The 2001 Tour de France was a multiple-stage bicycle race held from 7 to 29 July, and the 88th 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 Tour de France wins from 1999 to 2005. The verdict was subsequently confirmed by the Union Cycliste Internationale.
The race included a team time trial, two individual time trials and five consecutive mountain-top finishing stages, the second of which was the Chamrousse special-category climb time trial. Thus, all the high-mountain stages were grouped consecutively, following the climbing time trial, with one rest day in between. France was ridden 'clockwise', so the Alps were visited before the Pyrenees. The Tour started in France but also visited Belgium in its first week. The ceremonial final stage finished at the Champs-Élysées in Paris, as is tradition. Erik Zabel won his record sixth consecutive points classification victory. This was a record for points classification victories and is still a record for most consecutive victories, however Peter Sagan now holds the record for most total green jersey wins with seven.
Teams
The organisers felt that the 2000 Tour de France had not included enough French teams and consequently changed the selection procedure. Although initially it was announced that four wildcards would be given, the tour organisation decided to add five teams:
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;" |7 July || Dunkirk|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Individual time trial ||
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| style="text-align:center;" |8 July || Saint-Omer to Boulogne-sur-Mer|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Flat stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| style="text-align:center;" |9 July || Calais to Antwerp (Belgium)|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Flat stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| style="text-align:center;" |10 July || Antwerp (Belgium) to Seraing (Belgium)|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Flat stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| style="text-align:center;" |11 July || Huy (Belgium) to Verdun|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Flat stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| style="text-align:center;" |12 July || Verdun to Bar-le-Duc|| style="text-align:center;" | || alt=|link=Team time trial|20px || Team time trial ||
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| style="text-align:center;" |13 July || Commercy to Strasbourg|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Flat stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| style="text-align:center;" |14 July || Strasbourg to Colmar|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Medium mountain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| style="text-align:center;" |15 July || Colmar to Pontarlier|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Flat stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| style="text-align:center;" |16 July || Pontarlier to Aix-les-Bains|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Flat stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| style="text-align:center;" |17 July || Aix-les-Bains to Alpe d'Huez|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || High mountain stage || <del></del>
|-
! scope="row" | 11
| style="text-align:center;" |18 July || Grenoble to Chamrousse|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Individual time trial || <del></del>
|-
! scope="row" |
| style="text-align:center;" | 19 July
| colspan="2" | Perpignan
|
| colspan="2" | Rest day
|-
! scope="row" | 12
| style="text-align:center;" |20 July || Perpignan to Plateau de Bonascre|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || High mountain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 13
| style="text-align:center;" |21 July || Foix to Saint-Lary-Soulan Pla d'Adet|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || High mountain stage || <del></del>
|-
! scope="row" | 14
| style="text-align:center;" |22 July || Tarbes to Luz Ardiden|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || High mountain stage ||
|-
! scope="row" |
| style="text-align:center;" | 23 July
| colspan="2" | Pau
|
| colspan="2" | Rest day
|-
! scope="row" | 15
| style="text-align:center;" |24 July || Pau to Lavaur|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Flat stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 16
| style="text-align:center;" |25 July || Castelsarrasin to Sarran|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Flat stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 17
| style="text-align:center;" |26 July || Brive-la-Gaillarde to Montluçon|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Flat stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 18
| style="text-align:center;" |27 July || Montluçon to Saint-Amand-Montrond|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Individual time trial || <del></del>
|-
! scope="row" | 19
| style="text-align:center;" |28 July || Orléans to Évry|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Flat stage ||
|-
! scope="row" | 20
| style="text-align:center;" |29 July || Corbeil-Essonnes to Paris (Champs-Élysées)|| style="text-align:center;" | || 20px|alt=|link= || Flat stage ||
|-
! scope="row" |
| colspan="2" style="text-align:center"| Total
| colspan="4" style="text-align:center"|
|}
Race overview
<!-- -->
It was during this Tour de France that Johan Bruyneel, the Directeur Sportif of the US Postal team, intentionally mislead other teams about the condition of his riders through race radio, in an attempt to get opponents to believe his riders were suffering more than they actually were. This Tour is also noted for The Look, which became one of the more misinterpreted moments in cycling history.
Doping
After Armstrong abandoned his fight against the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), he was stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles. The Union Cycliste Internationale endorsed the USADA sanctions and decided not to award victories to any other rider or upgrade other placings in any of the affected events. The 2001 Tour therefore has no official winner.
There were also two special awards each with a prize of F 20,000, the Souvenir Henri Desgrange, given in honour of Tour founder and first race director Henri Desgrange to the first rider to pass the summit of the Col de la Madeleine on stage 10, and the Souvenir Jacques Goddet, given for the first time in honour of the second director Jacques Goddet to the first rider to pass the summit of the Col du Tourmalet on stage 14. Laurent Roux won the Henri Desgrange and Sven Montgomery won the Jacques Goddet.
{| 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<br>25px|link=Young rider classification in the Tour de France|alt=A white jersey.
! scope="col" style="width:12%;" rowspan="2" | Team classification<!-- no yellow number bib given before 2006 -->
! 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
| Christophe Moreau
| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan="2"|Christophe Moreau
| style="background:#9CE97B;"|Christophe Moreau
| no award
| style="background:white;" rowspan="2"|Florent Brard
| rowspan="2"|
| colspan="2"|no award
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| Erik Zabel
| style="background:#9CE97B;"|Erik Zabel
| style="background:#FFA8A4;" rowspan="2"|Jacky Durand
| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Jacky Durand
| rowspan="6"|Jacky Durand
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| Marc Wauters
| style="background:#FFEB64;"|Marc Wauters
| style="background:#9CE97B;"|Jaan Kirsipuu
| style="background:white;"|Robbie Hunter
| rowspan="6"|
| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Jens Voigt
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| Erik Zabel
| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan="4"|Stuart O'Grady
| style="background:#9CE97B;" rowspan="5"|Erik Zabel
| style="background:#FFA8A4;"|Benoît Salmon
| style="background:white;" rowspan="2"|Florent Brard
| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Nicolas Jalabert
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| Laurent Jalabert
| style="background:#FFA8A4;" rowspan="6"|Patrice Halgand
| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Laurent Jalabert
|-
! scope="row" | 5
|
| style="background:white;" rowspan="5"|Jörg Jaksche
| no award
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| Jaan Kirsipuu
| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Rik Verbrugghe
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| Laurent Jalabert
| style="background:#FFEB64;"|Jens Voigt
| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Laurent Jalabert
| rowspan="3"| Laurent Jalabert
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| Erik Dekker
| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan="2"|Stuart O'Grady
| style="background:#9CE97B;" rowspan="12"|Stuart O'Grady
| rowspan="5"|
| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Aitor González
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| Sergei Ivanov
| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Bradley McGee
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| <del>Lance Armstrong</del>
| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan="3"|François Simon
| style="background:#FFA8A4;" rowspan="3"|Laurent Roux
| style="background:white;" rowspan="11"|Óscar Sevilla
| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Laurent Roux
| rowspan="3"| Laurent Roux
|-
! scope="row" | 11
| <del>Lance Armstrong</del>
| no award
|-
! scope="row" | 12
| Félix Cárdenas
| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Paolo Bettini
|-
! scope="row" | 13
| <del>Lance Armstrong</del>
| style="background:#FFEB64;" rowspan="8"|<del>Lance Armstrong</del>
| style="background:#FFA8A4;" rowspan="8"|Laurent Jalabert
| rowspan="8"|
| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Laurent Jalabert
| rowspan="8"| Laurent Jalabert
|-
! scope="row" | 14
| Roberto Laiseka
| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Wladimir Belli
|-
! scope="row" | 15
| Rik Verbrugghe
| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Marco Pinotti
|-
! scope="row" | 16
| Jens Voigt
| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Jens Voigt
|-
! scope="row" | 17
| Serge Baguet
| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Jakob Piil
|-
! scope="row" | 18
| <del>Lance Armstrong</del>
| no award
|-
! scope="row" | 19
| Erik Zabel
| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Guillaume Auger
|-
! scope="row" | 20
| Ján Svorada
| style="background:#9CE97B;"|Erik Zabel
| style="background:#E4B3AB;"| Alexander Vinokourov
|-
! colspan="2" | Final
! style="background:#FFDB00;"|<del>Lance Armstrong</del>
! style="background:#46E800;"|Erik Zabel
! style="background:#FF3E33;"|
! style="background:white;"|Óscar Sevilla
!
! style="background:#E42A19;" colspan="2"|
|}
- In stage 1, Igor González de Galdeano wore the green jersey.
- In stages 8 and 9, Erik Zabel 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
|-
! scope="col" | Rank
! scope="col" | Rider
! scope="col" | Team
! scope="col" | Time
|-
! scope="row" | DSQ
| <s></s> || <s></s> || style="text-align:right;" | <s>86h 17' 28"</s>
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 6' 44"
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 9' 05"
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 9' 53"
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 13' 28"
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 17' 22"
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| 20px|link=Young rider classification in the Tour de France|alt=White jersey || || style="text-align:right;" | + 18' 30"
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 20' 55"
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 21' 45"
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 22' 38"
|}
{| class="collapsible collapsed wikitable" style="width:42em;margin-top:-1px;"
|-
! scope="col" colspan="4" | Final general classification (11–144)
|-
! 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=Green jersey || || style="text-align:right;" | 252
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 244
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 169
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 148
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 141
|-
! scope="row" | DSQ
|<s></s> || <s></s> || style="text-align:right;" | <s>134</s>
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 127
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 124
|-
! 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
| 20px|link=Mountains classification in the Tour de France|alt=Polka dot jersey 20px|link=Combativity award in the Tour de France|alt=A white jersey with a red number bib. || || style="text-align:right;" | 258
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 211
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 200
|-
! scope="row" | DSQ
|<s></s> || <s></s> || style="text-align:right;" | <s>195</s>
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 164
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 147
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 145
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 134
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| || || style="text-align:right;" | 123
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| 20px|link=Young rider classification in the Tour de France|alt=White jersey || || style="text-align:right;" | 120
|}
Young rider classification
{| class="wikitable"
|+Final young rider classification (1–10)
|-
! scope="col" | Rank!! scope="col" | Rider!! scope="col" | Team!! scope="col" | Time
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| 20px|link=Young rider classification in the Tour de France|alt=White jersey || || style="text-align:right;" | 86h 35' 58
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 10' 03"
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 47' 32"
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 1h 13' 20"
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 1h 15' 59"
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 1h 40' 42"
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 1h 41' 10"
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 1h 47' 47"
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 1h 59' 24"
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| || || style="text-align:right;" | + 2h 09' 07"
|}
Team classification
{| class="wikitable"
|+Final team classification (1–10)
|-
! scope="col" | Rank!! scope="col" | Team!! scope="col" | Time
|-
! scope="row" | 1
| || style="text-align:right;" | 259h 14' 44"
|-
! scope="row" | 2
| || style="text-align:right;" | + 4' 59"
|-
! scope="row" | 3
| || style="text-align:right;" | + 41' 06"
|-
! scope="row" | 4
| || style="text-align:right;" | + 41' 49"
|-
! scope="row" | 5
| || style="text-align:right;" | + 51' 53"
|-
! scope="row" | 6
| || style="text-align:right;" | + 54' 51"
|-
! scope="row" | 7
| || style="text-align:right;" | + 1h 20' 41"
|-
! scope="row" | 8
| || style="text-align:right;" | + 1h 22' 24"
|-
! scope="row" | 9
| || style="text-align:right;" | + 1h 45' 33"
|-
! scope="row" | 10
| || style="text-align:right;" | + 1h 49' 18"
|}
Combativity classification
{| class="wikitable"
|+Final combativity classification (1–10)