A history lesson: I happened upon the wikipedia entry for TDF and thought I'd share some of the highlights of the history. I found much amusement and most of it explains that the drama has pretty much been there from the get.- The origin of the Tour was a dispute between two sporting newspapers: L'Auto and L'Velo. The owners of each disagreed on the guilt/innocence of a soldier convicted (later exonerated) of selling secrets to the Germans. L'Auto was owned by a prominent cyclist and part-owner of a local velodrome. To jump-start newspaper sales, they founded the very first Tour in 1903 - a six-day stage race in which events would go through the night and finish the following afternoon.
-Henri Desgrange, the first organizer, stood against the use of multiple gears and required that riders use wooden rims, fearing the heat of braking while coming down mountains would melt the glue that held the tyres (gears were finally allowed in 1937).
- Riders were required to fix their own bicycles without help, and to use the same bicycle from beginning to end until 1932.
- Desgrange conducted a campaign against sponsors and bike factories ("he was sure they were undermining the spirit of a Tour de France of individuals"). In 1930 he required competitors to ride plain yellow bicycles that he provided without a maker's name.
- Desgrange decided to require riders to all eat exactly the same amount of food each day in 1925. Threat of strike ended this plan before the Tour began.
Cheating started from the beginning
- The 1904 "winner" was disqualified for use of a train. (easier to do when you're "racing" at night!!). Another rider was punished for being towed uphill by a car (1937).
"Doping" also started early:
- As early as 1903, riders used alcohol and ether to "dull the pain"
- In 1924, the Pelissier brothers admitted use of strychnine, cocaine, chloroform, aspirin, "horse ointment" and other drugs.
Rider protest has a long history at the Tour as well:
- In 1920 half the peloton abandoned in protest of Desgrange's management style.
- In 1966, riders went on strike after drug tests the previous evening.
- In 1978 the peloton rode slowly all day and walked across the finish line in protest of having to get up early to ride two stages in one day.
- In 1988 the entire race went on strike in protest of a drug test on a prominent rider.
- In 1998, the race stopped "in protest of what riders saw as heavy handed investigations of drug-taking allegations".
All of these facts were taken from Wikipedia's Tour de France article - there's lots of other info on there that is well worth the read. There, now don't you feel just a little more educated about your sport of choice ?
Happy Friday - see you all at the Capital Crit on Sunday.
