Great Cyclists of the Tour de France: Eddy Merckx

Eddy Merckx is regarded by many to be the best cyclist of all time. His tenacity and refusal to relinquish his own chance to win earned him the nickname, he Cannibal? Merckx is one of only five riders to win the Tour de France five times. He only competed in seven installments of the Tour de France to win such an incredible number of them, and also finished second once for a total of six podium appearances.

Merckx, a Belgian rider, was born 1945. He started competing 16 years later, and participated in the Olympic Games in 1964 before turning professional a year later. Merckx was a talented mountain rider, winning the Tour de France mountains classification twice as well. Merckx holds many cycling records, including the most stage wins at the Tour de France, of which he had 34.

Merckx made his first Tour de France appearance in 1969, and he wasted no time in turning the cycling world on its ear. Merckx became the first cyclist to ever win all three jerseys available by winning the yellow (overall leader), green (best sprinter) and polka dot (best climber) jerseys. He would have won the white jersey (best cyclist 25 years old and younger) if it had existed at the time.

Unfortunately, Merckx was in a terrible accident in a derny race which resulted in a cracked vertebra and twisted pelvis. Although Merckx would go on to have even more success, he also acknowledged that the injury would go on to affect him permanently, as he was in near constant pain whenever he raced, especially while climbing.

Despite the setback, Merckx followed up his 1969 win with a dominant performance in the 1970 Tour de France. Merckx won a record-tying 8 stages while winning the race and the mountains classification. He also finished second in the sprinter classification, solidifying his reputation as a brilliant all-around cyclist. Many wondered who, if anyone, could challenge the dominance of Merckx.

In 1971, Luis Oca鎙 answered that question by presenting a huge challenge to Merckx. Oca鎙 took the yellow jersey and held it until a crash sadly forced him to withdraw from the race. As a result, Merckx was able to take the lead and win the race for his third straight Tour de France victory. The next year, Oca鎙 was sick and could not race, so Merckx won his fourth Tour de France.

Then, the inexplicable happened. Merckx was actually encouraged by Tour de France officials to not participate in the 1973 Tour de France due to worries of hostilities by French fans. Merckx was approaching Jacques Anquetil then-record of five wins, and many French fans didn want to see that happen. Incredibly, Merckx complied and did not compete.

Merckx did compete in, and win, the 1974 Tour de France to equal Anquetil record of five wins. However, when he attempted to win a sixth Tour de France in 1975, he was punched by a French fan after having led for eight days. A later crash with Ole Ritter left him with a broken jaw, and Merckx finished the race only to finish second.

Merckx didn enter the 1976 Tour de France, and finished in sixth place in his final Tour de France appearance, in 1977. In 1978, Eddy Merckx retired after an absolutely superlative career. He retired with the most total victories by a cyclist in a career as well as in a season, so his success wasn limited to just the Tour de France. Still, his performances and his wins in the Tour de France are what many fans will remember Merckx more for.

Even though Merckx almost definitely could have won more installments of the Tour de France than he did, his career stands as the standard of excellence in cycling that other greats have struggled mightily to reach. While other riders may have met the standard that Merckx set, it doubtful that anyone will ever exceed it.

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Controversy at the 2006 Tour de France

The 2006 Tour de France was set to be another of a long line of great races. The field, though without multiple time champion and cycling legend Lance Armstrong, was a competitive one, and the route was superb as usual. No one rider was primed to dominate, and the cycling world, while obviously sad to see Lance Armstrong go, was reinvigorated by the prospect of a tight race that nearly anyone could win.

One of the contenders to win was American cyclist Floyd Landis, who had experienced success in the cycling world and was known as a versatile rider who could sprint as well as climb at a high level. He had been personally recruited by Lance Armstrong to race along with him on the U.S. Postal Service team, and had started off 2006 with a couple of wins, including at Paris-Nice. Even though he obviously had all the tools to win the race, he was considered one of many contenders who could do so.

Floyd Landis?chances were bettered when two of the race favorites, Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso, were suspended and barred from participating just days before the 2006 Tour de France began. However, Landis himself didn get off to the greatest start when the race opened. A cut tire in one stage and a handlebar malfunction in another conspired to keep him back from the lead through the first several stages of the race.

However, in the middle portions of the race, Landis surged as he was able to lean on his climbing skills during difficult mountain stages. Unfortunately, on Stage 16, Landis fell far back, going from first place to eleventh in the overall standings. In doing so, he provided himself a stage (no pun intended) to put on a great show of courage and fortitude, although it would later become infamous for more controversial reasons.

During Stage 17, Landis battled to win by over six minutes, coming to close within the lead that was held by Oscar Pereiro. He would continue the comeback in the final stages, and was crowned as the 2006 Tour de France champion in one of the greatest races in recent memory.

Unfortunately, the story didn end there. During the mandatory testing at Stage 17, Landis had failed a urine test, as he had an 11:1 ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone. Landis quickly denied doping, but his backup test came up with the same result, and he was suspended and released from his team, Phonak.

Landis maintained his innocence, and proposed a variety of ways that his sample may have been tainted, misinterpreted, or resulted from normal human activity, not doping. However, an arbitration did not go Landis?way, and in September of 2007 Pereiro was crowned as the new 2006 Tour de France champion.

Unfortunately, the win by Pereiro, and the exciting finish to the race itself, was marred by the new reality of performance-enhancing drugs and the problems they cause to all sports. Although Pereiro is as legitimate a champion as they come, it hard to say that no luster has been taken off his considerable accomplishment after the circus that resulted in the media and in the courts. Landis himself is still fighting for his innocence, but he will likely not be able to change the minds of those who are convinced by the test results. It truly unfortunate that such a historic year of a legendary event was decided in the courtroom, and not on the roads of France.

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Great Cyclists of the Tour de France: Gustave Garrigou

Gustave Garrigou was one of the first great riders in the Tour de France. In his short but accomplished career, he was able to win the Tour de France once, and finish on the podium a total of six times. Although Garrigou career ended over 90 years ago, he remains one of the beloved French cyclists in the legendary history of the Tour de France.

Gustave Garrigou was born on September 24, 1884, and lived until 1963, when he passed away at the age of 78. He made his debut in the Tour de France at age 22, the same year he won at Giro di Lombardia and Paris-Brussels. His first Tour de France went similarly well, although he wasn able to win. Garrigou was able to win stages 10 and 12, but wasn able to gain much on the leader, Lucien Petit-Breton, as he finished right behind Garrigou. The race itself was a wild one, memorable because 卌ile Georget was close to winning before being penalized because he borrowed a bicycle.

The next year, Garrigou entered the 1908 Tour de France with high hopes, only to perform worse than in the previous years. Garrigou won no stages of the Tour de France that year, and ended up finishing a disappointing fourth, while Lucien Petit-Breton won again.

The 1909 Tour de France brought more disappointment for Garrigou as well as French cycling fans, as it was the first year that a French cyclist didn win the race. Garrigou finished second again (although he won a stage), and was the top French finisher of the race, with Lucien Petit-Breton not competing. Garrigou also won a stage the next year at the 1910 Tour de France, but still failed to win, finishing third to earn another podium finish.

In 1911, it was finally Garrigou turn to shine, though not solely because of his own performance. Garrigou greatest asset in this Tour de France was his determination and grit, as this was the most grueling edition yet. Some of the stages required even the fastest of the field to race nearly 18 hours to complete, and only a third of the field ended up completing the race. Among those to quit were previous winners Lucien Petit-Breton, Fran蔞is Faber and Octave Lapize. Another cyclist, Paul Duboc, was in a good position to win and had been victorious in four stages, but fell ill. All of these circumstances conspired to help Garrigou win his first and only Tour de France. He won two stages in the process.

The next year, Garrigou team, Alcyon hired a new rider to assist Garrigou in repeating his win from the previous year. Unfortunately for Garrigou, the teammate (Odiel Defraye) clearly established himself as the more capable rider early on, and he ended up winning himself. At this point, it just seemed to be Garrigou luck, as he was almost always the bridesmaid, but nearly never the bride.

Garrigou gave one more good effort to win his second Tour de France in 1913, but finished 8 minutes, 37 seconds behind Philippe Thys, despite winning a stage. Garrigou last appearance, in 1914, resulted in a fifth place finish three hours behind the winner (Philippe Thys, again), although he again one a stage.

Garrigou would then retire, although he would be remembered by followers of the sport for years to come. He was the Charlie Brown of cycling for a time, always blending into the background, with only periodic success. Still, his win in 1911, along with his other solid finishes and podium appearances, allow him to be mentioned in an elite category among professional cyclists past and present.

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The Tour de France, Explained

Millions of people worldwide are transfixed each and every year as the annual Tour de France is run. In case you aren one of these people, and you don really get what the fuss is about, or maybe you just don understand the rules and terminology, here is a quick primer so that you can join in on the fun this year!

The Tour de France started in 1903 when a French newspaper wanted to drum up some publicity and attract a larger readership to their publication. The idea to have a multi-day, multi-stage cycling race came from young G廩 Lef鋦re, who was the cycling reporter for the newspaper. The idea was altered and molded into a reasonable facsimile of what we see today: a race that traversed through small towns in France, taking cyclists a few weeks of grueling rides to complete. The first race was a success, as it has obviously led to over one hundred years of tradition, and it also increased the readership of the newspaper, so it fulfilled its original objective.

Since then, the Tour de France has evolved, but much of it has also stayed the same. Towns compete each year to be added as waypoints along the Tour de France route, and are selected by a committee to join the prestigious ranks of those who have hosted the race for a day. The race still attracts riders from all around the world, although the prestige (and money) of the Tour de France brings a much wider variety of cyclists than in the first years of the race. The race itself is also still a marvelous example of variety, as the race is split up into mountain stages large and small, hilly sections of road, and flat sections for quick sprints.

Many fans who are new to the Tour de France don understand why one rider is wearing a yellow jersey, and why sometimes a new rider is wearing it the next day (don worry, they wash it first). Well, the yellow jersey is famous as being worn by the current overall race leader. Therefore, wearing the yellow jersey is not only a great honor, but a great responsibility. It essentially paints a target on your back, and reminds all the other cyclists what they are racing for. If you are wearing the yellow jersey, you best be ready to defend it! Other jerseys include the green jersey, the white jersey, and even the polka dot jersey. They are awarded to the race point leader, best young (under twenty five years old) rider, and best climber, respectively.

It was mentioned earlier that the race is split into stages. The stages are sections of the race that are traversed in a single day, which combine to make the race as a whole. Riders do get a break at the end of each stage- theye only human, after all- only to continue the next morning at the next stage. The 2008 Tour de France features twenty one stages. The riders also are recipients of two rest days, which are spaced out throughout the twenty three day event.

Cyclists often compete as part of a team. This may seem strange, as cycling would appear to be an individual sport, but teams have been part of the Tour de France for a long time. Teams can actually help each other quite a bit in a race, by pacing each other, blocking off the competition, or lip streaming?for maximum speed by riding directly behind one another. During some years, the teams were based on the national origin of riders, but now the teams are organized by sponsors.

At the end of the Tour de France, the riders?finishing positions are determined by simply adding each rider time on each stage together to get a total race time. The cyclist with the lowest overall time is the winner of the Tour de France, and joins a great tradition of legendary athletes dating back over one hundred years. Make sure to follow the Tour de France this year, as history is made yet again on the roads of France!

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Great Cyclists of the Tour de France: Miguel Indurain

Miguel Indurain will always be known as one of the greatest cyclists to ever compete in the Tour de France. Indurain was the first cyclist to ever win five straight Tour de France championships, and was one of only five riders to ever win five championships at all. He was known as a gifted rider who excelled at time trials, and was nicknamed iguel鏮?due to his natural ability and his uncommon size for a cyclist.

Indurain competed in eleven straight years of the Tour de France, beginning in 1985, the year he turned professional. He didn get off to the best start, as he dropped out of the running both of his first two years, and failed to crack the top twenty until 1989, when he finished 17th overall. He did manage to build upon that success in 1990, finishing 10th, but no one could have predicted the incredible run he was about to begin the next year.

In the 1991 Tour de France, he won just two stages, but was still able to pull out the win in the overall race. His two stage wins were individual time trials, contributing to his reputation as a time trial master. In fact, he never won a non-time trial stage in any of his Tour de France victories. In 1992, he would win his second straight Tour de France, aided by the infamous Stage 9 time trial, where Indurain won by over three minutes, even though the stage was only 65 kilometers long! In the end, Pascal Lino couldn hold onto the yellow jersey, and surrendered it to Indurain in the 13th stage, who never lost it, finishing over 4 ?minutes ahead of Italy Claudio Chiappucci.

In the next three years, Indurain cemented his reputation as a legend in the making, as he continued to dominate the yearly Tour de France. He would win each year by several minutes, helping his own cause by continuing to race brilliantly in individual time trials while working hard to maintain his leads in the other stages. In 1995, he held the yellow jersey for the last 13 of the race 19 stages.

Unfortunately, in 1996 Indurain incredible run came to an end. He was slowed significantly by an onset of bronchitis that occurred after a cold and soggy first week of racing. He would finish at 11th, his worst finish since 1989, and although he still was one of the most gifted cyclists in the world, would retire in later that year as one of the greatest riders in the history of the Tour de France.

Almost as impressive as his string of victories was Indurain reputation for being a kind and gracious competitor. With the media and other competitors, he was a quiet person who never let his success get to his head, even as he put together his unprecedented run of five straight Tour de France wins. He claimed to never feel superior to the other riders, despite the fact that he clearly was through much of his career. Not only was Indurain one of the most incredible talents to ever pedal a bicycle, but he always set an example of kindness and humility for fans, his countrymen, and fellow riders as well.

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The Tour de France: A Beginner Guide

The Tour de France is an incredibly exciting event that is followed by fans all across the world. However, the Tour de France can also be intimidating to those who aren familiar with the sport of cycling, or the race itself. Let go over some of the basics, so that youl be able to follow this year Tour de France with a better understanding of the events taking place!

First of all, the object of the Tour de France is, of course, to finish the overall race with the fastest time. What complicates things is that the Tour de France is a race that is divided up over a period of about three weeks. It important to know that the race itself is divided into different parts called stages. Each stage lasts one day, although the stages can be quite long. There are a total of 21 stages, and the complete race is usually well over 1,800 miles (or over 3,500 km) long!

Although the object of the Tour de France is to win the overall race as a whole, each stage is treated much like its own individual race. Winners of stages receive prize money, and winning a stage of the Tour de France is often regarded as a bigger accomplishment than winning other single-day races. The stages themselves can be flat, mountainous, or anywhere in between, and often there are individual time trials that serve as stages. Competitors generally get a couple of days to rest during the race, as well.

If youe seen footage of the Tour de France before, or heard others talk about it, you probably want to know what the yellow jersey is all about. The famed yellow jersey is one of four different jerseys that designate that the rider wearing it has achieved a specific feat. The rider wearing the yellow jersey is the overall leader of the race. To determine who has earned the yellow jersey at any point in the race, officials merely take the lowest overall combined time from all the stages.

The green jersey is awarded to the points leader in the race. Points are earned according to passing order at the finish line or in intermediate sprints. For this reason, riders who specialize in sprints are generally those found wearing the green jersey.

The distinctive polka dot jersey goes to the leader of the ountain classification? with points being earned according to passing order on mountain stages. Therefore, it is often said that the rider wearing the polka dot jersey is the best climber of the race.

Finally, the white jersey is only worn by riders aged 25 years or younger. This jersey is intended to spotlight the rising stars of the cycling world and the Tour de France. Many riders who wore the white jersey have also gone on to win the coveted yellow jersey in their careers.

There are other awards given during the Tour de France as well. The combativity prize is also known as the fighting spirit award and is awarded by a panel of eight cycling specialists. There is also a team award called the team classification, which is given after adding the times of the top three riders for each team for each stage to get a total time. Riders in teams often assist each other by lipstreaming?behind one another for better speed, or using other team tactics. Teams are grouped by common sponsors.

It also bears mentioning that finishing straight stages in the top three can earn you bonus seconds, which help you shave precious seconds off of your total time. Also, the final mountain climb of the Tour de France is for double points, which is a great incentive for climbers. The double points were added to the official race rules starting in 2004.

Now that wee addressed the basics of the Tour de France, youl be better prepared to enjoy one of the world most prestigious and historic sporting events. Make sure to pay attention to what going on during the races, and youl find that it not nearly as complicated as it may have seemed. Before you know it, youl be cheering your favorite rider on towards the yellow jacket!

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