Dates 6–28 July Distance 3,278 km (2,037 mi) | Stages 20 + Prologue Winning time 82h 05' 12" | |
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The 2002 Tour de France was a multiple-stage bicycle race held from 6 to 28 July, and the 89th edition of the Tour de France. The event started in Luxembourg and ending in Paris. France was visited counter-clockwise, so the Pyrenees were there before the Alps. 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 Union Cycliste Internationale has confirmed this verdict.
Contents
The favourite was Armstrong, at the time, winner in 1999, 2000 and 2001. The main opposition would probably come from the ONCE team with Joseba Beloki (3rd last year), Igor González de Galdeano (5th last year) and Marcos Serrano (9th last year), and from the Kelme riders Óscar Sevilla (7th last year, 2nd in last year's Vuelta a España) and Santiago Botero (8th last year). Other riders to keep in account for a high place in the final rankings were Tyler Hamilton (2nd Giro 2002), Levi Leipheimer (3rd Vuelta 2001), Christophe Moreau (4th Tour 2000) and Armstrong's team mate Roberto Heras (4th Vuelta 2001). Important riders who were not present were Jan Ullrich (2nd last year, injury) and Gilberto Simoni (winner 2001 Giro).
Teams
Teams qualified for the 2002 Tour de France by various methods. U.S. Postal Service was selected because it included the winner of the previous edition, Lance Armstrong. Rabobank was selected because it included the winner of the 2001 UCI Road World Cup, Erik Dekker. Alessio, Kelme–Costa Blanca and iBanesto.com were selected because they won the team classifications in respectively the 2001 Giro d'Italia, 2001 Tour de France and 2001 Vuelta a España. A further seven teams qualified based on the UCI ranking in the highest UCI division at the end of 2001, after compensating for transfers. Five more teams were given wildcards by the organiser of the Tour, Amaury Sport Organisation. After the wildcards were given, it was announced that Saeco's main rider Gilberto Simoni had tested positive for cocaine on two occasions. In response, the wildcard for Saeco was withdrawn and given to Jean Delatour. In total, 21 teams participated, each with 9 cyclists, for a total of 189 cyclists.
The teams entering the race were:
Qualified teams
Invited teams
Route and stages
In the first week, the stages were mostly flat in the North of France. The last two weeks had mountain stages in the Pyrenees and Alps.
Doping
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. On 22 October 2012, 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.
Classification leadership
There were several classifications in the 2002 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 lead the classification, and was identified with a green jersey.
There was also a mountains classification. The organisation had categorized 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-categorized climbs. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, and was identified with a polkadot jersey.
The fourth individual classification was the young rider classification, which was marked by the white 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.
For the combativity award classification, a jury gave points after each stage to the cyclists they considered most combative. The cyclist with the most votes in all stages lead the classification.