| Route of the 2007 Tour de France | |||
| Race details | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Dates | 7 July–29 July | ||
| Stages | 20 & Prologue | ||
| Distance | 3,569.9 km (2,218 mi) | ||
| Winning time | 91h 00' 26" (39.23 km/h/24.38 mph) | ||
| Palmarès | |||
| Winner | Alberto Contador (ESP) | (Discovery Channel) | |
| Second | Cadel Evans (AUS) | (#REDIRECT Template:Cycling data LTB) | |
| Third | Levi Leipheimer (USA) | (Discovery Channel) | |
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| Points | Tom Boonen (BEL) | (Quick Step-Innergetic) | |
| Mountains | Mauricio Soler (COL) | (Barloworld) | |
| Youth | Alberto Contador (ESP) | (Discovery Channel) | |
| Team | Discovery Channel | ||
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← 2006
2008 →
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The 2007 Tour de France, the 94th running of the race, took place from 7 July to 29 July 2007. The Tour began with a prologue in London, and ended with the traditional finish in Paris. Along the way, the route also passed through Belgium and Spain. It was won by Spanish rider Alberto Contador.
The organisers of the Tour and London mayor Ken Livingstone announced on 24 January 2006 that the start of the Tour would take place in London. Livingstone noted the two stages would commemorate the victims of the 7 July 2005 London bombings, saying "Having the Grand Départ on the seventh of July will broadcast to the world that terrorism does not shake our city."
The routes for the Prologue in London and the first full stage through Kent, finishing in Canterbury, were announced on 9 February 2006 at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre. This was the third time the Tour visited England, including Plymouth in (1974) and two stages in Kent, Sussex and Hampshire in (1994).
Tour director Christian Prudhomme unveiled the 2007 route in Paris on 26 October 2006. In total, the route covered 3,569.9 kilometres (2,218.2 mi).[1][2]
The Tour was marked by doping controversies, with three riders and two teams withdrawn during the race following positive doping tests, including pre-race favorite Alexandre Vinokourov and his Astana team. Following Stage 16, the leader of the general classification, Michael Rasmussen, was removed from the Tour by his Rabobank team, who accused him of lying about the reasons for missing several drug tests earlier in the year.
The points classification, indicated by the green jersey, was won for the first time by Tom Boonen, who had failed to complete the previous two Tours after leading the points classification at times during each. The mountains classification, indicated by the polkadot jersey, was won by Mauricio Soler in his first Tour appearance.
The general classification, indicated by the yellow jersey, was closely contested until the final time trial on stage 19. The top three riders, Alberto Contador in the yellow jersey as the leader, Cadel Evans in second, and Levi Leipheimer in third, were separated by only 2:49, with both Evans and Leipheimer recognized as far superior time trialists to Contador. In the end, each rider held his place after the final time trial, but with considerably slimmer margins, as the Tour ended with the smallest-ever spread of only 31 seconds among the top three riders. Alberto Contador also won the young rider classification, indicated by the white jersey, as the best young (under age 25) rider.
Contents |
21 teams started the race – each had 9 riders at the start of the tour i.e., 189 started in total. The teams[3] were:
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After the retirement of seven-time winner Lance Armstrong and with Ivan Basso and Floyd Landis not entering the Tour, the bookmakers' favourite to win the 2007 Tour de France was Alexander Vinokourov, who was unable to start in 2006 due to lack of team members, but did win the 2006 Vuelta a España. The main challengers were expected to be the 2006 Tour de France second place finisher Andreas Klöden; and Alejandro Valverde, who dropped out of the 2006 Tour de France after a crash, but came second to Vinokourov in the 2006 Vuelta a España.
Shown in the table below are the riders that, according to the bookmakers[4] on 7 July 2007, the start day of the 2007 Tour de France, had the best chances of winning the 2007 Tour.
| Rider | Team | Notes | Decimal Odds | Final Place |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexander Vinokourov | Astana | Unable to start in 2006, 5th in 2005 | 2.87 | WD |
| Andreas Klöden | Astana | 2nd in 2006, winner of 2007 Tirreno–Adriatico | 5.00 | WD |
| Alejandro Valverde | Caisse d'Epargne | Crashed and withdrew in 2006 and 2005, winner of 2006 UCI ProTour | 5.00 | 6th (+ 11' 37") |
| Cadel Evans | Predictor-Lotto | 4th in 2006 | 13.00 | 2nd (+ 23") |
| Carlos Sastre | Team CSC | 3rd in 2006 | 13.00 | 4th (+ 7' 08") |
| Levi Leipheimer | Discovery Channel | 12th in 2006 | 17.00 | 3rd (+ 31") |
| Andrey Kashechkin | Astana | Unable to start in 2006, 2nd in Young Riders' Classification in 2005 | 17.00 | WD |
| Denis Menchov | Rabobank | 5th in 2006 | 19.00 | WD |
| Fränk Schleck | Team CSC | Winner of Stage 15 to Alpe D'Huez in 2006, 10th overall | 23.00 | 17th (+ 31' 48") |
| Christophe Moreau | AG2R Prévoyance | 7th in 2006, winner of 2007 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré | 23.00 | 37th (+ 1h 33' 06") |
| Vladimir Karpets | Caisse d'Epargne | Best young rider in 2004, winner of 2007 Volta a Catalunya and 2007 Tour de Suisse | 26.00 | 14th (+ 24' 15") |
| Alberto Contador | Discovery Channel | Winner of 2007 Paris–Nice | 29.00 | 1st (91h 00' 26") |
| Michael Rogers | T-Mobile Team | 9th in 2006; three-time World Time-Trial Champion | 41.00 | WD |
| Óscar Pereiro | Caisse d'Epargne | 1st in 2006 | 51.00 | 10th (+ 14' 25") |
| withdrawn |
| Finished in Top 5 |
Janez Brajkovič, Damiano Cunego, Tom Danielson and Koldo Gil were all offered at odds within the range of this table, but withdrew before the race field was finalised.
| Stage | Date | Route | Distance | Type | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | 7 July | London | 7.9 km | Individual time trial | Fabian Cancellara (SUI) |
| 1 | 8 July | London - Canterbury | 203 km | Flat stage | Robbie McEwen (AUS) |
| 2 | 9 July | Dunkirk - Ghent | 168.5 km | Flat stage | Gert Steegmans (BEL) |
| 3 | 10 July | Waregem - Compiègne | 236.5 km | Flat stage | Fabian Cancellara (SUI) |
| 4 | 11 July | Villers-Cotterêts - Joigny | 193 km | Flat stage | Thor Hushovd (NOR) |
| 5 | 12 July | Chablis - Autun | 182.5 km | Transition stage | Filippo Pozzato (ITA) |
| 6 | 13 July | Semur-en-Auxois - Bourg-en-Bresse | 199.5 km | Flat stage | Tom Boonen (BEL) |
| 7 | 14 July | Bourg-en-Bresse - Le Grand-Bornand | 197.5 km | Mountain stage | Linus Gerdemann (GER) |
| 8 | 15 July | Le Grand-Bornand - Tignes | 165 km | Mountain stage | Michael Rasmussen (DEN) |
| 16 July | Rest day | ||||
| 9 | 17 July | Val-d'Isère - Briançon | 159.5 km | Mountain stage | Mauricio Soler (COL) |
| 10 | 18 July | Tallard - Marseille | 229.5 km | Flat stage | Cédric Vasseur (FRA) |
| 11 | 19 July | Marseille - Montpellier | 182.5 km | Flat stage | Robert Hunter (RSA) |
| 12 | 20 July | Montpellier - Castres | 178.5 km | Transition stage | Tom Boonen (BEL) |
| 13 | 21 July | Albi | 54 km | Individual time trial | Cadel Evans (AUS)* |
| 14 | 22 July | Mazamet - Plateau-de-Beille | 197 km | Mountain stage | Alberto Contador (ESP) |
| 15 | 23 July | Foix - Loudenvielle | 196 km | Mountain stage | Kim Kirchen (LUX)* |
| 24 July | Rest day | ||||
| 16 | 25 July | Orthez - Gourette-Col d'Aubisque | 218.5 km | Mountain stage | Michael Rasmussen (DEN) |
| 17 | 26 July | Pau - Castelsarrasin | 188.5 km | Transition stage | Daniele Bennati (ITA) |
| 18 | 27 July | Cahors - Angoulême | 211 km | Flat stage | Sandy Casar (FRA) |
| 19 | 28 July | Cognac - Angoulême | 55.5 km | Individual time trial | Levi Leipheimer (USA) |
| 20 | 29 July | Marcoussis - Paris Champs-Élysées | 146 km | Flat stage | Daniele Bennati (ITA) |
| Total | 3,569.9 km | ||||
General classification
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Team classification
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Points classification
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King of the Mountains classification
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| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alberto Contador (ESP) | Discovery Channel | 91h 00' 26" |
| 2 | Mauricio Soler (COL) | Barloworld | + 16' 51" |
| 3 | Amets Txurruka (ESP) | Euskaltel-Euskadi | + 49' 34" |
| 4 | Bernhard Kohl (AUT) | Gerolsteiner | + 1h 13' 27" |
| 5 | Kanstantsin Siutsou (BLR) | Barloworld | + 1h 15' 16" |
| 6 | Thomas Dekker (NED) | Rabobank | + 1h 30' 34" |
| 7 | Linus Gerdemann (GER) | T-Mobile Team | + 1h 30' 47" |
| 8 | Vladimir Gusev (RUS) | Discovery Channel | + 1h 33' 50" |
| 9 | Thomas Lövkvist (SWE) | Française des Jeux | + 2h 22' 50" |
| 10 | Andriy Grivko (UKR) | Team Milram | + 2h 41' 41" |
Cyclists in the UCI ProTour (therefore not members of the wildcard entries Barloworld or Agritubel) are awarded UCI ProTour points for their performance in the Tour de France. The winner of a stage receives 10 points, second receives 5 points and third 3 points. UCI ProTour points are also awarded for high places in the final classification, with 100 points for the overall winner.[9]
The first scandal arrived when it was made public on 18 July that rider Patrik Sinkewitz from the T-Mobile Team had tested positive one month before the Tour started. Sinkewitz had already withdrawn from the race having incurred an injury during the 8th stage. The scandal was big enough to prompt German TV broadcasters ZDF and ARD to drop their coverage.[10]
The Tour was dealt a major blow when the first-place Astana team withdrew from the race on 24 July 2007, after team member and pre-race favorite Alexander Vinokourov from Kazakhstan tested positive for an illegal blood transfusion.[11] Vinokourov's teammates Andreas Klöden and Andrey Kashechkin were in 5th and 7th place respectively at the time.
At the start of the 16th stage on 25 July, some teams made a protest against the laxness of the official attitude to doping in the race.[12] After the stage, race officials announced that Cofidis team member Cristian Moreni of Italy had tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone, and the Cofidis team withdrew from the race.
Spanish cyclist Iban Mayo tested positive for EPO on the second rest day of the Tour, on 24 July.[13]
French prosecutors wanted to start a legal case against Vinokourov, Mayo and Moreni, and requested the UCI to hand over the doping samples. The UCI refused to give them, and in May 2011 the investigation was stopped.[14]
German cyclist Marcus Burghardt collided with a Labrador Retriever during Stage 9. The bike struck the dog on its backside, which buckled the front wheel and threw Burghardt over the handlebars onto the road. Remarkably the dog was unhurt by the collision, and it was grabbed by a spectator before it could cause any more damage.[15]
A second incident involving a dog occurred on Stage 18. Sandy Casar and Frederik Willems were in a four-man break when Casar collided with a dog running across the road, causing both him and Willems to fall. Casar was able to rejoin the break with the help of Axel Merckx despite receiving road rash on his right buttock, while Willems returned to the peloton. Casar went on to win the stage.[16][17][18]
After Stage 16, overall leader Michael Rasmussen was fired by his team, Rabobank, for violating team rules after he told the team that he was in Mexico with his wife in June, then being sighted training in Italy by Italian journalist Davide Cassani.[19] Rasmussen disputes this claim, continuing to maintain that he was in Mexico. Thus, at the start of stage 17 there was no holder of the yellow jersey. Afterward the lead and the jersey were transferred to Discovery Channel's Alberto Contador.[20]
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