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| Winner: Discovery Channel rider Alberto Contador of Spain led the final stage through Paris on Sunday. Philippe Wojazer/Reuters |
Tainted Tour de France finishes under cloud
Rampant doping cast a pall over the Tour de France's 104th year.
from the July 30, 2007 edition
Page 4 of 4
A history of scandals and cheating
Allegations of doping have plagued the Tour de France since the early 1900s, when riders drank alcohol and used substances to dull pain. In the past 50 years, some riders have used amphetamines to increase stamina and ignore pain, anabolic steroids to gain muscle and strength, or erythropoietin (EPO) to stimulate red-blood-cell production and improve oxygen-carrying capacity.
Since the race's inception in 1903, allegations of doping have pursued cycling's premier race:
2007: Alexandre Vinokourov, from Kazakhstan, is forced out of this year's Tour, along with all members of the Astana team, after he tests positive for a banned blood transfusion.
2007: Bjarne Riis confesses to using EPO during his 1996 Tour win. Now head of Team CSC, he decides not to join the team for the start of the race in London on July 7.
2006: Jan Ullrich is forced out on the eve of the Tour after being linked to a massive Spanish investigation into a blood-doping scandal that implicates more than 50 riders. The 1997 Tour winner denies any wrongdoing.
2006: Italian rider Ivan Basso is also kicked out of the Tour. He receives a two-year doping penalty from his cycling federation.
2006: Tour de France winner Floyd Landis' team says he tested positive for high levels of testosterone after his Stage 17 win. The American hopes to overturn the US Anti-Doping Agency's decision and prove he did not take testosterone. Landis says the French lab made key errors.
2005: Spaniard Roberto Heras is banned for two years for testing positive for EPO in the Tour of Spain, which he won.
2004: Codifis team rider Philippe Gaumont tells investigators doping was widespread in the team; French police detain British cyclist David Millar (EPO syringes were found in his apartment).
1967: British cyclist Tommy Simpson dies climbing Mont Ventoux after using amphetamines.
1924: The Pelissier brothers admit to using chloroform, cocaine, aspirin, and "horse ointment" to boost performance.
ESPN, Reuters, and The Associated Press.
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