1999 Tour de France

The 1999 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 3 to 25 July, and the 86th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Anti-Doping Agency announced in August 2012 that they had disqualified Armstrong from all his results since 1998, including his seven consecutive Tour de France wins from 1999 to 2005 (which were, originally, the most wins in the event's history); the Union Cycliste Internationale confirmed the result.

There were no French stage winners for the first time since the 1926 Tour de France. Additionally, Mario Cipollini won four stages in a row, setting the post-World War II record for consecutive stage wins (breaking the record of three, set by Gino Bartali in 1948). Stage 4 was the fastest ever mass-start stage on the Tour de France, with an average speed of thanks to a strong tailwind.

Teams

After the doping controversies in the 1998 Tour de France, the Tour organisation banned some riders from the race, including Richard Virenque, Laurent Roux and Philippe Gaumont, manager Manolo Saiz and the entire team. Virenque's team Polti then appealed at the UCI against this decision, and the UCI then forced the organisers of the Tour, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), to allow Virenque and Saiz entry in the Tour. Initially, the team had been selected, but after their team leader Serhiy Honchar failed a blood test in the 1999 Tour de Suisse, the ASO removed Vini Caldirola from the starting list, and replaced them by , the first reserve team. Each team was allowed to field nine cyclists.

The teams entering the race were:

{| 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 || Le Puy du Fou|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Individual time trial ||

! scope="row" | 1

| style="text-align:center;" |4 July || Montaigu to Challans|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||

! scope="row" | 2

| style="text-align:center;" |5 July || Challans to Saint-Nazaire|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||

! scope="row" | 3

| style="text-align:center;" |6 July || Nantes to Laval|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||

! scope="row" | 4

| style="text-align:center;" |7 July || Laval to Blois|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||

! scope="row" | 5

| style="text-align:center;" |8 July || Bonneval to Amiens|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||

! scope="row" | 6

| style="text-align:center;" |9 July || Amiens to Maubeuge|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||

! scope="row" | 7

| style="text-align:center;" |10 July || Avesnes-sur-Helpe to Thionville|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||

! scope="row" | 8

| style="text-align:center;" |11 July || Metz|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Individual time trial ||

! scope="row" |

| style="text-align:center;" | 12 July

| colspan="2" | Le Grand-Bornand

| colspan="2" | Rest day

! scope="row" | 9

| style="text-align:center;" |13 July || Le Grand-Bornand to Sestrières|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Stage with mountain(s) ||

! scope="row" | 10

| style="text-align:center;" |14 July || Sestrières to Alpe d'Huez|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Stage with mountain(s) ||

! scope="row" | 11

| style="text-align:center;" |15 July || Le Bourg-d'Oisans to Saint-Étienne|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Hilly stage ||

! scope="row" | 12

| style="text-align:center;" |16 July || Saint-Galmier to Saint-Flour|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Hilly stage ||

! scope="row" | 13

| style="text-align:center;" |17 July || Saint-Flour to Albi|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Hilly stage ||

! scope="row" | 14

| style="text-align:center;" |18 July || Castres to Saint-Gaudens|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||

! scope="row" |

| style="text-align:center;" | 19 July

| colspan="2" | Saint-Gaudens

| colspan="2" | Rest day

! scope="row" | 15

| style="text-align:center;" |20 July || Saint-Gaudens to Piau-Engaly|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Stage with mountain(s) ||

! scope="row" | 16

| style="text-align:center;" |21 July || Lannemezan to Pau|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Stage with mountain(s) ||

! scope="row" | 17

| style="text-align:center;" |22 July || Mourenx to Bordeaux|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||

! scope="row" | 18

| style="text-align:center;" |23 July || Jonzac to Futuroscope|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Plain stage ||

! scope="row" | 19

| style="text-align:center;" |24 July || Futuroscope|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Individual time trial ||

! scope="row" | 20

| style="text-align:center;" |25 July || Arpajon 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

Following the Festina Affair of the previous year the 1999 edition was billed as the "Tour of Renewal" from the very beginning.

Stage 4 from Laval to Blois over a distance of was the fastest ever massed-start stage on the Tour de France, with the stage won by Mario Cipollini at an average of with the help of a tailwind.

Doping

This tour also saw the mistreatment of Christophe Bassons by his fellow riders of the peloton (notably Armstrong) for speaking out against doping. The 1998 tour had been marred by the Festina doping scandal. Bassons later told Bicycling, "The 1999 Tour was supposed to be the "Tour of Renewal", but I was certain that doping had not disappeared." He quit the tour without finishing after "cracking" mentally due to his treatment by the peloton, especially in stage 10.

Subsequent to Armstrong's statement to withdraw his fight against United States Anti-Doping Agency's (USADA) charges, on 24 August 2012, the USADA said it would ban Armstrong for life and stripped him of his record seven Tour de France titles. Later that day it was confirmed in a USADA statement that Armstrong was banned for life and would be disqualified from any and all competitive results obtained on and subsequent to 1 August 1998, including forfeiture of any medals, titles, winnings, finishes, points and prizes. The second bizarre incident was on stage 10, one kilometre from the summit of Alpe d'Huez. Leading Italian rider Giuseppe Guerini was confronted by a spectator holding a camera in the middle of the road. Guerini hit the spectator but recovered and went on to win the stage.

Classification leadership and minor prizes

There were several classifications in the 1999 Tour de France. The most important was the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage. The cyclist with the least accumulated time was the race leader, identified by the yellow jersey; the winner of this classification is considered the winner of the Tour.

Additionally, there was a points classification, which awarded a green jersey. In the points classification, cyclists got points for finishing among the best in a stage finish, or in intermediate sprints. The cyclist with the most points led the classification, and was identified with a green jersey.

There was also a mountains classification. The organisation had categorised some climbs as either hors catégorie, first, second, third, or fourth-category; points for this classification were won by the first cyclists that reached the top of these climbs first, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, and wore a white jersey with red polka dots.

The fourth individual classification was the young rider classification, which was not marked by a jersey. This was decided the same way as the general classification, but only riders under 26 years were eligible.

For the team classification, the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added; the leading team was the team with the lowest total time.

In addition, there was a combativity award given after each mass-start stage to the cyclist considered most combative, who wore a red number bib the next stage. The decision was made by a jury composed of journalists who gave points. The cyclist with the most points from votes in all stages led the combativity classification. Jacky Durand won this classification, and was given overall the super-combativity award. The Souvenir Henri Desgrange was given in honour of Tour founder Henri Desgrange to the first rider to pass the summit of the Col du Galibier on stage 9. This prize was won by José Luis Arrieta.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size:smaller; clear:both;"

|+Classification leadership by stage

! scope="col" style="width:1%;" rowspan="2" | Stage

! scope="col" style="width:12%;" rowspan="2" | Winner

! scope="col" style="width:12%;" rowspan="2" | General classification<br>25px|link=General classification in the Tour de France|alt=A yellow jersey.

! scope="col" style="width:12%;" rowspan="2" | Points classification<br>25px|link=Points classification in the Tour de France|alt=A green jersey

! scope="col" style="width:12%;" rowspan="2" | Mountains classification<br>25px|link=Mountains classification in the Tour de France|alt=A white jersey with red polka dots.

! scope="col" style="width:12%;" rowspan="2" | Young rider classification

! scope="col" style="width:12%;" rowspan="2" | Team classification

! scope="col" style="width:22%;" colspan="2" | Combativity

! scope="col" style="width:12%;" | 20px|link=Combativity award in the Tour de France|alt=A white jersey with a red number bib. Award

! scope="col" style="width:12%;" | Classification

! scope="row" | P

| <del>Lance Armstrong</del>

| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan="2"|<del>Lance Armstrong</del>

| style="background:#9CE97B;"|<del>Lance Armstrong</del>

| style="background:#FFA8A4;" rowspan="9"|Mariano Piccoli

| rowspan="2"|Rik Verbrugghe

| rowspan="10"|

| colspan="2"|no award

! scope="row" | 1

| Jaan Kirsipuu

| style="background:#9CE97B;" rowspan="8"|Jaan Kirsipuu

| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Thierry Gouvenou

| rowspan="13"| Thierry Gouvenou

! scope="row" | 2

| Tom Steels

| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan="6"|Jaan Kirsipuu

| rowspan="6"|Christian Vande Velde

| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Jacky Durand

! scope="row" | 3

| Tom Steels

| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Frédéric Guesdon

! scope="row" | 4

| Mario Cipollini

| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Gianpaolo Mondini

! scope="row" | 5

| Mario Cipollini

| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Mariano Piccoli

! scope="row" | 6

| Mario Cipollini

| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| François Simon

! scope="row" | 7

| Mario Cipollini

| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Lylian Lebreton

! scope="row" | 8

| <del>Lance Armstrong</del>

| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan="13"|<del>Lance Armstrong</del>

| Magnus Bäckstedt

| no award

! scope="row" | 9

| <del>Lance Armstrong</del>

| style="background:#9CE97B;" rowspan="3"|Stuart O'Grady

| style="background:#FFA8A4;" rowspan="12"|Richard Virenque

| rowspan="12"|Benoît Salmon

| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| José Luis Arrieta

! scope="row" | 10

| Giuseppe Guerini

| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Stéphane Heulot

! scope="row" | 11

| Ludo Dierckxsens

| rowspan="2"|

| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Rik Verbrugghe

! scope="row" | 12

| David Etxebarria

| style="background:#9CE97B;" rowspan="9"|Erik Zabel

| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Massimiliano Lelli

! scope="row" | 13

| Salvatore Commesso

| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Roland Meier

! scope="row" | 14

| Dimitri Konishev

| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Jacky Durand

| rowspan="7"| Jacky Durand

! scope="row" | 15

| Fernando Escartín

| rowspan="6"|

| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Fernando Escartín

! scope="row" | 16

| David Etxebarria

| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Pavel Tonkov

! scope="row" | 17

| Tom Steels

| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Carlos Da Cruz

! scope="row" | 18

| Gianpaolo Mondini

| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Frédéric Bessy

! scope="row" | 19

| <del>Lance Armstrong</del>

| no award

! scope="row" | 20

| Robbie McEwen

| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Anthony Morin

! colspan="2"| Final

! style="background:#FFDB00;"|<del>Lance Armstrong</del>

! style="background:#46E800;"|Erik Zabel

! style="background:#FF3E33;"|

! Benoît Salmon

! style="background:#E42A19;" colspan="2"|

In stage 1, Alex Zülle wore the green jersey.
In stages 3 through 6, Tom Steels wore the green jersey.
In stage 7, Erik Zabel wore the green jersey.
In stage 8, Mario Cipollini wore the green jersey.

Final standings

{| class="wikitable"

! scope="col" colspan="4" | Legend

| 20px|link=Points classification in the Tour de France|alt=Green jersey

| Denotes the leader of the points classification

| 20px|link=Mountains classification in the Tour de France|alt=Polka dot jersey

| Denotes the leader of the mountains classification

| 20px|link=Combativity award in the Tour de France|alt=A white jersey with a red number bib.

| colspan="4" style="text-align:center;" | Denotes the winner of the super-combativity award

General classification

{| class="wikitable" style="width:50em;margin-bottom:0;"

|+ Final general classification (1–10)

! scope="col" | Rank

! scope="col" | Rider

! scope="col" | Team

! scope="col" | Time

! scope="row" | 1

| <s></s> || <s></s> || style="text-align:right;" | <s>91h 32' 16"</s>

! scope="row" | 2

| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 7' 37"

! scope="row" | 3

| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 10' 26"

! scope="row" | 4

| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 14' 43"

! scope="row" | 5

| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 15' 11"

! scope="row" | 6

| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 16' 47"

! scope="row" | 7

| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 17' 02"

! scope="row" | 8

| 20px|link=Mountains classification in the Tour de France|alt=Polka dot jersey || || style="text-align:right;" | + 17' 28"

! scope="row" | 9

| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 17' 37"

! scope="row" | 10

| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 23' 10"

{| class="collapsible collapsed wikitable" style="width:50em;margin-top:-1px;"

! scope="col" colspan="4" | Final general classification (11–141)

! scope="col" | Rank!! scope="col" | Team!! scope="col" | Time

! scope="row" | 1

| || style="text-align:right;" | 275h 05' 21"

! scope="row" | 2

| || style="text-align:right;" | + 8' 16"

! scope="row" | 3

| || style="text-align:right;" | + 16' 13"

! scope="row" | 4

| || style="text-align:right;" | + 23' 48"

! scope="row" | 5

| || style="text-align:right;" | + 24' 13"

! scope="row" | 6

| || style="text-align:right;" | + 41' 00"

! scope="row" | 7

| || style="text-align:right;" | + 42' 44"

! scope="row" | 8

| || style="text-align:right;" | + 57' 13"

! scope="row" | 9

| || style="text-align:right;" | + 58' 02"

! scope="row" | 10

| || style="text-align:right;" | + 1h 09' 02"

Combativity classification

{| class="wikitable"

|+Final combativity classification (1–10)