Tour de France/ Floyd Landis scandal explained

The Tour de France is the most famous bike race in the world. It starts in July, and lasts for about 25 days. Each day of racing is called a stage. There are usually 21 stages with a few rest days during the Tour. Each stage consists of a different course. Some stages are flat, and these favor the sprinters. Other stages are hilly, called mountain stages, and these favor the climbers. Only a climber can win the entire Tour. There are individual time trial stages (ITT), in which each rider takes a turn racing alone, trying to get the best time. There are also team time trials(TTT), in which five riders race together for the best overall time.

In 2006 the Tour field was open. Armstrong, or Le Boss as the French called him, had retired. Less than a week before the tour started, a doping scandal broke in Spain. A doctor's facilities were raided and a list of names were found suspected to contain a list of athletes the doctor had helped dope. Inexplicably, only the names of professional cyclists were immediately released, and among these were Jan Ullrich and Ivan Basso, both favored to win the 2006 Tour de France. They, and others, were banned from competing pending further investigation

So now on the literal eve of the Tour, the playing field is really open. Perhaps even George Hincapie, Lance's longtime domestique (support rider) has a chance to take the Maillot Jaune (yellow jersey-overall leader)

Speaking of jersey, let me explain those. There are Four jerseys in the Tour de France, essentially trophies that can be won. They are as follows:

Maillot Jaune: Yellow jersey- overall winner
Maillot Vert: Green Jersey- best sprinter (also called points category)
Maillot Blanc: White jersey- best rider under the age of 25
Maillot a Pois Rouges : White jersey with red polka dots- King of the Mountains (best climber)





Pictured above: Damian Cunego, Floyd Landis, Robbie McEwen, Michael Rasmussen

The Maillot Jaune might technically hold any of the other jerseys (or theoretically all of them) but he will only wear the Maillot Jaune, and so the second best rider(s) in any category will wear the jersey for it.

Now, in 2006 Floyd Landis of Team Phonak (an American and former teammate of Lance) won. He held a decent lead until stage 16, when he 'bonked' (cycling for maxed out) Then, on stage 17, he essentially time trial-ed the entire time (riding as hard as he could right to the end) and won and impossible lead, securing the maillot jaune. It was later suspected that he injected artificial testosterone in order to manage his inhuman feat. This week he is defending his innocence.

to be continued