The 1988 Tour de France was the 75th edition of the Tour de France, taking place from 4 to 24 July. It consisted of 22 stages over . The race was won by Pedro Delgado with the top three positions at the end of the race being occupied by specialist climbers. This Tour was nearly 1,000 km shorter than the previous few editions, which were over 4,000 km, but by no means easier as it included five consecutive mountain stages including a mountain time trial.
The points classification was won by Eddy Planckaert, while Steven Rooks won the mountains classification and the combination classification. The young rider classification was won by Erik Breukink, and Frans Maassen won the intermediate sprints classification. Both team classifications were won by the PDM team. During the race, Delgado failed a doping test, but because the product was not yet on the doping list from the Union Cycliste International, he was not penalised.
Teams
The UCI had also introduced a rule that limited the number of cyclists in a race to 200. In 1987, the Tour had started with 207 cyclists, so because of this rule, the number of teams in the 1988 Tour was reduced from 23 to 22, of 9 riders, a total of 198. The average age of riders in the race was 27.56 years, ranging from the 21-year-old Jean-Claude Colotti () to the 39-year-old Hennie Kuiper (). The cyclists had the youngest average age while the riders on had the oldest.
The teams entering the race were:
Pre-race favourites
The winner of the 1987 Tour de France, Stephen Roche, was unable to defend his title as he was coming back from knee surgeries. The winner from 1986, Greg LeMond, had still not fully recovered from the hunting accident that caused him to miss the 1987 Tour, and did not start this Tour. Remaining favourites were Pedro Delgado, who had finished in second place in 1987, and Andrew Hampsten, the winner of the 1988 Giro d'Italia, several weeks before the Tour.
Route and stages
The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) introduced the rule that a cycling race could not span three weekends. The Tour de France could only start on Monday 4 July, and therefore the usual prologue was removed. The Tour organisers, who were not happy with this restriction, lately had the idea to add to the Tour an unofficial short time trial on sunday 3 July called 'prelude' or 'preface'. Each team would ride for , and one cyclist per team would then finish one kilometre on his own. Of course, the recorded times of the 'preface' were not used for the Tour, but the cyclist with the fastest time would wear the yellow jersey at the start of the Tour de France (first stage).
The total length of this Tour was , which was the shortest since 1906. Since 1910, Belgian cyclists had won at least one stage in every Tour, but in 1988 they did not win any stages. There was one rest day, during which the cyclists were transferred from Villard-de-Lans to Blagnac. The highest point of elevation in the race was at the summit of the Col du Tourmalet mountain pass on stage 15.
{| class="wikitable"
|+ Stage characteristics and winners
|-
! scope="col" | Stage
! scope="col" | Date
! scope="col" | Course
! scope="col" | Distance
! scope="col" colspan="2" | Type
! scope="col" | Winner
|-
! scope="row" | P
| style="text-align:center;" | 3 July || Pornichet to La Baule|| style="text-align:center;" | ' || 20px|alt=|link= || Team/Individual time trial||
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| style="text-align:center;" | 4 July || Pontchâteau to Machecoul|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| style="text-align:center;" | 4 July || La Haie-Fouassière to Ancenis|| style="text-align:center;" | || alt=|link=Team time trial|20px || Team time trial ||
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| style="text-align:center;" | 5 July || Nantes to Le Mans|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| style="text-align:center;" | 6 July || Le Mans to Évreux|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| style="text-align:center;" | 7 July || Neufchâtel-en-Bray to Liévin|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| style="text-align:center;" | 8 July || Liévin to Wasquehal|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Individual time trial ||
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| style="text-align:center;" | 9 July || Wasquehal to Reims|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| style="text-align:center;" |10 July || Reims to Nancy|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| style="text-align:center;" |11 July || Nancy to Strasbourg|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Hilly stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| style="text-align:center;" |12 July || Belfort to Besançon|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Hilly stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 11
| style="text-align:center;" |13 July || Besançon to Morzine|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Stage with mountain(s) ||
|-
! scope="row" | 12
| style="text-align:center;" |14 July || Morzine to Alpe d'Huez|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Stage with mountain(s) ||
|-
! scope="row" | 13
| style="text-align:center;" |15 July || Grenoble to Villard-de-Lans|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Mountain time trial||
|-
! scope="row" |
| style="text-align:center;" | 16 July
| colspan="2" | Blagnac
|
| colspan="2" | Rest day
|-
! scope="row" |14
| style="text-align:center;" |17 July || Blagnac to Guzet-Neige|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Stage with mountain(s) ||
|-
! scope="row" | 15
| style="text-align:center;" |18 July || Saint-Girons to Luz Ardiden|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Stage with mountain(s) ||
|-
! scope="row" | 16
| style="text-align:center;" |19 July || Tarbes to Pau|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 17
| style="text-align:center;" |19 July || Pau to Bordeaux|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 18
| style="text-align:center;" |20 July || Ruelle-sur-Touvre to Limoges|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 19
| style="text-align:center;" |21 July || Limoges to Puy-de-Dôme|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Hilly stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 20
| style="text-align:center;" |22 July || Clermont-Ferrand to Chalon-sur-Saône|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 21
| style="text-align:center;" |23 July || Santenay|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Individual time trial ||
|-
! scope="row" | 22
| style="text-align:center;" |24 July || Nemours to Paris (Champs-Élysées)|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"| Total
| colspan="4" style="text-align:center"|
|}
Race overview
thumb|[[Pedro Delgado (pictured at the 1993 Tour), winner of the general classification]]
The prelude before the official start was won by Guido Bontempi, and the first real stage was won by Steve Bauer. Bauer lost the lead in the next stage, a Team Time Trial, to Teun van Vliet. The favourites for the overall victory did not lose time in the first stages. The individual time trial of stage six did not change that, although some outsiders (Sean Kelly and Laurent Fignon) lost two minutes.
In the eleventh stage, in hilly conditions, the first serious attacks were seen. Most contenders were able to stay in the main group, but Laurent Fignon and Jean-François Bernard lost a lot of time and were no longer seen as contenders. The twelfth stage included higher climbs. Delgado escaped on the climb of the Glandon, and he was joined by Steven Rooks. On the descent, they were joined by Gert-Jan Theunisse and Fabio Parra; the other cyclists were unable to get to them. Close to the finish, Rooks escaped and won the stage, and Delgado became the new leader of the general classification. Delgado won the next stage, an uphill individual time trial, and solidified his lead.
In the fourteenth stage, the favourites stayed together, and other cyclists were allowed to go for the stage victory. Philippe Bouvatier and Robert Millar, who had led over the previous two cols, were in the uphill sprint to win, until Bouvatier allowed himself to be misdirected by a gendarme 200 metres before the finish (at the point where the team cars were separated from the cyclists) followed by Millar, and the victory went to Massimo Ghirotto. Ghirotto offered his prize (a new car) to Bouvatier though Millar maintained he would have overhauled Bouvatier to win and told CyclingNews in 2010 that "I don't know if the gendarme was to blame, I don't think he was, I know I would have come round Bouvatier in the sprint but then I ought to have dropped him before we got to that stage".
In the fifteenth stage, Delgado increased his lead. He let Laudelino Cubino get away and claim the victory, because Cubino was no threat for the general classification, and finished in third place, gaining time on all his direct competitors. Delgado further increased his lead in the nineteenth stage, by leaving the other cyclists behind him on the final climb of the day. Delgado was aiming to win the twenty-first stage, an individual time trial, and was leading at all the intermediate check points, but lost time in the final part of the stage, finishing in fourth place. This was more than enough to secure the overall victory.
Doping
During the race, it was announced that doping tests of Pedro Delgado and Gert-Jan Theunisse indicated they had used doping products.
In Delgado's case, it was probenecid. Probenecid was a doping product according to the International Olympic Committee not yet on the doping list of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), so Delgado was not sanctioned, and he remained the winner of the Tour. Tour director Louy tried to convince Delgado to leave the race voluntarily, but Delgado refused. Delgado admits that he took probenecid, but with the intention to assist the kidneys, not to mask anabolic steroids.
Theunisse was found to have a high testosterone-level, which was on the UCI doping list. Theunisse received a penalty of ten minutes, which dropped him from fifth place to eleventh place in the general classification.
One other cyclist was penalised during this Tour: Spanish cyclist Roque de la Cruz failed a doping test after the sixth stage, and was given the same penalty as Theunisse.
In 2013, a notebook from the team doctor of the PDM team showed that all but one of the PDM cyclist were given doping in the 1988 Tour de France.
The owners of the Tour de France thought that director Louy had handled the Delgado affair in the wrong way, and they fired him later that year. They appointed Jean-Marie Leblanc as his replacement.
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center; font-size:smaller;"
|+ Classification leadership table
|-
! scope="col" style="width:1%;" rowspan="2" | Stage
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Stage winner
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | General classification<br>25px|alt=|link=
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Points classification<br>25px|alt=|link=
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Mountains classification<br>25px|alt=|link=
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Young rider classification<br>25px|alt=|link=
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Combination classification<br>25px|alt=|link=
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Intermediate sprints classification<br>25px|alt=|link=
! scope="col" style="width:18%;" colspan="2" | Team classifications
! scope="col" style="width:9%;" rowspan="2" | Combativity award
|-
! scope="col" style="width:9%;"| By time
! scope="col" style="width:9%;"| By points
|-
! scope="row" | P
| Guido Bontempi
| no award
| no award
| no award
| no award
| no award
| no award
| no award
| no award
| no award
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| Steve Bauer
| style="background:#FFEB64;"| Steve Bauer
| style="background:#9CE97B;" rowspan=2 | Steve Bauer
| style="background:#FFA8A4;" rowspan=3 | Nico Verhoeven
| style="background:white;"| Wiebren Veenstra
| style="background:lightblue;"| Nico Verhoeven
| style="background:#FBCEB1;"| Søren Lilholt
|
| rowspan="4"|
| Søren Lilholt
|-
! scope="row" | 2
|
| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan=3| Teun van Vliet
| style="background:white;" rowspan=10 | Erik Breukink
| style="background:lightblue;" rowspan="3"| Teun van Vliet
| style="background:#FBCEB1;" rowspan="2"| Teun van Vliet
| rowspan=4|
| no award
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| Jean-Paul van Poppel
| style="background:#9CE97B;"| Eric Vanderaerden
| Roger Ilegems
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| Acácio da Silva
| style="background:#9CE97B;" rowspan=19 | Eddy Planckaert
| style="background:#FFA8A4;" rowspan=5 | Bruno Cornillet
| style="background:#FBCEB1;" rowspan="8"| Frans Maassen
| Stefano Giuliani
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| Jelle Nijdam
| style="background:#FFEB64;"| Henk Lubberding
| style="background:lightblue;"| Frans Maassen
| rowspan="18"|
| Jérôme Simon
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| Sean Yates
| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan=2| Jelle Nijdam
| style="background:lightblue;"| Eric Vanderaerden
|
| no award
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| Valerio Tebaldi
| style="background:lightblue;" rowspan="2"| Philippe Casado
| rowspan=2 |
| Michel Vermote
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| Rolf Gölz
| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan=4| Steve Bauer
| Michel Vermote
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| Jérôme Simon
| style="background:#FFA8A4;" rowspan=3 | Jérôme Simon
| style="background:lightblue;" rowspan="2"| Frédéric Vichot
| rowspan=3 |
| Federico Echave
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| Jean-Paul van Poppel
| Patrice Esnault
|-
! scope="row" | 11
| Fabio Parra
| style="background:lightblue;"| Pascal Simon
| Ludo Peeters
|-
! scope="row" | 12
| Steven Rooks
| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan=11| Pedro Delgado
| style="background:#FFA8A4;" rowspan=11 | Steven Rooks
| style="background:white;" rowspan=3 | Raúl Alcalá
| style="background:lightblue;" rowspan="11"| Steven Rooks
| style="background:#FBCEB1;" rowspan="5"| Eddy Planckaert
| rowspan=11|
| Pedro Delgado
|-
! scope="row" | 13
| Pedro Delgado
| no award
|-
! scope="row" | 14
| Massimo Ghirotto
| Philippe Bouvatier
|-
! scope="row" | 15
| Laudelino Cubino
| style="background:white;" rowspan=8 | Erik Breukink
| Laudelino Cubino
|-
! scope="row" | 16
| Adri van der Poel
| Adri van der Poel
|-
! scope="row" | 17
| Jean-Paul van Poppel
| style="background:#FBCEB1;" rowspan="6"| Frans Maassen
| Jean-Paul van Poppel
|-
! scope="row" | 18
| Gianni Bugno
| Gianni Bugno
|-
! scope="row" | 19
| Johnny Weltz
| Johnny Weltz
|-
! scope="row" | 20
| Thierry Marie
| Dag Otto Lauritzen
|-
! scope="row" | 21
| Juan Martinéz
| no award
|-
! scope="row" | 22
| Jean-Paul van Poppel
| no award
|-
! scope="row" colspan="2" | Final
! style="background:#FFDB00;"| Pedro Delgado
! style="background:#46E800;"| Eddy Planckaert
! style="background:#FF3E33;"|
! style="background:white;"| Erik Breukink
! style="background:#B2FFFF;"| Steven Rooks
! style="background:#FF033E;"|
!
!
! Jérôme Simon
|}
Final standings
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! scope="col" colspan="4" | Legend
|-
| 20px|link=General classification in the Tour de France|alt=A yellow jersey.
| Denotes the winner of the general classification
| 20px|link=Points classification in the Tour de France|alt=A green jersey.
| Denotes the winner of the points classification
|-
| 20px|link=Mountains classification in the Tour de France|alt=A white jersey with red polka dots.
| Denotes the winner of the mountains classification
| 20px|link=Young rider classification in the Tour de France|alt=A white jersey.
| Denotes the winner of the young rider classification
|-
| 20px|link=Combination classification in the Tour de France|alt=A multi-coloured jersey.
| Denotes the winner of the combination classification
| 20px|link=Intermediate sprints classification in the Tour de France|alt=A red jersey.
| Denotes the winner of the intermediate sprints classification
|}
General classification
{| class="wikitable" style="width:46em;margin-bottom:0;"
|+ Final general classification (1–10)
|-
! scope="col" | Rank
! scope="col" | Rider
! scope="col" | Team
! scope="col" | Time
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| 20px|link=General classification in the Tour de France|alt=A yellow jersey. || || style="text-align:right;" | 84h 27' 53"
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| 20px|link=Mountains classification in the Tour de France|alt=A white jersey with red polka dots. 20px|link=Combination classification in the Tour de France|alt=A multi-coloured jersey. || || style="text-align:right;" | + 7' 13"
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 9' 58"
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 12' 15"
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 14' 04"
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 14' 36"
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 16' 52"
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 18' 36"
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 19' 12"
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 20' 08"
|}
{| class="collapsible collapsed wikitable" style="width:46em;margin-top:-1px;"
|-
! scope="col" colspan="4" | Final general classification (11–151)
|-
! scope="col" | Rank
! scope="col" | Rider
! scope="col" | Team
! scope="col" | Points
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| 20px|link=Points classification in the Tour de France|alt=A green jersey. || || style="text-align:right;" | 278
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 193
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 183
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| 20px|link=Mountains classification in the Tour de France|alt=A white jersey with red polka dots. 20px|link=Combination classification in the Tour de France|alt=A multi-coloured jersey. || || style="text-align:right;" | 154
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 153
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 141
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 133
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 132
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 114
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 108
|}
Mountains classification
{| class="wikitable"
|+Final mountains classification (1–10)
|-
! scope="col" | Rank
! scope="col" | Rider
! scope="col" | Team
! scope="col" | Points
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 38
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 30
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 30
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| 20px|link=General classification in the Tour de France|alt=A yellow jersey. || || style="text-align:right;" | 25
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 24
|}