos Contreras (Kelme) @ 34min 53sec
Georg Totschnig (Telekom) @ 37min 10sec
Mario Aerts (Lotto) @ 39min 21sec
Giuseppe Guerini (Telekom) @ 39min 29sec
Gianni Faresin (Mapei) @ 40min 28sec
Álvaro González de Galdeano (Vitalicio Seguros) @ 43min 39sec
Marcos Antonio Serrano (ONCE) @ 45mn 3sec
Francisco Tomas García (Vitalicio Seguros) @ 45min 31sec
Christophe Moreau (Festina) @ 45min 34sec
Francisco Mancebo (Banesto) @ 50min 31sec
Luis Perez (ONCE) @ 52min 53sec
François Simon (Credit Agricole) @ 53min 21sec
Armin Meier (Saeco) @ 1hr 0min 10sec
Stefano Garzelli (Mercatone Uno) @ 1hr 0min 45sec
Javier Pascual (Kelme) @ 1hr 1min 20sec
Massimiliano Lelli (Cofidis) @ 1hr 1min 27sec
Alexandre Vinokourov (Casino) @ 1hr 2min 23sec
Kevin Livingston (US Postal) @ 1hr 6min 10sec
José Joaquim Castelblanco (Kelme) @ 1hr 8min 5sec
Salvatore Commesso (Saeco) @ 1hr 9min 15sec
César Solaun (Banesto) @ 1hr 10min 1sec
Udo Bölts (Telekom) @ 1hr 11min 51sec
Steve De Wolf (Cofidis) @ 1hr 11min 54sec
Frédéric Bessy (Casino) @ 1hr 15min 26sec
Miguel Angel Peña (Banesto) @ 1hr 19min 26sec
Laurent Madouas (Festina) @ 1hr 20min 42sec
Geert Verheyen (Lotto) @ 1hr 23min 24sec
José Luis Arrieta (Banesto) @ 1hr 24min 29sec
Francisco Javier Cerezo (Vitalicio Seguros) @ 1hr 26min 50sec
Thierry Bourguignon (Big Mat-Auber 93) @ 1hr 27min 43sec
Manuel Fernández (Mapei) @ 1hr 30min 20sec
Mariano Piccoli (Lampre) @ 1hr 31min 21sec
Lylian Lebreton (Big Mat-Auber 93) @ 1hr 32min 51sec
Jean-Cyril Robin (FDJ) @ 1hr 33min 14sec
Marco Fincato (Merctone Uno) @ 1hr 36min 57sec
Jon Odriozola (Banesto) @ 1hr 41min 55sec
Marco Serpellini (Lampre) @ 1hr 42min 4sec
Michael Boogerd (Rabobank) @ 1hr 42min 22sec
Fabian Jeker (Festina) @ 1hr 42min 25sec
Rafael Diaz (ONCE) @ 1hr 43min 36sec
José Javier Gomez (Kelme) @ 1hr 45min 50sec
Jens Voigt (Credit Agricole) @ 1hr 47min 47sec
Santos González (ONCE) @ 1hr 48min 21sec
Dimitri Konyschev (Mercatone Uno) @ 1hr 49min 10sec
Peter Farazijn (Cofidis) @ 1hr 55min 1sec
Hernán Buenahora (Vatalicio Seguros) @ 1hr 55min 33sec
Frankie Andreu (US Postal) @ 1hr 59min 1sec
Stefano Cattai (Polti) @ 1hr 59min 49sec
Christophe Oriol (Casino) @ 2hr 1min 6sec
José Vicente Garcia (Banesto) @ 2hr 1min 46sec
Fabrice Gougot (Casino) @ 2hr 2min 5sec
Christophe Mengin (FDJ) @ 2hr 4min 3sec
Rik Verbrugghe (Lotto) @ 2hr 4min 31sec
Marc Lotz (Rabobank) @ 2hr 8min 8sec
Steffen Wesemann (Telekom) @ 2hr 9min 22sec
Stéphane Goubert (Polti) @ 2hr 10min 58sec
José Luis Rebollo (ONCE) @ 2hr 12min 57sec
Prudencio Indurain (Vitalicio Seguros) @ 2hr 14min 15sec
Laurent Brochard (Festina) @ 2hr 14min 42sec
George Hincapie (US Postal) @ 2hr 16min 35sec
Chirstophe Rinero (Cofidis) @ 2hr 16min 35sec
Jörg Jaksche (Telekom) @ 2hr 16min 44sec
Giampaolo Mondini (Cantina Tollo) @ 2hr 17min 34sec
Gilles Maignan (Casino) @ 2hr 18min 2sec
Cédriv Vasseur (Credit Agricole) @ 2hr 18min 23sec
Maarten Den Bakker (Rabobank) @ 2hr 19min 3sec
Christian Vande Velde (US Postal) @ 2hr 23min 58sec
Javier Otxoa (Kelme) @ 2hr 24min 14sec
Riccardo Forconi (Mercatone Uno) @ 2hr 25min 2sec
Laurent Lefèvre (Festina) @ 2hr 25min 8sec
Erik Zabel (Telekom) @ 2hr 26min 1sec
Dominique Rault (Big Mat-Auber 93) @ 2hr 27min 17sec
Pascal Chanteur (Casino) @ 2hr 28min 0sec
Elio Aggiano (Vitalicio Seguros) @ 2hr 28min 33sec
Alexei Sivakov (Big Mat-Auber 93) @ 2hr 29min 40sec
Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole) @ 2hr 30min 7sec
Massimo Giunti (Cantina Tollo) @ 2hr 30min 25sec
Thierry Gouvenou (Big Mat-Auber 93) @ 2hr 32min 11sec
Patrick Jonker (Rabobank) @ 2hr 32min 20sec
David Navas (Banesto) @ 2hr 33min 31sec
Fabio Sacchi (Polti) @ 2hr 33min 39sec
Laurent Desbiens (Cofidis) @ 2hr 34min 1sec
José Angel Vidal (Kelme) @ 2hr 34min 22sec
Jaime Hernández (Festina) @ 2hr 36min 4sec
Davide Bramati (Mapei) @ 2hr 36min 15sec
Tom Steels (Mapei) @ 2hr 36min 28sec
Anthony Morin (FDJ) @ 2hr 36min 37sec
Frédéric Guesdon (FDJ) @ 2hr 37min 27sec
Erik Dekker (Rabobank) @ 2hr 38min 5sec
Fabien De Waele (Lotto) @ 2hr 39min 21sec
Beat Zberg (Rabobank) @ 2hr 39min 29sec
Kai Hundertmarck (Telekom) @ 2hr 39min 32sec
Ludovic Auger (Big Mat-Auber 93) @ 2hr 39min 38sec
Peter Wuyts (Lotto) @ 2hr 39min 50sec
Marco Pinotti (Lampre) @ 2hr 40min 0sec
Silvio Martinello (Polti) @ 2hr 40min 14sec
Christophe Capelle (Big Mat-Auber 93) @ 2hr 45min 17sec
Lars Michaelsen (FDJ) @ 2hr 46min 20sec
Claude Lemour (Cofidis) @ 2hr 46min 26sec
Rolf Huser (Festina) @ 2hr 47min 27sec
Chris Boardman (Credit Agricole) @ 2hr 47min 48sec
Mirko Crepaldi (Polti) @ 2hr 49min 14sec
Henk Vogels (Credit Agricole) @ 2hr 49min 17sec
Robbie McEwen (Rabobank) @ 2hr 49min 23sec
Sébastien Hinault (Credit Agricole) @ 2hr 51min 3sec
Sergio Barbero (Mercatone Uno) @ 2hr 51min 9sec
Gabriele Colombo (Cantina Tollo) @ 2hr 51min 43sec
Carlos de la Cruz (Big Mat-Auber 93) @ 2hr 51min 48sec
Rossano Brasi (Polti) @ 2hr 52min 1sec
Thierry Marichal (Lotto) @ 2hr 54min 6sec
Juan José de Los Angeles (Kelme) @ 2hr 54min 40sec
Sebastien Demarbaix (lotto) @ 2hr 58min 32sec
Marcus Lungqvist (Catina Tollo) @ 3hr 0min 9sec
Anthony Langella (Credit Agricole) @ 3hr 2min 20sec
Bart Leysen (Mapei) @ 3hr 3min 11sec
Massimiliano Napolitano (Mercatone Uno) @ 3hr 5min 9sec
Pedro Horillo (Vitalicio Seguros) @ 3hr 5min 31sec
Jan Schaffrath (Telekom) @ 3hr 5min 41sec
Luca Mazzanti (Cantina Tollo) @ 3hr 6min 28sec
Alessandro Baronti (Cantina Tollo) @ 3hr 7min 7sec
Thierry Loder (Cofidis) @ 3hr 11min 55sec
Pascal Deramé (US Postal) @ 3hr 14min 19sec
Jacky Durand (lotto) @ 3hr 19min 9sec
Richard Virenque (Polti): 279 points
Alberto Elli (Telekom): 226
Mariano Piccoli (Lampre): 205
Fernando Escartin (Kelme): 194
Lance Armstrong (US Postal): 193
Alex Zülle (Banesto): 152
José Luis Arrieta (Banesto): 141
Laurent Dufaux (Saeco): 141
Andrea Peron (ONCE): 138
Kurt Van De Wouwer (Lotto): 117
Erik Zabel (Telekom): 323 points
Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole): 275
Christophe Capelle (Big Mat-Auber 93): 196
Tom Steels (Mapei): 188
François Simon (Credit Agricole): 186
George Hincapie (US Postal): 166
Robbie McEwen (Rabobank): 166
Giampaolo Mondini (Cantina Tollo): 141
Christophe Moreau (Festina): 140
Silvio Martinello (Polti): 130
Benoît Salmon (Casino) 92hr 1min 15sec
Mario Aerts (Lotto) @ 10min 22sec
Francisco Tomas García (Vitalicio Seguros) @ 16min32sec
Francisco Mancebo (Banesto) @ 21min 32sec
Luis Perez (ONCE) @ 23min 54sec
Banesto: 275hr 5min 21sec
ONCE @ 8min 16sec
Festina @ 16min 13sec
Kelme @ 23min 48sec
Mapei @ 24min 13sec
Telekom @ 41min 0sec
Vitalicio Seguros @ 42min 44sec
US Postal @ 57min 13sec
Cofidis @ 58min 2sec
Lotto @ 1hr 9min 2sec

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Stage results with running GC:

Prologue , Saturday, July 3, Puy de Fou 6.8 km Individual Time Trial

Stage 1 : Sunday, July 4, Montaigu - Challans. 209 km. 42.12 km/hr

General Classification after Stage 1:

Stage 2: Monday, July 5, Challans - St. Nazaire. 146 km. 46.822 km/hr

General Classification after Stage 2

Stage 3 : Tuesday, July 6, Nantes - Laval 194 km. 43.31 km/hr

General Classification after Stage 3

Stage 4 , Wednesday, July 7, Laval - Blois, 194.5 km. 50.355 km/hr

Fastest stage to date in Tour history

General Classification after Stage 4

Stage 5 : Thursday, July 8, Thursday, Bonneval - Amiens. 228 km

General Classification after Stage 5

Stage 6 : Friday, July 9, Amiens - Maubeuge, 169 km

General Classification after Stage 6

Stage 7 : Saturday, July 10, Avesnes sur Helpe - Thionville, 223 km

General Classification after Stage 7

Stage 8 : Sunday, July 11, Metz 56.5 km Individual Time Trial 49.417 km/hr

Bobby Julich crashes at about km 30 and is forced to retire

General Classification after Stage 8

Stage 9 : Tuesday, July 13, Le Grand Bornand - Sestrieres, 213.5 km.

General Classification after Stage 9

Stage 10 : Wednesday, July 14, Sestrieres - L'Alpe d'Huez. 220.5 km 32.868 km/hr

General Classification after Stage 10

Stage 11 : Thursday, July 15, Bourg d'Oisans - St. Etienne. 198.5 km

General Classification after Stage 11

Stage 12 : Friday, July 16, St. Galmier - St. Flour, 201.5 km

General Classification after Stage 12

Stage 13 : Saturday, July 17, St. Flour - Albi. 236.5 Km. 1999's longest stage.

General Classification after Stage 13

Stage 14 : Sunday, July 18, Castres - St. Gaudens, 199 km

GC after Stage 14:

Lance Armstrong: 67hr 23min 28sec
Abraham Olano @ 7min 44sec
Alex Zulle @ 7min 47sec
Laurent Dufaux @ 8min 7sec
Fernando Escartin @ 8min 53sec
Stephane Heulot @ 9min 10sec
Richard Virenque @ 10min 3sec
Pavel Tonkov @ 10min 18sec
Daniele Nardello @ 10min 58sec
Angel Casero @ 11min 13sec

Stage 15 : Tuesday, July 20, St. Gaudens - Piau Engaly, 173 km.

General Classification after Stage 15. 40.007 km/hr average speed for the Tour so far

Stage 16 : Wednesday, July 21, Lannemezan - Pau 192 km

General Classification after Stage 16.

Stage 17 : Thursday, July 22, Mourenx - Bordeaux 199 km.

General Classification after Stage 17. 3,301.8 km ridden so far @ 40.058 km/hr average speed

Stage 18 : Friday, July 23. Jonzac - Futuroscope. Shortened to 184.7 km.

GC after Stage 18:

Lance Armstrong: 86hr 46min 20sec
Fernando Escartin @ 6min 15sec
Alex Zulle @ 7min 28sec
Laurent Dufaux @ 10min 30sec
Richard Virenque @ 11min 40sec
Daniele Nardello @ 13min 19sec
Angel Casero @ 13min 34sec
Abraham Olano @ 14min 29sec
Wladimir Belli @ 15min 14sec
Kurt Van de Wouwer @ 18min 27sec

Stage19 : Saturday, July 24, Futuroscope 57 km individual time trial. Armstrong averaged 50.085 km/hr

General Classification after Stage 19

Stage 20 : Sunday, July 25, Arpajon - Paris/Champs Elysées, 143.5 km

Complete Final General Classification after Stage 20.

The Story of the 1999 Tour de France:

This excerpt is from "The Story of the Tour de France", Volume 2. If you enjoy it we hope you will consider purchasing the book, either print, Kindle eBook or audiobook. The Amazon link here will the purchase easy.

Over the winter more allegations of drug use surfaced. Some could not be confirmed, others were obvious on their face. The conclusion one had to come to after digesting the accumulation of horrible information is that the situation was at least as bad or worse than the 1998 Tour led one to believe. And then the situation managed to deteriorate. After stage 5 in the 1999 Giro, the Italian National Sports Council (CONI) subjected 16 riders from 3 different teams to a new comprehensive blood and urine test. Two of the riders tested positive for dope but no sanctions were applied. The riders, as they have always been since the start of testing, were incensed. Marco Pantani, Oscar Camenzind, Laurent Jalabert and Mario Cipollini held a press conference and declared that if the national sports organization intruded any further upon the testing regimen which had heretofore been the responsibility of the UCI, they would stop racing. Of that group of 4, Pantani was not the only rider who would have drug problems. In 2004 Camenzind retired after receiving a 2-year suspension for EPO.

Before the start of the penultimate stage of the 1999 Giro, Marco Pantani was awakened so that a blood test could be administered. His hematocrit of 52 percent resulted in his being ejected from the Giro after he had won 4 stages and was leading in the General Classification. The cycling world was stunned. Pantani's squalificato seemed to affect many racing fans far more deeply than the Festina scandal, probably because of Pantani's powerfully heroic image. He had triumphed over a horrible accident and saved the Tour during its greatest crises. Partisans of Pantani made accusations of a conspiracy. In fact, the riders have long known how to foil the hematocrit test. When they knew they would be subjected to a test they would take saline injections and aspirin and in no time the rider's hematocrit was within the legal limit. Some teams even provided the riders with small centrifuges so that they could "manage" their red blood cell concentration. By waking Pantani up to take the test he wasn't able to take measures to bring his hematocrit down. He was a goner. Pantani was too devastated by the disqualification to consider riding the Tour.

In mid-June the Tour announced that the TVM team along with several individuals including ONCE team manager Manolo Saiz and rider Richard Virenque would not be allowed to participate in the Tour. Missing from the list of banned riders were the Festina and Mercatone Uno teams and Marco Pantani. Later on the UCI overruled the Tour organization and insisted that the Tour allow Virenque and Saiz to participate. And the doping in pro racing continued with 4 riders tossed from the Tour of Switzerland for high hematocrits.

In June Ullrich announced that he had injured his knee in the Tour of Germany and would not be able to compete in the Tour. With Pantani and Ullrich out, the press cast about for a favorite. At the top of a lot of lists were Pavel Tonkov (1996 Giro winner), Alex Zülle, Fernando Escartin and Ivan Gotti (1997 and 1999 Giro winner).

And there was another rider to consider. He had withdrawn from the 1996 Tour and could not ride the 1997 and 1998 editions as he endured surgery and chemotherapy to cure what should have been a life-ending case of testicular cancer. In the fall of 1997 he announced the resumption of his professional cycling career. That return was bumpy with intermittent success and withdrawals. But by mid 1998 he had clearly returned to the top ranks of professional cycling with a win in the Tour of Luxembourg, fourth in the Vuelta and fourth in the World Time Trial Championships. In 1999 he won the prologue of the Dauphiné Libéré, and narrowly lost a 2-up sprint to Michael Boogerd in the Amstel Gold Race. Lance Armstrong had returned. But he returned a different athlete. The man who had been a strong, punchy 175-pound powerhouse and who was one of the youngest-ever World Road Champions was now a gaunt, lean stage racer. He now trained and raced with a deliberate focus that turned out to be his most powerful weapon against his usual challenger, Jan Ullrich.

When Armstrong was diagnosed with cancer, he had just inked a $2.5-million, 2-year contract with the French team Cofidis. When Armstrong told Cofidis he was ready to return to racing they responded by firing him. Now Cofidis boss François Migraine didn't quite see it that way. He said that he was told Armstrong had testicular cancer two weeks after the Cofidis contract was signed. He said he promised to support Armstrong even if he couldn't fulfill the contract. Saying that he did not hear much from Armstrong, he sent Alain Bondue to the U.S. to find out what was happening exactly and to renegotiate the contract.

It is Bondue's renegotiating of the contract while Armstrong was so sick that infuriated the rider.

Migraine says that Cofidis did end up paying Armstrong approximately $600,000 to settle the contract and had reached a tentative agreement for the 1998 season before Armstrong signed for US Postal.

After a hard search for a new team Armstrong signed with the American US Postal squad and it was in their blue outfit that he was riding the Tour. While Armstrong was not on many possible Tour winner lists, Miguel Indurain had said that he thought Armstrong had a serious chance of winning the Tour.

With Pantani, Ullrich and Riis not starting the Tour, 1999 was one of those rare years in which there were no former Tour winners. The 1999 Tour started in the Loire Valley town of Le-Puy-de-Fou and went clockwise (Alps first) up to northeastern France and then a big transfer to begin the Alps on stage 9. After the Alps came the Massif Central, the Pyrenees and then the final time trial on the penultimate stage.

Armstrong showed that he had mastered the first component of a successful Tour rider, time trialing, winning the 6.8-kilometer prologue and beating Zülle by 7 seconds. Armstrong said that this day was doubly sweet, that he got more than the pleasure of the Yellow Jersey. After completing his ride and learning that he was the winner, he went by the Cofidis team who were there with the team managers. These were the managers who had come to his hospital bed when he was in the worst throes of chemotherapy and told him that they needed to re-do his contract. "That was for you," he told them.

The Tour was upended on the second stage. Starting at Challans, southeast of Nantes, the riders were sent to the island of Noirmoutier before returning to the mainland and a finish in St. Nazaire. The riders had to negotiate the Passage du Gois, a narrow 4-kilometer long road that is submerged except at low tide. Even when exposed, it is a dangerous, slippery road. Worse, there was a hard crosswind. Making the situation even more dire, the entire peloton reached the constricted road intact. Armstrong, Olano, Escartin, Tonkov, Virenque and Julich were in the front of the pack when it made the treacherous crossing and emerged unscathed. But behind them was chaos. A crash took down Zülle, Gotti and Michael Boogerd who were then badly delayed in the mess. The teams that had managed to get clear of the passage without damage went to the front of the lead group and pulled hard in order to derive the maximum benefit. The Zülle group eventually came in 6 minutes, 3 seconds after Tom Steels led in the front lucky 70 riders. At one terrible, early blow, Zülle, a wonderfully talented but accident-prone rider, was out of contention. With the time bonuses the sprinters were earning, Estonian sprinter Jaan Kirsipuu was now the leader with Armstrong only 14 seconds back in second place.

Stage 4 was notable because tailwinds allowed the riders to set a new record for the fastest road stage, 50.356 kilometers per hour, beating the 1993 record held by Johan Bruyneel.

While there were several fine sprinters in the 1999 Tour, the finest, far and away, was Tuscan Mario Cipollini. By the end of stage 7 he had done what no postwar rider had done, win 4 stages in a row. One had to go back to the 1930 Tour when Charles Pélissier was the reigning speed demon to find the last 4-time consecutive stage winner. As they raced over the flatter roads of Northern France, the fast finishers enjoyed the time in the Tour when they could strut their stuff. The next day, in Metz, was a 56.5-kilometer individual time trial. Then the mountains had to be conquered. The General Classification men would come out of hiding after a period where their primary job had been to avoid trouble.

During the time trial, misfortune struck 2 important riders. Bobby Julich crashed and had to abandon. Abraham Olano crashed and lost enough time that the man who started after him, Armstrong, caught and passed him. Armstrong's victory in the stage was substantial. Zülle, who came in second, could only come within 57 seconds of him. The new General Classification with a rest day to be followed by the first Alpine stage:

The remaining big question was whether Armstrong could climb with men like Zülle, Escartin and Virenque. Before he came down with cancer, he couldn't. The ninth stage would certainly settle the question with the Tamié, Télégraphe, Galibier, Montgenèvre and a hilltop finish at Sestriere on the day's menu. It was a cold, wet day with hail on the descent of the Montgenèvre. Virenque got away on the Galibier and was the first over the Montgenèvre but couldn't hold his lead. On the descent of the Montgenèvre Escartin and Gotti took wild chances and managed to create a gap of about 30 seconds. On the final climb a small group of 5 of the best including Armstrong and Zülle were together. With less than 7 kilometers to go Armstrong jumped away. He caught and passed Escartin and then went right on by a dumbfounded Gotti. With the encouragement of Bruyneel coming over his earphone Armstrong rode ever harder and further from his chasers. The only credible threat coming up the road was from Zülle, but he couldn't do it. Armstrong crossed the line alone, 31 seconds ahead of Zülle and 2½ minutes ahead of Virenque.

The new General Classification:

Armstrong was now in the ideal position. He had a healthy lead, one so large that he could ride economically, just keeping his dangermen in check. He didn't have to waste energy on offensive exploits. In fact, he had been in control since the crash in stage 2 but insecurity about Olano's climbing abilities had prevented US Postal from relaxing. Armstrong adopted exactly that conservative strategy for the next day's stage to the top of L'Alpe d'Huez. With over 6 minutes in hand he planned to avoid disaster and let the others try to take the race from him. At the base of the Alpe the fast pace caused Olano to drop off. Part way up the climb Italian Giuseppe Guerini took flight with Tonkov hot on his tail. Tonkov couldn't close the gap but he was just dangerous enough that Armstrong went after him. Near the top a photographer got right in Guerini's way and the 2 went down together. Guerini jumped back on his bike and was able to regain his momentum and stayed away for a terrific victory with Tonkov only 21 seconds back. The Armstrong/Zülle group came within 4 seconds of Tonkov at the end. The net result for the day with Olano's 2-minute time loss was that Armstrong now had a lead of 7 minutes, 42 seconds over the still second placed Spaniard. Zülle was now third, 5 seconds behind Olano.

Now the Tour went across the Massif Central. While this terrain didn't have the dramatic climbs of the Alps and the Pyrenees, the sawtooth stage profiles were demanding. An escape could do damage if the leaders' teams weren't alert and willing to work hard. Stage 12 was a classic stage of this sort with 6 climbs rated category 2 and 3; stage 13 had 7 rated climbs. While these days were characterized by constant attacks and high temperatures, the top of the standings didn't change.

Before the start of the 2 Pyrenean stages the Tour took its second rest day. There were now 3 stages left that could affect the Tour's outcome: the 2 remaining days in the mountains and the 57-kilometer time trial. If the pure climbers wanted to take back time from Armstrong, time was running out.

Stage 15 had 6 big mountains: the Ares, Menté, Portillon, Peyresourde, Val Louron, and a hilltop finish at Piau-Engaly. From the first climb the non-stop attacks started. Virenque, Laurent Brochard and others shattered the peloton. In the now-reduced pack, US Postal kept a high but not hot pace since most of the breakaways were not threats to the leadership. But when Fernando Escartin took off on the Portillon, Armstrong himself closed the gap. Escartin went again on the Peyresourde and began to hook up with riders who had escaped earlier. Escartin dropped all the other riders and soloed in for the win. Virenque and Zülle, who had been able to withstand Armstrong's attempts to drop them, managed to beat the Yellow Jersey to the finish by 9 seconds. For Armstrong and his team those final kilometers of that stage represented a rare episode of support failure. Armstrong bonked. He ran out of food and couldn't keep up with the others. Again Olano had been the main casualty, this day coming in 7 minutes after Escartin and losing his second place in the standings.

That afternoon rumors became more solid when the French paper Le Monde announced that a drug test had shown Armstrong to be using a corticosteroid. The cycling press could not believe that Armstrong could emerge from cancer and be the extraordinary stage racer he had become, and delightedly fanned the rumors. It turned out to be the skin cream Armstrong had been using to fight saddle sores. It contained minute traces of cortisone but Armstrong had been cleared by the Tour authorities to use the medicine.

Stage 16 would be tough with the Aspin, Tourmalet, Soulor and the Aubisque. With a descent into Pau after the final climb, this stage would not give the pure climbers the chance to get real time if Armstrong should falter. While there was action off the front, Armstrong stayed focused on his rivals. On the Tourmalet, a hard acceleration by Postal rider Kevin Livingston caused Virenque to lose contact. The main worries were Escartin and Zülle who were both indefatigable and strong. At the top of the Tourmalet Escartin attacked and took Zülle and Armstrong with him. Escartin tried again on the Soulor and again Armstrong stayed with him. In the final drive to Pau Armstrong let the others go, not needing to fight for a stage win or further tire himself. After the Pyrenees the General Classification stood thus:

Armstrong chose to ride the stage 19 time trial to win, rather than playing it safe and riding carefully. But he beat Zülle by only 9 seconds. The main loser of the day was Escartin, who not unexpectedly, lost gobs of time and his second place. The Tour was now Armstrong's. Like the 1971 Tour (when Ocaña crashed out while in Yellow), this is a Tour that invites speculation. What if Zülle had not crashed in the Passage du Gois and lost 6 minutes? Now I understand that all the riders had to ride the same roads, it was the same for everyone and Armstrong was the heads-up savvy rider who made sure he was in the front of the peloton on that dangerous road. But if Zülle, who did crash a lot, had not lost that time, then perhaps Armstrong would not have had the luxury of a defensive ride. It would surely have been a closer Tour that might have gone another way.

Armstrong joined an elite group (Merckx, Hinault and Indurain) when he won all of the 1999 Tour's time trials. That French cycling was still at a low ebb was made clear. The highest placed Frenchman was Virenque at eighth place, 17 minutes, 28 seconds behind Armstrong. For the first time since 1926, in the era of Belgian Tour hegemony, no Frenchman had won a stage. In 1926 the highest placed French rider came in eighth as well.

Final 1999 Tour de France General Classification:

Climbers' Competition:

Points Competition:

1999 Tour de France Stage #9

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Axel zingle confirmed for tour de france with rest of cofidis in lineup, lotto thüringen ladies tour 2024 race preview, decathlon ag2r la mondiale announces line-up, including return to tour de france of sam bennett, team gb announces initial cycling squad for paris 2024.

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Flashback to the 1999 Tour de France

Mathew mitchell.

Published on July 12, 2018
in Men's Cycling

The 1999 Tour de France was labelled ‘the Tour of Renewal’ in reaction to the Festina Affair the year before. The 1999 Tour was supposed to be a new start after that doping scandal, however, the Tour de France was about to embark on a fresh decade of doping controversy.

Table of Contents

1993 World Champion Lance Armstrong was returning to the grandest stage of all after his recovery from cancer. A 4th place in the 1998 Vuelta made him one of the favourites for the 1999 Tour.

Tour de France 1999

Mapei–Quick-Step
ONCE–Deutsche Bank
Saeco Macchine per Caffè–Cannondale
Lotto–Mobistar
Casino–Ag2r Prévoyance
Mercatone Uno–Bianchi
Kelme–Costa Blanca
Vitalicio Seguros
Team Telekom
Crédit Agricole
Festina–Lotus
Cantina Tollo–Alexia Alluminio
Française des Jeux
U.S. Postal Service
BigMat–Auber 93
Lampre–Daikin

Tour de France 1999 Route

Passage du gois.

The Ile de Noirmoutier is a small island off the West of France, popular with tourists due to a temperate climate. The Tour de France has paid it several visits, kicking things off there in 2005 with a prologue (won at the time by David Zabriskie) and in a neat link to this year’s Tour , 2018 as well.

Since 1971, there’s been a perfectly good bridge between the Ile de Noirmoutier and mainland France but in 1999 they decided to use the bridge to cross over to the island, have a look round and then use the Passage du Gois to leave the island.

The Passage du Gois is a tidal causeway that is completely covered by water twice a day at high tide. Cars regularly drive over it between set times of day, with those leaving it late having to be brave (or foolhardy) to make it across. In 1999, the Tour de France raced over it during Stage 2 and whilst the rising tide wasn’t a problem, the effects of it were.

The road surface was very very slippy and ultimately a crash happened with 25 riders hitting the deck. Swiss rider Alex Zülle had been a pre-race favourite but got caught up in the crash and lost 6 minutes on the day – he ended up finishing 7 minutes behind ‘winner’ Lance Armstrong, but such was the US Postal rider’s domination this was good enough for 2nd place.

Despite this the Tour de France returned in 2011 , only this time it was at the start of the stage and neutralised behind the race director’s car.

Giuseppi Guerini vs. the Spectator

With a knee injury sidelining team-leader Jan Ullrich, Team Telekom’s aims were to ensure sprinter Erik Zabel won himself another Green Jersey. Super-domestique Giuseppe Guerini was able to have a free role in the mountains and go for stage victories. Guerini finished on the podium twice in the Giro, finishing 3rd each time. But he never managed higher than 20th in the Tour de France despite finishing in the top 30 on 6 Tours de France.

The 10th stage of the 1999 Tour de France was the iconic finish on Alpe d’Huez. Halfway up the Alpe, Guerini made a solo attack leaving the likes of Richard Virenque , Alex Zülle and Lance Armstrong behind – no mean feat. Pavel Tonkov tried to give chase but ended up in no man’s land between the two groups.

Shortly after Guerini had gone through the flamme rouge, a spectator decided they wanted a picture of this moment and popped out directly into Guerini’s path, causing both to fall to the ground.

Luckily Guerini was able to quickly hop back onto his bike and claim the stage win, just 21 seconds ahead of the chasing Tonkov. The main group of favourites were just 4 seconds behind him.

Christophe Bassons

The 1999 Tour de France saw the shunning of Christophe Bassons from the peloton. Bassons wrote some columns for Le Parisien throughout the Tour. This was as a result of the attention he’d received when declared a non-doper by other riders during the trials for the Festina Affair. Most of his columns were innocuous. But in one, he wrote that Lance Armstrong’s performances had shocked the peloton after his return to cycling from cancer.

On the same Stage 10 that saw Guerini get knocked off, the peloton had agreed to ride the first 100km slowly without telling Bassons. Bassons tried to get ahead of the peloton and form a break by himself. After letting him go, all of the teams then worked to bring him back quickly. The riders then passed him and stared. The only person who spoke to him was Lance Armstrong who offered the following advice:

” . . . and then Lance Armstrong reached me. He grabbed me by the shoulder, because he knew that everyone would be watching, and he knew that at that moment, he could show everyone that he was the boss. He stopped me, and he said what I was saying wasn’t true, what I was saying was bad for cycling, that I musn’t say it, that I had no right to be a professional cyclist, that I should quit cycling, that I should quit the tour, and finished by saying [*beep*] you.” – Bassons

Mostly shunned by other riders after this, the race director Jean-Marie Leblanc spoke out about him and members of his own team called him a coward. By the start of Stage 12, Bassons had gone home, unable to take the abuse the peloton was meting out to him.

The 1999 Tour de France has no winner. A result of the whitewashing of Lance Armstrong’s Tour de France history. Despite this, confirmed dopers Erik Zabel and Richard Virenque still have the Green and Polka Dot jerseys on their palmares. It linked the doping of the 1990s to the ongoing doping of the 2000s. A new generation finished on the podium in the years immediately after 1999. Riders like Andreas Klöden, Alexander Vinokourov, Joseba Beloki and the most staggering case, Raimondas Rumšas.

It took 15 years for Christophe Bassons to be vindicated, Lance Armstrong sat down with him and apologised for his actions. Bassons accepted, citing the fall-out that Armstrong experience once the USADA report confirmed his history of doping as penance enough. Tyler Hamilton later publicly apologised for his role but ultimately the real damage was done in 1999 when an innocent rider was pretty much hounded out of the sport.

The 1999 Tour de France was supposed to be the Tour of Renewal and in many ways, it was, just not how it was originally intended.

1999 Tour de France, stage 9 (Q16024086)

Identifiers, wikipedia (1 entry).

frwiki 9e étape du Tour de France 1999

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1999 Tour de France: The farce of renewal

Looking back 20 years to the post-Festina Tour and the falsest of dawns

The 1999 Tour de France was dubbed the 'Tour of Renewal'

Twenty years ago, the Tour de France was vaunted by the organisers as 'The Tour of Renewal'. It was 12 months after the Festina doping affair had almost brought the race to its knees, but hopes for a new dawn were made a mockery of as failed doping tests were covered up, clean riders were vilified, and speeds were faster than ever.

The End of the Road: The Festina Affair and the Tour that Almost Wrecked Cycling by Alasdair Fotheringham - Book Extract

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In the latest feature in Cyclingnews' annual countdown to the Tour de France, Jean-François Quénet, who covered the 1999 Tour with a sceptical view of Lance Armstrong, recalls a farcical three weeks.

It started with a dispute between ASO and the UCI. 17 days prior to the start in Le Puy-du-Fou in the Vendée province, race director Jean-Marie Leblanc and ASO president Jean-Claude Killy rejected the participation of the TVM team and a few individuals like Richard Virenque and Manolo Saiz, who were considered troublemakers and harmful to the image of the Tour de France.

However, three days before the prologue, the UCI instructed the organisers to reinstate Virenque and Saiz, who had made an appeal because the rule of a 30-day limit to enter participants hadn’t been respected by ASO. At the time, wildcards were given after the Critérium du Dauphiné and that rule was hardly respected by any organizers or teams but Leblanc declared himself “legalist” and didn’t argue. His morning run together with UCI president Hein Verbruggen was widely commented upon.

Love him or hate him - there wasn't much room for moderation - Virenque was at the centre of attention but there was no previous winner of the Tour de France on the start list; Bjarne Riis and Jan Ullrich were injured and Marco Pantani was in no mood to ride after being expelled from the Giro d'Italia for failing a haematocrit test. There was no five-star favourite but on the morning of the race, L’Équipe rated Lance Armstrong at four stars along with Abraham Olaño. The American was surely the hot favourite for the prologue, having won short time trials at Circuit de la Sarthe and the Dauphiné, it was just not sure how well he’d go in the mountains.

As Alex Zülle, riding for Banesto, crashed on the Passage du Gois – the road from the Noirmoutier island that floods with the tide – Saiz urged his ONCE team to pull as an act of revenge one year after the Swiss rider [a member of the Festina team in 1998] told the French police that doping was also a common practice at ONCE, his former team.

In their introduction of the ‘Tour of Renewal’, race organiser ASO had declared they’d be happy with the race being 3km/h slower than 1998. However, after one week, the average speed was faster than ever: 43.737km/h. Armstrong’s performance against the clock on the 56.5km course around Metz was a shock: 49.416km/h. It was superior to Miguel Indurain’s similar domination seven years before in the nearby Luxemburg (49.028km/h).

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During the first rest day’s press conference, the Texan was already facing a barrage of questions.

“I assure you that I don’t dope,” he firmly stated in Le Grand Bornand.

Armstrong grew frustrated at the scepticism from the media

Monsieur Propre

Once through the Alps, where Armstrong also outclassed his rivals, the Tour was back to its old traditions. Just one year and one week since Festina’s soigneur Willy Voet had been arrested at the Franco-Belgian border, sparking the Festina affair, Leblanc was giving out medals to other Belgian soigneurs for reaching 20 participations in the Tour. Virenque was back in the polka dot jersey; it was business as usual.

Banners read: 'Armstrong at home, Bassons in the peloton' and 'For Bassons, against doping'

There was, however, a glitch. A former Festina rider refused to subscribe to the so-called omertà, the old-school law of silence respected through the ages by the cycling community.

During questioning by police in the heat of the previous year's scandal, Festina riders Christophe Moreau and Armin Meier had both opened up about the prevalence of doping but had both highlighted an exception to the rule. Christophe Bassons, they insisted, did not dope.

Riding the 1999 Tour de France for La Française des Jeux [now Groupama-FDJ], Bassons had a column in the daily newspaper Le Parisien. He didn’t say much, even if, the day after Armstrong’s stage win in Metz, he ironically questioned: “But what was the EPO for?” However, every day his column was introduced with: 'Useful precision: Bassons rides on clear water, which means doping free'.

That did not go down well with the rest of the peloton. At the beginning of stage 10, following his solo win in Sestrières, Armstrong tried to bully Bassons in the peloton, and realised the Frenchman could understand English. He told him he should shut up, that there was uncertainty surrounding his team’s sponsor, and he’d better think of his own interests. Bassons replied that he was rather thinking of the interest of the next generation of cyclists and that he could just as well take on another job. An increasingly irritated Armstrong advised him to quit cycling on the spot.

As Armstrong’s performances started to attract suspicion, media interest in Bassons, who went on to become known as 'Monsieur Propre' (Mr Clean) picked up. Jealousy seemingly grew not just in the peloton but inside his team, too. He was criticised by his teammate Stéphane Heulot and even his sport director Marc Madiot, the current Groupama-FDJ manager, who told him to rest instead of giving lengthy interviews.

And so Bassons suddenly left the Tour on the morning of stage 12, sending reporters scrambling across France, looking for him in various airports.

Corticoids and tear gas

General media interest in the race, however, decreased during the transition stages between the Alps and the Pyrenees, and Armstrong was trying to keep a low profile. "I’ve stopped attacking because every time I do it, the press suspects me of doping," he lamented.

There was more scandal around the corner. Stage 11 winner Ludo Dierckxsens didn’t fail the new doping test for corticoids but messed up when declaring to the doping control officer which medicines he'd taken for a supposed knee injury, accidentally naming a banned corticoid. His Lampre team were already on thin ice after television reporters had found dubious medical waste in their rubbish bins during the Tour de Suisse. And so when they themselves kicked Dierckxsens out of the Tour for self-medication, there was no escaping the suspicion that the Belgian champion was a fall-guy, sacrificed on the altar as they scrambled to scrub clean their image.

There was to be a failed doping test for corticoids, as it emerged that triamcinolone had been detected in the urine of none other than Lance Armstrong, in a sample taken after stage 1. The American, however, remained in the race. He defended himself, arguing that he’d used a skin cream to treat saddle sores, and presented the UCI with a back-dated medical prescription for the substance. The UCI, in complete breach of its anti-doping rules, signed it off and the race went on.

In the Pyrenees, the atmosphere of the race was lousy. Cofidis' Christophe Rinero, fourth overall and King of the Mountains in the 1998 Tour, got himself into an argument with spectator, who yelled at him: "It was easier with EPO!" This time, Rinero would go on to finish 79th. During stage 19 to Bordeaux, tear gas was sprayed from the crowd onto the riders, and many had to stop to wash their burning eyes.

Long live EPO reads a sarcastic banner in the Pyrenees

Armstrong won the penultimate-day time trial at Futuroscope, and did so at an even higher speed than in Metz, which was before all the mountain stages. His average speed of 50.085km/h was followed 24 hours later in Paris by a new record speed for the Tour as a whole: 40.273km/h.

Those records, of course, have not stood the test of time.

Twenty years ago, even the observers who didn’t believe that Armstrong was riding clean gave him credit for the message of hopes he delivered as a cancer survivor. Since then, the evidence of the fraud has gradually emerged and resulted in his titles being nullified.

That took more than 10 years, and the UCI took a similar amount of time to start piecing back together its credibility. Seven years after the Festina Affair, cycling was rocked by the Operación Puerto doping scandal. And even today Operación Aderlass is uncovering new secrets.

Perhaps the Tour de France organisers were slightly hasty with their declarations of renewal.

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Points at finish

Date: 11 July 1995
Start time: -
Avg. speed winner: 35.407 km/h
Race category: ME - Men Elite
Distance: 166 km
Points scale: GT.A.Stage
Parcours type:
ProfileScore: 561
Vert. meters: 5000
Departure: Le Grand Bornand
Arrival: La Plagne
Race ranking: 0
Startlist quality score: 1871
Won how: 66 km solo
Avg. temperature:

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Wednesday's 192-kms 16th stage from Lannemezan to Pau will take the bunch over classic climbs such as the Tourmalet, Aubisque and Soulor before the riders return to the valley.

Tour de France 15th stage placings/overall standings PIAU-ENGALY, France, July 20 - Leading placings in the 15th stage of the Tour de France over 173 kms from St Gaudens on Tuesday:

1. Fernando Escartin (Spain) Kelme 5 hours 19 minutes 49 seconds 2. Alex Zuelle (Switzerland) Banesto 2 minutes 1 second behind 3. Richard Virenque (France) Polti same time 4. Lance Armstrong (U.S.) U.S. Postal 2:10 5. Kurt van de Wouwer (Belgium) Lotto 2:37

6. Angel Casero (Spain) Vitalicio Seguros same time 7. Daniele Nardello (Italy) Mapei 2:45 8. Laurent Dufaux (Switzerland) Saeco same time 9. Francisco Garcia (Spain) Vitalicio Seguros 3:39 10. Wladimir Belli (Italy) Festina 4:00

11. Manuel Beltran (Spain) Banesto 5:03 12. Alberto Elli (Italy) Telekom 6:07 13. Roland Meier (Switzerland) Cofidis 6:26 14. Tyler Hamilton (U.S.) U.S. Postal 15. Massimiliano Lelli (Italy) Cofidis both same time

16. Francisco Mancebo (Spain) Banesto 6:40 17. David Etxebarria (Spain) ONCE 7:01 18. Abraham Olano (Spain) ONCE 19. Andrea Peron (Italy) ONCE both same time 20. Alvaro Galdeano (Spain) Vitalicio Seguros 8:09 Overall standings: 1. Armstrong 72 hours 45 minutes 27 seconds 2. Escartin 6 minutes 19 seconds behind 3. Zuelle 7:26 4. Dufaux 8:36 5. Virenque 9:46

6. Nardello 11:33 7. Casero 11:40 8. Olano 12:35 9. Belli 15:16 10. Van de Wouwer 16:41

11. Peron 18:23 12. Pavel Tonkov (Russia) Mapei 19:24 13. Etxebarria 20:10 14. Benoit Salmon (France) Casino 21:01 15. Beltran 21:22

TOUR 2024: How well do you know the Tour de France? Try the AP's quiz

How well do you know the Tour de France? Try this quiz ahead of cycling's biggest races, which starts on Saturday:

1. From which city does the 2024 Tour de France start?

b. Florence, Italy

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c. Duesseldorf, Germany

2. Where does the race finish?

b. Nice, France

c. Brussels, Belgium

3. What is the record for the most Tour de France wins?

4. Who wears the yellow jersey at the Tour de France?

a. The race leader

b. The rider with the most stage wins

c. The best young rider in the race

5. What is the name of the team associated with the Tour’s biggest doping scandal?

a. U.S. Postal

c. Team Sky

6. Which rider was nicknamed the Cannibal?

a. Lance Armstrong

b. Miguel Indurain

c. Eddy Merckx

7. What is the Red Lantern?

a. A red lantern signaling the final kilometer of each stage

b. The name given to the last-place rider in the general classification

c. The starting hut in time trial stages

8. What is the broom wagon?

a. A vehicle used to clean the road ahead of every stage

b. A vehicle following the race and picking up riders unable to make it to the finish

c. The lowest gear ratio possible used on steep climbs

9. When is the last time a Frenchman won the Tour de France?

10. What is the smallest winning margin at the Tour de France?

a. 58 seconds

b. 8 seconds

c. 13 seconds

11. Which rider holds the record for the most stage wins at the Tour de France?

a. Mark Cavendish

b. Chris Froome

12. How many riders have died in the Tour?

13. During which climb did Jonas Vingegaard take the lead from Tadej Pogacar during the 2022 Tour?

a. Col du Granon

b. Alpe d'Huez

c. Col du Galibier

14. Vingegaard and Pogacar have won the last four editions of the Tour. How many stages have the two rivals won combined?

15. Who was the last rider to win the Giro d’Italia and the Tour in the same year?

a. Vincenzo Nibali

b. Lance Armstrong

c. Marco Pantani

16. How much money does the Tour de France winner earn?

a. 500,000 euros ($534.000).

b. 1 million euros ($1.07 million).

c. 1.2 million euros ($1.3 million).

1. b. The race starts in Italy for the first time.

2. b. The final stage will be held outside Paris for the first time since 1905 because of a clash with the Olympics, moving instead to the French Riviera. Because of security and logistical reasons, the French capital won’t have its traditional Tour finish on the Champs-Elysees.

3. c. Only four riders have achieved this feat: Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain. Lance Armstrong won the race seven times in a row from 1999-2005 but was later stripped of his titles for doping.

4. a. The yellow jersey is called “le maillot jaune” in French. It was created in 1919, well after the Tour started in 1903. The newspaper that sponsored the race, L’Auto, was printed on yellow paper, hence the jersey’s color.

5. b. The 1998 Tour de France was notable for the major scandal that emerged with the discovery of widespread doping on the Festina team. The subsequent police crackdown led to seven of the original 21 teams either withdrawing or being ejected from the Tour.

6. c. Eddy Merckx reportedly earned the nickname following his first Tour win in 1969, after a teammate told his daughter Merckx would not let anyone else win anything. “Daddy, he is the Cannibal,” the girl said.

7. b. “Lanterne Rouge” applies to the last-place rider in the general classification.

8. b. The broom wagon picks up riders unable to make it to the finish.

9. b. France has lacked a Tour winner since Bernard Hinault posted the last of his five victories back in 1985.

10. b. Greg LeMond’s margin of victory over French rider Laurent Fignon in the 1989 Tour. Fignon started the final day with a 50-second lead over his American rival but the Frenchman suffered from saddle sores and dropped 58 seconds in the final time trial to lose the yellow jersey.

11. a and c. Both Mark Cavendish and Eddy Merckx have won a record 34 Tour stages. Cavendish is trying to break the record this year.

12. c. The first rider to die during the race was Adolphe Heliere, who passed away during a rest day in 1910. Francisco Cepeda died after a crash in the downhill of the Col du Galibier in 1935. One of the most successful British riders, Tom Simpson, died of heart failure during the 13th stage in 1967 which was later determined to be from an overdose of drugs and alcohol. The last rider to die on the Tour was Fabio Casartelli, who died after crashing in the descent of the 1,069-meter (3,507-foot) Col de Portet d’Aspet during the 1995 edition of the race.

13. a. En route to his first Tour de France win, Vingegaard moved away from Pogacar in the brutal climb to the top of the Col du Granon to enjoy a winning finish to an epic day in the Alps. The stage featured two other monster ascents, the daunting Col du Telegraphe and Col du Galibier.

14. c. Pogacar has won 11 stages, Vingegaard just 3.

15. c. Pantani did the Giro-Tour double in 1998. Nibali made an attempt in 2016 after claiming the Giro but the 2014 Tour champion finished 30th that year. Armstrong rode the Giro only once, in 2009, and his 12th-place finish was later wiped out for doping. Pogacar is making an attempt this year after dominating the Giro in May.

16. a. 500,000 euros.

TOUR 2024: How well do you know the Tour de France? Try the AP’s quiz

FILE - A cyclist rides next to an installation set up for the start of the 107th Tour de France cycling race, in Nice, southern France, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)

FILE - A July 26, 1970 photo from files of Belgium’s Eddy Merckx cycling in the 1970 Tour de France. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Britain’s Chris Froome, wearing the overall leader’s yellow jersey arrives for the start of the eighth stage of the Tour de France cycling race over 187.5 kilometers (116.5 miles) with start in Dole and finish in Station des Rousses, France, Saturday, July 8, 2017. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, File)

FILE - Italy’s Marco Pantani, right, of Italy, sprints to beat overall leader Lance Armstrong, of Austin, Texas, and capture the 12th stage of the Tour de France cycling race between Carpentras and Mont Ventoux, southern France, Thursday, July 13, 2000. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)

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How well do you know the Tour de France? Try this quiz ahead of cycling’s biggest races, which starts on Saturday: