Here we take a look back at the highlights and pitfalls of the 2007 Tour de France, the 94th year of the Tour.
Le Grand Depart in London
A very exciting occasion for London and England as it played host to the grand opening of the 2007’s Tour de France. It’s one of the largest sporting events that the city hosts before the Olympic Games in 2012. The Tour last visited England back in 1994, crossing the Channel for the stage between Dover to Brighton, and then to Portsmouth along the south coast of England.
For 2007 the Tour visited England for two days over the weekend of 7th of July 2007. Day one was the Prologue around central London, a time trial course zipping past some of London’s greatest Landmarks. Day two saw stage 1 of the Tour de France, from London out of the city southwards ending in Canterbury. More on when the Tour visited London, England, who won the races and a chance to explore the sights for your self with the video guide, go to this article on the Cycling site.
Doping Scandals
Undoubtedly one of the most poignant things that the 2007 Tour de France will be remembered for is the doping scandals unearthed during the middle of the Tour. Two successive days saw the three teams bow down from the race due to their team-mates breaking the rules of the sport resulting in one of the worst succession of scandals to hit the tour since 1998. 21 teams became 19, the pre-race favourite was out and for the first time a stage of the tour was left without a yellow jersey winner. For a closer look at the scandals that rocked the Tour over the two days visit this article on the Cycling site.
The 2007 Tour de France Winner
The winner of this years overall tour de France was won by Alberto Contador of Team Discovery, winning the yellow jersey and the white jersey for the best young rider. The 24-year-old Spaniard made a remarkable come back from a horrific 2004 Tour where he needed emergency surgery from a terrible crash and almost lost his life from a brain haemorrhage.
Team Discovery Channel had an excellent Tour de France, with Contador winning and his teammate; Levi Leipheimer placed 3rd on the podium. The America registered team also won two stages of the Tour making the team one of the most dominant in the Race. However its sponsor, the Discovery Channel announced that they won’t be back next year to sponsor the team and so another sponsor and a new team name is yet to be found for next years race!
Memorable Moments Online...
Check out this video clip of when Marcus Burghardt of the T-Mobile team trips over a dog at stage 9 of the Tour de France!
