Bjarne Riis
Encyclopedia
Bjarne Lykkegård Riis nicknamed The Eagle from Herning
Herning
Herning Municipality is a municipality in Region Midtjylland on the Jutland peninsula in western Denmark. The municipality covers an area of 1,336 km² and a total population of 84,208...

, is a Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 former professional road bicycle racer who placed first in the 1996 Tour de France
1996 Tour de France
The 1996 Tour de France was the 83rd Tour de France, starting on June 29 and ending on July 21, featuring 19 regular stages, 2 individual time trials, a prologue and a rest day ....

, and is now the team owner and manager of Danish UCI ProTour
UCI ProTour
The UCI ProTour was a series of road bicycle races in Europe, Australia and Canada organised by the UCI . Created by Hein Verbruggen, former president of the UCI, it comprises a number of 'ProTour' cycling teams, each of whom are required to compete in every round of the series...

 outfit Team Saxo Bank Sungard. Other career highlights include placing first in the Amstel Gold Race
Amstel Gold Race
The Amstel Gold Race is a road bicycle race held in the southern part of the province of Limburg, Netherlands. Since 1989 it has been among the races included in season long rankings tables, as part of the UCI Road World Cup , the UCI ProTour , UCI World Ranking and from 2011 the UCI World Tour...

 in 1997, multiple Danish National Championships, and stage wins in the Giro d'Italia
Giro d'Italia
The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...

. On May 25 2007
2007 in Denmark
-Incumbents:* Monarch - HM Queen Magrethe II of Denmark* Prime minister - Anders Fogh Rasmussen-Events:* 25 May - Bjarne Riis admits that he won the Tour de France using banned substances....

 he admitted that he placed first in the Tour de France
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...

 using banned substances, and he was no longer considered the winner by the tour's organizers. In July 2008 he is back on the list of Tour winners, but with additional notes about his use of doping.

Career

Riis began cycling at local club Herning CK
Herning CK
Herning Cykle Klub is an amateur road bicycle racing club, located in Herning, Denmark, and founded April 11, 1937 on initiative by E.V.Johansen, with Poul Schmidt as chairman....

. When he was not selected for the 1984 Summer Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...

, former cyclist Kim Andersen advised Riis to start his professional career not in Italy, but in Luxembourg. His professional career started in 1986, his first result was a fifth place finish in the GP Wallonie that year. Following a few years with no personal wins, he had yet to impress when his contract ran out in 1988.

At the 1988 Tour of European Community race, while riding for the Toshiba team, Riis and fellow Danish rider Kim Eriksen were contacted by the former Tour de France winner Laurent Fignon
Laurent Fignon
Laurent Patrick Fignon was a French professional road bicycle racer. He won the Tour de France in 1983 and in 1984. He missed winning it a third time, in 1989, by 8 seconds, the closest margin ever to decide the tour. He also won the Giro d'Italia in 1989, after having been the runner-up in 1984,...

 from the Systeme U
Système U
Système U is a French retailers' cooperative, comprising about eight hundred independent hypermarkets, and supermarkets, headquartered in the Parc Tertiaire SILIC in Rungis, France....

 team. Fignon was leading the Tour of European Community race, but he needed a few riders to help him secure the victory. In the hope of earning a contract with Systeme U, Riis helped Fignon achieve the victory and in December 1988 he moved to sports director Cyrille Guimard
Cyrille Guimard
Cyrille Guimard is a French former professional road racing cyclist who became a directeur sportif and then a television commentator...

's Systeme U team as a support rider for Fignon. For the next three years Riis rode as Fignon's eternal helper in both flat and mountainous terrain, and they became close friends. Riis helped Fignon win the 1989 Giro d'Italia
1989 Giro d'Italia
The 1989 Giro d'Italia of cycling was held from 17 May to 10 June 1989, consisting of 22 stages. It was won by the French Laurent Fignon.This 72nd edition was 3,623 km long, completed at an average speed of 38.747 km/h.- General classification :...

, while Riis himself won his first professional victory as he secured the 9th stage of the Giro.

Tour de France success

When Fignon retired in 1992, Bjarne Riis contacted fellow Danish rider Rolf Sørensen
Rolf Sørensen
Rolf Sørensen is a former Danish professional road bicycle racer. He is the most successful Danish bicycle racer ever, with his 53 victories over 17 seasons. He is currently working as a cycling commentator and agent. Born in Helsinge in Denmark, Sørensen moved to Italy at the age of 17, where he...

, who got him a job as a rider for Italian team Ariostea
Ariostea
Ariostea was an Italian professional cycling team from 1984 to 1993. Its first team manager was Giorgio Vannucci, who was replaced in 1986 by Giancarlo Ferretti...

 under sporting director Giancarlo Ferretti
Giancarlo Ferretti
Giancarlo Ferretti is the former manager of the now-disbanded Italian professional road bicycle racing team Fassa Bortolo team, sponsored by the Italian cement company of the same name....

. Riis placed first in the Châlon-sur-Marne stage during the 1993 Tour de France
1993 Tour de France
The 1993 Tour de France was the 80th Tour de France, taking place July 3 to July 25, 1993. It consisted of 20 stages, over 3714.3 km, ridden at an average speed of 38.709 km/h....

 and also wore the polka dot jersey
Polka dot jersey
The Mountains classification in the Tour de France is a secondary classification in the Tour de France, in which cyclists receive points for reaching a mountain top first...

 for a day. He finished 5th place overall, which was the best Danish result in Tour history at the time, bettering former World Champion Leif Mortensen
Leif Mortensen
Leif Mortensen is a Danish former professional road bicycle racer.- Palmarès :196719681969...

's 6th place finish in the 1971 Tour de France
1971 Tour de France
The 1971 Tour de France was the 58th Tour de France, taking place June 26 to July 18, 1971. It consisted of 22 stages over , ridden at an average speed of ....

. Riis was ill during the 1994 Tour de France
1994 Tour de France
The 1994 Tour de France was the 81st Tour de France and included two stages in England , Stage 4, Dover to Brighton and Stage 5, around Portsmouth. It took place July 2 to July 24, 1994...

 but went on a break-away and then racing solo for the last 30 km of the day. With the sprinter teams chasing him, he placed first on the stage by just a few seconds. Riis finished 3rd at the 1995 Tour de France
1995 Tour de France
The 1995 Tour de France was the 82nd Tour de France, taking place July 1 to July 23, 1995. It was Miguel Indurain's fifth and final victory in the Tour. On the fifteenth stage Italian rider Fabio Casartelli died after an accident on the Col de Portet d'Aspet....

, the first Dane to reach the podium in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

, and was named the sensation of the 1995 Tour.

For the 1996 season, Riis was brought on to the Telekom team as team captain. Following his excellent showing in the high climbs of the 1995 Tour, Riis was confident that he was capable of winning. He asked his new teammates to support him, and convinced them that if they worked for him he could bring the yellow jersey to Team Telekom. By the start of the Tour he was in superb condition, winning the Danish Road Racing Championship the week before the prologue. As a result of snow on both the Col de l'Iseran
Col de l'Iseran
Col de l'Iseran is the highest paved mountain pass in the Alps. A part of the Graian Alps, it is situated in the department of Savoie in France near the border with Italy. It is crossed by the D902....

 and the Col du Galibier
Col du Galibier
Col du Galibier is a mountain pass in the southern region of the French Dauphiné Alps near Grenoble. It is the ninth highest paved road in the Alps and the sixth highest mountain pass. It is often the highest point of the Tour de France....

, the scheduled 190 km stage 9 from Val-d'Isère to Sestriere
Sestriere
Sestriere is an alpine village in Italy, a comune of the Province of Turin. It is from the French border. Its name derives from Latin: ad petram sistrariam, that is at sixty Roman miles from Turin....

 in Italy was truncated and reduced to a 46 km sprint from Le-Monetier-les-Bains which was claimed by Riis, opening a 44 second gap over his teammate Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich is a German former professional road bicycle racer. In 1997, he was the first German to win the Tour de France. He went on to take five second places and a fourth in 2004 and third in 2005. He is considered one of the best time-trialists in the history of the sport...

. By the Tour's end Riis had placed first in the General Classification, with a lead of 1:41 over his young teammate Ullrich. In so doing he ended the string of five successive victories won by Tour great Miguel Indurain
Miguel Indurain
Miguel Ángel Indurain Larraya is a retired Spanish road racing cyclist. He won five consecutive Tour de Frances from 1991 and 1995, the first to do so, and the fourth athlete to win five times. He won the Giro d'Italia twice, becoming one of only seven people in history to achieve the Giro Tour...

. The win by Riis was instrumental in turning Telekom from a second tier cycling team which struggled just to be invited into the 1995 Tour, into one of the biggest teams in road racing. It also had a huge positive effect on the development of cycling in both Denmark and Germany, massively increasing spectator interest and participation in the sport as well.

In 1997, he placed first in the spring classic Amstel Gold Race
Amstel Gold Race
The Amstel Gold Race is a road bicycle race held in the southern part of the province of Limburg, Netherlands. Since 1989 it has been among the races included in season long rankings tables, as part of the UCI Road World Cup , the UCI ProTour , UCI World Ranking and from 2011 the UCI World Tour...

, with a great effort, riding solo from a long way out, in pouring rain. Bjarne Riis was the favourite at the 1997 Tour de France
1997 Tour de France
The 1997 Tour de France was the 84th Tour de France, it took place July 5–27, 1997. Jan Ullrich's victory margin, of 9' 09" was the largest margin of victory since Laurent Fignon won the 1984 Tour de France by 10' 32"...

, but instead it was his young German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 teammate Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich
Jan Ullrich is a German former professional road bicycle racer. In 1997, he was the first German to win the Tour de France. He went on to take five second places and a fourth in 2004 and third in 2005. He is considered one of the best time-trialists in the history of the sport...

, who won the overall competition, with Riis finishing 7th. On his way to the startup at stage 2 of the 1999 Tour de Suisse
Tour de Suisse
The Tour de Suisse is a UCI World Tour stage race held annually in June. The race debuted in 1933 and has evolved in timing, duration and sponsorship. With the Critérium du Dauphiné, it is a proving ground for the Tour de France, and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...

, Bjarne Riis hit the curb and crashed. The sustained injuries to his elbow and knee ultimately forced him to retire in the spring of 2000 at the age of 36.

Doping allegations

In the aftermath of the performance enhancing drugs
Doping (sport)
The use of performance-enhancing drugs in sport is commonly referred to by the term "doping", particularly by those organizations that regulate competitions. The use of performance enhancing drugs is mostly done to improve athletic performance. This is why many sports ban the use of performance...

 crisis in cycling following the 1998 Tour de France
1998 Tour de France
The 1998 Tour de France, also called the Tour du Dopage , was marred by doping scandals throughout known as the Festina affair, starting with the arrest of Willy Voet, a soigneur in the French Festina team. Voet was traveling into France when he was arrested and found with large quantities of...

, Riis acquired the nickname of Mr. 60%, a suggestion that he has used doping. The 60% is an allusion to a high hematocrit
Hematocrit
The hematocrit or packed cell volume or erythrocyte volume fraction is the percentage of the concentration of red blood cells in blood. It is normally about 45% for men and 40% for women...

 (red blood cell) level, an indication of EPO
Erythropoietin
Erythropoietin, or its alternatives erythropoetin or erthropoyetin or EPO, is a glycoprotein hormone that controls erythropoiesis, or red blood cell production...

 usage. It has been published, but never proven, that Riis had a hematocrit level of 56% during one test in July 1995; well above typical natural levels, as well as his published reading of 41% in the offseason earlier that year. The earliest mention of the nickname can be traced to interviews with riders of Festina
Festina
thumb|right|Festina watchesFestina is a watch company. It was founded in 1902 in La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland.The manufacture's motto was Festina Lente . In 1984, Spanish industrialist Miguel Rodriguez, already owner of Lotus watches bought Festina and created the group Festina Lotus S.A....

 in 1998-2000, who apparently suggested that if they had been doped above 50%, then Riis must have been doped to at least 60%, since he was able to win the Tour de France in 1996 ahead of the Festina rider Richard Virenque
Richard Virenque
Richard VirenqueRichard Virenque's name is pronounced Ree-shah Vee-rahnk. Virenque considers himself a man of the South but pronounces his name in standard French. Confusion is caused by the southern habit of pronouncing "en" as "ang" or "eng", making it Vee-rank. But Virenque says Vee-rahnk or...

: in Willy Voet
Willy Voet
Willy Voet is a Belgian sports physiotherapist. He is most widely known for his involvement in the Festina affair in the 1998 Tour de France ....

's book Breaking the Chain, he mentions that Festina's team doctor would not allow EPO to be administered if a rider's hematocrit level was near 55%.
Bjarne Riis never tested positive as a rider, though no EPO test existed at that time. Reports have noted, however, that police in Italy found evidence that Riis may have been among riders treated with EPO in 1994 and 1995 by medical researchers under Professor Francesco Conconi
Francesco Conconi
Francesco Conconi is an Italian sports doctor and scientist, with disciples such as Michele Ferrari and Luigi Cecchini. Conconi is a Professor at the University of Ferrara in Italy where he heads the Centro Studi Biomedici Applicati allo Sport or Biomedical Research Institute...

 at the University of Ferrara, which resulted in prosecutions against Conconi and also involved Michele Ferrari
Michele Ferrari
Michele Ferrari is an Italian physician, cycling coach and author.-Biography:Ferrari was born in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, where he still lives...

. Files used in the court case apparently showed fluctuations in Riis' hematocrit from 41% to 56.3%.

Speculations about Bjarne Riis's doping use was further fuelled by his ambiguous denials. When asked whether he used doping he repeatedly stated that "I have never tested positive". A statement that falls somewhat short of an outright denial.

Doping admission

On 21 May 2007, Riis' former Telekom-team mate Bert Dietz admitted that he had used doping during his Telekom-time. This prompted other former team mates, Christian Henn
Christian Henn
Christian Henn is a retired road racing cyclist from Germany, who won the bronze medal for West Germany in the men's individual road race at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea...

 and Udo Bölts
Udo Bölts
Udo Bölts in Rodalben is a retired German racing cyclist, the brother of Hartmut Bölts.Bölts is one of the most successful German cyclists, and from the beginning of his career he distinguished himself as a coureageous rider who liked to get into breakaways...

, and two former team doctors, to admit their involvement in doping. On 24 May, three other team mates Rolf Aldag
Rolf Aldag
Rolf Aldag is a former professional road bicycle racer who rode for Team Telekom from 1993 to 2005. He has raced in 10 Tour de France, 1 Giro d'Italia and 5 Vuelta a España...

, Erik Zabel
Erik Zabel
Erik Zabel is a former German professional road bicycle racer who last raced with Milram. With over 200 professional wins he is considered by some one of the greatest German cyclists and best cycling sprinters of history...

 and Brian Holm
Brian Holm
Brian Holm Sørensen is a retired Danish professional rider in road bicycle racing from 1986 to 1998, and rode for Team Telekom from 1993 to 1997, and was part of the team that brought his fellow Dane Bjarne Riis to victory in the 1996 Tour de France...

 confessed.

Following this series of confessions, on May 25, 2007 Riis issued a press release that he also had made "mistakes" in the past, and in the following press conference confessed to taking EPO
Erythropoietin
Erythropoietin, or its alternatives erythropoetin or erthropoyetin or EPO, is a glycoprotein hormone that controls erythropoiesis, or red blood cell production...

, growth hormone
Growth hormone
Growth hormone is a peptide hormone that stimulates growth, cell reproduction and regeneration in humans and other animals. Growth hormone is a 191-amino acid, single-chain polypeptide that is synthesized, stored, and secreted by the somatotroph cells within the lateral wings of the anterior...

 and cortisone
Cortisone
Cortisone is a steroid hormone. It is one of the main hormones released by the adrenal gland in response to stress. In chemical structure, it is a corticosteroid closely related to corticosterone. It is used to treat a variety of ailments and can be administered intravenously, orally,...

 for 5 years, from 1993 to 1998, including during his victory in the 1996 Tour de France
1996 Tour de France
The 1996 Tour de France was the 83rd Tour de France, starting on June 29 and ending on July 21, featuring 19 regular stages, 2 individual time trials, a prologue and a rest day ....

.
Riis said that he bought and injected the EPO himself, and team coach Walter Godefroot
Walter Godefroot
Walter Godefroot is a retired Belgian professional road bicycle racer and former directeur sportif of , later known as T-Mobile Team, professional team....

 turned a blind eye to the drug use on the team. Riis was removed from the official record books of Tour de France, but in July 2008 he was written back into the books, along with additional notes about his use of doping.

The reactions on Riis’s admission have been truly mixed. Some critics have stamped him as a cheater, and claimed that the results Riis has achieved in his career are worthless.
Others have argued that Riis is still a worthy winner of 1996 Tour de France
1996 Tour de France
The 1996 Tour de France was the 83rd Tour de France, starting on June 29 and ending on July 21, featuring 19 regular stages, 2 individual time trials, a prologue and a rest day ....

, among them Tour de France commentator and bike enthusiast Jørgen Leth
Jørgen Leth
Jørgen Leth is a Danish poet and film director who is considered a leading figure in experimental documentary film making. Most notable are his epic documentary A Sunday in Hell and his surrealistic short film The Perfect Human...

.

Team manager

Following his retirement, a new life opened up. Bjarne Riis had from the start been one of the people behind Danish cycling team Home-Jack & Jones
Team CSC
Team Saxo Bank-SunGard is a professional cycling team from Denmark. It competes in the UCI ProTour. The team is owned and managed by former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis, under the management of his company Riis Cycling. The sponsor is a Danish investment bank.Founded for 1998 Team home – Jack...

, which became the first Danish team competing in the Tour de France. Following doping allegations and suspension of Home-Jack & Jones rider Marc Streel in 1999, Home withdrew its sponsorship. Bjarne Riis bought the majority of the team through its controlling company Professional Cycling Denmark (PCD), and he became the team manager. In 2001, the team changed sponsor to CSC/World Online, then CSC/Tiscali, and in the seasons 2003 to 2007 the American IT
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...

 company CSC
Computer Sciences Corporation
Computer Sciences Corporation is an American information technology and business services company headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia, USA...

 was the sole sponsor of Team CSC
Team CSC
Team Saxo Bank-SunGard is a professional cycling team from Denmark. It competes in the UCI ProTour. The team is owned and managed by former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis, under the management of his company Riis Cycling. The sponsor is a Danish investment bank.Founded for 1998 Team home – Jack...

. In season 2008 CSC shared the sponsorship with the Danish bank Saxo Bank
Saxo Bank
Saxo Bank is an online Danish investment bank. It was founded as a brokerage firm in 1992, under the name Midas Fondsmæglerselskab, by Lars Seier Christensen, Kim Fournais and Marc Hauschildt. The name was changed to Saxo when the company obtained a banking license in 2001. Saxo offers trading...

 which as of season 2009 has been the sole team sponsor. Riis renamed PCD to Riis Cycling A/S in 2003. Before the 2005 season, Team CSC had financial problems and some of the riders were asked to take a wage cut. Riis used his own money to keep the team running throughout his first years as team manager, an expenditure he later vowed never to repeat when a new sponsor deal was signed during the 2005 Tour de France
2005 Tour de France
The 2005 Tour de France was the 92nd Tour de France, taking place from July 2 to July 24, 2005. It comprised 21 stages over 3592.5 km, the winner's average speed was 41.654 km/h. The first stages were held in the département of the Vendée, for the third time in 12 years. The 2005 Tour was...

.

As a team manager, his team has been involved in relatively few doping cases, with no rider being convicted for using doping while on his team. However, Ivan Basso
Ivan Basso
Ivan Basso is an Italian professional road bicycle racer who is currently racing with UCI ProTeam . Basso, nicknamed Ivan the Terrible, is among the best mountain riders in the professional field in the 21st century, and is considered one of the strongest stage race riders...

, who was Team CSC's 2006 Tour de France general classification contender was removed from the team prior to the beginning of the Tour according to the UCI ProTour rules due to his possible involvement in the Operación Puerto doping case
Operación Puerto doping case
Operación Puerto is the code name of a Spanish Police operation against the doping network of Doctor Eufemiano Fuentes, started in May 2006, which resulted in a scandal that involved several of the world most famous cyclists at the time.Media attention has focused on the small number of...

, an involvement confirmed by Basso himself in April 2007. Basso's contract with Team CSC has since ended.

The story of team CSC during the 2004 Tour de France has been captured in a documentary titled "Overcoming".

His best result was winning Tour de France in 2008 with Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre
Carlos Sastre Candil is a retired Spanish professional road bicycle racer and champion of the 2008 Tour de France. Sastre rides in 2011 for UCI Professional Continental team...

 as captain of the team.

Major results

1989
1st Stage 9, Giro d'Italia
1989 Giro d'Italia
The 1989 Giro d'Italia of cycling was held from 17 May to 10 June 1989, consisting of 22 stages. It was won by the French Laurent Fignon.This 72nd edition was 3,623 km long, completed at an average speed of 38.747 km/h.- General classification :...

1st Stage 2, Tour of European Community
95th Overall, Tour de France
1989 Tour de France
The 1989 Tour de France was the 76th Tour de France, a race of 21 stages and a prologue, over 3285 km in total. In the closest tour in history, Greg LeMond was behind by 50 seconds at the start of the final stage, a time trial into Paris. LeMond rode for an average speed of 54.55 km/h ,...


1990
1st Stage 7, Stage 9, Tour of European Community

1991
107th Overall, Tour de France
1991 Tour de France
The 1991 Tour de France was the 78th Tour de France, taking place July 6 to July 28, 1991. The total race distance was 22 stages over 3914 km, with riders averaging 38.747 km/h.-Stages:-General classification:-External links:* *...


1992
 Denmark Danish Road Racing Championship

1993
1st Stage 7, Giro d'Italia
1993 Giro d'Italia
The 1993 Giro d'Italia of cycling, the 76th edition of the race, was held from 23 May to 13 June 1993, consisting of 22 stages. It covered a total of 3,703 km, completed at an average speed of 37.723 km/h...

5th Overall, Tour de France
1993 Tour de France
The 1993 Tour de France was the 80th Tour de France, taking place July 3 to July 25, 1993. It consisted of 20 stages, over 3714.3 km, ridden at an average speed of 38.709 km/h....

1st Stage 7

1994
14th Overall, Tour de France
1994 Tour de France
The 1994 Tour de France was the 81st Tour de France and included two stages in England , Stage 4, Dover to Brighton and Stage 5, around Portsmouth. It took place July 2 to July 24, 1994...

1st Stage 13

1995
 Denmark Danish Road Racing Championship
1st Overall, Danmark Rundt
Danmark Rundt
Danmark Rundt is a Danish stage race for professional road bicycle racers organized as a part of the UCI Continental Circuits. It is currently sponsored by the Danish national postal agency, Post Danmark, and the race is therefore also known as Post Danmark Rundt. Currently 15 teams, with 8 riders...

1st Stage 3B
3rd Overall, Tour de France
1995 Tour de France
The 1995 Tour de France was the 82nd Tour de France, taking place July 1 to July 23, 1995. It was Miguel Indurain's fifth and final victory in the Tour. On the fifteenth stage Italian rider Fabio Casartelli died after an accident on the Col de Portet d'Aspet....


1996
 Denmark Danish Road Racing Championship
 Denmark Danish Individual Time Trial
Individual time trial
An individual time trial is a road bicycle race in which cyclists race alone against the clock . There are also track-based time trials where riders compete in velodromes, and team time trials...

 Championship,
1st Overall, Tour de France
1st Stage 9, Stage 16
Coppa Sabatini
Coppa Sabatini
The Coppa Sabatini is a late season road bicycle race held annually in Province of Pisa, Italy. Since 2005, the race has been organised as a 1.1 event on the UCI Europe Tour.-Winners:...


1997
1st Amstel Gold Race
1997 Amstel Gold Race
The 1997 Amstel Gold Race was the 32nd edition of the annual road bicycle race "Amstel Gold Race", held on Sunday April 26, 1997 in the Dutch province of Limburg. The race stretched 258 kilometres, with the start in Heerlen and the finish in Maastricht...

1st Stage 4A, GP Wilhelm Tell
7th Overall, Tour de France
1997 Tour de France
The 1997 Tour de France was the 84th Tour de France, it took place July 5–27, 1997. Jan Ullrich's victory margin, of 9' 09" was the largest margin of victory since Laurent Fignon won the 1984 Tour de France by 10' 32"...


1998
1st Stage 5, Vasca a Arrate
11th Overall, Tour de France
1998 Tour de France
The 1998 Tour de France, also called the Tour du Dopage , was marred by doping scandals throughout known as the Festina affair, starting with the arrest of Willy Voet, a soigneur in the French Festina team. Voet was traveling into France when he was arrested and found with large quantities of...



Grand Tours overall classification results timeline

Grand Tour 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998
Giro
Giro d'Italia
The Giro d'Italia , also simply known as The Giro, is a long distance road bicycle racing stage race for professional cyclists held over three weeks in May/early June in and around Italy. The Giro is one of the three Grand Tours , and is part of the UCI World Ranking calendar...

- WD
1988 Giro d'Italia
The 1988 Giro d'Italia was the 71st edition of the Giro d'Italia, one of cycling's Grand Tours.The Giro started off in Urbino on 23 May. The route included notable climbs such as the Passo di Gavia, the Campitello Matese, the Chiesa in Valmalenco, and the Passo san Marco...

86
1989 Giro d'Italia
The 1989 Giro d'Italia of cycling was held from 17 May to 10 June 1989, consisting of 22 stages. It was won by the French Laurent Fignon.This 72nd edition was 3,623 km long, completed at an average speed of 38.747 km/h.- General classification :...

100
1990 Giro d'Italia
The 1990 Giro d'Italia of cycling, the 73rd running of the race, was held from 18 May to 6 June 1990. It covered 3,450 km, for a total of 21 stages, and was completed at an average speed of 37.609 km/h....

43
1991 Giro d'Italia
The 1991 Giro d'Italia of cycling, the 74th edition of the Corsa Rosa, was held from 26 May to 16 June 1991. It covered 3,715 km completed at an average speed of 37.03 km/h, for a total of 21 stages...

101
1992 Giro d'Italia
The 1992 Giro d'Italia of cycling, the 75th edition of the race, was held from 24 May to 14 June 1992. It covered a total of 3,835 km, in 22 stages, completed at an average speed of 37.017 km/h...

WD
1993 Giro d'Italia
The 1993 Giro d'Italia of cycling, the 76th edition of the race, was held from 23 May to 13 June 1993, consisting of 22 stages. It covered a total of 3,703 km, completed at an average speed of 37.723 km/h...

70
1994 Giro d'Italia
The 1994 Giro d'Italia of cycling, the 77th edition of the race, was held from 22 May to 12 June 1994, consisting of 22 stages. It covered a total of 3,738 km, completed at an average speed of 37.124 km/h...

- - - -
Tour
Tour de France
The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covers more than and lasts three weeks. As the best known and most prestigious of cycling's three "Grand Tours", the Tour de France attracts riders and teams from around the world. The...

- - 95
1989 Tour de France
The 1989 Tour de France was the 76th Tour de France, a race of 21 stages and a prologue, over 3285 km in total. In the closest tour in history, Greg LeMond was behind by 50 seconds at the start of the final stage, a time trial into Paris. LeMond rode for an average speed of 54.55 km/h ,...

WD
1990 Tour de France
The 1990 Tour de France was the 77th Tour de France, taking place June 30 to July 22, 1990. The total race distance was 21 stages over 3504 km, with riders averaging 38.62 km/h...

107
1991 Tour de France
The 1991 Tour de France was the 78th Tour de France, taking place July 6 to July 28, 1991. The total race distance was 22 stages over 3914 km, with riders averaging 38.747 km/h.-Stages:-General classification:-External links:* *...

- 5
1993 Tour de France
The 1993 Tour de France was the 80th Tour de France, taking place July 3 to July 25, 1993. It consisted of 20 stages, over 3714.3 km, ridden at an average speed of 38.709 km/h....

14
1994 Tour de France
The 1994 Tour de France was the 81st Tour de France and included two stages in England , Stage 4, Dover to Brighton and Stage 5, around Portsmouth. It took place July 2 to July 24, 1994...

3
1995 Tour de France
The 1995 Tour de France was the 82nd Tour de France, taking place July 1 to July 23, 1995. It was Miguel Indurain's fifth and final victory in the Tour. On the fifteenth stage Italian rider Fabio Casartelli died after an accident on the Col de Portet d'Aspet....

1
1996 Tour de France
The 1996 Tour de France was the 83rd Tour de France, starting on June 29 and ending on July 21, featuring 19 regular stages, 2 individual time trials, a prologue and a rest day ....

7
1997 Tour de France
The 1997 Tour de France was the 84th Tour de France, it took place July 5–27, 1997. Jan Ullrich's victory margin, of 9' 09" was the largest margin of victory since Laurent Fignon won the 1984 Tour de France by 10' 32"...

11
1998 Tour de France
The 1998 Tour de France, also called the Tour du Dopage , was marred by doping scandals throughout known as the Festina affair, starting with the arrest of Willy Voet, a soigneur in the French Festina team. Voet was traveling into France when he was arrested and found with large quantities of...

Vuelta
Vuelta a España
The Vuelta a España is a three-week road bicycle racing stage race that is one of the three "Grand Tours" of Europe and part of the UCI World Ranking calendar. The race lasts three weeks and attracts cyclists from around the world. The race is broken into day-long segments, called stages...

WD
1987 Vuelta a España
The 42nd Vuelta a España , a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the 3 grand tours, was held from April 23 to May 15, 1987. It consisted of 22 stages covering a total of 3,921 km, and was won by Luis Herrera of the Café de Colombia cycling team...

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1995 Vuelta a España
The 50th Vuelta a España , a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the 3 grand tours, was held from September 2 to September 24, 1995. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of 3750 km, and was won by Laurent Jalabert of the ONCE cycling team...

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Literature

  • Mader, Jørn. Ørnen fra Herning - bogen om Bjarne Riis (The eagle from Herning - the book about Bjarne Riis), Denmark, 1995, ISBN 87-412-2850-2
  • Werge, Lars. Drømmeholdet - historien om CSC (The dream team - the history of CSC), Denmark, 2005, ISBN 87-7731-206-6

See also


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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