TOUR DE FRANCE 1999-2008

We look back at the Tour de France top ten from 1999 to 2008 and study the impact positive dope tests and doping scandals have had on the credibility of the event.

The 1999 Tour was supposed to be the Tour of Renewal after the disaster of 1998, when the French Festina team was kicked out of the race after a team car was stopped, searched and contained to found a large consignment of illegal drugs.

It wasn’t much of a fresh start because three members of that 1998 Festina team finished in the top ten.

Looking back over the past ten editions of the Tour, we have crossed through the names of all riders who have tested positive, served a suspension or were significantly linked to an anti-doping investigation at any time in their career.

Riders with question marks hanging over them are marked with asterisks.

Each rider’s offence or alleged offence is clearly explained the first time they appear in this article.

To be absolutely clear, striking through a riders name does not equal an allegation that their result in that particular race was achieved while doping. What it means is that the rider in question tested positive or was sanctioned or sacked at some point in their career, either prior or subsequently.

Back to The Wednesday Comment, September 17, 2008

LINKS

How the shadow of doping has damaged the grand tours in the past decade.

Giro d'Italia 1999-2008

Vuelta a Espana 1998-2007

1 LANCE ARMSTRONG (USA) *

In August 2005, L’Equipe alleged six of Armstrong’s urine samples, taken during the 1999 Tour de France, contained EPO. There was no ratified EPO test in 1999, but the samples were tested as part of a study in 2004 and 2005. There was no counter-analysis (B-sample tests) and no proceedings can be taken against Armstrong in any case because the alleged offence is more than seven years old. Also tested positive for a corticosteroid during the 1999 Tour, for which he retrospectively produced a medical certificate

2 ALEX ZULLE (Switzerland)

Admitted to using EPO in the wake of the 1998 Festina Affair and was banned for seven months

3 FERNANDO ESCARTIN (Spain)

4 LAURENT DUFAUX (Switzerland)

Admitted to using EPO in the wake of the 1998 Festina Affair and was banned for seventh months

5 ANGEL CASERO (Spain)

Named in Operacion Puerto documents in 2006, after he had retired

6 ABRAHAM OLANO (Spain)

7 DANIELE NARDELLO (Italy)

8 RICHARD VIRENQUE (France)

Part of the Festina team in 1998. Initially denied doping, but eventually admitted it in court and was banned for nine months in December 2000

9 WLADIMIR BELLI (Italy)

10 ANDREA PERON (Italy)

1 LANCE ARMSTRONG (USA) *

2 JAN ULLRICH (Germany)

In 2006 he was named in the Operacion Puerto documents as a client of Dr Eufamiano Fuentes. Sacked by T-Mobile because he had signed a document stating he was not involved in the OP investigation. Retired. Served a suspension in 2002-03 after testing positive for amphetamines out of competition

3 JOSEBA BELOKI (Spain)

Named in Operacion Puerto documents. Denied any involvement with Dr Fuentes. Case dropped by Spanish court. Retired

4 CHRISTOPHE MOREAU (France)

Tested positive for anabolic steroids at Criterium International in 1998 but was not suspended because he claimed he was given the substance by a member of his team’s support staff and did not realise it was banned. Part of the Festina team kicked out of the 1998 Tour. Admitted using EPO. Served a six-month ban.

5 ROBERTO HERAS (Spain)

Tested positive for EPO at the 2006 Vuelta a Espana, which he had won. Stripped of that race win and banned for two years

6 RICHARD VIRENQUE (France)

7 SANTIAGO BOTERO (Colombia)

Named in the Operacion Puerto documents. Sacked by Phonak. Colombian Cycling Federation did not open proceedings. Resurfaced riding for Orbitel team, then joined Rock Racing

8 FERNANDO ESCARTIN (Spain)

9 FRANCISCO MANCEBO (Spain)

Named in Operacion Puerto documents. Sacked by Ag2r. Retired

10 DANIELE NARDELLO (Italy)

1 LANCE ARMSTRONG (USA) *

2 JAN ULLRICH (Germany)

3 JOSEBA BELOKI (Spain)

4 Andrei Kivilev (Kazakhstan)

5 IGOR GONZALEZ DE GALDEANO (Spain)

French anti-doping authorities declared his level of salbutamol – permitted by a Therapeutic Use Exemption from the UCI – was too high during 2002 Tour de France. Prevented from riding the Tour in 2003

6 FRANCOIS SIMON (France)

7 OSCAR SEVILLA (Spain)

Named in the Operacion Puerto documents. Sacked by T-Mobile. Sevilla initially retired but is now riding for Rock Racing

8 SANTIAGO BOTERO (Colombia)

9 MARCOS SERRANO (Spain)

Named in Operacion Puerto documents in 2006

10 MICHAEL BOOGERD (Netherlands)

1 LANCE ARMSTRONG (USA) *

2 JOSEBA BELOKI (Spain)

3 RAIMONDAS RUMSAS (Lithuania)

His wife Edita was stopped in her car as she tried to drive from France to Italy after the Tour. Performance-enhancing drugs were found in the car, which she said were for her mother-in-law. Rumsas failed a doped test for EPO at the 2003 Giro d’Italia, where he was sixth overall. He was banned for a year

4 SANTIAGO BOTERO (Colombia)

5 IGOR GONZALEZ DE GALDEANO (Spain)

6 JOSE AZEVEDO (Portugal)

7 FRANCISCO MANCEBO (Spain)

8 LEVI LEIPHEIMER (USA)

9 ROBERTO HERAS (Spain)

10 CARLOS SASTRE (Spain)

1 LANCE ARMSTRONG *

2 JAN ULLRICH (Germany)

3 ALEXANDRE VINOKOUROV (Kazakhstan)

Tested positive for a banned blood transfusion at the 2007 Tour de France. Banned for one year by the Kazakh Cycling Federation, despite the mandatory ban being two years.

4 TYLER HAMILTON (USA)

Tested positive for a banned blood transfusion at the 2004 Athens Olympics, where he won the time trial, and again at the Vuelta a Espana a month later. Kept his gold medal because he successfully argued that the sample had been damaged in frozen storage. Banned for the Vuelta offence but fought a long defence. Also named in Operacion Puerto documents but has not been investigated for that. Now racing for Rock Racing

5 HAIMAR ZUBELDIA (Spain)

6 IBAN MAYO (Spain)

Tested positive for EPO at the 2007 Tour de France. Initially the B Test was negative. However, later in the year, a French laboratory confirmed the positive test. The case, though, is still in limbo

7 IVAN BASSO (Italy)

Named in the Operacion Puerto documents as a client of Dr Fuentes. Sent home before the start of the 2006 Tour, then left CSC ‘by mutual consent’. Signed for Discovery Channel but raced only a couple of times before being banned. Didn’t admit doping but did admit thinking about doing so. Signed for Liquigas and will return to racing in October 2008

8 CHRISTOPHE MOREAU (France)

9 Carlos Sastre (Spain)

10 FRANCISCO MANCEBO (Spain)

1 LANCE ARMSTRONG (USA) *

2 ANDREAS KLODEN (Germany)

3 IVAN BASSO (Italy)

4 JAN ULLRICH (Germany)

5 JOSE AZEVEDO (Portugal)

6 FRANCISCO MANCEBO (Spain)

7 GEORG TOTSCHNIG (Austria)

8 CARLOS SASTRE (Spain)

9 LEVI LEIPHEIMER (USA)

10 OSCAR PEREIRO (Spain)

1 LANCE ARMSTRONG (USA) *

2 IVAN BASSO (Italy)

3 JAN ULLRICH (Germany)

4 FRANCISCO MANCEBO (Spain)

5 ALEXANDRE VINOKOUROV (Kazakhstan)

6 LEVI LEIPHEIMER (USA)

7 MICHAEL RASMUSSEN (Denmark)

Expelled from the 2007 Tour de France while wearing the yellow jersey after it emerged he had given false information to the anti-doping authorities concerning his whereabouts in May and June of that year. There were also allegations he had asked a friend to import banned drugs to Italy for him, hidden in a shoe box. Rabobank sacked him for breaking the team’s internal code by lying about his whereabouts. Banned for two years, a suspension which ends in July 2009

8 CADEL EVANS (Australia)

9 FLOYD LANDIS (USA)

Tested positive for testosterone after stage 17 of the 2006 Tour de France. Banned for two years. Mounted a lengthy legal challenge, which was unsuccessful. The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the initial verdict. Rumoured to be set for a comeback next season when his ban expires

10 OSCAR PEREIRO (Spain)

1 OSCAR PEREIRO (Spain)

2 ANDREAS KLODEN (Germany)

3 CARLOS SASTRE (Spain)

4 CADEL EVANS (Australia)

5 DENIS MENCHOV (Russia)

6 CYRIL DESSEL (France)

7 CHRISTOPHE MOREAU (France)

8 HAIMAR ZUBELDIA

9 MICHAEL ROGERS

10 FRANK SCHLECK

Note Floyd Landis reached Paris in the lead and took home the final yellow jersey of the race but it was revealed two days later he had tested positive for testosterone. He was stripped of his win and it was handed to Pereiro.

1 ALBERTO CONTADOR (Spain) *

Alleged to be the rider referred to as AC in the Operacion Puerto documents. Vehemently denies he was involved and is allowed to race on

2 CADEL EVANS (Australia)

3 LEVI LEIPHEIMER (USA)

4 CARLOS SASTRE (Spain)

5 HAIMAR ZUBELDIA (Spain)

6 ALEJANDRO VALVERDE (Spain) *

Alleged to be the rider referred to as Valv.Piti in the Operacion Puerto documents. Vehemently denies he was involved and is allowed to race on

7 KIM KIRCHEN (Luxembourg)

8 YAROSLAV POPOVYCH (Ukraine)

9 MIKEL ASTARLOZA (Spain)

10 OSCAR PEREIRO (Spain)

Notes Denmark’s Michael Rasmussen won two stages and was comfortably in the lead at the end of stage 16. Later that day he was removed from the race by his Rabobank team after it emerged he had lied about his whereabouts – alleged to be an attempt to evade out-of-competition testing in the run-up to the Tour de France.

Alexandre Vinokourov had won two stages when he tested positive for a banned blood transfusion. Andrey Kashechkin was in the top ten overall when the Astana team was asked to leave the race. Kashechkin later failed a targeted out-of-competition test while on holiday after the Tour.

1 CARLOS SASTRE (Spain)

2 CADEL EVANS (Australia)

3 BERNHARD KOHL (Austria)

Tested positive for CERA after the Tour de France

4 DENIS MENCHOV (Russia)

5 CHRISTIAN VANDE VELDE (USA)

6 FRANK SCHLECK (Luxembourg)

7 SAMUEL SANCHEZ (Spain)

8 KIM KIRCHEN (Luxembourg)

9 ALEJANDRO VALVERDE (Spain) *

10 TADEJ VALJAVEC (Ag2r)

Note Four riders tested positive at the Tour. Manuel Beltran, Riccardo Ricco, who won two stages, Moises Duenas and Dmitriy Fofonov.