1999 Tour de France
1999 Tour de France
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1999 Tour de France

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1999 Tour de France

The 1999 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 3 to 25 July, and the 86th edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Anti-Doping Agency announced in August 2012 that they had disqualified Armstrong from all his results since 1998, including his seven consecutive Tour de France wins from 1999 to 2005 (which were, originally, the most wins in the event's history); the Union Cycliste Internationale confirmed the result.

There were no French stage winners for the first time since the 1926 Tour de France. Additionally, Mario Cipollini won four stages in a row, setting the post-World War II record for consecutive stage wins (breaking the record of three, set by Gino Bartali in 1948). Stage 4 set a record for the fastest mass-start stage on the Tour de France which stood until 2026, with an average speed of 50.4 km/h (31.3 mph) thanks to a strong tailwind.

After the doping controversies in the 1998 Tour de France, the Tour organisation banned some riders from the race, including Richard Virenque, Laurent Roux and Philippe Gaumont, manager Manolo Saiz and the entire TVM–Farm Frites team. Virenque's team Polti then appealed at the UCI against this decision, and the UCI then forced the organisers of the Tour, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO), to allow Virenque and Saiz entry in the Tour. Initially, the Vini Caldirola team had been selected, but after their team leader Serhiy Honchar failed a blood test in the 1999 Tour de Suisse, the ASO removed Vini Caldirola from the starting list, and replaced them by Cantina Tollo–Alexia Alluminio, the first reserve team. Each team was allowed to field nine cyclists.

The teams entering the race were:

Qualified teams

Invited teams

The highest point of elevation in the race was 2,642 m (8,668 ft) at the summit of the Col du Galibier mountain pass on stage 9.

Following the Festina Affair of the previous year the 1999 edition was billed as the "Tour of Renewal" from the very beginning.

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