1996 Tour de France

1996 Tour de France

Route of the 1996 Tour de France
Race details
Dates		29 June – 21 July 1996
Stages		21+Prologue
Distance		3,895.4 km (2,420 mi)
Winning time		95h 57' 16"[1] (40.697 km/h or 25.288 mph)
Palmarès
	Winner	Bjarne Riis ‡  (Denmark)	(Team Telekom)
	Second	Jan Ullrich (Germany)	(Team Telekom)
	Third	Richard Virenque (France)	(Festina)
	Points	Erik Zabel ‡  (Germany)	(Team Telekom)
	Mountains	Richard Virenque (France)	(Festina)
	Youth	Jan Ullrich (Germany)	(Team Telekom)
	Team	Festina
← 1995 1997 →

The 1996 Tour de France was the 83rd Tour de France, starting on 29 June and ending on 21 July, featuring 19 regular stages, 2 individual time trials, a prologue and a rest day (10 July).

This Tour was noted by the "fall" of favorite Miguel Indurain, ending his then record run of five consecutive victories. The course included a stage through his home town Villava, however he suffered a bronchitis because of the poor weather in the first week, and was fined and penalised for accepting drinks illegally.^[2] Indurain started to lose time in stage 7, and finally ended 11th failing to win a single stage or spend one day in the yellow jersey.

Stage 9 was scheduled to be a 176 kilometer ride from Val-d'Isère to Sestriere. However, due to appalling weather conditions, including snow, the organizers cut the stage to just 46 km. Bjarne Riis won the stage and opened a crucial 44 second gap over Jan Ullrich. Ullrich, only 22, really broke through in this Tour, and won the individual time trial of stage 20.

Several riders with Team Telekom have confessed to doping offences around the period of the 1996 tour, including support riders Rolf Aldag, Udo Bölts, Christian Henn^[3] and Brian Holm and team masseur Jef d'Hont has admitted in his autobiography that there was organised use of EPO in the team.^[4] On 24 May 2007, Erik Zabel admitted to using EPO during the first week of the race. The winner of the Tour, Bjarne Riis, admitted on 25 May 2007 that he also used EPO during the Tour, as a result he has been asked by the International Cyling Union (UCI) to return the yellow jersey he received.^[5][6] So far, runner-up Jan Ullrich, who has been under suspicion of doping as a part of the Operación Puerto doping case, has not commented on allegations that he also used EPO. Third place Richard Virenque and fourth place Laurent Dufaux were implicated in the 1998 Festina scandal.

Although UCI lawyer Philippe Verbiest has stated that the statute of limitations for removing Riis as winner of the Tour de France has expired, "you cannot strip him of the title but it possible not to mention it anymore ... Because of what he admitted, he is not the winner of the Tour de France. Riis did not win." Tour spokesman Philippe Sudres also stated that: "We consider philosophically that he can no longer claim to have won.".^[7] Riis' victory no longer stands in the Tour de France record books.^[8]

Participants

The 18 teams on top of the UCI rankings at the start of 1996 were automatically invited for the Tour. These were:^[9]

Four wildcards were given, for a total of 22 teams:^[10]

• Kelme-Artiach
• Brescialat
• Agrigel-La Creuse-Fenioux
• Aubervilliers 93

Stages

Stage results^[10][11]

Stage	Date	Route	Terrain	Length	Winner
P	29 June	's-Hertogenbosch	Individual time trial	9.4 km (5.8 mi)	Alex Zülle (SUI)
1	30 June	's-Hertogenbosch – 's-Hertogenbosch	Plain stage	209.0 km (129.9 mi)	Frédéric Moncassin (FRA)
2	1 July	's-Hertogenbosch – Wasquehal	Plain stage	247.5 km (153.8 mi)	Mario Cipollini (ITA)
3	2 July	Wasquehal – Nogent-sur-Oise	Plain stage	195.0 km (121.2 mi)	Erik Zabel (GER)
4	3 July	Soissons – Lac de Madine	Plain stage	232.0 km (144.2 mi)	Cyril Saugrain (FRA)
5	4 July	Lac de Madine – Besançon	Plain stage	242.0 km (150.4 mi)	Jeroen Blijlevens (NED)
6	5 July	Arc-et-Senans – Aix-les-Bains	Hilly stage	207.0 km (128.6 mi)	Michael Boogerd (NED)
7	6 July	Chambéry – Les Arcs	Stage with mountain(s)	200.0 km (124.3 mi)	Luc Leblanc (FRA)
8	7 July	Bourg-Saint-Maurice – Val d'Isère	Individual time trial	30.5 km (19.0 mi)	Evgueni Berzin (RUS)
9	8 July	Le Monêtier-les-Bains – Sestrières	Stage with mountain(s)	46.0 km (28.6 mi)	Bjarne Riis (DEN)
10	9 July	Turin – Gap	Hilly stage	208.5 km (129.6 mi)	Erik Zabel (GER)
11	11 July	Gap – Valence	Hilly stage	202.0 km (125.5 mi)	José Jaime Gonzalez (COL)
12	12 July	Valence – Le Puy-en-Velay	Hilly stage	143.5 km (89.2 mi)	Pascal Richard (SUI)
13	13 July	Le Puy-en-Velay – Super Besse	Hilly stage	177.0 km (110.0 mi)	Rolf Sørensen (DEN)
14	14 July	Besse – Tulle	Hilly stage	186.5 km (115.9 mi)	Djamolidine Abduzhaparov (UZB)
15	15 July	Brive-la-Gaillarde – Villeneuve-sur-Lot	Plain stage	176.0 km (109.4 mi)	Massimo Podenzana (ITA)
16	16 July	Agen – Hautacam	Stage with mountain(s)	199.0 km (123.7 mi)	Bjarne Riis (DEN)
17	17 July	Argelès-Gazost – Pamplona	Stage with mountain(s)	262.0 km (162.8 mi)	Laurent Dufaux (SUI)
18	18 July	Pamplona – Hendaye	Hilly stage	154.5 km (96.0 mi)	Bart Voskamp (NED)
19	19 July	Hendaye – Bordeaux	Plain stage	226.5 km (140.7 mi)	Frédéric Moncassin (FRA)
20	20 July	Bordeaux – Saint-Émilion	Individual time trial	63.5 km (39.5 mi)	Jan Ullrich (GER)
21	21 July	Palaiseau – Paris (Champs-Élysées)	Plain stage	147.5 km (91.7 mi)	Fabio Baldato (ITA)

Results

There were several classifications in the 1996 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.^[12]

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.^[12]

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.^[12]

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.^[12]

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. The riders in the team that lead this classification wore yellow caps.^[13]

For the combativity 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.

Classification leadership

Stage	Winner	General classification	Mountains classification	Points classification	Young rider classification	Team classification	Combativity award
P	Alex Zülle	Alex Zülle	N/A	Alex Zülle	Christophe Moreau	ONCE
1	Frédéric Moncassin			Ján Svorada	Paolo Savoldelli
2	Mario Cipollini		Danny Nelissen
3	Erik Zabel	Frédéric Moncassin	José Luis Rubiera		Jeroen Blijlevens
4	Cyril Saugrain	Stéphane Heulot	Danny Nelissen	Frédéric Moncassin	Stéphane Heulot	GAN
5	Jeroen Blijlevens
6	Michael Boogerd		Léon van Bon			Rabobank
7	Luc Leblanc	Evgeni Berzin	Richard Virenque		Jan Ullrich	Mapei
8	Evgeni Berzin					Team Telekom
9	Bjarne Riis	Bjarne Riis
10	Erik Zabel			Erik Zabel
11	Chepe González					Mapei
12	Pascal Richard					Rabobank
13	Rolf Sørensen					Mapei
14	Djamolidine Abdoujaparov
15	Massimo Podenzana
16	Bjarne Riis
17	Laurent Dufaux					Festina
18	Bart Voskamp
19	Frédéric Moncassin
20	Jan Ullrich
21	Fabio Baldato
Final		Bjarne Riis	Richard Virenque	Erik Zabel	Jan Ullrich	Festina	Richard Virenque

Jersey wearers when one rider is leading two or more competitions

• In stage 1, Chris Boardman wore the green jersey.

Other notes

• The white jersey wasn't actually awarded between 1989 and 1999 – the white column in this table represents the leader in the youth classification.

General classification

Final general classification (1–10)^[10]

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Bjarne Riis (DEN)	Telekom	95h 57' 16"
2	Jan Ullrich (GER)	Telekom	+1' 41"
3	Richard Virenque (FRA)	Festina	+4' 37"
4	Laurent Dufaux (SUI)	Festina	+5' 53"
5	Peter Luttenberger (AUT)	Carrera	+7' 07"
6	Luc Leblanc (FRA)	Polti	+10' 03"
7	Piotr Ugrumov (LAT)	Roslotto-ZG Mobili	+10' 04"
8	Fernando Escartin (ESP)	Kelme	+10' 26"
9	Abraham Olano (ESP)	Mapei	+11' 00"
10	Toni Rominger (SUI)	Mapei	+11' 53"

Final general classification (11–129)
Rank	Name	Team	Time
11	Miguel Indurain (ESP)	Banesto	+14' 14"
12	Patrick Jonker (AUS)	ONCE	+18' 58"
13	Bo Hamburger (DEN)	TVM	+22' 19"
14	Udo Bölts (GER)	Telekom	+25' 56"
15	Alberto Elli (ITA)	MG-Technogym	+26' 18"
16	Manuel Fernandez (ESP)	Mapei	+26' 28"
17	Leonardo Piepoli (SUI)	Rein	+27' 36"
18	Laurent Brochard (FRA)	Festina	+32' 11"
19	Michele Bartoli (ITA)	MG-Technogym	+37' 18"
20	Evgueni Berzin (RUS)	Gewiss	+38' 00"
21	Viatcheslav Ekimov (RUS)	Rabobank	+43' 58"
22	Stefano Cattai (ITA)	Roslotto-ZG Mobili	+48' 03"
23	Laurent Madouas (FRA)	Motorola	+53' 15"
24	Arsenio Gonzalez (ESP)	Mapei	+55' 28"
25	Massimiliano Lelli (ITA)	Saeco	+55' 35"
26	Alex Zülle (SUI)	ONCE	+56' 47"
27	Giuseppe Guerini (ITA)	Polti	+1h 05' 12"
28	Rolf Sørensen (DEN)	Rabobank	+1h 11' 28"
29	Jesper Skibby (DEN)	TVM	+1h 11' 36"
30	Marco Fincato (ITA)	Roslotto-ZG Mobili	+1h 11' 51"
31	Michael Boogerd (NED)	Rabobank	+1h 13' 45"
32	José Luis Arrieta (ESP)	Banesto	+1h 13' 48"
33	Paolo Savoldelli (ITA)	Roslotto-ZG Mobili	+1h 15' 20"
34	Erik Breukink (NED)	Rabobank	+1h 20' 03"
35	Aitor Garmendia (ESP)	ONCE	+1h 20' 42"
36	Oscar Camenzind (SUI)	Panaria-Vinavil	+1h 25' 27"
37	Claudio Chiappucci (ITA)	Carrera	+1h 27' 23"
38	Melchor Mauri (ESP)	ONCE	+1h 27' 28"
39	Chris Boardman (GBR)	Gan	+1h 27' 44"
40	Federico Echave (ESP)	Mapei	+1h 29' 25"
41	Jose-Roberto Sierra (ESP)	ONCE	+1h 30' 11"
42	Pascal Hervé (FRA)	Festina	+1h 33' 01"
43	Mirko Gualdi (ITA)	Polti	+1h 34' 59"
44	Laurent Roux (FRA)	TVM	+1h 36' 11"
45	Andrea Tafi (ITA)	Mapei	+1h 38' 54"
46	Andrea Ferrigato (ITA)	Roslotto-ZG Mobili	+1h 39' 23"
47	Pascal Richard (SUI)	MG-Technogym	+1h 40' 56"
48	Felix Manuel Garcia (ESP)	Festina	+1h 42' 13"
49	Neil Stephens (AUS)	ONCE	+1h 43' 33"
50	Davide Perona (ITA)	Gewiss	+1h 43' 40"
51	Maurizio Fondriest (ITA)	Roslotto-ZG Mobili	+1h 45' 44"
52	Valentino Fois (ITA)	Panaria-Vinavil	+1h 45' 58"
53	Herminio Diaz (ESP)	ONCE	+1h 47' 08"
54	Orlando Sergio Rodriguis (POR)	Banesto	+1h 47' 15"
55	Bruno Thibout (FRA)	Motorola	+1h 49' 02"
56	Bruno Cenghialta (ITA)	Gewiss	+1h 49' 19"
57	José Maria Jimenez (ESP)	Banesto	+1h 51' 30"
58	Prudencio Indurain (ESP)	Banesto	+1h 52' 30"
59	Paolo Lanfranchi (ITA)	Mapei	+1h 54' 42"
60	Flavio Vanzella (ITA)	Motorola	+1h 54' 52"
61	Massimo Podenzana (ITA)	Carrera	+1h 55' 18"
62	Thierry Bourguignon (FRA)	Aubervilliers	+1h 56' 38"
63	Fabio Baldato (ITA)	MG-Technogym	+1h 57' 08"
64	Maarten den Bakker (NED)	TVM	+1h 58' 25"
65	Marcello Siboni (ITA)	Carrera	+2h 00' 52"
66	Marino Alonso (ESP)	Banesto	+2h 00' 55"
67	Jean-Pierre Bourgeot (FRA)	Agrigel	+2h 01' 22"
68	Wladimir Belli (ITA)	Panaria-Vinavil	+2h 01' 42"
69	Cédric Vasseur (FRA)	Gan	+2h 02' 05"
70	Massimo Donati (ITA)	Saeco	+2h 02' 53"
71	José Joaquim Castelblanco (COL)	Kelme	+2h 03' 01"
72	Marco Saligari (ITA)	MG-Technogym	+2h 03' 09"
73	Marco Zen (ITA)	Roslotto-ZG Mobili	+2h 04' 03"
74	Erik Dekker (NED)	Rabobank	+2h 05' 03"
75	Christophe Moreau (FRA)	Festina	+2h 07' 20"
76	Christian Henn (GER)	Telekom	+2h 07' 33"
77	Andrei Tchmil (BEL)	Lotto	+2h 09' 38"
78	Djamolidine Abduzhaparov (UZB)	Rein	+2h 10' 02"
79	Paolo Fornaciari (ITA)	Saeco	+2h 10' 04"
80	Bruno Boscardin (SUI)	Festina	+2h 10' 12"
81	Julio César Aguirre (COL)	Kelme	+2h 10' 23"
82	Erik Zabel (GER)	Telekom	+2h 10' 26"
83	Rolf Aldag (GER)	Telekom	+2h 12' 16"
84	Danny Nelissen (NED)	Rabobank	+2h 12' 25"
85	Oscar Pelliccioli (ITA)	Carrera	+2h 13' 14"
86	François Simon (FRA)	Gan	+2h 16' 19"
87	Sergei Uslamin (RUS)	Rein	+2h 16' 30"
88	Jens Heppner (GER)	Telekom	+2h 17' 17"
89	Federico Muñoz (COL)	Kelme	+2h 17' 25"
90	Rolf Järmann (SUI)	MG-Technogym	+2h 20' 28"
91	François Lemarchand (FRA)	Gan	+2h 21' 15"
92	José Ramon Uriarte (ESP)	Banesto	+2h 23' 59"
93	Mariano Piccoli (ITA)	Brescialat	+2h 24' 29"
94	Cristian Salvato (ITA)	Rein	+2h 26' 59"
95	Johan Museeuw (BEL)	Mapei	+2h 29' 02"
96	José Jaime Gonzalez (COL)	Kelme	+2h 29' 13"
97	Rossano Brasi (ITA)	Polti	+2h 30' 20"
98	Fabio Roscioli (ITA)	Rein	+2h 31' 06"
99	Bart Voskamp (NED)	TVM	+2h 31' 31"
100	Francesco Frattini (ITA)	Gewiss	+2h 32' 06"
101	Scott Sunderland (AUS)	Lotto	+2h 32' 54"
102	Francisco Cabello (ESP)	Kelme	+2h 36' 22"
103	Cristiano Frattini (ITA)	Brescialat	+2h 37' 56"
104	Thierry Laurent (FRA)	Agrigel	+2h 37' 57"
105	Omar Enrique Pumar (VEN)	Brescialat	+2h 38' 10"
106	Frédéric Moncassin (FRA)	Gan	+2h 38' 57"
107	Brian Holm (DEN)	Telekom	+2h 39' 51"
108	Frédérick Guesdon (FRA)	Polti	+2h 42' 49"
109	José Angel Vidal (ESP)	Kelme	+2h 42' 58"
110	Wilfried Peeters (BEL)	Mapei	+2h 46' 47"
111	Frankie Andreu (USA)	Motorola	+2h 48' 46"
112	Alessandro Baronti (ITA)	Panaria-Vinavil	+2h 52' 37"
113	Tobias Steinhauser (GER)	Rein	+2h 54' 34"
114	Thierry Gouvenou (FRA)	Aubervilliers	+2h 54' 35"
115	Jacky Durand (FRA)	Agrigel	+2h 54' 39"
116	Peter Van Petegem (BEL)	TVM	+2h 56' 10"
117	Dario Bottaro (ITA)	Gewiss	+2h 56' 38"
118	Gilles Talmant (FRA)	Aubervilliers	+2h 57' 35"
119	Gerrit de Vries (NED)	Polti	+3h 04' 45"
120	Paul Van Hyfte (BEL)	Lotto	+3h 06' 43"
121	Ivan Cerioli (ITA)	Gewiss	+3h 07' 50"
122	Peter Farazijn (BEL)	Lotto	+3h 14' 06"
123	Nico Mattan (BEL)	Lotto	+3h 14' 49"
124	Marc Wauters (BEL)	Lotto	+3h 15' 46"
125	Mario Chiesa (ITA)	Carrera	+3h 18' 02"
126	Simone Biasci (ITA)	Saeco	+3h 22' 16"
127	Eros Poli (ITA)	Saeco	+3h 34' 38"
128	Jeroen Blijlevens (NED)	TVM	+3h 35' 12"
129	Jean-Luc Masdupuy (FRA)	Agrigel	+3h 49' 52"

Points classification

Final points classification (1–5)^[10]

Rank	Name	Team	Points
1	Erik Zabel (GER)	Telekom	335
2	Frédéric Moncassin (FRA)	Gan	284
3	Fabio Baldato (ITA)	MG-Technogym	255
4	Djamolidine Abduzhaparov (UZB)	Rein	204
5	Jeroen Blijlevens (NED)	TVM	158

Mountains classification

Final mountains classification (1–5)^[10]

Rank	Name	Team	Points
1	Richard Virenque (FRA)	Festina	383
2	Bjarne Riis (DEN)	Telekom	274
3	Laurent Dufaux (SUI)	Festina	176
4	Laurent Brochard (FRA)	Festina	168
5	Luc Leblanc (FRA)	Polti	158

Team classification

Young rider classification

Final young rider classification (1–5)^[10]

Rank	Name	Team	Time
1	Jan Ullrich (GER)	Telekom	95h 58' 57"
2	Peter Luttenberger (AUT)	Carrera	+5' 26"
3	Manuel Fernandez (ESP)	Mapei	+24' 47"
4	Leonardo Piepoli (SUI)	Rein	+25' 55"
5	Michael Boogerd (NED)	Rabobank	+1h 12' 04"

Combativity classification

Final combativity classification (1–3)^[10]

Rank	Name	Team	Points
1	Richard Virenque (FRA)	Festina	50
2	Bjarne Riis (DEN)	Telekom	47
3	Michele Bartoli (ITA)	MG-Technogym	47

See also

• List of doping cases in cycling

External links

• Results per day
• Yellow jersey progress
• Jersey progression

References

^‡ Bjarne Riis has admitted to the use of doping during the 1996 Tour de France. The organisers of the Tour de France no longer consider him to be the winner, although UCI have thusfar refused to change the official status. The same goes for Erik Zabel and his green jersey win that year. Several other riders mentioned in this table have since been proved guilty or suspected of doping.

v t e Tour de France 1903 · 1904 · 1905 · 1906 · 1907 · 1908 · 1909 · 1910 · 1911 · 1912 · 1913 · 1914 suspended because of World War I 1919 · 1920 · 1921 · 1922 · 1923 · 1924 · 1925 · 1926 · 1927 · 1928 · 1929 · 1930 · 1931 · 1932 · 1933 · 1934 · 1935 · 1936 · 1937 · 1938 · 1939 suspended because of World War II 1947 · 1948 · 1949 · 1950 · 1951 · 1952 · 1953 · 1954 · 1955 · 1956 · 1957 · 1958 · 1959 · 1960 · 1961 · 1962 · 1963 · 1964 · 1965 · 1966 · 1967 · 1968 · 1969 · 1970 · 1971 · 1972 · 1973 · 1974 · 1975 · 1976 · 1977 · 1978 · 1979 · 1980 · 1981 · 1982 · 1983 · 1984 · 1985 · 1986 · 1987 · 1988 · 1989 · 1990 · 1991 · 1992 · 1993 · 1994 · 1995 · 1996 · 1997 · 1998 · 1999 · 2000 · 2001 · 2002 · 2003 · 2004 · 2005 · 2006 · 2007 · 2008 · 2009 · 2010 · 2011 · 2012 · 2013 General classification (maillot jaune) Points classification (maillot vert) Mountains classification (maillot à pois) Young rider classification (maillot blanc) Team classification (classement d'équipes) Combativity award (prix de combativité) Defunct jerseys: Combination classification (maillot du combiné) • Intermediate sprints classification (maillot rouge)