Luc Weaver and Aksel Durand

What is the Tour de France? How and when did it start? Classifications Jerseys Prizes Doping and disqualifications Deaths Lance Armstrong Eufemiano Fuentes What is the Tour de France? How and when did it start? Classifications Jerseys Prizes Doping and disqualifications Deaths Lance Armstrong Eufemiano Fuentes

 The Tour de France is an annual multiple stages bicycle competition for professionals which is held in France while also occasionally making passes through nearby countries.  Every year in the month of July by the Amaury Sport Organisation which choses the 20 teams of 9 racers.  The Tour de France consist of 21 different stages over 23 days.  The tour has 21 days of racing and 2 rest days and covers 3,200 kilometres of cycling.

 The first Tour de France was staged by Henri Desgrange in 1903 for sponsorising a magazine called : l’Auto.  The race held from the 1 to the 19 July.  The winner was Maurice garin who won 12,000 Francs (3000€,2100LVL,7100TRY).  The race was held every year since 1903 but had to be stopped for the two world wars.

 Riders aim to win the whole competition but there are three further competitions: points, mountains and for the best young rider. The leader of each wears a distinctive jersey.  At the end of each stage, points are earned by the riders for the place they have finished For the mountains stages, the first 10 to finish become points and the rest of the cyclers are then divided into categories which the first riders become points.  For young riders, The rider aged under 26 who places highest in the general classification wins the best young rider competition.

 There are four special jerseys:  The green jersey is given to the leader of the points classification  The White jersey with red dots is given to the leader of the mountains classification.  The White jersey is given to The rider aged under 26 who places highest in the general classifications.  The yellow Jersey is given to the overall winner which currently is Bradley Wiggins

 Prize money has always been awarded  From 12,000 Francs, the first year, prize money has increased each year  From 1976 to 1987 the first prizes were cars and apartments.  Prizes only in cash returned in 1990  Prizes and bonuses are awarded for daily placings and final placings at the end of the race  Since 2009, the winner received 450,000 € while each of the 21 stage winners won 8,000 €  The winners of the points classification and mountains classification each win 25,000 €, the young rider competition prize is 20,000 €

 Doping has plagued the Tour almost since Early riders consumed alcohol and used ether, to dull the pain. Over the years they began to increase performance and the Union Cycliste Professional and governments achieved tactics to combat doping.  the worst case of doping was On the 13 July 1967, where British cyclist Tom simspon died of heart failure while climbing Mont Ventoux after taking amphetine.  The three most recent cases of Doping were:  Alexandr Kolobnev left the race after testing positive for hydrochlorothiazide in 2011  Frank Schlek tested positive for a banned diuretic Xipamide and left the competition  And Lance Armstrong was retroactively stripped of his titles (1998–2005) in October 2012 for having taken Erythropoeitin, blood transfusion and testosterone.

 There have been four cyclists who died during the tour de France:  French racer Adolphe Helière drowned at the French Riviera during a rest day in  Spanish racer Francisco Cepeda plunged down a ravine on the Col du Galibier in 1935  13 July, Stage 13: Tom Simpson died of heart failure during the ascent of Mont Ventoux. Amphetamines were found in Simpson's jersey and blood in 1967  18 July, Stage 15: Fabio Casartelli crashed at 88 km/h (55 mph) while descending the Col de Portet d’ Aspet in 1995.

Lance Armstrong has “ won” 7 Titles until he was stripped of his awards and banned for life from all UCI events following an Official Investigation into Doping Cases against him. All his appearances since 1998 have been disqualified due to Armstrong's performance enhancing drug use so from 1998 to 2005 there has been no winner.

 Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes is a spanish sports Doctor, well known for being implicated in the Operacion Puerto doping case.  Fuentes was once an athlete. He then became the team doctor of Team ONCE, Amaya and the kelme  The former Kelme rider Jesus Manzano accused Fuentes of being involved with doping  Fuentes was arrested by the Guardia Civil on May 22, 2006  He was later also involved in football doping cases.  In a further doping scandal, in 2010, Fuentes was arrested by Spanish police as part of Operacion Galgo(Operation Greyhound)  In a series of simultaneous arrests across five provinces on 9 December, Spanish police seized a large quantity of anabolic steroids, hormones and EPO, as well as laboratory equipment for blood transfusions.  According to Publico newspaper, Eufemiano Fuentes and his sister Yolanda were the leaders of the alleged plot.