2007 Tour de France

2007 Tour de France

2007 UCI ProTour, race 17 of 26
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 or 24.38 mph)
Palmares
	Winner	Alberto Contador (ESP)	(Discovery Channel)
	Second	Cadel Evans (AUS)	(Predictor–Lotto)
	Third	none
	Points	Tom Boonen (BEL)	(Quick-Step–Innergetic)
	Mountains	Mauricio Soler (COL)	(Barloworld)
	Youth	Alberto Contador (ESP)	(Discovery Channel)
	Team	Discovery Channel

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.^[1]

The Tour was marked by doping controversies, with three riders and two teams withdrawn during the race following positive doping tests, including pre-race favorite Alexander Vinokourov and his Astana team.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.

Teams

Geraint Thomas of Barloworld at the teams presentation.

A total of 21 teams were invited to the 2007 Tour de France. Each team sent a total of nine riders to participate in the Tour, which brought the starting total of the peloton to 189 riders.

The 21 teams that took part in the race were:^[2]

†: Wild card entries

Pre-race favourites

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^[3] on 7 July 2007, the start day of the 2007 Tour de France, had the best chances of winning the 2007 Tour.

Alberto Contador on stage 19

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.

Route and stages

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).^[4][5]

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
P	7 July	London (England)	7.9 km (5 mi)		Individual time trial	Fabian Cancellara (SUI)
1	8 July	London (England) - Canterbury (England)	203 km (126 mi)		Plain stage	Robbie McEwen (AUS)
2	9 July	Dunkirk - Ghent (Belgium)	168.5 km (105 mi)		Plain stage	Gert Steegmans (BEL)
3	10 July	Waregem (Belgium) - Compiègne	236.5 km (147 mi)		Plain stage	Fabian Cancellara (SUI)
4	11 July	Villers-Cotterêts - Joigny	193 km (120 mi)		Plain stage	Thor Hushovd (NOR)
5	12 July	Chablis - Autun	182.5 km (113 mi)		Intermediate stage	Filippo Pozzato (ITA)
6	13 July	Semur-en-Auxois - Bourg-en-Bresse	199.5 km (124 mi)		Plain stage	Tom Boonen (BEL)
7	14 July	Bourg-en-Bresse - Le Grand-Bornand	197.5 km (123 mi)		Mountain stage	Linus Gerdemann (GER)
8	15 July	Le Grand-Bornand - Tignes	165 km (103 mi)		Mountain stage	Michael Rasmussen (DEN)
	16 July	Rest day
9	17 July	Val-d'Isère - Briançon	159.5 km (99 mi)		Mountain stage	Mauricio Soler (COL)
10	18 July	Tallard - Marseille	229.5 km (143 mi)		Plain stage	Cédric Vasseur (FRA)
11	19 July	Marseille - Montpellier	182.5 km (113 mi)		Plain stage	Robert Hunter (RSA)
12	20 July	Montpellier - Castres	178.5 km (111 mi)		Intermediate stage	Tom Boonen (BEL)
13	21 July	Albi	54 km (34 mi)		Individual time trial	Cadel Evans (AUS)[N 1]
14	22 July	Mazamet - Plateau-de-Beille	197 km (122 mi)		Mountain stage	Alberto Contador (ESP)
15	23 July	Foix - Loudenvielle	196 km (122 mi)		Mountain stage	Kim Kirchen (LUX)[N 1]
	24 July	Rest day
16	25 July	Orthez - Gourette–Col d'Aubisque	218.5 km (136 mi)		Mountain stage	Michael Rasmussen (DEN)
17	26 July	Pau - Castelsarrasin	188.5 km (117 mi)		Intermediate stage	Daniele Bennati (ITA)
18	27 July	Cahors - Angoulême	211 km (131 mi)		Plain stage	Sandy Casar (FRA)
19	28 July	Cognac - Angoulême	55.5 km (34 mi)		Individual time trial	Levi Leipheimer (USA)
20	29 July	Marcoussis - Paris (Champs-Élysées)	146 km (91 mi)		Plain stage	Daniele Bennati (ITA)
	Total		3,569.9 km (2,218 mi)

Classification leadership

There were four main classifications contested in the 2007 Tour de France, with the most important being the general classification. The general classification was calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage. The cyclist with the least accumulated time was the race leader, identified by the yellow jersey; the winner of this classification was considered the winner of the Tour.^[7] In 2012, there were no time bonuses given.^[8]

Additionally, there was a points classification, which awards a green jersey. In the points classification, cyclists get points for finishing among the best in a stage finish, or in intermediate sprints. The cyclist with the most points led the classification, and is identified with a green jersey.^[7]

There was also a mountains classification. The organization categorized some climbs as either hors catégorie, first, second, third, or fourth-category; points for this classification were won by the first cyclists that reach the top of these climbs, with more points available for the higher-categorized climbs. The cyclist with the most points led the classification, and was identified with a polka dot jersey.^[7]

The fourth individual classification was the young rider classification, marked by the white jersey. This classification was calculated the same way as the general classification, but the classification was restricted to riders who were born on or after 1 January 1987.^[7]

For the team classification, the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added; the leading team is the team with the lowest total time. The riders in the team that lead this classification were identified with yellow numbers.^[8]

For the combativity award, a jury gives points after each stage to the cyclists they considered most combative. The cyclist with the most votes in all stages leads the classification.^[8]

The rows in the following table correspond to the jerseys awarded after that stage was run.

Classification leadership by stage

Stage	Winner	General classification	Points classification	Mountains classification	Young rider classification	Team classification	Combativity award
P	Fabian Cancellara	Fabian Cancellara	Fabian Cancellara	no award	Vladimir Gusev	Astana	no award
1	Robbie McEwen		Robbie McEwen	David Millar			Stéphane Augé
2	Gert Steegmans		Tom Boonen				Marcel Sieberg
3	Fabian Cancellara			Stéphane Augé			Mathieu Ladagnous
4	Thor Hushovd						Matthieu Sprick
5	Filippo Pozzato		Erik Zabel	Sylvain Chavanel		Team CSC	Sylvain Chavanel
6	Tom Boonen		Tom Boonen				Bradley Wiggins
7	Linus Gerdemann	Linus Gerdemann			Linus Gerdemann	T-Mobile Team	Linus Gerdemann
8	Michael Rasmussen	Michael Rasmussen		Michael Rasmussen		Rabobank	Michael Rasmussen
9	Mauricio Soler				Alberto Contador	Caisse d'Epargne	Yaroslav Popovych
10	Cédric Vasseur					Team CSC	Patrice Halgand
11	Robert Hunter						Benoît Vaugrenard
12	Tom Boonen						Amets Txurruka
13	Cadel Evans[N 1]					Astana	no award
14	Alberto Contador					Discovery Channel	Antonio Colom
15	Kim Kirchen[N 1]					Astana	Alexander Vinokourov
16	Michael Rasmussen			Mauricio Soler		Discovery Channel	Mauricio Soler
17	Daniele Bennati	Alberto Contador					Jens Voigt
18	Sandy Casar						Sandy Casar
19	Levi Leipheimer Cadel Evans						no award
20	Daniele Bennati						Freddy Bichot
Final		Alberto Contador	Tom Boonen	Mauricio Soler	Alberto Contador	Discovery Channel	Amets Txurruka

Jersey wearers when one rider is leading two or more competitions

• In stage 1, Andreas Klöden, who was second in the points classification, wore the green jersey, because Fabian Cancellara (in first place) wore the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification during that stage.
• In stage 8, Mauricio Soler, who was second in the young riders classification, wore the white jersey, because Linus Gerdemann (in first place) wore the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification during that stage.
• In stage 9, Sylvain Chavanel, who was second in the king of the mountains classification, wore the polka-dot jersey, because Michael Rasmussen (in first place) wore the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification during that stage.
• In stages 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, and 16, Mauricio Soler, who was second in the king of the mountains classification, wore the polka-dot jersey, because Michael Rasmussen (in first place) wore the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification during that stage.
• In stage 18, 19, and 20, Amets Txurruka, who was third in the young riders classification, wore the white jersey, because Alberto Contador (in first place) wore the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification during that stage and Mauricio Soler (in second place) wore the polka-dot jersey for leading the king of the mountains classification.

Other note

• Shortly after Michael Rasmussen won stage 16, his Rabobank team removed him from the Tour for violation of team rules; therefore in stage 17, no one wore the yellow jersey.

Final Standings

Legend
	Denotes the winner of the General classification[9]		Denotes the winner of the Mountains classification[9]
	Denotes the winner of the Points classification[9]		Denotes the winner of the Young rider classification[9]
	Denotes the winner of the Team classification[9]		Denotes the winner of the Combativity award winner[9]

General classification

Final general classification (1–10)

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Alberto Contador (ESP)	Discovery Channel	91h 00' 26"
2	Cadel Evans (AUS)	Predictor–Lotto	+ 23"
DSQ	Levi Leipheimer (USA)	Discovery Channel	+ 31"
3	Carlos Sastre (ESP)	Team CSC	+ 7' 08"
4	Haimar Zubeldia (ESP)	Euskaltel–Euskadi	+ 8' 17"
5	Alejandro Valverde (ESP)	Caisse d'Epargne	+ 11' 37"
6	Kim Kirchen (LUX)	T-Mobile Team	+ 12' 18"
7	Yaroslav Popovych (UKR)	Discovery Channel	+ 12' 25"
8	Mikel Astarloza (ESP)	Euskaltel–Euskadi	+ 14' 14"
9	Óscar Pereiro (ESP)	Caisse d'Epargne	+ 14' 25"

Points classification

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Tom Boonen (BEL)	Quick-Step–Innergetic	256
2	Robert Hunter (RSA)	Barloworld	234
3	Erik Zabel (GER)	Team Milram	232
4	Thor Hushovd (NOR)	Crédit Agricole	186
5	Sébastien Chavanel (FRA)	Française des Jeux	181
6	Daniele Bennati (ITA)	Lampre–Fondital	160
7	Robert Förster (GER)	Gerolsteiner	140
8	Fabian Cancellara (SUI)	Team CSC	112
9	Cadel Evans (AUS)	Predictor–Lotto	109
10	Alberto Contador (ESP)	Discovery Channel	88

King of the Mountains classification

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Mauricio Soler (COL)	Barloworld	206
2	Alberto Contador (ESP)	Discovery Channel	128
3	Yaroslav Popovych (UKR)	Discovery Channel	105
4	Cadel Evans (AUS)	Predictor–Lotto	92
5	Laurent Lefevre (FRA)	Bouygues Télécom	85
6	Juan Manuel Gárate (ESP)	Quick-Step–Innergetic	77
7	Carlos Sastre (ESP)	Team CSC	74
8	Juan José Cobo (ESP)	Saunier Duval–Prodir	68
DSQ	Levi Leipheimer (USA)	Discovery Channel	64
10	Haimar Zubeldia (ESP)	Euskaltel–Euskadi	64

Young riders classification

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 Sivtsov (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 Hrivko (UKR)	Team Milram	+ 2h 41' 41"

Team classification

Rank	Team	Time
1	Discovery Channel	273h 12' 52"
2	Caisse d'Epargne	+ 19' 36"
3	Team CSC	+ 22' 10"
4	Rabobank	+ 36' 24"
5	Euskaltel–Euskadi	+ 46' 46"
6	Saunier Duval–Prodir	+ 1h 44' 33"
7	Predictor–Lotto	+ 1h 50' 21"
8	Lampre–Fondital	+ 2h 19' 41"
9	Crédit Agricole	+ 2h 25' 44"
10	AG2R Prévoyance	+ 2h 26' 08"

UCI ProTour points

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.^[10]

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Alberto Contador (ESP)	Discovery Channel	113
2	Cadel Evans (AUS)	Predictor–Lotto	88
DSQ	Levi Leipheimer (USA)	Discovery Channel	75
4	Carlos Sastre (ESP)	Team CSC	55
5	Alejandro Valverde (ESP)	Caisse d'Epargne	53
5	Haimar Zubeldia (ESP)	Euskaltel–Euskadi	53
7	Kim Kirchen (LUX)	T-Mobile Team	45
8	Yaroslav Popovych (UKR)	Discovery Channel	35
9	Mikel Astarloza (ESP)	Euskaltel–Euskadi	30
10	Tom Boonen (BEL)	Quick-Step–Innergetic	28
11	Fabian Cancellara (SUI)	Team CSC	25
11	Óscar Pereiro (ESP)	Caisse d'Epargne	25
11	Michael Rasmussen (DEN)	Rabobank	25
14	Daniele Bennati (ITA)	Lampre–Fondital	23
15	Thor Hushovd (NOR)	Crédit Agricole	20
15	Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ)	Astana	20
17	Erik Zabel (GER)	Team Milram	16
18	Sandy Casar (FRA)	Française des Jeux	15
18	Michael Boogerd (NED)	Rabobank	15
20	Óscar Freire (ESP)	Rabobank	13
20	Vladimir Karpets (RUS)	Caisse d'Epargne	13
20	Filippo Pozzato (ITA)	Liquigas	13
23	David Arroyo (ESP)	Caisse d'Epargne	12
24	Iban Mayo (ESP)	Saunier Duval–Prodir	11
25	Linus Gerdemann (GER)	T-Mobile Team	10
25	Robbie McEwen (AUS)	Predictor–Lotto	10
25	Gert Steegmans (BEL)	Quick-Step–Innergetic	10
25	Cedric Vasseur (FRA)	Quick-Step–Innergetic	10
29	Chris Horner (USA)	Predictor–Lotto	8
29	Andreas Klöden (GER)	Astana	8
31	Markus Fothen (GER)	Gerolsteiner	5
31	Iñigo Landaluze (ESP)	Euskaltel–Euskadi	5
31	Axel Merckx (BEL)	T-Mobile Team	5
31	Fränk Schleck (LUX)	Team CSC	5
35	Manuel Beltrán (ESP)	Liquigas	4
36	Michael Albasini (SUI)	Liquigas	3
36	Martin Elmiger (SUI)	AG2R Prévoyance	3
36	Murilo Fisher (BRA)	Liquigas	3
36	David de la Fuente (ESP)	Saunier Duval–Prodir	3
36	George Hincapie (USA)	Discovery Channel	3
36	Laurent Lefevre (FRA)	AG2R Prévoyance	3
36	Danilo Napolitano (ITA)	Lampre–Fondital	3
36	Tadej Valjavec (SLO)	Lampre–Fondital	3
44	Juan Jose Cobo (ESP)	Saunier Duval–Prodir	2

Doping scandals

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.^[11]

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.^[12] 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.^[13] 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.^[14]

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.^[15]

Other incidents

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.^[16]

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.^[17][18][19]

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.^[20] Rasmussen disputed this claim, maintaining 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.^[21] Rasmussen later in 2013 confessed to doping from 1998 to 2010, including at the 2007 Tour de France.^[22]

Footnotes

See also

• List of doping cases in cycling

References

Further reading

• Wilcockson, John (2007). The 2007 Tour De France. Boulder, CO: VeloPress. ISBN 978-1-934030-10-3. 

External links

Wikinews has related news: 2007 Tour de France

• Official website (English)
• Website on the first two stages at the Wayback Machine (archived February 1, 2008)