Sponsored Teams Again

The 1960s saw a return to sponsored teams and commercialism yet the Tour still offered lots of intrigue and drama. The Tour was the most watched event in cycling and the sponsors badly needed the publicity. The Tour’s biggest rivals, Poulidor and Anquetil, truly disliked each other and this drew fans in.

Anquetil Rules

For many years, Anquetil was the greatest time-trialist in history. He won 12 of these tests in the Tour de France and even set a world record before he first won the Tour. Anquetil had a bit of a reputation as a rebel. He once said that his idea of training included “a few whiskies, blonde cigarettes and a woman.” His wayward ways extended into his private life. He an affair with a doctor’s wife, a woman named Jeanine, and when he learned that she couldn’t bear him a child, he persuaded her to let him have a baby with her adult daughter, a woman named Annie. They had a child named Sophie. Of course, Annie and Jeanine began to quarrel. Annie moved out and Jeanine invited her son and his wife, Dominique, to move in. Anquetil promptly seduced Dominique and a son, Christopher.

Anquetil took his wild ways to his cycling events. Most riders always go for a ride on the rest day because their bodies are so used to cycling. Jacques Anquetil, however, liked to enjoy life. He would go to a picnic and enjoy himself on big portions of barbecued lamb and lots of drink.

Anquetil, the five-time winner, sat out 1965 and returned in 1966. But this would be his last Tour.

Tragedy Strikes, Doping Raises its Ugly Head

In 1967, tragedy struck and this would be the year the Tour would first become tainted by a doping scandal. Tom Simpson was the best British rider of his day. Sadly, he fell victim to doping but actually died due to the heat as he crossed Mont Ventoux. His death led to the first drug testing in 1968.

Tom Simpson was a very well regarded racer. His sole goal in life was winning the Tour. Simpson knew he had to deliver. He turned to drugs, something that wasn’t new to the Tour. For some time now many riders had been using a life-threatening cocktail of drugs: amphetamines as a stimulant, Palfium to kill the pain in their legs and then sleeping pills at night to counteract the amphetamines.

Cycling began to grapple with this problem The first races were staggeringly long and tested the limits of human endurance. Stages in the early Tour could take over 17 hours to complete. From the beginning riders took various substances to allow them to complete their ordeals. When the Pélissier brothers withdrew from the 1924 Tour and gave their famous interview to Albert Londres they described the long list of drugs they took. “We run on dynamite,” Henri Pélissier said.

Before World War Two amphetamines were synthesized and athletes immediately understood the advantage they gave. Through the fifties it was clear to observers that riders were doping. There were pictures of racers with dried foam on their faces or of riders driven mad by a combination of heat and amphetamines stopping in the middle of a race to find relief in a fountain. After riding until he collapsed Jean Malléjac lay on the ground still strapped to his bike, his legs convulsively pumping the pedals. Others would remount their bikes and go the wrong way. Sometimes one could almost follow the route of a race by the trail of syringes left by the side of the road. Roger Rivière crashed in 1960 because he had taken so much of the opiate Palfium to kill the pain in his legs that he couldn’t feel the brake levers. Bahamontes said that he loved a good hot day in the mountains because the riders juiced up on amphetamines couldn’t take the heat.

Was Tom Simpson a bad person or a hero? He was neither. He knew that riding without dope wasn’t possible,

The day after Simpson’s death. the peloton agreed to ride if one of Simpson’s British teammates would be allowed a ceremonial stage victory to honor Simpson’s memory.

Merckx Rules the Road

Eddy Merckx of Belgium won in 1969, a stunning debut that earned him the nickname “cannibal,” a rider ready to devour everything it takes to win. Merckx flew into Paris with a 17 minute lead. Merckx dominated the cycling world, winning 250 major races, one a week for six years. Without a doubt he was the most complete and capable rider alive.

In 1975 Merckx was finally beaten by Bernard Thevenet. Merckx had been punched and knocked from his bike by a jealous French fan. This is the first year that the race finishes along the Champs Elysees

France celebrated Thevenet’s second win in 1977. He was a bit of a wonder boy, with seven more home wins until the last, in 1985.

The race’s next hero was a blunt Frenchman from Brittany, Hinault, who would become the third man to win five Tours. The years between 1978 and 1984 became known as “le blaireau” (the badger’s) golden era.

Then France cheered a new hero, a sophisticated bespectacled young Parisian called Laurent Fignon. Fignon rode into his home city of Paris in yellow, beating Hinault by 10 minutes and proving that 1983 had been no fluke.

Winners

* 1960 Gastone Nencini (Ita)

* 1961 Jacques Anquetil (Fra)

* 1962 Jacques Anquetil (Fra)

* 1963 Jacques Anquetil (Fra)

* 1964 Jacques Anquetil (Fra)

* 1965 Felice Gimondi (Ita)

* 1966 Lucien Aimar (Fra)

* 1967 Roger Pingeon (Fra)

* 1968 Jan Janssen (Ned)

* 1969 Eddy Merckx (Bel)

* 1970 Eddy Merckx (Bel)

* 1971 Eddy Merckx (Bel)

* 1972 Eddy Merckx (Bel)

* 1973 Luis Ocana (Spa)

* 1974 Eddy Merckx (Bel)

* 1975 Bernard Thevenet (Fra)

* 1976 Lucien Van Impe (Bel)

* 1977 Bernard Thevenet (Fra)

* 1978 Bernard Hinault (Fra)

* 1979 Bernard Hinault (Fra)

* 1980 Joop Zoetemelk (Ned)

If you liked this article, you’ll find more Tour de France history articles and this year’s Tour schedule at:

Tour de France stags & schedule & history

2007 tour de france

World’s greatest bicycle race – Le Tour du France

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If you are in France during the month of July and you are wondering about all the two-wheeling activity going on, don’t worry, it’s probably the Tour de France. The race continues for three weeks and attracts many cyclists from all over the world.

The race is divided into segments also known as stages. Each stage is day-long. The time taken to finish each stage is totaled to determine the winner at the end of race. The course of Tour de France is changed every year but it has always ended in Paris. The climax of the final stage has been in the direction of Champs-since 1975.

The world’s most famous bicycle race Tour de France was started in 1903 by L’Auto newspaper. The editor of L’Auto Desgrane determined the course of first race, surrounding the perimeter of France, which will continue for five weeks. But he halved the distance when only sixteen riders entered and also used cash carrots to pull more competitors towards the race. This increased the number of competitors to sixty. The inaugural Tour de France was won by Frenchman Cesar Garin. These sixty riders pedaled about 1550 miles in nineteen days. Sometimes there were several days of rest between the racing days. This first race was finished by only 21 riders. Due to Tour de France the circulation of L’ Auto was doubled. After several years L’Auto became L’Equipe. L’Equipe is the current daily sports newspaper of France. These Days, there are 200 cyclists. Each of them competes in teams consisting of nine members and the rider with least accumulated time wins.

The course of Tour de France changes every year but there are few things which are certain. Such as the complete length of the race cannot exceed 3500 KM. There are also limitations on the number of KM covered in each stage. The race includes two days of rest. It ends in Paris after running its impressively scenic course throughout France and bordering countries.

The rider having the lowest aggregate time at end of each stage wears a yellow jersey also known as “maillot jaune”, riders having the most sprint points wears a green jersey also known as maillot vert and the king of mountains wears a polka dot jersey also called “maillot pois”. They are also awarded with the Prix de la Combativite for their chutzpah.

Lance Armstrong won seven consecutive races from 1999 to 2005 and is known as the legend of Tour de France. The prize money given to the winner is about 750,000 US Dollars.

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The Tour de France is a bicycle race that winds its way around France for a full three weeks. If you are new to the sport of professional cycling it might be a bit confusing. Who’s in the lead? How are times kept? Why are there teams if cycling is an individual sport?

The winner of the tour is the rider with the best time over the three weeks of racing. Every day there is a new stage, kind of like a race within the race. At the end of each day you have the winner of that day’s stage, and the overall leader of the tour, the guy with the lowest cumulative time up to that point. The overall leader, or general classification (GC) leader wears the yellow jersey.

The yellow jersey is the most coveted prize among all cyclists. They say the man in yellow, even if he is of modest talent relative to his peers, will summon extra strength while wearing yellow. A rider might win the tour and yet never have worn the yellow jersey during the race if he wins it on the last day. Some riders are in yellow for a week or so, then have to give up the jersey mid-race when another rider moves up in the standings with the lowest time. In most tours the yellow jersey is worn by several different riders.

The tour starts with around 200 riders. Each rider is on a team of about eight members. Each team has one or two designated leaders. It’s the job of the other riders, or domestiques, to help the leader get to the finish line in the least amount of time possible. This involves giving the leader a draft–where the domestique rides in front in the wind and the team captain rides behind him to save energy. The domestiques also will give the leader their own wheel, or even their bicycle, if the leader has a flat. If the leader falters on a tough stage, the whole team will fall back and help pull him back to the pack.

So even though there is only one eventual winner, professional cycling is really a team sport. The leader with the strongest team always has an advantage.

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Green Day is an American rock trio formed in 1987. Green Day has consisted of Billie Joe Armstrong (vocals, guitar), Mike Dirnt (bass guitar, vocals), and Tré Cool (drums, percussion) for the majority of its existence.

Green Day has recorded 8 studio albums, 8 live albums, 4 compilation albums, 33 singles, 3 video album, 29 music videos, and 4 extended plays. Green Day has sold over 22 million records in the United States. Green Day have won three Grammy Awards; Best Alternative Album for Dookie, Best Rock Album for American Idiot, and Record of the Year for “Boulevard of Broken Dreams”.

Green Day has following Band members: Current members

Billie Joe Armstrong – lead vocals, guitars (1987–present)
Mike Dirnt – bass, backing vocals (1987–present)
Tré Cool – drums, percussion (1990–present)

Former members

John Kiffmeyer – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1987–1990)
Current touring members
Jason White – guitars, backing vocals (1999–present)
Jason Freese – keyboards, piano, acoustic guitar, trombone, saxophone, accordion, backing vocals (2003–present)
Jeff Matika – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2009–present)

Former touring members

Timmy Chunks – rhythm guitar (1997–1999)
Garth Schultz – trombone, trumpet (1997–1999)
Gabrial McNair – trombone, tenor saxophone (1999–2001)
Kurt Lohmiller – trumpet, timpani, percussion, backing vocals (1999–2004)
Mike Pelino – rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2004–2005)
Ronnie Blake – trumpet, timpani, percussion, backing vocals (2004–2005)

Green Day will be on road in UK and France for Summer 2010 Stadium Tour. First of UK concerts will be on 16 June 2010 in Old Trafford, Manchester. Green Day will play another concert in London’s Wembley Stadium on 19 June 2010. Green Day will perform a concert in France on 26 June 2010 at Parc des Princes, Paris.

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Green Day Tickets – Summer 2010 Stadium Tour – £95.00

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