A TdF History of Sorts

[B. Lafferty]

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From the Observer via toady's Guardian.

Pills, spills and bellyaches - a cheat's guide to the Tour=20 William Fotheringham Sunday June 1,
2003 The Observer

1904=20

The most scandalous Tour ever. After a four-month inquiry, the first = four riders overall are
disqualified, and 25 others - out of a field of = 88 - are punished for offences including
collusion, use of cars and = trains during stages and taking short cuts. One, Lucien Pothier, is =
suspended for life.=20

1905=20

In an act of sabotage, nails are strewn on the course; all the = competitors bar one, Fran=E7ois
Dortignacq, puncture on the first stage. = The practice continues for several years.=20

1906=20

Three competitors are disqualified at the end of the third stage in = Dijon for taking a train.=20

1911=20

The favourite Paul Duboc is given a spiked bottle, allegedly by a rival = team manager, and
collapses in a ditch in the Pyrenees. The race leader, = Garrigou, has to be disguised in a wig and
dark glasses to get past = furious Duboc fans in Rouen.=20

1924=20

The first drug revelations, when Pelissier and his brother Francis quit. = 'Do you want to see how
we keep going?' Henri asks the journalist Albert = Londres, taking a flask out of his bag. 'That's
cocaine to go in our = eyes, chloroform for our gums, and do you want to see the pills? We keep =
going on dynamite. In the evenings we dance around our rooms instead of = sleeping.'=20

1937=20

Roger Lapebie of France wins after a violent dispute with the race = judges ends with the whole
Belgian team quitting. Lapebie is warming up = before a mountain stage when he notices that his
handlebar has been sawn = through.=20

1947=20

The overall winner Jean Robic offers his biggest rival, Fachleitner, = Fr100,000 to assist him in
the final stage. Accepting that he is = unlikely to beat Robic, Fach takes the money.=20

1950=20

Drunk spectators block the road in the Pyrenees and threaten race = favourite Gino Bartali, who
quits, taking both Italian national teams = with him.=20

1953=20

At the summit of the Tourmalet in the Pyrenees, the tiny climber Jean = Robic is handed a feeding
bottle filled with lead, weighing 10kg, so = that he can gain ground on the descent.=20

1955=20

Breton cyclist Jean Mallejac collapses on Mont Ventoux then has a fit in = the ambulance on the way
to hospital. Half a dozen other riders collapse = in the heat. Amphetamines are suspected.=20

1960=20

The favourite, Roger Riviere, falls into a ravine at high speed and = breaks his back. Pill boxes
are found in his jersey and a strong = painkiller, Palfium, in his suitcase. He reveals later he was
taking up = to 40 amphetamine tablets a day.=20

1962=20

The 'bad fish' affair. 20 riders fall ill in the Pyrenees amid rumours = that they have taken the
wrong drugs, and claims that they have eaten = rotten fish. A cartoon in l'Equipe entitled 'we've
eaten bad fish' shows = a group of cyclists sitting in front of a half eaten fish with syringes =
for bones.=20

1966=20

A half-hearted attempt to bring in drug tests results in a riders' = strike, which five-times winner
Jacques Anquetil, a fervent opponent of = testing explains in these words: 'We find these tests
degrading. Why do = cyclists have to be suspected and controlled while any other free man = can do
what he likes and take what he likes?' There are six positives, = lightly punished.=20

1967=20

Tom Simpson, Britain's 1965 world champion, collapses and dies close to = the summit of Mont
Ventoux. The postmortem reveals a mix of alcohol and = amphetamines in his guts. An inquiry
concludes that drugs contributed to = his death.=20

1968=20

The 'Tour de Sante' ('health Tour'): drug tests are brought in and = properly applied. Two riders
test positive.=20

1978=20

Michel Pollentier of Belgium wins the stage at l'Alpe d'Huez. When he is = dope tested afterwards
the doctors find an elaborate system of tubes = running from his armpit to his penis containing
clean urine. He is = disqualified. So are another seven riders for asking the crowds to push = them
up the climbs.=20

1979=20

Again at l'Alpe d'Huez, an unnamed cyclist is called for a dope test. = His wife fakes a fainting
fit outside the caravan, the doctor runs to = assist her, and a flask of clean urine is
substituted.=20

1980=20

In an unusually blatant example of aggressive sprinting, the Dutchman = Henk Lubberding knocks off
the Frenchman Michel Laurent as the pair = sprint for the finish at Saint Etienne. Laurent breaks
his collarbone, = and has to walk over the line to claim seventh place. He is later = awarded stage
victory.=20

1989=20

A helicopter is commissioned to carry a race judge, solely to clamp down = on backmarkers taking
tows from cars in the convoy during the mountain = stages.=20

1997=20

Djamolidin Abduzhaparov, three-times winner of the green jersey for best = sprinter, is thrown off
the race after testing positive for clenbuterol, = a powerful steroid, and Bromantan, a stimulant
used by Soviet fighter = pilots. Three stage 'winners' are disqualified for carving up the =
opposition in sprint finishes including Erik Zabel of Germany. At the = finish in Marennes, the
Belgian Tom Steels is sent home for throwing a = water bottle at Frenchman Fred Moncassin, while in
Dijon Dutchman Bart = Voskamp and German Jens Heppner sprint out the stage win with elbows =
entangled and leaning on one another at an impossible angle. They are = both disqualified.=20

1998=20

The 'Tour de Farce'. ***** Voet, masseur with Festina is arrested near = Lille while conveying his
charges' drugs to the Tour. Voet himself is = high on 'Belgian mix', a melange of cocaine, morphine,
heroine and = amphetamines. Festina are thrown off the Tour, which degenerates into a = chaos of
riders' strikes and police raids. Eight of the team's nine = riders confess to drug taking.=20

1999=20

Voet's autobiography is published, and sells 300,000 copies. The 'Tour = of Renewal' begins badly
when two riders fail the blood thickness tests, = implying possible erythropoietine (EPO) use.=20

2002=20

On the day Raimondas Rumsas finishes third overall in Paris, his wife = Edita, who has been
accompanying her husband on the Tour, is arrested by = customs men at Chamonix, who find 37
different kinds of drug in her car, = including cortisone, testosterone and growth hormone. Rumsas
denies any = wrongdoing, claiming the drugs are for his sick mother in law. Edita = remains in jail
for several months, becoming a cause c=E9l=E8bre in her = native Lithuania. To date, no action has
been taken against her husband, = who is still racing.=20

Guardian Unlimited =A9 Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003 ------=_NextPart_000_0012_01C32FE8.F7971E20
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<DIV><FONT face=3D"Comic Sans MS" size=3D2>From the Observer via toady's =

Guardian.</FONT></DIV>
<DV><FONT size=3D2></FONT><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DVI><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DVII><FONT size=3D2><STRONG><FONT size=3D4>Pills, spills and bellyaches =
- a cheat's=20 guide to the Tour <BR></FONT></STRONG>William Fotheringham<BR>Sunday = June 1,=20
2003<BR>The Observer</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DV><FONT size=3D2>1904 </FONT></DIV>
<DVI><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DVII><FONT size=3D2>The most scandalous Tour ever. After a four-month = inquiry, the=20 first
four riders overall are disqualified, and 25 others - out of a = field of 88=20
- are punished for offences including collusion, use of cars and trains = during=20 stages and
taking short cuts. One, Lucien Pothier, is suspended for = life.=20 </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DV><FONT size=3D2>1905 </FONT></DIV>
<DVI><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DVII><FONT size=3D2>In an act of sabotage, nails are strewn on the = course; all the=20
competitors bar one, Fran=E7ois Dortignacq, puncture on the first stage. = The=20
practice continues for several years. </FONT></DIV>
<DVIII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIX><FONT size=3D2>1906 </FONT></DIV>
<DX><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXI><FONT size=3D2>Three competitors are disqualified at the end of the = third=20 stage in
Dijon for taking a train. </FONT></DIV>
<DXII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXIII><FONT size=3D2>1911 </FONT></DIV>
<DXIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXV><FONT size=3D2>The favourite Paul Duboc is given a spiked bottle, = allegedly=20 by a
rival team manager, and collapses in a ditch in the Pyrenees. The = race=20 leader,
Garrigou, has to be disguised in a wig and dark glasses to get = past=20 furious Duboc
fans in Rouen. </FONT></DIV>
<DXVI><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXVII><FONT size=3D2>1924 </FONT></DIV>
<DXVIII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXIX><FONT size=3D2>The first drug revelations, when Pelissier and his = brother=20 Francis
quit. 'Do you want to see how we keep going?' Henri asks the = journalist=20 Albert
Londres, taking a flask out of his bag. 'That's cocaine to go in = our=20 eyes,
chloroform for our gums, and do you want to see the pills? We keep = going=20 on
dynamite. In the evenings we dance around our rooms instead of = sleeping.'=20
</FONT></DIV>
<DXX><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXXI><FONT size=3D2>1937 </FONT></DIV>
<DXXII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXXIII><FONT size=3D2>Roger Lapebie of France wins after a violent dispute = with the=20 race
judges ends with the whole Belgian team quitting. Lapebie is = warming up=20 before a
mountain stage when he notices that his handlebar has been sawn =

through. </FONT></DIV>
<DXXIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXXV><FONT size=3D2>1947 </FONT></DIV>
<DXXVI><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXXVII><FONT size=3D2>The overall winner Jean Robic offers his biggest = rival,=20 Fachleitner,
Fr100,000 to assist him in the final stage. Accepting that = he is=20 unlikely to beat
Robic, Fach takes the money. </FONT></DIV>
<DXXVIII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXXIX><FONT size=3D2>1950 </FONT></DIV>
<DXXX><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXXXI><FONT size=3D2>Drunk spectators block the road in the Pyrenees and = threaten=20 race
favourite Gino Bartali, who quits, taking both Italian national = teams with=20 him.
</FONT></DIV>
<DXXXII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXXXIII><FONT size=3D2>1953 </FONT></DIV>
<DXXXIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXXXV><FONT size=3D2>At the summit of the Tourmalet in the Pyrenees, the = tiny=20 climber Jean
Robic is handed a feeding bottle filled with lead, weighing = 10kg,=20 so that he can
gain ground on the descent. </FONT></DIV>
<DXXXVI><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXXXVII><FONT size=3D2>1955 </FONT></DIV>
<DXXXVIII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXXXIX><FONT size=3D2>Breton cyclist Jean Mallejac collapses on Mont = Ventoux then=20 has a fit
in the ambulance on the way to hospital. Half a dozen other = riders=20 collapse in the
heat. Amphetamines are suspected. </FONT></DIV>
<DXL><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXLI><FONT size=3D2>1960 </FONT></DIV>
<DXLII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXLIII><FONT size=3D2>The favourite, Roger Riviere, falls into a ravine at = high=20 speed and
breaks his back. Pill boxes are found in his jersey and a = strong=20 painkiller,
Palfium, in his suitcase. He reveals later he was taking up = to 40=20 amphetamine
tablets a day. </FONT></DIV>
<DXLIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXLV><FONT size=3D2>1962 </FONT></DIV>
<DXLVI><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXLVII><FONT size=3D2>The 'bad fish' affair. 20 riders fall ill in the = Pyrenees amid=20
rumours that they have taken the wrong drugs, and claims that they have = eaten=20 rotten
fish. A cartoon in l'Equipe entitled 'we've eaten bad fish' shows = a group=20 of
cyclists sitting in front of a half eaten fish with syringes for = bones.=20
</FONT></DIV>
<DXLVIII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXLIX><FONT size=3D2>1966 </FONT></DIV>
<DL><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DLI><FONT size=3D2>A half-hearted attempt to bring in drug tests = results in a=20 riders'
strike, which five-times winner Jacques Anquetil, a fervent = opponent of=20 testing
explains in these words: 'We find these tests degrading. Why do = cyclists=20 have to be
suspected and controlled while any other free man can do what = he=20 likes and take what
he likes?' There are six positives, lightly = punished.=20 </FONT></DIV>
<DLII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DLIII><FONT size=3D2>1967 </FONT></DIV>
<DLIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DLV><FONT size=3D2>Tom Simpson, Britain's 1965 world champion, = collapses and dies=20 close
to the summit of Mont Ventoux. The postmortem reveals a mix of = alcohol and=20
amphetamines in his guts. An inquiry concludes that drugs contributed to = his=20 death.
</FONT></DIV>
<DLVI><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DLVII><FONT size=3D2>1968 </FONT></DIV>
<DLVIII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DLIX><FONT size=3D2>The 'Tour de Sante' ('health Tour'): drug tests are = brought in=20 and
properly applied. Two riders test positive. </FONT></DIV>
<DLX><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DLXI><FONT size=3D2>1978 </FONT></DIV>
<DLXII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DLXIII><FONT size=3D2>Michel Pollentier of Belgium wins the stage at = l'Alpe d'Huez.=20 When he
is dope tested afterwards the doctors find an elaborate system = of tubes=20 running from
his armpit to his penis containing clean urine. He is = disqualified.=20 So are another
seven riders for asking the crowds to push them up the = climbs.=20 </FONT></DIV>
<DLXIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DLXV><FONT size=3D2>1979 </FONT></DIV>
<DLXVI><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DLXVII><FONT size=3D2>Again at l'Alpe d'Huez, an unnamed cyclist is called = for a=20 dope test.
His wife fakes a fainting fit outside the caravan, the doctor = runs to=20 assist her,
and a flask of clean urine is substituted. </FONT></DIV>
<DLXVIII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DLXIX><FONT size=3D2>1980 </FONT></DIV>
<DLXX><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DLXXI><FONT size=3D2>In an unusually blatant example of aggressive = sprinting, the=20 Dutchman
Henk Lubberding knocks off the Frenchman Michel Laurent as the = pair=20 sprint for the
finish at Saint Etienne. Laurent breaks his collarbone, = and has=20 to walk over the
line to claim seventh place. He is later awarded stage = victory.=20 </FONT></DIV>
<DLXXII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DLXXIII><FONT size=3D2>1989 </FONT></DIV>
<DLXXIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DLXXV><FONT size=3D2>A helicopter is commissioned to carry a race judge, = solely to=20 clamp
down on backmarkers taking tows from cars in the convoy during the =

mountain stages. </FONT></DIV>
<DLXXVI><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DLXXVII><FONT size=3D2>1997 </FONT></DIV>
<DLXXVIII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DLXXIX><FONT size=3D2>Djamolidin Abduzhaparov, three-times winner of the = green=20 jersey for
best sprinter, is thrown off the race after testing positive = for=20 clenbuterol, a
powerful steroid, and Bromantan, a stimulant used by = Soviet=20 fighter pilots. Three
stage 'winners' are disqualified for carving up = the=20 opposition in sprint finishes
including Erik Zabel of Germany. At the = finish in=20 Marennes, the Belgian Tom Steels
is sent home for throwing a water = bottle at=20 Frenchman Fred Moncassin, while in Dijon
Dutchman Bart Voskamp and = German Jens=20 Heppner sprint out the stage win with elbows
entangled and leaning on = one=20 another at an impossible angle. They are both
disqualified. = </FONT></DIV>
<DLXXX><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DLXXXI><FONT size=3D2>1998 </FONT></DIV>
<DLXXXII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DLXXXIII><FONT size=3D2>The 'Tour de Farce'. ***** Voet, masseur with = Festina is=20 arrested
near Lille while conveying his charges' drugs to the Tour. Voet = himself=20 is high on
'Belgian mix', a melange of cocaine, morphine, heroine and=20 amphetamines. Festina are
thrown off the Tour, which degenerates into a = chaos of=20 riders' strikes and police
raids. Eight of the team's nine riders = confess to=20 drug taking. </FONT></DIV>
<DLXXXIV><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DLXXXV><FONT size=3D2>1999 </FONT></DIV>
<DLXXXVI><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DLXXXVII><FONT size=3D2>Voet's autobiography is published, and sells 300,000 = copies.=20 The
'Tour of Renewal' begins badly when two riders fail the blood = thickness=20 tests,
implying possible erythropoietine (EPO) use. </FONT></DIV>
<DLXXXVIII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DLXXXIX><FONT size=3D2>2002 </FONT></DIV>
<DXC><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXCI><FONT size=3D2>On the day Raimondas Rumsas finishes third overall = in Paris,=20 his wife
Edita, who has been accompanying her husband on the Tour, is = arrested=20 by customs men
at Chamonix, who find 37 different kinds of drug in her = car,=20 including cortisone,
testosterone and growth hormone. Rumsas denies any=20 wrongdoing, claiming the drugs are
for his sick mother in law. Edita = remains in=20 jail for several months, becoming a
cause c=E9l=E8bre in her native = Lithuania. To=20 date, no action has been taken against
her husband, who is still racing. =

</FONT></DIV>
<DXCII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DXCIII><BR><FONT size=3D2>Guardian Unlimited =A9 Guardian Newspapers = Limited 2003=20
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[Bruce Johnston]

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This is crazy and funny stuff except for the Tom Simpson tragedy that = also was documented pretty
well in L'Equipe 100 years of the Tour de = France`.

B-

"B. Lafferty" <[email protected]> wrote in message =
news:[email protected]... From the Observer via
toady's Guardian.

Pills, spills and bellyaches - a cheat's guide to the Tour=20 William Fotheringham Sunday June 1,
2003 The Observer

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6.00.2800.1170" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#c8e0d8>
<DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>This is crazy and funny stuff except = for the Tom=20 Simpson
tragedy that also was documented pretty well in L'Equipe 100 = years of=20 the Tour de
France`.</FONT></DIV>
<DV> </DIV>
<DVI><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2>B-<BR></FONT></DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE dir=3Dltr=20
style=3D"PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; = BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px
solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DVII>"B. Lafferty" <<A=20
=
href=3D"mailto:[email protected]">AceptNoSubstitutes@hotmail= .com</A>>=20 wrote in
message <A=20
=
href=3D"news:[email protected]">new=
s:[email protected]</A>...</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=3D"Comic Sans MS" size=3D2>From the Observer via = toady's=20
Guardian.</FONT></DIV>
<DV><FONT size=3D2></FONT><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DVI><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DVII><FONT size=3D2><STRONG><FONT size=3D4>Pills, spills and = bellyaches - a=20 cheat's guide
to the Tour <BR></FONT></STRONG>William = Fotheringham<BR>Sunday=20 June 1, 2003<BR>The
Observer</FONT></DIV>
<DVIII><FONT size=3D2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIX><FONT size=3D2> </FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>

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[Davide Tosi]

"B. Lafferty" <[email protected]> wrote:

>In an unusually blatant example of aggressive sprinting, the Dutchman = Henk Lubberding knocks off
>the Frenchman Michel Laurent as the pair = sprint for the finish at Saint Etienne. Laurent breaks
>his collarbone, = and has to walk over the line to claim seventh place. He is later = awarded
>stage victory.

In fact this is one of the best pages of the Tour. Lubberding was a real though man, a true hero,
while that faggoty frog laurent was just a *****. I remember that when at the end of that stage I
was disappointed that laurent did not break his neck bone.

 

[James]

"B. Lafferty" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> From the Observer via toady's Guardian.
>
>
> Pills, spills and bellyaches - a cheat's guide to the Tour William Fotheringham Sunday June 1,
> 2003 The Observer

> 1979
>
> Again at l'Alpe d'Huez, an unnamed cyclist is called for a dope test. His wife fakes a fainting
> fit outside the caravan, the doctor runs to assist her, and a flask of clean urine is substituted.
>
>
> Guardian Unlimited Guardian Newspapers Limited 2003
> --

Who's wife was this?

Thanks

 

[Benjo Maso]

"B. Lafferty" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]... From the Observer via
toady's Guardian.

----- Original Message ----- From: B. Lafferty Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.racing Sent: Wednesday, June
11, 2003 12:16 PM Subject: A TdF History of Sorts

From the Observer via toady's Guardian.

>Pills, spills and bellyaches - a cheat's guide to the Tour The ObserverPills, spills and bellyaches
>- a cheat's guide to the Tour William Fotheringham Sunday June 1, 2003 The Observer

>1904

>The most scandalous Tour ever. After a four-month inquiry, the first four
riders overall are disqualified, and 25 others - out of a field of 88 - are punished for offences
including collusion, use of cars and >trains during stages and taking short cuts. One, Lucien
Pothier, is suspended for life.

The most scandulous? Perhaps, although my favorite is 1929, which isn't even mentioned.

>1905

>In an act of sabotage, nails are strewn on the course; all the competitors
bar one, François Dortignacq, puncture on the first stage. The practice continues for several years.

It happened already in 1903 and 1904. It was a common practice in those days. There were even
produced special nails for bicycle racers.

>1906

>Three competitors are disqualified at the end of the third stage in Dijon
for taking a train.

>1911

>The favourite Paul Duboc is given a spiked bottle, allegedly by a rival
team manager, and collapses in a ditch in the Pyrenees. The race leader, Garrigou, has to be
disguised in a wig and dark glasses to get >past furious Duboc fans in Rouen.

>1924

>The first drug revelations, when Pelissier and his brother Francis quit.
'Do you want to see how we keep going?' Henri asks the journalist Albert Londres, taking a flask out
of his bag. 'That's cocaine to go >in our eyes, chloroform for our gums, and do you want to see the
pills? We keep going on dynamite. In the evenings we dance around our rooms instead of sleeping.'

The first drug revelations?! From the first Tour on riders had admitted taking drugs. Why shouldn't
they? It was allowed.

>1937

>Roger Lapebie of France wins after a violent dispute with the race judges
ends with the whole Belgian team quitting. Lapebie is warming up before a mountain stage when he
notices that his handlebar has >been sawn through.

Said Lapébie, who was the main culprit ofd all the irregularities. Desgrange didn't punish him
directly - he was too happy with a French winner - but only indirectly: didn't allow him to
participate to the Tour of '38.

>1947

>The overall winner Jean Robic offers his biggest rival, Fachleitner,
Fr100,000 to assist him in the final stage. Accepting that he is unlikely to beat Robic, Fach takes
the money.

I like that. By mentioning the incident - by the way, it wasn't Robic who offered the money, but
Fach who demanded it - the writer implicated that it was something very uncommon. Of course it was -
and is - quite usual. By the way, Fr 100.000 wasn't that much.

>1950

> Drunk spectators block the road in the Pyrenees and threaten race
favourite Gino Bartali, who quits, taking both Italian national teams with him.

Drunk? That's the French version.

>1953

>At the summit of the Tourmalet in the Pyrenees, the tiny climber Jean Robic
is handed a feeding bottle filled with lead, weighing 10kg, so that he can gain ground on
the descent.

Which wasn't against the rules.

>1955

>Breton cyclist Jean Mallejac collapses on Mont Ventoux then has a fit in
the ambulance on the way to hospital. Half a dozen other riders collapse in the heat. Amphetamines
are suspected. ' Suspected? Pills were found in his horelroom.

>1960

>The favourite, Roger Riviere, falls into a ravine at high speed and breaks
his back. Pill boxes are found in his jersey and a strong painkiller, Palfium, in his suitcase. He
reveals later he was taking up to 40
>amphetamine tablets a day.

>1962

>The 'bad fish' affair. 20 riders fall ill in the Pyrenees amid rumours that
they have taken the wrong drugs, and claims that they have eaten rotten fish. A cartoon in l'Equipe
entitled 'we've eaten bad fish' >shows a group of cyclists sitting in front of a half eaten fish
with syringes for bones.

>1966

>A half-hearted attempt to bring in drug tests results in a riders' strike,
which five-times winner Jacques Anquetil, a fervent opponent of testing explains in these words: 'We
find these tests degrading. Why >do cyclists have to be suspected and controlled while any other
free man can do what he likes and take what he likes?' There are six positives, lightly punished.

And Anquetil was right. If they had listened to him, we wouldn't have all those troubles nowadays.

>1967

>Tom Simpson, Britain's 1965 world champion, collapses and dies close to the
summit of Mont Ventoux. The postmortem reveals a mix of alcohol and amphetamines in his guts. An
inquiry concludes that >drugs contributed to his death.

>1968

>The 'Tour de Sante' ('health Tour'): drug tests are brought in and properly
applied. Two riders test positive.

Properly? Especially the Italians had already found highly effective ways to duck the
controles. It's true that amphetamines could be detected, one of the main reasons why
cortisones became so popular.

>1978

>Michel Pollentier of Belgium wins the stage at l'Alpe d'Huez. When he is
dope tested afterwards the doctors find an elaborate system of tubes running from his armpit to his
penis containing clean urine. He >is disqualified. So are another seven riders for asking the crowds
to push them up the climbs.

The jury must have out of their mind. From 1903 on riders have asked the crowds to push them.

>1979

>Again at l'Alpe d'Huez, an unnamed cyclist is called for a dope test. His
wife fakes a fainting fit outside the caravan, the doctor runs to assist her, and a flask of clean
urine is substituted.

Rumours.

>1980

>In an unusually blatant example of aggressive sprinting, the Dutchman Henk
Lubberding knocks off the Frenchman Michel Laurent as the pair sprint for the finish at Saint
Etienne. Laurent breaks his >collarbone, and has to walk over the line to claim seventh place. He is
later awarded stage victory.

Why mentioning especially this incident? There have been so many.

>1989

>A helicopter is commissioned to carry a race judge, solely to clamp down on
backmarkers taking tows from cars in the convoy during the mountain stages.

>1997

>Djamolidin Abduzhaparov, three-times winner of the green jersey for best
sprinter, is thrown off the race after testing positive for clenbuterol, a powerful steroid, and
Bromantan, a stimulant used by Soviet >fighter pilots. Three stage 'winners' are disqualified for
carving up the opposition in sprint finishes including Erik Zabel of Germany. At the finish in
Marennes, the Belgian Tom Steels is sent home for >throwing a water bottle at Frenchman Fred
Moncassin, while in Dijon Dutchman Bart Voskamp and German Jens Heppner sprint out the stage win
with elbows entangled and leaning on one another at an >impossible angle. They are both
disqualified.

Concerning the last incident: the jury must have been on drugs. The sprint was only a little bit
irregular.

>1998

>The 'Tour de Farce'. ***** Voet, masseur with Festina is arrested near
Lille while conveying his charges' drugs to the Tour. Voet himself is high on 'Belgian mix', a
melange of cocaine, morphine, heroine >and amphetamines. Festina are thrown off the Tour, which
degenerates into a chaos of riders' strikes and police raids. Eight of the team's nine riders
confess to drug taking.

>1999

>Voet's autobiography is published, and sells 300,000 copies. The 'Tour of
Renewal' begins badly when two riders fail the blood thickness tests, implying possible
erythropoietine (EPO) use.

>2002

>On the day Raimondas Rumsas finishes third overall in Paris, his wife
Edita, who has been accompanying her husband on the Tour, is arrested by customs men at Chamonix,
who find 37 different kinds of >drug in her car, including cortisone, testosterone and growth
hormone. Rumsas denies any wrongdoing, claiming the drugs are for his sick mother in law. Edita
remains in jail for several months, becoming a >cause célèbre in her native Lithuania. To date, no
action has been taken against her husband, who is still racing.

IMO the author should have made a proper study of the history of the Tour before writing such
an article.

Benjo Maso

 

[James]

"B. Lafferty" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:<[email protected]>...
> From the Observer via toady's Guardian. 1968
>
> The 'Tour de Sante' ('health Tour'): drug tests are brought in and properly applied. Two riders
> test positive.
>
> 1978
>
> Michel Pollentier of Belgium wins the stage at l'Alpe d'Huez. When he is dope tested afterwards
> the doctors find an elaborate system of tubes running from his armpit to his penis containing
> clean urine. He is disqualified. So are another seven riders for asking the crowds to push them up
> the climbs.

What about 1975 when a fan of Bernard Thevenet kidney punched Merckx while climbing. The kidney
became infected, forcing Merckx to abandon and allowing Thevenet to win.

 

[Van Hoorebeeck]

benjo maso schreef:

>
> IMO the author should have made a proper study of the history of the Tour before writing such an
> article.
>

typical nowadays cut'n'paste work from a googled website by the non-specialized journalist ?

 

[Benjo Maso]

"Van Hoorebeeck Bart" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
>
> benjo maso schreef:
>
> >
> > IMO the author should have made a proper study of the history of the
Tour
> > before writing such an article.
> >
>
> typical nowadays cut'n'paste work from a googled website by the
non-specialized
> journalist ?

I'm afraid so.

 

[Kenny]

> What about 1975 when a fan of Bernard Thevenet kidney punched Merckx while climbing. The kidney
> became infected, forcing Merckx to abandon and allowing Thevenet to win.

That was scandalous. I once saw a documentary about that race. After the finish of that stage,
Merckx descended the climb with some officials to the place where he was hit where he tried to find
the guy who did it. Luckily other viewers pointed to a french guy with a light brown coat. The guy
heavily denied that he had punched Merckx. But the pictures from the helicopter showed the
opposite: a guy in a light brown coat clearly punched Merckx. That was the Thevenet-fan everybody
was pointing at.