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Armstrong Wins Seventh Tour de France

By Samuel Abt

• July 25, 2005

PARIS, July 24 - Once more, and for the last time, Lance Armstrong swept into Paris on Sunday as the winner and undisputed champion of the Tour de France.

Protected by Discovery Channel teammates on his way to victory and retirement, Armstrong finished the last of 21 daily stages and mounted his final podium after a day of intermittent cold rain, which prompted officials to stop the timer once the main pack entered Paris and declare Armstrong the winner.

On the podium, Armstrong stood with his son, Luke, nearly 6, and twin daughters, Isabelle and Grace, 3. The girls wore yellow dresses to go with their father's jersey while Luke was in blue with a yellow logo.

In a brief speech after a French military band played "The Star-Spangled Banner" and the American flag was raised on the Champs-Élysées, Armstrong praised the two riders flanking him on slightly lower steps, Ivan Basso and Jan Ullrich. Basso, the Italian leader of CSC, finished second by 4 minutes 40 seconds and Ullrich of Germany and T-Mobile was third, 6:21 behind.

"It's really a dream podium," Armstrong said. He called Basso "not only my rival but a special person. It's tough to race against a friend."

Basso beamed as he held his young daughter, Domitilla.

Ullrich, who also has a young daughter but left her at home, also earned praise from Armstrong, who then thanked his teammates, team officials and a host of others. "Vive le Tour," Armstrong concluded. "Forever."

The ceremony had a familiar ring after Armstrong's seventh consecutive victory, but the concluding stage was a rarity.

Instead of the usual mass sprint finish, the 144.5-kilometer, or 90-mile, race from the suburb of Corbeil-Essonnes north into the capital was won in a surprise breakaway by Alexander Vinokourov, a Kazakh with T-Mobile.

He sped away from the 154 other riders with less than two miles to go on the eighth and final circuit on the Champs-Élysées. Registering his second daily victory in this 92nd Tour, Vinokourov easily held off the chasing pack and the two riders nearest him, Bradley McGee, an Australian with Française des Jeux, and Fabian Cancellara, of Switzerland and Fassa Bortolo.

The victory gave Vinokourov 20 bonus seconds, enabling him to move into fifth place over all ahead of Levi Leipheimer, the American leader of Gerolsteiner, by just that margin. Earlier, Vinokourov picked up six bonus seconds in an intermediate sprint, with Leipheimer second, gaining four seconds, as his teammates failed to help him by swarming over the line ahead of Vinokourov.

Vinokourov was timed in 3 hours 40 minutes 57 seconds, a speed of 39.2 kilometers (24 miles) an hour over roads made treacherous by the rain.

Among other crashes, two of Armstrong's teammates and bodyguards, George Hincapie and Yaroslav Popovych, went down just before the race reached Paris and Armstrong had to slither around them, nearly running over Hincapie.

As is the custom, the opening part of the final stage was marked by general hilarity and conversations in the pack. Armstrong even shared a Champagne toast en route with his Discovery Channel team director, Johan Bruyneel, who was driving a car. Neither did more than clink glasses.

Once the hijinks were over, the race turned serious in Paris, with frequent attacks and careful bike handling on the wet cobblestones of the broad Champs-Élysées.

There was a lot at stake even if the final overall victory was not. The fight for the green points jersey was not settled until the finish, with Thor Hushovd, a Norwegian with Crédit Agricole, first; Stuart O'Grady, an Australian with Cofidis, second; and Robbie McEwen, an Australian with Davitamon-Lotto, third.

The climbers' jersey was won by Michael Rasmussen, a Dane with Rabobank and the victim of two crashes and three bicycle changes Saturday in a time trial that sank him to seventh place over all from third place. Second for the climbers' jersey, which is white with red polka dots, was Oscar Pereiro, a Spaniard with Phonak.

Popovych earned the white jersey given to the top rider under 26.

For his labors, Armstrong won $500,000, in addition to a handsome bowl just like the six others at home in Austin, Tex.

Armstrong took no part in the duel at the finish, coasting over his final line with a smile on his face as a crowd estimated at half a million watched.

His time for the 3,593 kilometers, or 2, 233 miles, was 86 hours 15 minutes 2 seconds, a speed of 41.6 kilometers (26.8 miles) an hour. If that seems high considering the many mountains transited, the riders were sometimes pushed by strong tailwinds, the roads are often resurfaced before a stage and bicycles are constantly being improved.

Although this was Armstrong's seventh triumph in the world's toughest bicycle race, it was in many ways simply icing on the cake, as he acknowledges. His sixth victory last year broke the tie he was in with four other dominators: Jacques Anquetil, a Frenchman; Eddy Merckx, a Belgian; Bernard Hinault, another Frenchman; and Miguel Indurain, a Spaniard.

Each was the star of his own decade, beginning with Anquetil in the 1960's. This decade has belonged to Armstrong, who was stricken in 1996 with testicular cancer that spread to his lungs and brain, underwent chemotherapy and brain surgery, and began his comeback in 1998.

The next year he won his first Tour de France. Now he has won his last.

"There was nothing on the line this year, no history, no record, no financial reward, just a promise," he said Saturday to explain his participation. When Discovery Channel signed on as sponsor for three years this season, replacing United States Postal Service, he promised to ride the Tour one more time.

As for his retirement, he said, "Absolutely no regrets."

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Lance Armstrong wins seventh consecutive and last Tour de France

Lance Armstrong closed out his amazing career with a seventh consecutive Tour de France victory today — and did it a little earlier than expected.

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PARIS — Lance Armstrong closed out his amazing career with a seventh consecutive Tour de France victory today — and did it a little earlier than expected. Because of wet conditions, race organizers stopped the clock as Armstrong and the main pack entered Paris. Although riders were still racing, with eight laps of the Champs-Elysees to complete, organizers said that Armstrong had officially won. The stage started as it has done for the past six years — with Armstrong celebrating and wearing the race leader’s yellow jersey. One hand on his handlebars, the other holding a flute of champagne, Armstrong toasted his teammates as he pedaled into Paris to collect his crown. He held up seven fingers — one for each win — and a piece of paper with the number 7 on it. When it was over, Armstrong saluted the race he’s made his own. “Vive le Tour, forever,” he said. Armstrong choked up on the victory podium as he stood next to his twin 3-year-old daughters — dressed in bright yellow dresses, appropriately — and his son. His rock star girlfriend Sheryl Crow, wearing a yellow halter top, cried during the ceremony. “This is the way he wanted to finish his career, so it’s very emotional,” she said. Looking gaunt, his cheeks hollow after riding 2,232.7 miles across France and its mountains for three weeks, Armstrong still could smile at the end. He said President Bush called to congratulate him. Armstrong’s new record of seven wins confirmed him as one of the greatest cyclists ever, and capped a career where he came back from cancer to dominate cycling’s most prestigious and taxing race. Standing on the podium, against the backdrop of the Arc de Triomphe, Armstrong managed a rare feat in sports — going out on the top of his game. He previously said that his decision was final and that he was walking away with “absolutely no regrets.” Armstrong mentioned Tiger Woods, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan and Andre Agassi as personal inspirations. “Those are guys that you look up to you, guys that have been at the top of their game for a long time,” he said. As for his accomplishments, he said, “I can’t be in charge of dictating what it says or how you remember it.” “In five, 10, 15, 20 years, we’ll see what the legacy is. But I think we did come along and revolutionize the cycling part, the training part, the equipment part. We’re fanatics.” Alexandre Vinokourov of Kazakhstan eventually won the final stage, with Armstrong finishing safely in the pack to win the Tour by more than 4 minutes, 40 seconds over Ivan Basso of Italy. The 1997 Tour winner, Jan Ullrich, was third, 6:21 back. “It’s up to you guys,” Armstrong said, forecasting the Tour future. Armstrong’s sixth win last year already set a record, putting Armstrong ahead of four other riders — Frenchmen Jacques Anquetil and Bernard Hinault, Belgian Eddy Merckx and Spaniard Miguel Indurain — who all won five Tours. Along the way, he brought unprecedented attention to the sport, and won over many who had dismissed it. “Finally, the last thing I’ll say for the people who don’t believe in cycling — the cynics, the skeptics — I’m sorry for you,” Armstrong said. “I’m sorry you can’t dream big and I’m sorry you don’t believe in miracles. But this is one hell of a race, this is a great sporting event and you should stand around and believe.” Armstrong’s last ride as a professional — the closing 89.8-mile 21st stage into Paris from Corbeil-Essonnes south of the capital — was not without incident. Three of his teammates slipped and crashed on the rain-slicked pavement coming around a bend just before they crossed the River Seine. Armstrong, right behind them, braked and skidded into the fallen riders. Armstrong used his right foot to steady himself, and was able to stay on the bike. His teammates, wearing special shirts with a band of yellow on right shoulder, recovered and led him up the Champs-Elysees at the front of the pack. Organizers then announced that they had stopped the clock because of the slippery conditions with more than 10 miles to go. Vinokourov surged ahead of the main pack to win the last stage. He had been touted as one of Armstrong’s main rivals at the start of the Tour on July 2, but like others was overwhelmed by the 33-year-old Texan. Armstrong’s departure begins a new era for the 102-year-old Tour, with no clear successor. His riding and his inspiring defeat of cancer attracted new fans — especially in the United States — to the race, as much a part of French summers as sun cream, forest fires and traffic jams down to the Cote d’Azur. Millions turned out each year, cheering, picnicking and sipping wine by the side of the road, to watch him flash past in the race leader’s yellow jersey, the famed “maillot jaune.” Cancer survivors, autograph hunters and enamored admirers pushed, shove, and yelled “Lance! Lance!” outside his bus in the mornings for a smile, a signature, or a word from the champion. He had bodyguards to keep the crowds at bay — ruffling feathers of cycling purists who sniffed at his “American” ways. Some spectators would shout obscenities or “dope!” — doper. To some, his comeback from cancer and his uphill bursts of speed that left rivals gasping in the Alps and Pyrenees were too good to be true. Armstrong insisted that he simply trained, worked and prepared harder than anyone. He was drug-tested hundreds of times, in and out of competition, but never found to have committed any infractions. Armstrong came into this Tour saying he had a dual objective — winning the race and the hearts of French fans. He was more relaxed, forthcoming and talkative than last year, when the pressure to be the first six-time winner was on. Some fans hung the Stars and Stripes on barriers that lined the Champs-Elysees on Sunday. Around France, some also urged Armstrong to go for an eighth win next year— holding up placards and daubing their appeals in paint on the road. Armstrong, however, wanted to go out on top — and not let advancing age get the better of him. “At some point you turn 34, or you turn 35, the others make a big step up, and when your age catches up, you take a big step down,” he said Saturday after he won the final time trial. “So next could be the year if I continued that I lose that five minutes. We are never going to know.”

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Lance armstrong timeline: cancer, tour de france, doping admission.

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MONTAIGU, FRANCE - JULY 04: TOUR DE FRANCE 1999, 1.Etappe, MONTAIGU - CHALLANS; Lance ARMSTRONG/USA - GELBES TRIKOT - (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Bongarts/Getty Images)

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A look at the rise and fall of Lance Armstrong , who beat testicular cancer to win a record seven Tour de France titles, then was found guilty of and admitted to doping for the majority of his career ...

Aug. 2, 1992: Armstrong, then a 20-year-old amateur cyclist who had left triathlon because it wasn’t an Olympic sport, makes his Olympic debut at the Barcelona Games. He finishes 14th in the road race as the top American, missing a late breakaway. “I don’t think it was one of my better days, unfortunately,” Armstrong said on NBC. “Last couple weeks, everything has been perfect, but today, I just didn’t have what it took.” A week later, Armstrong finished last of 111 riders in his pro debut.

Aug. 29, 1993: Wins the world championships road race, becoming the second U.S. man to win a senior road cycling world title after three-time Tour de France winner Greg LeMond . Armstrong prevails by 19 seconds over Spain’s Miguel Indurain , who won five straight Tours de France from 1991-95. “I’m not sure I’m cut out to be a Tour racer,” Armstrong said, according to the Chicago Tribune . “I love the Tour de France; it’s my favorite bike race, but I’m not fool enough to sit here and say I’m going to win it. For the time being, I’m a one-day rider.”

Aug. 3, 1996: After failing to finish three of his first four Tour de France appearances (and placing 36th in the other), is sixth in the Atlanta Olympic time trial. “This was a big goal and something that I wanted to do well in and wanted the American people to see success,” Armstrong said on NBC. “The legs just weren’t there to win or to medal. I have to move forward and look to the next thing.”

Oct. 2, 1996: Diagnosed with testicular cancer. A day later, he undergoes surgery to have the malignant right testicle removed. Five days later, he begins chemotherapy. Six days later, Armstrong holds a press conference to announce it publicly, saying the cancer spread to his abdomen (and, later, his brain). He described it as “between moderate and advanced” and that his oncologist told him the cure rate was between 65 and 85 percent. “I will win,” Armstrong says. “I intend to beat this disease, and further, I intend to ride again as a professional cyclist.”

Oct. 27, 1996: Betsy Andreu later testifies that, on this date, Armstrong told a doctor at Indiana University Hospital that he had taken performance-enhancing drugs; EPO, testosterone, growth hormone, cortisone and steroids. Andreu said she and others were in a room to hear this. Her husband, Frankie Andreu , an Armstrong cycling teammate, confirmed her recollection to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). Armstrong, in admitting to doping in 2013, declined to address what became known as “the hospital room confession.”

January 1997: Establishes the Lance Armstrong Foundation, later called Livestrong, to support cancer awareness and research. Is later declared cancer-free.

Feb. 15, 1998: Returns to racing. Later in September, finishes fourth in his Grand Tour return at the Vuelta a Espana, one of the three Grand Tours after the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France.

1999 Tour de France: Achieves global fame by winning cycling’s most prestigious event in his first Tour de France start since his cancer diagnosis. Armstrong was not a pre-event favorite, but he won the opening 4.2-mile prologue to set the tone. He won all three time trials and, by the end, distanced second-place Alex Zulle by 7 minutes, 37 seconds in a Tour that lacked the previous two winners -- Jan Ullrich and Marco Pantani . Armstrong faced doping questions during the three-week Tour. An Armstrong urine sample revealed a small amount of a corticosteroid, after which Armstrong produced a prescription for a cream to treat saddle sores to justify it. “There’s no secrets here,” Armstrong said after Stage 14. “We have the oldest secret in the book: hard work.”

2000 Tour de France: With Ullrich and Pantani in the field, Armstrong crushed them on Stage 10, taking the yellow jersey by four minutes. He ends up winning the Tour by 6:02 over Ullrich, who over the years became the closest thing Armstrong had to a rival. In a Nike commercial that debuted in January that year , Armstrong again attacked his critics, saying, “Everybody wants to know what I’m on. What am I on? I’m on my bike, busting my ass six hours a day. What are you on?”

Sept. 30, 2000: Takes bronze in the Sydney Olympic time trial, behind Russian Viatcheslav Ekimov (a teammate on Armstrong’s Tour de France teams) and Ullrich. Armstrong would be stripped of the bronze medal 12 years later for doping. “I came to win the gold medal,” he said on NBC. “When you prepare for an event and you come and you do your best, and you don’t win, you have to say, I didn’t deserve to win.”

2001 Tour de France: Third straight Tour title. In Stage 10 on the iconic Alpe d’Huez, Armstrong gave what came to be known as “The Look,” turning back to stare in sunglasses at Ullrich, then accelerating away to win the stage by 1:59 over the German. “I decided to give a look, see how he was, then give a little surge and see what happened,” Armstrong said after the stage. Also that year, LeMond gives a famous quote to journalist David Walsh on Armstrong: “If it is true, it is the greatest comeback in the history of sport. If it is not, it is the greatest fraud.”

2002 Tour de France: Fourth title in a row -- by 7:17 over Joseba Beloki sans Ullirch and Pantani -- with few notable highlights. Maybe the most memorable, French fans yelling “Dope!” as he chased Richard Virenque (another disgraced doper) up the esteemed Mont Ventoux. Armstrong would be named Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the Year.

2003 Tour de France: By far the closest of the Tour wins -- by 1:01 over Ullrich -- with two very close calls. In Stage 9, Armstrong detoured through a field to avoid a crashing Beloki, who broke his right femur and never contended at a Grand Tour again. In Stage 15, Armstrong’s handlebars caught a spectator’s yellow bag . He crashed to the pavement, remounted and won the stage, upping his lead from 15 seconds to 1:07 over Ullrich.

2004 Tour de France: Record-breaking sixth Tour de France title. Jacques Anquetil , Eddy Merckx , Bernard Hinault and Indurain shared the record of five, and now share the record again after Armstrong’s titles were stripped. Earlier in 2004, the Livestrong yellow bracelet/wristband is introduced. Tens of millions would be sold. He skips the 2004 Athens Olympics, which began three weeks after the Tour ended.

April 18, 2005: Announces he will retire after the 2005 Tour de France. “My children are my biggest supporters, but at the same time, they are the ones who told me it’s time to come home,” Armstrong says. On the same day, former teammate and 2004 Olympic time trial champion Tyler Hamilton is banned two years for blood doping.

2005 Tour de France: Finishes career with seventh Tour de France title. Armstrong remains defiant until the end. In his victory speech atop a podium on the Champs-Elysees, he says with girlfriend Sheryl Crow looking on, “The last thing I’ll say, for the people that don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the skeptics, I"m sorry for you. I’m sorry you can’t dream big. And I’m sorry you don’t believe in miracles.” A month later, French sports daily newspaper L’Equipe publishes a front-page article headlined, “Le Mensonge Armstrong” or “The Armstrong Lie.” It reports that six Armstrong doping samples at the 1999 Tour de France showed the presence of the banned EPO.

Sept. 9, 2008: Announces comeback, the reason being “to launch an international cancer strategy,” in a video on his foundation’s website . In his 2013 doping confession, Armstrong says he regrets the comeback. “We wouldn’t be sitting here if I didn’t come back,” he tells Oprah Winfrey on primetime TV.

2009 Tour de France: Finishes third, 5:24 behind rival Astana teammate and Spanish winner Alberto Contador . “I can’t complain,” Armstrong said on Versus after the penultimate stage finishing atop Mont Ventoux. “For an old fart, coming in here, getting on the podium with these young guys, not so bad.” USADA later reported that scientific data showed Armstrong used EPO or blood transfusions during that Tour, which Armstrong denied in 2013 when admitting to doping earlier in his career.

2010 Tour de France: Finishes 23rd in his last Tour de France. Armstrong races after former teammate Floyd Landis admits to doping and accuses Armstrong and other former teammates of doping during the Tour de France wins. “At some point, people have to tell their kids that Santa Claus isn’t real,” Landis says in a “Nightline” interview that aired the final weekend of the Tour.

Feb. 16, 2011: Announces retirement, citing tiredness (in multiple respects) at age 39. “I can’t say I have any regrets. It’s been an excellent ride. I really thought I was going to win another Tour,” Armstrong said, according to The Associated Press. “Then I lined up like everybody else and wound up third.”

Aug. 24, 2012: USADA announces Armstrong is banned for life , and all of his results dating to Aug. 1, 1998, annulled, including all seven Tour de France titles. Armstrong chose not to contest the charges, which were first sent to him in a June letter, though he did not publicly admit to cheating. USADA releases details of the investigation in October. The International Cycling Union chooses not to contest USADA’s ruling, formally stripping him of the Tour de France titles. “Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling,” UCI President Pat McQuaid says. In November, a defiant Armstrong tweets an image of him lying on a couch in a room with seven framed Tour de France yellow jerseys on the walls.

Jan. 17, 2013: Admits to doping during all of his Tour de France victories in the Oprah confession that airs on primetime TV. “I viewed this situation as one big lie that I repeated a lot of times,” Armstrong says in a pre-recorded interview. “It’s just this mythic, perfect story, and it wasn’t true.” Armstrong said he did not view it as cheating while he was taking PEDs because others did, too. On the same day, the International Olympic Committee strips Armstrong of his 2000 Olympic bronze medal.

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From cancer to cycling superman: is this the greatest story in modern sport?

Seven years after completing treatment for cancer so virulent that he was given only a 40% chance of survival, the American cyclist Lance Armstrong yesterday became the first man to win the Tour de France, the world's most gruelling sporting challenge, on six occasions.

After spending 83 hours 36 minutes and two seconds in the saddle since the race began three weeks ago, Armstrong pedalled over the cobbles of the sunlit Champs-Elysées to claim a victory that some believe sets the seal on the greatest story in modern sport.

The 32-year-old Texan's tale has already been the subject of two best-selling volumes of autobiography, and his battle against the disease has inspired the foundation of a hugely successful cancer charity.

Brought up in a small town by a teenage single mother, Armstrong showed an early talent for running and swimming. At 16, having saved his pocket money, he bought his first bicycle and took up the triathlon. A professional cyclist at 20, he entered the Tour de France for the first time a year later and, as a brash unknown, became the youngest man to win a stage in the race since the second world war.

"Even as a child," his mother said, "he knew what he wanted," and his career was going nicely when, in the autumn of 1996, he noticed specks of blood appearing when he coughed. At St David's hospital in Austin, Texas, he was told that testicular cancer had spread to his lungs and his brain. A two-hour operation the next day was followed by three months of intensive chemotherapy in Indianapolis.

"If I wasn't in pain, I was vomiting," he wrote in the award-winning book It's Not About The Bike, "and if I wasn't vomiting I was thinking about what I had. Chemo was a burning in my veins, a matter of being slowly eaten from the inside out by a destroying river of pollutants." Nevertheless, only 518 days later he was back in the saddle, competing in a race.

Yesterday many of his fellow riders were wearing the yellow bracelet that has been sold, for a dollar or a euro, all the way along the 2,000 miles of the Tour's route. More than $5m (£2.8m) will be raised by this means for Armstrong's foundation, whose motto is "Live strong".

His triumph has been shadowed, however, by persistent claims concerning his association with an Italian doctor, Michele Ferrari, who is under investigation for allegedly supplying EPO, a synthetic human growth hormone, to riders. At the beginning of this year's Tour the publication in French of a book entitled LA Confidentiel, featuring claims that his team had systematically used EPO, provoked an angry response from Armstrong. After failing in a legal attempt to force the publishers to include his own statement in every copy, he has promised to sue the authors for libel.

The American's success has come at a time when the phenomenon of widespread drug-taking within the sport is receiving greater publicity than ever before, thanks to the aggressive action of the French police and a handful of investigative journalists.

Several prominent cyclists, most recently the British rider David Millar, have been banned from competition. Marco Pantani, an Italian who became the last man to win the Tour before Armstrong began his run of victories, died this year from an overdose of heroin and cocaine, his career ruined by a series of positive dope tests.

Armstrong, however, has tested positive only once, in 1999, when minute traces of a synthetic cortocosteroid were discovered in a urine sample. The authorities accepted his explanation that it had been part of a proprietary skin cream used to treat saddle boils, an inescapable feature of the cycle racer's arduous life.

The public's divergent views on the nature of his success were evident last week on the climb up to l'Alpe d'Huez, one of the Tour's most famous features, where fans paint messages of support on the steeply winding roadway. As he raced along, Armstrong's eyes passed over a series of messages ranging in tone from "RIP THEIR BALLS OFF, LANCE" to "EPO ARMSTRONG". A few days earlier he was said to have been spat on by spectators.

Most cycling fans, however, accept that the use of illegal performance-enhancing substances goes back as far as the origins of the 101-year-old Tour.

When Jacques Anquetil, one of the quartet of five-times winners, was once asked about doping, he responded in exasperation: "Do they expect us to ride up these mountains on mineral water?" Until concrete evidence is produced against Armstrong, the majority appear content to welcome him to a unique place in the pantheon.

For the sixth year in succession the Star-Spangled Banner sounded on the Champs-Elysées as he ascended the podium to accept the trophy and don the yellow jersey under the eye of his girlfriend Sheryl Crow, the rock singer, who not only followed him around the race but accompanied him on the weeks of training runs with which he reconnoitred the course in the spring. His friend Robin Williams, the actor, was also at hand.

Although Armstrong, who lives most of the year in Spain, has pointedly expressed his disapproval of George Bush's foreign policy, the president, a fellow Texan, yesterday called him to congratulate him on behalf of the nation. "You're awesome," he told him.

The minute thoroughness of Armstrong's preparation, and the collective strength of his US Postal Service team, are among the factors contributing to the success that has made him a multimillionaire.

What is less easy to define is the origin of a ferocious competitive spirit that burned even more fiercely this year as he reduced his rivals to shattered wrecks.

Calling it revenge on the disease that tried to take his life is too glib. Armstrong was a fighter from the start. But cancer certainly gave him the experience of confronting and beating a bigger opponent than any he has faced on a bike.

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Lance Armstrong: 'Impossible' to win Tour de France without doping

• Armstrong won the Tour de France seven times from 1999 to 2005
• He was later stripped of those titles by the USADA for doping
• He still considers himself the winner of those races

PORTO VECCHIO, Corsica (AP) - The dirty past of the Tour de France came back Friday to haunt the 100th edition of cycling's showcase race, with Lance Armstrong telling a newspaper he couldn't have won without doping.

Armstrong's interview with Le Monde was surprising on many levels, not least because of his long-antagonistic relationship with the respected French daily that first reported in 1999 that corticosteroids were found in the American's urine as he was riding his way to the first of his seven Tour wins. In response, Armstrong had complained that he was being persecuted by "vulture journalism, desperate journalism."

Now seemingly prepared to let bygones be bygones, Armstrong told Le Monde that he still considers himself the record-holder for Tour victories, even though all seven of his titles were stripped from him last year for doping. He also said his life has been ruined by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency investigation that exposed as lies his years of denials that he and his teammates doped.

The interview was the latest blast from cycling's doping-tainted recent history to rain on the Tour's 100th race. Previously, Armstrong's former rival on French roads, 1997 Tour winner Jan Ullrich, confessed to blood-doping for the first time with a Spanish doctor. French media also reported that a Senate investigation into the effectiveness of anti-doping controls pieced together evidence of drug use at the 1998 Tour by Laurent Jalabert, a former star of the race now turned broadcaster.

Not surprising in Armstrong's interview was his claim that it was "impossible" to win the Tour without doping when he was racing. Armstrong already told U.S. television talk-show host Oprah Winfrey when he finally confessed this January that doping was just "part of the job" of being a pro-cyclist. The banned hormone erythropoietin, or EPO, wasn't detectable by cycling's doping controls until 2001 and so was widely abused because it prompts the body to produce oxygen-carrying blood cells, giving a big performance boost to endurance athletes.

Armstrong was clearly talking about his own era, rather than the Tour today. Le Monde reported that he was responding to the question: "When you raced, was it possible to perform without doping?"

"That depends on which races you wanted to win. The Tour de France? No. Impossible to win without doping. Because the Tour is a test of endurance where oxygen is decisive," Le Monde quoted Armstrong as saying. It published the interview in French.

Some subsequent media reports about Le Monde 's interview concluded that Armstrong was saying doping is still necessary now, rather than when he was winning the Tour from 1999-2005. That suggestion provoked dismay from current riders, race organizers and the sport's governing body, the International Cycling Union or UCI.

"If he's saying things like he doesn't think that it's possible to win the Tour clean, then he should be quiet - because it is possible," said American rider Tejay van Garderen of the BMC team.

UCI President Pat McQuaid called the timing of Armstrong's comments "very sad."

"I can tell him categorically that he is wrong. His comments do absolutely nothing to help cycling," McQuaid said in a statement. "The culture within cycling has changed since the Armstrong era and it is now possible to race and win clean."

"Riders and teams owners have been forthright in saying that it is possible to win clean - and I agree with them."

Timeline of Lance Armstrong's career successes, doping allegations and final collapse

ESPN's 30 for 30 "LANCE" directed by Marina Zenovich

Part 1: 9 p.m. ET Sunday on ESPN Part 2: 9 p.m. ET May 31 on ESPN Streaming: ESPN+ and ESPN Player (where available)

Lance Armstrong, a former American road-racing cyclist, helped elevate cycling to global popularity. His seven consecutive Tour de France victories, from 1999 to 2005, and his status as a cancer survivor made him one of the most iconic and revered athletes outside of the professional sports world.

Yet, throughout his career, he consistently faced allegations of doping -- particularly after he faced cancer and won the Tour de France a few years later.

His pro career began after winning a U.S. amateur national championship in 1991, but he placed last in his debut race -- the Clásica de San Sebastian in Spain. He won his first professional race the next year and entered his first Tour de France. He won a stage but dropped out and did not finish the race. He won the Thrift Drug Triple Crown in 1993, and his fame took off shortly thereafter.

Here's the timeline of Armstrong's career:

1996: Armstrong becomes the first American to win the La Flèche Wallonne, and he wins a second Tour DuPont. Despite being a part of only five days of the Tour de France, he goes on to participate in the 1996 Olympic Games, finishing sixth in the time trial and 12th in the road race. In October 1996, he is diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer that had also spread to his lymph nodes, lungs, brain and abdomen.

"I intend to beat this disease, and further I intend to ride again as a professional cyclist," he says when announcing his diagnosis. He undergoes his final chemotherapy treatment in December 1996.

1997: He establishes the Lance Armstrong Foundation (later renamed Livestrong) to support cancer patients and research. Armstrong also signs with the U.S. Postal Service's cycling team, which would later be rebranded under a different sponsor, Discovery Channel. The ubiquitous, yellow "Livestrong" bracelets from Armstrong's foundation would become a symbol for cancer patients and survivors everywhere.

1999: At age 27, after returning to professional cycling in 1997, Armstrong wins his first Tour de France.

"I hope it sends out a fantastic message to all survivors around the world," Armstrong says at the finish line in Paris. "We can return to what we were before -- and even better."

He is immediately peppered with questions about doping, denying all accusations. Despite testing positive for a corticosteroid, he shows a backdated prescription to avoid sanctions. The questions don't seem to matter; the comeback story and victory launches Armstrong to global stardom.

2000: Armstrong wins his second Tour de France, as well as a bronze medal in the time trial event at the Sydney Olympic Games. German Jan Ullrich, a chief rival of Armstrong's, wins the gold medal in the road race and silver in the time trials.

In Armstrong's autobiography "It's Not About the Bike ," he provides what becomes a famous quote: "Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever."

2001: Armstrong wins his third consecutive Tour de France. His rivalry with Ullrich is at its peak. Ullrich never defeats Armstrong in the Tour de France. He has more second-place finishes than any other racer.

2002: Armstrong wins his fourth consecutive Tour de France. French authorities simultaneously conclude a two-year investigation into the U.S. Postal Service team, but the investigation finds no use of performance-enhancing drugs.

2003: He wins the Tour de France again, for the fifth time. "This was my hardest win -- we dodged some bullets. It was a rough year at the Tour and I don't plan to make the same mistakes twice. But my win feels more satisfying, more than the others because of that. The crashes and near-crashes take it out of you," Armstrong says at the finish.

More: How to watch 'LANCE'

2004: Armstrong wins a record-setting sixth Tour de France.

2005: At age 33, after winning a seventh Tour de France, Armstrong retires to spend more time with his family. French newspaper L'Equipe reports blood samples retested from a 1999 race show evidence of blood doping that year, but Armstrong again denies the allegations.

"If you consider my situation: a guy who comes back from arguably, you know, a death sentence, why would I then enter into a sport and dope myself up and risk my life again? That's crazy," Armstrong tells CNN. "I would never do that. No. No way.

2009: After announcing his return to cycling, saying he hoped to "raise awareness of the global cancer burden," Armstrong finishes third in the Tour de France, his first race back from retirement. He also joins the RadioShack team, with intentions to again compete in the 2010 Tour de France.

2010: At the Tour Down Under, Armstrong makes his 2010 race debut, finishing 25th out of 127. At the Vuelta a Murcia in Europe, he finishes in seventh place overall, before pulling out of a handful of other races due to bouts with gastroenteritis. After a crash in the Tour de California, he places second in the Tour of Switzerland and third in the Tour of Luxembourg. In the 2010 Tour De France, which he had said would be his final, he finishes in 23rd place. However, Team RadioShack wins the team competition thanks to Armstrong's contributions.

At the same time, American cyclist Floyd Landis, who was Armstrong's teammate for two years and won the 2006 Tour De France, admits he used performance-enhancing drugs. In emails to U.S. and European cycling officials, Landis says he began doping in 2002 -- his first year alongside Armstrong, who again denies the allegations against him, saying in May: "It's our word against his word. I like our word. We like our credibility. Floyd lost his credibility a long time ago."

Landis also accuses other U.S. Postal Service teammates of doping, in addition to Armstrong, and agrees to cooperate with federal officials investigating the allegations.

2011: Armstrong again announces his retirement from competitive cycling in February, at age 39, to focus on family and his cancer foundation. But the walls obscuring his past use of performance-enhancing drugs are cracking. Two other U.S. Postal team members come forward acknowledging their own PED use and further implicating Armstrong.

2012: Federal prosecutors drop their criminal investigation against Armstrong and the U.S. Postal Service team in February, with no charges filed. However, the United States Anti-Doping Agency accuses Armstrong of doping and trafficking of drugs in June. In October, the USADA formally charges him with using, possessing and trafficking banned substances and recommends a lifetime ban. In choosing not to appeal the findings, Armstrong is stripped of all of his achievements from August 1998 onward, including his seven Tour de France titles. Armstrong still publicly denies the use of performance-enhancing drugs.

2013: In a January interview with Oprah Winfrey , Armstrong finally admits to doping during each Tour de France win from 1999 to 2005.

"This story was so perfect for so long. It's this myth, this perfect story, and it wasn't true," Armstrong tells Winfrey.

"I viewed this situation as one big lie that I repeated a lot of times, and as you said, it wasn't as if I just said no and I moved off it."

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Lance Armstrong: ‘I won the Tour de France seven times’

• By David Trifunov

Seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong attends the Paris Roubaix cycling race on April 8, 2012, in Paris.

Lance Armstrong introduced himself as a cancer survivor and a seven-time Tour de France champion in his first public appearance since backing away from a fight with the US Anti-Doping Agency.

At the World Cancer Congress today in Montreal, Armstrong used the keynote address to announce his Livestrong Foundation’s $500,000 contribution to the Union for International Cancer Control.

To begin the speech, he referenced his very public battles – with cancer and the USADA.

“My name is Lance Armstrong. I am a cancer survivor. I’m a father of five. And yes, I won the Tour de France seven times,” he said, The Canadian Press reported.

USADA stripped him of his Tour de France titles, wiped 14 years of his career from the record books and banned him from cycling Friday based on allegations of doping despite the fact Armstrong has never tested positive.

After first launching a court challenge, the 41-year-old Texan announced last Thursday that he was ending his battle with USADA.

While many might view Armstrong’s amazing accomplishments with a jaundiced eye, cancer survivors continue to hold him in high regard.

More from GlobalPost: Lance Armstrong stripped of cycling titles

“To me Lance Armstrong is an inspiration,” conference speaker and cancer survivor Sarah Cook said in Montreal. “He’s a kind, generous man who has devoted years of his life to fighting this awful disease.”

USADA’s decision hasn’t negatively affected donations to Livestrong, either.

After the agency announced it had stripped him of the titles, donations nearly doubled to more than $60,000 from the day before.

Individual donors climbed to 937 from 313, The Associated Press reported.

“The foundation was grateful to be overwhelmed by an outpouring of support in the last few days,” Livestrong CEO Doug Ulman said in a statement. “The number of spontaneous donations and messages of solidarity from partners and supporters were amazing.”

The World Cancer Congress ends Friday.

More from GlobalPost: Lance Armstrong’s lawsuit against USADA dismissed

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This Day In History : October 22

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Cyclist Lance Armstrong is stripped of his seven Tour de France titles

On October 22, 2012, Lance Armstrong is formally stripped of the seven Tour de France titles he won from 1999 to 2005 and banned for life from competitive cycling after being charged with systematically using illicit performance-enhancing drugs and blood transfusions as well as demanding that some of his Tour teammates dope in order to help him win races. It was a dramatic fall from grace for the onetime global cycling icon, who inspired millions of people after surviving cancer then going on to become one of the most dominant riders in the history of the grueling French race, which attracts the planet’s top cyclists.

Born in Texas in 1971, Armstrong became a professional cyclist in 1992 and by 1996 was the number-one ranked rider in the world. However, in October 1996 he was diagnosed with Stage 3 testicular cancer, which had spread to his lungs, brain and abdomen. After undergoing surgery and chemotherapy, Armstrong resumed training in early 1997 and in October of that year joined the U.S. Postal Service cycling team. Also in 1997, he established a cancer awareness foundation. The organization would famously raise millions of dollars through a sales campaign, launched in 2004, of yellow Livestrong wristbands.

In July 1999, to the amazement of the cycling world and less than three years after his cancer diagnosis, Armstrong won his first Tour de France. He was only the second American ever to triumph in the legendary, three-week race, established in 1903. (The first American to do so was Greg LeMond, who won in 1986, 1989 and 1990.) Armstrong went on to win the Tour again in 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003. In 2004, he became the first person ever to claim six Tour titles, and on July 24, 2005, Armstrong won his seventh straight title and retired from pro cycling. He made a comeback to the sport in 2009, finishing third in that year’s Tour and 23rd in the 2010 Tour, before retiring for good in 2011 at age 39.

Throughout his career, Armstrong, like many other top cyclists of his era, was dogged by accusations of performance-boosting drug use, but he repeatedly and vigorously denied all allegations against him and claimed to have passed hundreds of drug tests. In June 2012, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), following a two-year investigation, charged the cycling superstar with engaging in doping violations from at least August 1998, and with participating in a conspiracy to cover up his misconduct. After losing a federal appeal to have the USADA charges against him dropped, Armstrong announced on August 23 that he would stop fighting them. However, calling the USADA probe an “unconstitutional witch hunt,” he continued to insist he hadn’t done anything wrong and said the reason for his decision to no longer challenge the allegations was the toll the investigation had taken on him, his family and his cancer foundation. The next day, USADA announced Armstrong had been banned for life from competitive cycling and disqualified of all competitive results from August 1, 1998, through the present.

On October 10, 2012, USADA released hundreds of pages of evidence—including sworn testimony from 11 of Armstrong’s former teammates, as well as emails, financial documents and lab test results—that the anti-doping agency said demonstrated Armstrong and the U.S. Postal Service team had been involved in the most sophisticated and successful doping program in the history of cycling. A week after the USADA report was made public, Armstrong stepped down as chairman of his cancer foundation and was dumped by a number of his sponsors, including Nike, Trek and Anheuser-Busch.On October 22, Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the cycling’s world governing body, announced that it accepted the findings of the USADA investigation and officially was erasing Armstrong’s name from the Tour de France record books and upholding his lifetime ban from the sport. In a press conference that day, the UCI president stated: “Lance Armstrong has no place in cycling, and he deserves to be forgotten in cycling.”

After years of denials, Armstrong finally admitted publicly, in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey that aired on January 17, 2013, he had doped for much of his cycling career, beginning in the mid-1990s through his final Tour de France victory in 2005. He admitted to using a performance-enhancing drug regimen that included testosterone, human growth hormone, the blood booster EPO and cortisone.

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Lance Armstrong: I'd have won the Tour de France if everyone was clean

'We did what we had to do to win'

Lance Armstrong says he and his teams would have won the Tour de France multiple times if the entire peloton was riding clean during his now-stripped reign of seven victories from 1999 through 2005.

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Lance Armstrong: I wouldn't change a thing

In a wide-ranging interview with NBC Sports as part of the network’s 2019 Tour de France coverage, journalist Mike Tirico interviewed the 47-year-old whose seven Tour de France victories were taken away after the US Anti-Doping Agency's investigation and 2012 "Reasoned Decision" detailing Armstrong’s guilt.

Although Armstrong told Tirico his decision to dope was a mistake, he also said he wouldn't change a thing in his career, and he was proud of the efforts he and his teams put into the Tour preparation outside of their use of performance enhancing drugs.

"What I wish would have happened, I wish kids from Plano and Glenwood Springs, Colorado, and Brooklyn and Montana, as young Americans, if we'd have gone to Europe and everybody was fighting with their fists, we still win," he said. "I promise you that.

"What did we say? We said we worked the hardest, had the best tactics, best team composition, best director, best equipment, best technology, recon the courses. All the things we said, we did. We left out a part, but we did all that stuff. Because now this one thing is part of the story doesn't erase all that. All that happened," Armstrong said. "If you just had this one thing and did none of that, you get last."

When Tirico asked Armstrong to recall why he and many of his US cohorts decided to use performance enhancing drugs, the Texan said it was their belief that they needed to dope to compete in Europe.

"That wasn't just a feeling, that was a fact," he said. "I don't want to make excuses for myself that everybody did it or we never could have won without it. Those are all true, but the buck stops with me. I'm the one who made the decision to do what I did, and it was ... I didn't want to go home, man. I was gonna stay.

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"I told you earlier, I don't lay down. And it was the wrong decision, but laying down would have been giving up, going home.

"I knew there were going to be knives at this fight, not just fists. I knew there would be knives. I had knives, and then one day, people start showing up with guns. That's when you say, 'Do I either fly back to Plano, Texas, and not know what you're going to do? Or do you walk over to the gun store?' I walked to the gun store. I didn't want to go home.

Armstrong pushed back against claims that he was the ring leader who cajoled others into doping.

"There are a few things that are just not true about the story," he said. "I mean, there's a lot true, but this idea that myself or anybody forced or mandated or encouraged anybody else to cross that line, just isn't true. It's not true. Absolutely not true.

"We did what we had to do to win. It wasn’t legal. It probably wasn't the best decision, but look, we wouldn't have won had we not. But I wouldn't change a thing. I've said that three times. I would not change a thing," Armstrong said, pausing briefly between each word for emphasis.

"Most of my memories, my fondest memories – yeah, I could pick a few race highlights – but boy, I can tell you about the eight-hour day in the Pyrenees previewing Haute de Com in the pouring rain – pffft – the best," he said, tearing up as he spoke.

Armstrong also revealed his first encounters with performance enhancing drugs, a line he said he first crossed in 1991.

"I think I do," Armstrong said when Tirico asked if he remembered his first experience. "There are gateway drugs that maybe they weren’t banned, certainly weren’t detectable or tested for. The easiest way to think about it is, if you think it's going to help you, even if it's not detectable or banned, then you've crossed the line.

"It was probably '91, maybe, at an Italian stage race. And again, it's hard to differentiate, because I believe we weren't given anything banned, but the doctor walked in – and I was in the lead of the race, and I wanted to win the race – and he walked in and I said, 'Give me everything in the bag.' And he just laughed.

"But it was just probably some form of cortizone or, Armstrong said and then trailed off, failing to finish his through. "But the first time I took a legitimately banned substance was '93."

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Cycling has been part of the modern Olympic Games since the first edition back in 1896. Ahead of the 2024 Paris Games, the Olympic program for cycling now covers five separate disciplines and 11 different events. Read on to learn more about the history of the sport.

Which country has the most gold medals in Olympic cycling history?

France has won 41 gold medals in cycling, the most of any nation at the Olympic Games.

Which country has the most medals in Olympic cycling history?

Great Britain has won a total of 100 Olympic cycling medals (38 gold, 35 silver, 27 bronze), putting them just ahead of France's 93 on the all-time table.

How many Olympic gold medals has the United States won in cycling?

The United States has won 17 gold medals in cycling at the Olympic Games. Along with 22 silver and 21 bronze medals, the U.S. has collected a total of 60 Olympic cycling medals.

Which athlete holds the record for most Olympic cycling gold medals?

Great Britain's Jason Kenny holds the record for most gold medals (7) and most total medals (9) in cycling at the Olympic Games.

What is the history of cycling?

The first bikes are believed to have emerged from the forests of central Germany in 1816. The first official bike race took place in 1868 in France. In 1885, safety bicycles were manufactured in Coventry, England – a close cousin of today’s bike.

Cycling was introduced at the first modern Olympics in 1896. In 1903, Maurice Garin won the first Tour de France, which covered 1,450 miles in six stages. Road racing traditions continue today.

At the turn of the century, track cycling also garnered attention in the United States and was one of the nation’s most popular spectator sports. Events attracted celebrity-studded crowds that filled the Chicago Stadium and Madison Square Garden in New York City. In the late 1930s and 1940s, however, track cycling fell out of favor. Hundreds of velodromes were torn down as a result.

In the 1970s, cycling in the U.S. had a mini-Renaissance thanks, in part, to the advent of fat-tired all-terrain mountain bikes. Durango, Colorado, hosted the first national championship in 1986 and the first world championship in 1990. Americans Ned Overend and Julie Furtado won the inaugural world titles.

Also in the 1970s, bicycle motocross (otherwise known as BMX racing) became a popular sport in Southern California after some cyclists modified 20-inch Schwinn Stingray bicycles. In April 1981, the International BMX Federation was founded, and the first World BMX Racing Championships were held in 1982. In January 1993, BMX was integrated into the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI).

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, some BMX racers began performing tricks, and soon BMX freestyle emerged as its own discipline. American Bob Haro, who was a stunt rider in Steven Spielberg's "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," is considered the Godfather of BMX freestyle. He started the first BMX freestyle tour in 1981, and the sport was subsequently featured in many televised events. In 2016, it was integrated into the UCI, which helped form a BMX Freestyle Park World Cup. After a successful season, BMX freestyle was added to the 2020 Olympic program in 2017.

Cycling results by year

Tokyo, 2020.

Road Cycling Weeks before the Games, Ecuadorian rider Richard Carapaz had finished third in the world’s most famous race, the Tour de France. In Tokyo, he became just the second rider to win the Olympic road race and finish on the Tour podium in the same year. In the process, Carapaz became the second-ever gold medalist in Ecuador's Olympic history. That year's Tour de France winner, Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia, finished with bronze in Tokyo.

Track Cycling American Jennifer Valente captured omnium gold, winning two of the event's four races to become the first-ever U.S. woman to win a track cycling title at the Olympics. Meanwhile, Great Britain's Jason Kenny won a silver medal in the team sprint and a gold medal in the keirin to give him the most Olympic gold medals (7) and most total medals (9) all-time for a cyclist and for a British athlete. Jason's wife, Laura Kenny , also won a silver medal and a gold medal, and she later retired as the most successful woman in Great Britain's Olympic history with a total of five career gold medals.

BMX Racing Rain slickened the track and made an impact on the women's event, as two of the top contenders — Alise Willoughby of the United States and Laura Smulders of the Netherlands — crashed out in the semifinals. In the final race, Great Britain's Bethany Shriever , who had to crowdfund and work part-time to pay for her BMX career, narrowly defeated two-time reigning Olympic champion Mariana Pajon of Colombia for gold in an amazing upset.

BMX Freestyle BMX freestyle made its Olympic debut in Tokyo with park contests for men and women. Australia's Logan Martin won the inaugural men's event, while Great Britain's Charlotte Worthington captured the first-ever women's gold. American Hannah Roberts entered as the favorite in the women's contest, but Worthington earned her gold medal by pulling out a never-been-done trick — a 360 backflip — in her second run to claim the win.

Mountain Biking Tom Pidcock won gold in the men's event to deliver Great Britain its first Olympic medal in mountain biking. Historically known for its numerous medals and dominance in Olympic track cycling, Great Britain had been missing hardware in this discipline until Tokyo.

Road Cycling A day before her 43rd birthday, American Kristin Armstrong became the oldest Olympic women's cycling medalist ever with her third straight gold medal in women's time trial. In the women's road race, leader Annemiek van Vleuten  of the Netherlands suffered a frightening crash in rainy conditions, which left her with a concussion and three small fractures in her spine. Her countrywoman, Anna van der Breggen , won the race.

Track Cycling Great Britain led the cycling medal table with six golds and twelve total medals, carried by its performance on the track. With gold in team pursuit, Bradley Wiggins became the first cyclist ever to win eight Olympic medals. Jason Kenny tied compatriot Chris Hoy  for the most all-time Olympic cycling gold medals with six after winning gold in sprint, keirin, and team sprint.

Entering the 2016 Rio Games, Leontien van Moorsel was the all-time leader in women's cycling gold medals with four and total medals with six. At their conclusion, she was tied for the most ever in both categories. Australian  Anna Meares won her sixth career Olympic medal, a bronze in women's keirin, while Laura Kenny (nee Trott) won her third and fourth career gold medals in Rio in omnium and team pursuit.

China won gold in women's team sprint, the country's first-ever Olympic gold medal in cycling.

Mountain Biking Swiss cross-country cyclist  Nino Schurter – after ascending the medal ladder with a bronze at the 2008 Games in Beijing and a silver at the 2012 Games in London, collecting five world titles on the way – finally attained Olympic gold in the men's event. Sweden's Jenny Rissveds beat out Beijing runner-up Maja Wloszczowska of Poland.

BMX Racing Colombia's Mariana Pajon defended her Olympic title, and American Connor Fields unseated two-time Olympic champion Maris Strombergs of Latvia to win the U.S. its first Olympic BMX gold.

London, 2012

Road Cycling In the women's road race, Holland's Marianne Vos won the gold medal, beating out Britain's Elizabeth Deignan (nee Armitstead) (silver) and Russia's Olga Zabelinskaya (bronze) on a typically rainy Sunday in London.

In the women's time trial, Kristin Armstrong of the United States, who had retired to start a family after winning gold in Beijing before returning to competition a year before the Games, dominated the field finishing more than 15 seconds faster than her closest competitor. Taking place shortly before her 39th birthday, Armstrong's victory made her cycling's oldest female gold medalist.

For the men, Alexander Vinokourov of Kazakhstan won the gold, finishing ahead of Colombia's Rigoberto Uran and Norway's Alexander Kristoff . In the men's time trial, Great Britain's  Bradley Wiggins emerged victorious in his home country to become the first cyclist to win the Tour de France and Olympic gold in the same year, beating Germany's Tony Martin and fellow countryman Chris Froome . The United States' Taylor Phinney finished fourth in both the road race and the time trial.

BMX Racing In men's BMX, Latvia's Maris Strombergs remained the Olympic sport's only male champion, winning his second straight Olympic gold with Sam Willoughby and Carlos Oquendo Zabala rounding out the field. On the women's side, Colombia's Mariana Pajon seized the gold medal, only Colombia's second since it began competing in the Games.   

Track Cycling The host country dominated inside the velodrome, where riders from Great Britain captured seven of a possible 10 gold medals. Victoria Pendleton represented England nobly with a gold medal in women's keirin and a silver in the women's sprint, and compatriot  Chris Hoy won his sixth gold medal, this time in the team sprint.

Two of Great Britain's big winners –  Jason Kenny , who took gold in the individual and team sprints, and Laura Trott , who won the omnium and was a member of the Brits' team pursuit gold – later revealed that they were dating after being photographed behind football legend David Beckham at a beach volleyball match.

Mountain Biking On the mountain bike course, Jaroslav Kulhavy and Julie Bresset won gold in the men's and women's events respectively. Georgia Gould captured the only mountain biking medal for the U.S. as she claimed bronze in the women's race. 

Beijing, 2008

Road Cycling On a hilly road course in Beijing, climber Spain's Samuel Sanchez stunned the field by sprinting to victory from a small breakaway group. Italy's Davide Rebellin finished second ahead of Switzerland's Fabian Cancellara , who also took gold in the men's time trial. However, Rebellin would test positive for CERA, a banned blood boosting agent, thus bumping Cancellara into the silver medal slot with Russia's Alexandr Kolobnev rounding out the road race podium. 

Due to strict regulations put in place by the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee (BOCOG), spectators were not permitted to stand roadside along the road courses. For the women, this was the least of the problems, as the road race – won by Great Britain’s Nicole Cooke – was held in a driving rain that lasted the entire competition.

American  Kristin Armstrong won the women's time trial, defeating Brit  Emma Pooley by 25 seconds. It was the only U.S. cycling gold.

Track Cycling Great Britain dominated the track events, taking a haul of seven gold medals. Chris Hoy become a superstar with his three wins and was subsequently knighted.  Bradley Wiggins , who too would be knighted but after the future 2012 Games in London, won two golds.

Mountain Biking On a technical course in blistering conditions, France's Julien Absalon effortlessly defended his Athens gold medal in the men's cross-country mountain bike race ahead of teammate Jean-Christophe Peraud . Nino Schurter , 22, of Switzerland, turned heads by finishing third.

BMX Racing BMX, short for bicycle motocross, was added to the Olympic program. Latvian Maris Strombergs and Frenchwoman Anne-Caroline Chausson were crowned the first Olympic champions in BMX cycling.

Athens, 2004

Road Cycling One month after a back injury forced him out of the Tour de France, American Tyler Hamilton climbed from third place at the halfway mark to overtake Sydney gold-medalist Viatcheslav Ekimov of Russia and win the Olympic men's road time trial.

"This is fantastic," Hamilton said. "I've dreamt about a gold medal ever since I was a kid. I'm really proud to represent my country. This the greatest moment of my career."

Fellow American Bobby Julich overcame a broken right wrist suffered in the Tour de France to take the bronze.

Hamilton came up with a positive doping "A" test after the race, but got to keep his medal after his "B" test was thrown out on a technicality. However, in 2011 he admitted to blood doping, a practice he claims to have learned while a member of Lance Armstrong's U.S. Postal Service team, and subsequently returned his gold medal.

Track Cycling Australia dominated the track cycling competition, picking up 10 medals, including five gold, in the 12 events contested. Among the highlights were Anna Meares setting a world record of 33.952 seconds en route to a gold medal in the women's time trial; Ryan Bayley winning gold in the men's sprint and keirin events; the Aussie men's pursuit team setting a world record in the first round before winning gold; and Graeme Brown and Stuart O'Grady winning Madison gold.

In 2000, Australian Katie Mactier gave up her career at a large Melbourne advertising agency to devote herself full-time to cycling. Four years later, she earned her first Olympic medal, silver in the women's individual pursuit. Originally a road competitor, Mactier only added track cycling to her repertoire in 2003, when she nearly beat Dutch Olympic champion Leontien van Moorsel in the individual pursuit at the World Championships that year. Sarah Ulmer of New Zealand set a world record in winning gold while Van Moorsel took bronze in her Olympic farewell.

Sydney, 2000

Track Cycling Thirty-year-old cyclist Leontien van Moorsel , her career once jeopardized by an eating disorder, was the star of Sydney's cycling competition. The Dutchwoman's stunning dominance began on the track with a victory in the individual pursuit, followed by silver in the points race.

Germany's Jens Fiedler , chasing his third consecutive Olympic title in the men's sprint, lost 2-0 in the Sydney semifinals to American Marty Nothstein . Four years earlier in the Atlanta final, Nothstein lost two close races to Fiedler. This time, the Pennsylvania native seized his golden moment and defeated  Florian Rousseau of France 2-0 to give the U.S. its first sprint gold since Mark Gorski at the 1984 Games.

American Chris Witty – a double-medalist in speed skating at the 1998 Nagano Games – finished fifth in the women’s 500m time trial. At the 2002 Salt Lake Games, she won the women’s 1000m gold medal in world record time.

Best capitalizing on an expanded cycling program for Sydney, France en route to its eight medals in cycling won three of the four new track events: the Olympic sprint, a team competition; the keirin, from Florian Rousseau ; and the women's 500m time trial, from Felicia Ballanger , who also defended her sprint title. The only new event not won by the French was the Madison, which went to a team from Australia.

Road Cycling With a sweep of the road race and time trial to add to her individual pursuit victory on the track, Dutchwoman  Leontien van Moorsel was one of six athletes to win three gold medals at the Sydney Games.

American Lance Armstrong , a two-time reigning Tour de France winner and cancer survivor, failed in his attempt to become the first man to win the Tour de France and an Olympic gold medal in the same year, taking the bronze in the time trial and finishing 13th in the road race. The medal, and all of Armstrong's Tour de France victories, were later revoked after it was discovered that he had used performance enhancing drugs since 1998. He had suffered fractured vertebrae in his neck shortly before the Olympics after colliding with a car during training.

Russia’s Viatcheslav Ekimov won the time trial to become the first cyclist to win Olympic gold 12 years apart — he won his first gold in 1988 in track cycling’s team pursuit event. Germany’s Jan Ullrich won the road race and placed second in the time trial.

Mountain Biking She said before the race she'd be happy to just win bronze, and her pink bike didn't exactly convey toughness. But in the Olympic women's mountain bike event, Italy's Paola Pezzo was as determined and tenacious as ever. After making "several errors" early, Pezzo fought for the lead on the fourth of five laps when she got entangled with Spain's two-time world champion, Margarita Fullana . Pezzo emerged from the tie-up, but Fullana fell, allowing the Italian to pull away and cruise to a successful defense of her Olympic title.

Atlanta, 1996

Mountain Biking Two decades after emerging on cycling's horizon, mountain biking made its Olympic debut in Atlanta with cross-country events. Dutch world champion Bart Brentjens , who prepared for the sweltering Atlanta conditions by riding a stationary bike in a hot and steamy room, comfortably won the men's race. Paola Pezzo , cycling's poster girl, took gold in the women's event ahead of favored Canadian Alison Sydor . American Susan DeMattei , a registered nurse, finished third.

Road Cycling With the ban on professional cyclists competing at the Olympics lifted, Spain's Miguel Indurain won gold in the time trial (road), less than two weeks after his streak of five consecutive Tour de France victories came to an end. Finishing sixth was American Lance Armstrong , who later became the second person to win five straight Tours.

Switzerland’s Pascal Richard outsprinted Denmark’s Rolf Sorensen to win the gold medal in the 221.85-kilometer (137.8-mile) men’s road race, the first open to professional riders in Olympic history. Richard dedicated his victory to his father, who died when Pascal was 18, and to 1992 Olympic champion Fabio Casartelli , who died from head injuries during the 1995 Tour de France. Casartelli’s parents attended the race. Two months after the Games, the Armstrong, who finished 12th in the road race, was diagnosed with testicular cancer.

France’s Jeannie Longo , considered by many to be the greatest female cyclist ever, finally captured an elusive Olympic gold medal at age 37 in her fourth Olympics. She won the gold in the road race and took the silver in the time trial. Professionals were also allowed to compete in track cycling, and France took advantage, winning four gold medals.

Track Cycling The U.S. won two medals – silvers by Marty Nothstein in the sprint and Erin Hartwell in the kilometer time trial.

Barcelona, 1992

Track Cycling Riding a new, high-tech bicycle that weighed less than 20 pounds, Britain's Chris Boardman dominated track cycling's individual pursuit competition. In the preliminary rounds, Boardman lowered the world record by nearly seven seconds. Then, in the race for gold, he overtook Germany's Jens Lehmann  – a feat never before achieved in an Olympic pursuit final – to become Britain's first Olympic cycling champion in 72 years, since the 1920 Olympics in Antwerp.

The addition of the women's individual pursuit to the 1992 program helped lure American Rebecca Twigg and France's Jeannie Longo out of their retirements. Combined, they won seven world titles in the event in the 1980s. In a quarterfinal duel, Twigg, 29, edged Longo, 33, by two inches. Twigg then lost in the semifinals to relative unknown Kathy Watt of Australia, but did earn an Olympic bronze medal to go along with her 1984 road race silver. Longo, who finished second to the 5-foot-1 Watt in the Barcelona road race, competed at two more Olympics before retiring with four career medals.

Four years after winning the inaugural women's sprint event, representing the Soviet Union,  Erika Salumae took gold again in Barcelona. But this time, Salumae pedaled for her native Estonia, which had last competed independently at the 1936 Berlin Games. After becoming Estonia's first female Olympic champion, Salumae watched as the Estonian flag was raised upside down at the medal ceremony.

Spain’s Jose Moreno excited the home crowd by winning his nation’s first gold medal of the Games in the kilometer time trial. One year earlier, Moreno tested positive for steroids but was exonerated after the UCI, cycling’s international federation, found faulty procedures were used. American Erin Hartwell secured the bronze.

Road Cycling In the road race, Italy’s Fabio Casartelli edged the Netherlands' Erik Dekker to claim the gold. It was the last time this event was closed to professionals. Casartelli would soon turn pro, and three years later in the 1995 Tour de France, a vicious crash on a mountain descent resulted in his death. Three days later, Motorola teammate Lance Armstrong of the United States won a stage that he dedicated to Casartelli. Armstrong finished 14th in the 1992 Olympic event and turned professional immediately following the race.

In the women’s road race, France’s Jeannie Longo believed she had won the gold medal when she crossed the line, but she had not realized that Australia’s Kathy Watt had snuck out of the peloton and cruised to victory.

Seoul, 1988

As the USSR's Aleksandr Kirichenko entered the final lap of the men's kilometer track time trial, his rear tire began to deflate. By the time he reached the finish line, the tire had lost half of its air. Though permitted to re-run the race, Kirichenko and his coach decided against it, figuring he would be too exhausted to post a faster time. When pre-race favorite Martin Vinnicombe of Australia, the final competitor, finished 0.285 of a second behind Kirichenko, the Soviet had Olympic gold to accompany his flat tire.

Just seven months before competing in the first Olympic women's sprint event, track cyclist Christa Luding-Rothenburger of East Germany won silver and gold in speed skating at the Calgary Games. In Seoul, participating in the sport she took up as a form of off-season training, Luding-Rothenburger finished runner-up to Soviet Erika Salumae to take silver in the sprint and become the only athlete with Olympic medals from both the Summer and Winter Games in the same year.

The men's and women's road races were marked by wild finishes, in which East German Olaf Ludwig and Dutchwoman Monique Knol , respectively, were victorious.

Los Angeles, 1984

Women contested an Olympic road race for the first time at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, helping the United States end a 72-year medal drought in cycling. Near the end of the 79.2-kilometer (49.2-mile) inaugural race, five cyclists made up the lead pack, including Americans  Rebecca Twigg and  Connie Carpenter-Phinney , who had competed in speed skating at the 1972 Winter Olympics at age 14. With 200 meters to go, Twigg broke away, followed by Carpenter-Phinney, who caught her teammate just before the finish line. Carpenter-Phinney then "threw" her bike forward and won the gold medal by less than than half a wheel, becoming the first female Olympic cycling champion. Carpenter-Phinney’s husband, Davis Phinney , finished fifth in the men’s road race and won a bronze in the team time trial. The team time trial was held on the Artesia Freeway, and the medal ceremony was held in front of the Regal Plastic Company and an exit sign for Avalon Boulevard.

With several top cyclists absent because of the Soviet-led boycott, the final of the men's sprint in 1984 saw American Mark Gorski defeat compatriot Nelson Vails . The last time a U.S. cyclist earned a medal in the track event was 1900, when John Henry Lake took bronze. Three years prior, Vails worked as a bike messenger in New York City. Gorski, a 1980 Olympian who didn't compete in Moscow because of the U.S. boycott, had retired following a crash that left him with a broken collarbone and concussion.

The U.S. won nine medals: four gold, three silver and two bronze.

Moscow, 1980

Host-nation cyclist Sergei Sukhoruchenkov  won gold in a road race missing presumptive favorite Greg LeMond of the United States due to the American-led boycott. LeMond would never race in the Olympics. David Weller of Jamaica took bronze in the 1,000-meter time trial, the nation's first and only Olympic medal through the 2016 Games in a sport that is not track and field.

Montreal, 1976

For the first time in Olympic history, track cycling events were held indoors, and the change produced some bizarre developments. Disaster struck the Czechoslovakian team when their wheels and spare tires were inadvertently fed into a trash compacter. Nonetheless, Czech Anton Tkac was able to win the 1,000-meter sprint.

West Germany came to the Games with several technical innovations. In the team pursuit, an event in which they were the reigning world champions, the West Germans rode to victory on tires filled with helium. They also brought aerodynamic one-piece silk racing suits, but were not allowed to use them because they were deemed to provide an unfair advantage.

Munich, 1972

Four Irish Republican Army cyclists joined the road race to protest the fact that the Irish Cycling Federation had competed against riders from Northern Ireland which the IRA believed should be joined with the Republic of Ireland. The quartet tried to run one Irish competitor off the road but were unsuccessful. They were arrested by West German police but later released without being charged. The original bronze medalist, Jaim Huelamo of Spain, was disqualified after testing positive for drugs.

Mexico City, 1968

The Swedish all-brother quartet of Gosta , Sture , Erik and Tomas Pettersson took silver in the no-longer contested team time trial event. Four years earlier in Tokyo, the brothers, minus Tomas, claimed bronze in the same event.

Tokyo, 1964

The Tokyo cycling competition was marked by two extraordinary competitions. In the 121-mile road race, Italy's Mario Zanin , a mechanic from Treviso, broke away from the pack 20 meters from the finish line to win the gold medal. In an amazingly close finish, only 0.16 of a second separated the top 51 finishers. In the match sprint, where competitors often slow to a halt for positioning, Italy's Giovanni Pettenella and Pierre Trentin of France set an Olympic record by standing still for 21 minutes, 57 seconds. Today, competitors cannot remain stationary for more than 30 seconds.

The Japanese constructed an $840,000 velodrome for the Games. The facility was used for the four days of cycling competition and torn down within a year so the land-starved nation could put the site to more practical use.

The road race was the scene of the first death in Olympic competition since the 1912 marathon. In the 100-kilometer team time trial event, the temperature in Rome reached 93 degrees. Danish cyclist Knut Jensen collapsed during the race, suffering a fractured skull. He was rushed to the hospital, where he died.

Jensen's death was initially attributed to sunstroke, but later it was revealed that the cyclist took a blood-circulation stimulant called Ronicol prior to the race, which caused his collapse. Jensen and Portuguese marathoner Francisco Lazaro  are the only two athletes ever to die during Olympic competition. (There are also a few instances of athletes dying during practice at the Olympics, with the most recent case being Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili at the 2010 Winter Games.)

Italian track cyclist Sante Gaiardoni claimed victory in both the sprint and the kilometer time trial in Rome, becoming the only person to win both events. The reigning sprint world champion, Gaiardoni breezed through the competition three days after setting a world record in winning the time trial.

Melbourne, 1956

Ercole Baldini of Italy, already with a world title in the individual pursuit and a world record in the one-hour time trial in 1956, capped his superb season with gold in the Melbourne road race. France and Great Britain, who claimed that Baldini was shaded from the hot Australian sun by an Olympic film crew riding alongside him, challenged the Italian's Olympic victory, but it stood.

Helsinki, 1952

A sometimes-indifferent cyclist who once said, "I feel there is a lot more to this life than riding a bicycle," Russell Mockridge showed up in Helsinki five days into the 1952 Games because of an eligibility dispute. But the scramble had no adverse effect on the Australian, who raced to a pair of gold medals on the track in the time trial and tandem events. Six years later, Mockridge was killed when struck by a bus while competing in a race in Melbourne.

London, 1948

Jose Beyaert won France its second consecutive gold in the individual road race, which at the 1948 Games was run alongside the team race event. Finishes of each nation's three best cyclists counted toward the results of the team competition, won by Belgium.

Heavy favorite and reigning world champion Reg Harris of Great Britain, wounded in World War II as a tank driver, took silver in the sprint, which was won by Italy's Mario Ghella .

Berlin, 1936

The Berlin Olympic road race featured a mass start and narrow streets that created dangerous conditions. Several racers crashed in the late stages, but Robert Charpentier of France made it through to win the gold medal in 2 hours, 33 minutes, 5 seconds — just two-tenths of a second ahead of compatriot Guy Lapebie . Charpentier slowed just before he crossed the finish line, a maneuver that was later explained by photographs, which showed Lapebie grabbing his countryman’s shirt in a desperate effort to prevent him from winning.

Two days earlier, Charpentier was a member of France's victorious pursuit team on the track. In the first of the races in the best-of-three 1,000-meter sprint, German Toni Merkens swerved to prevent Arie van Vliet of the Netherlands from passing him. Officials did not call the blatant foul. After van Vlient dropped the second race, the Dutch protested. Cycling officials decided to levy a 100 mark fine on the German but not to overturn the result. Van Vlient got a modicum of revenge by winning the 1,000-meter time trial the next day, and Merkens was killed while defending Germany from the Soviet invasion at the end of World War II.

Los Angeles, 1932

Contemporary accounts report that road race gold medalist Attilio Pavesi of Italy carried a bowl of soup, a bucket of water, bananas, cinnamon rolls, jam, cheese sandwiches, spaghetti and two spare tires on his ride. He and Italy also won the team road race.

Amsterdam, 1928

Denmark's Willy Hansen won track cycling's inaugural Olympic kilometer time trial event. Australia's Edgar "Dunc" Gray , who never contested a time trial before arriving in Amsterdam, earned bronze in the race. Four years later in Los Angeles, he won gold in Olympic-record time to give Australia its first Olympic cycling champion. In 2000, Sydney organizers honored Gray by naming the Olympic velodrome after him.

Paris, 1924

At age 42,  Mauritius Peeters of the Netherlands took bronze in the tandem, four years after winning gold in the sprint. Peeters held the distinction of being cycling's oldest Olympic medalist of any color until Etienne de Wilde  – also 42, but older by 97 days – won silver at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. The 50-kilometer race, held for its second and final time at the Olympics, was won by the Netherlands' Ko Willems . France's Armand Blanchonnet won the individual time trial and carried his teammates to victory as well in the team time trial.

Antwerp, 1920

With a narrow victory in the sprint, 38-year-old Mauritius Peeters of the Netherlands became the oldest cyclist to win Olympic gold. Railroad tracks crossed the road-race course in six places, so officials were stationed at each of the crossings to record any train-caused stoppages.

Stockholm, 1912

Beginning at 2 a.m. on July 7, the 123 participants in cycling's inaugural Olympic time trial were sent out at two-minute intervals to cover the 320-kilometer (199-mile) course around Stockholm's Lake Malar. Near the start, Karl Landsberg of Sweden was hit by a motor-wagon and dragged along the road behind it. South Africa's Rudolph Lewis , starting at 2:02 a.m., charged out fast and held on for gold; his winning time was 10 hours, 42 minutes, 39 seconds. Following the Games, Lewis was caught up in World War I while racing in Germany. He eventually returned to South Africa after enduring multiple war wounds and detention in several prison camps.

London, 1908

London's characteristically wet weather did not bode well for its Olympic cyclists at the 1908 Games. The Sporting Life noted that a flooded track during the Games was "the rule rather than the exception." Although cycling's 1,000-meter match sprint was contested, no medals were awarded following a bizarre turn of events. Four cyclists started the final, but over the course of the race, two were sidelined with punctured tires. In the end, Maurice Schilles of France beat Great Britain's Benjamin Jones by inches. But the race exceeded the 105-second time limit and was thus declared void.

St. Louis, 1904

American cyclists made up the entirety of the competitive field at the 1904 Games, with no foreign competitors.  Marcus Hurley of the U.S. won four of the seven cycling events and placed third in another. Only track races were held and none were certified as official Olympic competitions. All seven cycling events contested in St. Louis never returned to the Olympic program. After the Olympics, Hurley became an All-American basketball player at Columbia and earned a place in the College Basketball Hall of Fame.

Paris, 1900

The men's points race, an event in which points were awarded to riders during sprints that took place every 10 laps, made its Olympic debut in Paris. Italy's Enrico Brusoni became the first Olympic points race champion, outscoring the runner-up from Germany, 21-9. Brusoni remained the event's only gold medalist until it returned to the Olympic program for the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

Athens, 1896

Cycling was among the nine sports contested at the first modern Olympics, and host Greece claimed a hard-earned gold in the 54-mile road race from Athens to Marathon and back. Despite several spills along the way, one of which required switching to a friend's bike, Aristidis Konstantinidis crossed the finish line triumphant, though "covered with dust, begrimed and dirty, his whole appearance showing traces of his various accidents," as described in the official report of the 1896 Games.

The cycling competition in Athens was marked by an act of sportsmanship from Frenchman Leon Flameng . At one point during the 100-kilometer (62-mile) track race – which required 300 laps and was attended by King George I) – Flameng dismounted his bike and waited while a Greek competitor dealt with mechanical problems. Despite a late fall, Flameng -- with a French flag tied to his leg -- pedaled to an easy gold medal.

In the grueling 12-hour race, Austria’s Adolf Shmal beat Britain’s Frederick Keeping by 333 meters.

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Why There May Be No Official Winner of the Tour de France From 1999 to 2005

Heading out the door? Read this article on the Outside app available now on iOS devices for members! >","name":"in-content-cta","type":"link"}}'>Download the app .

“Twenty of the 21 podium finishers in the Tour de France from 1999 through 2005 have been directly tied to likely doping through admissions, sanctions, public investigations or exceeding the UCI hematocrit threshold. Of the 45 podium finishes during the time period between 1996 and 2010, 36 were by riders similarly tainted by doping.” — USADA Reasoned Decision Against Lance Armstrong

When news outlets, including Outside , published articles on the recent United States Anti-Doping Agency's report on Lance Armstrong, one of the most referenced lines was a stat: 20 out of the 21 podium finishers had been directly tied to “likely doping.” The obvious question was, Who was the one person not tied to “likely doping”?

I emailed and called the USADA to get an answer, but haven't heard back. They are understandably busy. So, I did the next most obvious and slightly more time-consuming thing. I went back through news reports and the Tour de France standings to see who the 21st man might be.

A number of news organizations already played the same game. The New York Times made a graphic showing those Tour de France podium finishers officially linked to doping. The only three podium finishers from 1999 to 2005 without mugshots on the graphic were Fernando Escartin (Spain), Joseba Beloki (Spain), and Andreas Kloden (Germany). The Telegraph made a list of the podium finishers from 1999 to 2005 and the only two finishers they had without notes on doping were Escartin and Kloden. The Associated Press made a similar list that lacked doping notes on those two same riders.

Beloki was involved in the Operacion Puerto investigation. The fact that he racked up three podium finishes means he can't be the lone podium placement mentioned by the USADA. News articles on both Escartin and Kloden show that suspicions have been raised on their possible doping as well. Escartin was believed to be a client of Dr. Michele Ferrari. Kloden was connected to a doping scandal at Freiburg University in 2006. In August of this year, the German National Anti-Doping Agency expressed interest in investigating whether he and two other riders were doping.

So who is the podium finisher the USADA can't tie to “likely doping”? We may not find out for a bit, though, eventually, even more names may be added to their list. Yahoo News took the step of determining who the Tour de France winners might be based on a lack of doping suspicions. None of the athletes they selected between 1999 and 2005 finished in the top three spots. In one year, they decided the top spot would go to a 10th place finisher. Their hard work, or any judgment from the USADA on who did or didn't dope from 1999 to 2005 in the Tour de France, may not matter. Christian Prudhomme, the director of the Tour de France, said the USADA's report is so “damning” and raises such doubts about “a system and an era” that if Lance Armstrong's titles are stripped, no one will be designated the official winner.

Right now, the USADA's report is with the UCI and they will make a decision on the next action. If they decide they don't want to strip Armstrong of his titles, there will likely be a fight with the USADA. If they do agree to strip his titles, the conclusion will likely be something many people have already come to terms with: During this period in cycling there were no clear winners.

I've listed the top three podium finishers from 1999 to 2005, with links to news articles about their official and suspected ties to doping.

1999: Lance Armstrong, USA “On Wednesday, at last, the image crystallized: Armstrong was the ringleader, ruthless enforcer, and prime beneficiary of what USADA’s Travis Tygart called 'the most sophisticated, professionalized, and successful doping program that sport has ever seen.' As ESPN ’s Bonnie Ford put it : 'After today, anyone who remains unconvinced simply doesn’t want to know.'” Outside

Alex Zulle, Switzerland “His 1998 team, Festina, was ousted from the Tour that year in connection with the widespread use of the performance-enhancing drug EPO. Zulle later admitted to using the blood-booster over the four previous years. The Festina affair nearly derailed the 1998 Tour, and is widely seen as the first big doping scandal to jolt cycling.” The Telegraph

Fernando Escartin, Spain “Escartin was a frequent client of Michele Ferrari, although the Spaniard never tested positive.” Yahoo News

2000: Lance Armstrong, USA

Jan Ullrich, Germany “After a prolonged delay, Jan Ullrich , the German who won the 1997 Tour de France , was suspended by a sports appeal body for two years Thursday for blood doping. Because Ullrich retired from racing five years ago, the penalty imposed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport is largely symbolic.” The New York Times

Joseba Beloki, Spain “Implicated in Operation Puerto, he retired in 2007. He was reportedly was cleared by a Spanish court of any involvement in the case.” The Associated Press

2001: Lance Armstrong, USA  

Jan Ullrich, Germany

Joseba Beloki, Spain

2002: Lance Armstrong, USA

Raimondas Rumsas, Lithuania “Raimondas Rumsas, the Lithuanian who finished third in last year's Tour de France amid allegations of banned-drug use, was yesterday in the center of another storm after testing positive en route to sixth place in the Giro d'Italia last month. His team, Lampre, did not name the substance involved, but anti-doping sources in Rome said the notorious blood-booster erythropoietin (EPO) had been found after Stage 6. Rumsas's sample will in any case be tested a second time. 'He has really messed us around,' said his team manager Giuseppe Saronni last night. 'We all feel betrayed, all of us who have tried to put last year behind us.'” The Guardian

2003: Lance Armstrong, USA

Alexandre Vinokourov, Kazakhstan “ Alexander Vinokourov has been fired by the Astana team following his positive test for blood doping on the Tour de France, the team announced Monday. 'Astana cycling team received confirmation that Alexander Vinokourov's B sample was 'non negative,' the Swiss team backed by Kazakh companies said in a statement. 'Consequently, the Kazakh rider has been fired by Astana cycling team with immediate effect.' Vinokourov tested positive for homologous blood doping, a method using the blood from another person, following his victory in a time trial in Albi on July 21.” The New York Times

2004: Lance Armstrong, USA

Andreas Kloden, Germany “The German National Anti Doping Agency has expressed interest in investigating whether Andreas Klöden , Patrik Sinkewitz and Matthias Kessler used illegal doping products or methods. It has asked to see the files from prosecutors in Freiburg, Germany. Those prosecutors recently closed an investigation into doctors Lothar Heinrich and Andreas Schmitt, who, while associated with the Freiburg University Clinic, were also team doctors for Team Telekom/T-Mobile. There was said to be 'no sufficient suspicion of concrete violations of criminal provisions.' However, it also said that it was 'verifiable' that those three riders were involved in blood doping in 2006.” Cycling News

Ivan Basso, Italy “Ivan Basso has been handed the maximum two-year doping ban at an Italian cycling federation hearing. The 29-year-old acknowledged his involvement in the Spanish blood-doping scandal known as Operation Puerto and pleaded for a lenient penalty. He admitted to 'attempted doping' but insisted he did not go through with it. But the Italian cycling federation has decided to punish the Italian with the full two years, as requested by the International Cycling Union.” BBC

2005: Lance Armstrong, USA

Ivan Basso, Italy

—Joe Spring @joespring facebook.com/joespring.1

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Crazy Stat Shows Just How Common Doping Was In Cycling When Lance Armstrong Was Winning The Tour de France

Even after Lance Armstrong finally came clean and was banned from cycling for life, many still defend the (unofficial) 7-time Tour de France champion.

The biggest argument for Armstrong is the belief that all riders were doping.

We have known for a while now that a lot of cyclists were doping. A recent breakdown of the extent of the "EPO Era" (named for the most common drug, Erythropoietin) shows the "everybody was doing it" defense may not be that far off.

Teddy Cutler of SportingIntelligence.com recently took a an excellent and detailed look at all the top cyclists from 1998 through 2013 and whether or not they have ever been linked to blood doping or have links to doping or a doctor linked to blood doping.

Related stories

During this 16-year period, 12 Tour de France races were won by cyclists who were confirmed dopers. In addition, of the 81 different riders who finished in the top-10 of the Tour de France during this period, 65% have been caught doping, admitted to blood doping, or have strong associations to doping and are suspected cheaters.

More importantly for Lance Armstrong, during the 7-year window when he won every Tour de France (1999-2005), 87% of the top-10 finishers (61 of 70) were confirmed dopers or suspected of doping.

Of those, 48 (69%) were confirmed, with 39 having been suspended at some point in their career.

None of that excuses Armstrong's behavior, especially outside of the races . But it is clear Armstrong wasn't alone. He was just better at it than anybody else.

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It’s been 20 years since ‘Mean Girls’ premiered. Here are 20 ways the world has changed for teens since

In the 2 decades since the 2004 release of “mean girls,” the world has changed a lot for teenagers.

By Margaret Darby

It’s been 20 years since “Mean Girls” premiered in theaters. A lot has changed since then.

“Mean Girls” was adapted into a musical. That musical was adapted into a movie remake early this year. Tina Fey now has nine Emmys. Amanda Seyfried has one , too. Lindsay Lohan is a mother and Lacey Chabert frequently stars in Hallmark movies.

Flip phones are a thing of the past and nearly every U.S. teenager now has a smartphone . Usher is no longer dominating the charts and MySpace has been replaced by TikTok and Instagram.

Here are 20 ways culture has changed for young people since 2004.

1. Teenagers were happier in 2004

Young people, primarily teenage girls, are experiencing record levels of sadness .

Research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 3 in 5 teen girls claim they felt persistently sad or hopeless in 2021. That is a 60% increase from a decade ago. Mental health in teen boys also suffered a decline, but the data was less significant.

This year’s World Happiness Report noted a considerable decline in happiness levels among young Americans, both male and female. Researchers suspect social media use, the COVID-19 pandemic and political polarization all play a role in tanking happiness levels in young people.

2. ‘Shrek 2′ was the biggest film of the year

The highest-grossing movie of 2004 was “Shrek 2″ ($928 million), followed by “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” ($795 million) and “Spider-Man 2″ ($788 million), per Box Office Mojo .

Though less than halfway through the year, the highest grossing movies of 2024 so far are “Dune: Part Two” ($704 million), “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” ($521 million) and “Kung Fu Panda 4″ ($503 million).

Other movies released in 2004 include:

• “The Notebook.”
• “13 Going on 30.”
• “Napoleon Dynamite.”
• “A Cinderella Story.”
• “The Incredibles.”
• “The Passion of the Christ.”
• “50 First Dates.”
• “Anchorman.”

3. Young adults were drinking more

Young adults (ages 18-34) in the U.S. are considerably less likely to regularly drink alcohol than then young adults two decades ago, according to Gallup research.

The young adults who report being a regular drinker — consuming alcohol at least once per week — has dropped 67% from reports made between 2001-2003.

“After years when younger adults were the biggest drinkers among age groups, they have grown closer to older adults in their drinking habits, leaving middle-aged adults as today’s leading alcohol consumers,” per Gallup .

4. Usher was the most popular artist

“Yeah” by Usher was the anthem of 2004. The song, which featured Lil Jon and Ludacris, spent three weeks as No. 1 and 10 on the charts, per Billboard . Usher also released “Burn,” “Confessions Part II” and “My Boo” in 2004.

Usher’s heyday may be miles behind in the rearview mirror but he got another day in the sun as this year’s Super Bowl LVIII Halftime Show performer.

“This is a celebration of my legacy. It’s a celebration of my music. It’s a celebration of my passion,” Usher told ET ahead of his Super Bowl performance. “Thirty years ago that journey started and now it’s landed me at this point in my life at the Super Bowl. Lot of songs, lot of moments, lot of dance, lot of energy.”

5. Green Day was the biggest band

Green Day’s “American Idiot” hit the shelves in September 2004 — the album features enduringly popular tracks “Boulevard of Broken Dreams” and “Wake Me Up When September Ends.” It won the band a Grammy for best rock album at the 47th Grammy Awards.

The mainstream punk-rock band still tours and has released nearly a dozen albums in the years since, but few rival “American Idiot.”

6. MySpace was state-of-the-art social media

MySpace dominated the early aughts as one of the world’s most visited websites. At its peak in 2006, MySpace had 29 billion visitors just in the U.S., exceeding traffic on Google, per Tech Report . But the once-leading social media site nosedived in popularity in the wake of sites like Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter) and now TikTok. A few million people still use MySpace — the site had 6.9 million visits in June 2022 — but traffic to the site has significantly slumped since its 2003 debut.

7. Facebook was Harvard-exclusive

From his Harvard University dorm, Mark Zuckerberg co-launched Facebook on Feb. 4, 2004, per The Chicago Tribune . The site was an online directory intended for his fellow Harvard classmates to connect with each other and social organizations. Less than a week after launching the site, more than 650 Harvard students registered to use it.

“I’m pretty happy with the amount of people that have been to it so far,” Zuckerberg said in an interview with the Harvard Crimson at the time. “The nature of the site is that each user’s experience improves if they can get their friends to join it.”

Two decades and a handful of lawsuits later, Facebook — now part of the Meta empire — dominates the social media universe. Facebook has over 3 billion monthly users, but the once-hip social media platform is now ruled by older adults, per CBS News .

8. Teens spend less time with their friends now

High schoolers are spending considerably less face-to-face time together.

According to the long-running Monitoring the Future project from University of Michigan, the number of U.S. high school seniors who spent in-person time with friends “almost every day” fell from 44% in 2010 to 22% in 2024. Social outings for U.S. eighth graders dropped from roughly 2 1/2 times per week in 2000 to 1 1/1 in 2022.

Researchers suggest social media use, coupled with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to these decreases in teen social gatherings.

“Teens are spending a lot more time communicating with each other electronically and a lot less time hanging out with each other face to face,” said Jean Twenge, a professor of psychology at San Diego State University and author of “Generations ,” a book about generational differences, per The Hill .

“Going to the mall has gone down. Driving in the car for fun has gone down. Going to the movies has gone down,” she said. “We’re talking about kids who are spending five, six, seven hours a day on social media.”

9. The iPhone didn’t exist yet

The first iPhone was not released until June 2007.

Until then, teens relied on iPods for music and, if they were lucky, they got a Motorola Razor (which launched in 2004 ).

But in 2004, the majority of U.S. teens had no cell phone at all — 45% of teenagers owned a cellphone in 2004, and that number jumped to 71% in 2009, according to Pew Research Center . More than 95% of U.S. teens now have access to a smartphone, 45% of which report to be “almost constantly” online, per Pew Research Center .

10. The Summer Olympics were held in Athens, Greece

The 2004 Summer Olympics — officially titled the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad — were hosted in Athens, Greece.

It was a big year for American swimming. Michael Phelps won six gold medals and fellow swimmer Aaron Peirsol took home three gold. Natalie Coughlin won two gold medals for the women’s swim team.

In 2024, the Summer Olympics are set to be held in Paris, France.

11. Beyoncé won her first solo Grammys

While still performing with Destiny’s Child, Beyoncé tried her luck at a solo project. She released her first solo album, “Dangerously in Love,” in June 2003. The album — which features tracks “Crazy in Love” and “Me, Myself and I” — earned her four Grammys , her first wins and a solo artist.

Beyoncé has raked up 88 Grammy nominations, 32 wins and set the record for most Grammys won by any artist in history, per the Grammy Awards .

This year, Beyoncé swapped her trademark R&B sound for country — though she assures fans it “ain’t a Country album. This is a Beyoncé album.” At 27 tracks, Beyoncé made plenty of room for a broad spectrum of genres. She played around with covers of the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations,” The Beatles “Blackbird” and guest appearances from Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Miley Cyrus.

12. The last episode of ‘Friends’ came out

The 10th and final season of “Friends” aired on May 6, 2004. “The One Where They Say Goodbye” raked in 52.5 million viewers, making it the fourth most-watched series finale of all time, per The New York Times . It still lives among the most-watched shows of all time, according to IMDB .

Nearly two decades after the series’ concluded, the “Friends” cast came together to mourn Matthew Perry, know for his role as Chandler Bing, who was found dead at his Los Angeles home on Oct. 28, 2023.

13. Tom Brady and the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl

In light of the Patriots’ 2002 Super Bowl win, Tom Brady led his team for a second time in 2004 — winning the event once again. Brady led his teams to win five more Super Bowls, setting a record as the NFL player with the most Super Bowl rings, per NFL .

After 23 seasons with the NFL, Brady has retired twice.

“Good morning, guys. I’ll get to the point right away. I’m retiring. For good,” he said in 2023, after retiring in 2022 and changing his mind about it only a month later, per NFL .

“You only get one super emotional retirement essay, and I used mine up last year. So I really thank you guys so much. To every single one of you for supporting me: My family, my friends, my teammates, my competitors I could go on forever. There’s too many. Thank you guys for allowing me to live my absolute dream. I wouldn’t change a thing. I love you all.”

14. More young people went to college

Fewer young Americans are opting for four-year colleges. The rate of young people going to college has been steadily declining over the past decade, especially among young men. Roughly 1 million fewer young men are enrolling in college than a decade ago.

Alternatively, many Gen Z students are going to trade schools.

“Gen Z appears to be weighing the higher cost of college and the guaranteed return on investment in the trades and thousands of young people are skipping college, well aware they are following a generation deep in student loan debt,” reports NewsNation .

15. Prince William and Kate Middleton debuted their relationship

After roughly a year of dating, Prince William and his then-girlfriend Kate Middleton hard launched their relationship during a ski trip in the Swiss slopes. Photographs of the pair were published by The Sun in an article headlined, “ Finally, Wills gets a girl .”

The couple were married in April 2011 and have three children together: Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 6.

Kate dominated headlines last month as the world speculated over her health in light of a “ planned abdominal surgery .” She revealed in March that she had been diagnosed with cancer and is currently undergoing chemotherapy.

16. Everyone was wearing ‘Livestrong’ bracelets

You would be hard-pressed in 2004 to find a young person without a yellow, rubber “Livestrong” bracelet adorning their wrist. The fad was fueled by road-racing cyclist Lance Armstrong, who is a cancer survivor and founded Livestrong in 1997. The nonprofit organization continues to advocate for individuals fighting cancer, though Armstrong is no longer associated with it.

Armstrong captured worldwide attention during the early aughts for winning the Tour de France seven consecutive times between 1997 and 2005. He fell from grace when an investigation from the United States Anti-Doping Agency revealed the athlete used performance-enhancing drugs, per Reuters .

The cyclist repeatedly denied doping allegations but did not contest the charges. He has since been stripped of his seven Tour de France titles, per The Associated Press .

With that, the Livestrong bracelet trend withered away.

Nowadays, teenagers decorate their wrists with beaded friendship bracelets — a trend driven by Taylor Swift and her ongoing Eras Tour .

17. Lindsay Lohan is a mother

Lindsay Lohan reigned over the early aughts. After a series of public arrests , her career slowed down for roughly a decade. She’s made her way back on screen in Netflix movies such as “Irish Wish” and “Falling for Christmas.”

Now, she’s a mother. In July 2023, Lohan and her husband, Bader Shammas, welcomed a son named Luai, per People .

“I can’t wait to see what the feeling is and what it’s like to just be a mom,” Lohan told Allure ahead of having her son. “Happy tears. That’s just who I am. Though now, it’s probably baby emotion. It’s overwhelming in a good way.”

18. J.Lo and Ben Affleck were engaged

Some things never change.

In November 2002, Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck got engaged. After postponing their wedding due to “ excessive media attention ,” the couple broke off their engagement in early 2004.

By the end of the year, Lopez had moved on with Marc Anthony and Affleck started dating Jennifer Garner, per Harper’s Bazaar .

The couple reunited in 2021, got engaged for the second time in 2022 and got married in Las Vegas a few months later. The couple appears to be going strong, despite what the Bennifer memes tell you.

19. Gmail launched

On April 1, 2004, Google launched Gmail. Today, Gmail has more than 1.8 billion active users, per Demand Sage data .

The platform has been around two decades, but it looks nearly the same as it did when it was launched.

“I can’t think of another app that has existed so close to its original form for 10 years,” Kevin Fox, who designed Gmail, told Time magazine in 2014. “Someone who had only used Gmail in its first iteration and suddenly used it today would still understand Gmail. They’d know how to use it for virtually everything they’d want to do.”

The man who created Gmail, Paul Buchheit, thinks the platform’s biggest flaw is that, “people have become slaves to email,” he told Time magazine in 2014.

“There’s a 24/7 culture, where people expect a response. It doesn’t matter that it’s Saturday at 2 a.m. — people think you’re responding to email,” he added. “It’s not a technical problem. It can’t be solved with a computer algorithm. It’s more of a social problem.”

20. People still watched cable television

There were no streaming platforms — those didn’t take over until Netflix launched its streaming service in 2007. Less than half (48%) of U.S. households still pay for cable television, per Tech Report . As of 2024, 99% of U.S. households subscribe to at least one streaming service, with Netflix, Amazon Prime and Apple TV+ ranking as the most popular, per Forbes .

But back in 2004, when cable television still reigned supreme, these were the shows that came out:

• “Desperate Housewives.”
• “Shameless.”
• “Veronica Mars.”
• “The 4400.”
• “Deadwood.”
• “Boston Legal.”