2003 Tour de France

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Tour de France 2003 - Course Outline
Race details
Dates		July 5–July 27, 2003
Stages		20+Prologue
Distance		3,350 km (2,082 mi)
Winning time		83h 41' 12" (40.030 km/h/24.873 mph)
Palmarès
	Winner	Lance Armstrong	(US Postal)
	Second	Jan Ullrich	(Team Bianchi)
	Third	Alexander Vinokourov	(Team Telekom)
	Points	Baden Cooke	(FDJeux.com)
	Mountains	Richard Virenque	(Quick Step – Davitamon)
	Youth	Denis Menchov	(iBanesto.com)
	Team	Team CSC

The 2003 Tour de France started and ended in Paris. Lasting from July 5 to July 27 the race covered 3,350 km (2081.58 mi),^[1] proceeding clockwise in twenty stages around France, including six major mountain stages. Due to the centennial celebration, this edition of the tour was raced entirely in France and did not enter neighboring countries.

In the centenary year of the race the route recreated, in part, that of 1903. There was a special Centenaire Classement prize for the best-placed in each of the six stage finishes which match the 1903 tour - Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes and Paris. It was won by Stuart O'Grady, with Thor Hushovd in second place. The 2003 Tour was honored with the Prince of Asturias Award for Sport.

Of the 198 riders the favorite was again Lance Armstrong, aiming for a record equalling fifth win. Before the race, it was believed that his main rivals would include Iban Mayo, Aitor González, Tyler Hamilton, Ivan Basso, Gilberto Simoni, Jan Ullrich, and Joseba Beloki but Armstrong was odds-on favorite. Though he did go on to win the race, it is statistically, and by Armstrong's own admission,^[2] his weakest Tour from his seven-year period of dominance over the race.

Overview

Laiseka, Basso, Hamilton, Armstrong, Beloki and Zubeldia riding up to Alpe d'Huez

The Tour proved to be one more hotly contested than the previous years, but in the end it was indeed Armstrong who won. Tyler Hamilton and Levi Leipheimer were involved in a crash early in the Tour. Leipheimer dropped out, Hamilton continued and got fourth place in the end while riding with a broken collarbone.

In the Alps, Gilberto Simoni and Stefano Garzelli, first and second in the Giro d'Italia earlier the same year, could not keep up with Lance Armstrong and the other favorites. The same held for last year's number 4, Santiago Botero. Joseba Beloki could, and was in second-place overall (just 40 seconds behind Armstrong) when he crashed on a fast descent as a result of a blown tire caused by melting tar in the road. Beloki broke his right femur and had to leave the Tour. Armstrong made a detour through the field beside the road to avoid the fallen Beloki. Armstrong was in yellow, but Jan Ullrich won the first time trial by one minute and 36 seconds. He and Alexander Vinokourov were both within very short distance from Armstrong.

Armstrong did however withstand the attacks in the end, and took his fifth Tour de France in row, thereby equalling the record of Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, Bernard Hinault and Miguel Indurain. Before him, only Indurain had won in five consecutive years. Lance Armstrong had never won a tour by less than six minutes before 2003.

Stages

Jersey progress

Jersey wearers when one rider is leading two or more competitions

• In stage 1, David Millar wore the green jersey.
• In stage 8, Rolf Aldag wore the polka-dot jersey.

Results

General classification (1–10)[3] [4] Rank Name Team Time Ave. Speed 1  Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal 83h 41' 12" (40.94 km/h) 2  Jan Ullrich (GER) Team Bianchi + 1' 01" 3  Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ) Team Telekom + 4' 14" 4  Tyler Hamilton (USA) Team CSC + 6' 17" 5  Haimar Zubeldia (ESP) Euskaltel–Euskadi + 6' 51" 6  Iban Mayo (ESP) Euskaltel–Euskadi + 7' 06" 7  Ivan Basso (ITA) Fassa Bortolo + 10' 12" 8  Christophe Moreau (FRA) Crédit Agricole + 12' 28" 9  Carlos Sastre (ESP) Team CSC + 18' 49" 10  Francisco Mancebo (ESP) iBanesto.com + 19' 15"

Points classification (1–10) [4] Rank Name Team Points 1  Baden Cooke (AUS) FDJeux.com 216 2  Robbie McEwen (AUS) Lotto–Domo 214 3  Erik Zabel (DEU) Team Telekom 188 4  Thor Hushovd (NOR) Crédit Agricole 173 5  Luca Paolini (ITA) Quick Step – Davitamon 156 6  Jean-Patrick Nazon (FRA) Jean Delatour 154 7  Stuart O'Grady (AUS) Crédit Agricole 153 8  Fabrizio Guidi (ITA) Team Bianchi 122 9  Jan Ullrich (GER) Team Bianchi 112 10  Damien Nazon (FRA) Brioches La Boulangère 107

Mountains classification (1–10) [4] Rank Name Team Points 1  Richard Virenque (FRA) Quick Step – Davitamon 324 2  Laurent Dufaux (SUI) Alessio 187 3  Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal 168 4  Christophe Moreau (FRA) Crédit Agricole 137 5  Juan Miguel Mercado (ESP) iBanesto.com 136 6  Iban Mayo (ESP) Euskaltel–Euskadi 130 7  Haimar Zubeldia (ESP) Euskaltel–Euskadi 125 8  Jan Ullrich (GER) Team Bianchi 124 9  Tyler Hamilton (USA) Team CSC 116 10  Paolo Bettini (ITA) Quick Step – Davitamon 100

The team classification is based on the added time of the team's top three best riders in each stage. Team classification (1–5) [4] Rank Team Time 1 Team CSC 248h 18' 18" 2 iBanesto.com + 21' 46" 3 Euskaltel–Euskadi + 44' 59" 4 US Postal + 45' 53" 5 Team Bianchi + 1h 12' 40" Combativity award Rank Name Team 1  Alexander Vinokourov (KAZ) Team Telekom

The young rider classification tracks the best riders under 25 years old in the Tour de France. young rider classification (1–5) [4] Rank Name Team Time 1  Denis Menchov (RUS) iBanesto.com 84h 0' 56" 2  Mikel Astarloza (ESP) AG2R Prévoyance + 42' 29" 3  Juan Miguel Mercado (ESP) iBanesto.com + 1h 02' 48" 4  Sylvain Chavanel (FRA) Brioches La Boulangère + 1h 05' 17" 5  Andy Flickinger (FRA) AG2R Prévoyance + 1h 09' 09"

In this classification positions from six stages involving cities (Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes, Paris) visited during 1903 were combined. Centenaire classification [4] Rank Name Team Points 1  Stuart O'Grady (AUS) Crédit Agricole 82 2  Thor Hushovd (NOR) Crédit Agricole 86 3  Fabrizio Guidi (ITA) Team Bianchi 103 4  Luca Paolini (ITA) Quick Step – Davitamon 118 5  Gerrit Glomser (AUT) Saeco Macchine per Caffé 123

See also

• List of teams in the 2003 Tour de France
• List of doping cases in cycling

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Tour de France 2003

• Cyclingnews.com coverage of the 2003 Tour
• Tour de France archive on 2003
• Stage victories and jersey progression (German)
• Youth classification and team classification progression (Dutch)