| Rivalries spark viewership to new highs while a | | | | withdrew from the 1924 Tour and gave their famous |
| mountain top death was the tragedy that sparked | | | | interview to Albert Londres they described the long list |
| new rules requiring the first drug testing. Sponsored | | | | of drugs they took. "We run on dynamite," Henri |
| Teams Again The 1960s saw a return to sponsored | | | | Pélissier said. |
| teams and commercialism yet the Tour still offered | | | | Before World War Two amphetamines were |
| lots of intrigue and drama. The Tour was the most | | | | synthesized and athletes immediately understood the |
| watched event in cycling and the sponsors badly | | | | advantage they gave. Through the fifties it was clear |
| needed the publicity. The Tour's biggest rivals, Poulidor | | | | to observers that riders were doping. There were |
| and Anquetil, truly disliked each other and this drew | | | | pictures of racers with dried foam on their faces or of |
| fans in. | | | | riders driven mad by a combination of heat and |
| Anquetil Rules | | | | amphetamines stopping in the middle of a race to find |
| For many years, Anquetil was the greatest time-trialist | | | | relief in a fountain. After riding until he collapsed Jean |
| in history. He won 12 of these tests in the Tour de | | | | Malléjac lay on the ground still strapped to his |
| France and even set a world record before he first | | | | bike, his legs convulsively pumping the pedals. Others |
| won the Tour. Anquetil had a bit of a reputation as a | | | | would remount their bikes and go the wrong way. |
| rebel. He once said that his idea of training included "a | | | | Sometimes one could almost follow the route of a |
| few whiskies, blonde cigarettes and a woman." His | | | | race by the trail of syringes left by the side of the |
| wayward ways extended into his private life. He an | | | | road. Roger Rivière crashed in 1960 because |
| affair with a doctor's wife, a woman named Jeanine, | | | | he had taken so much of the opiate Palfium to kill the |
| and when he learned that she couldn't bear him a child, | | | | pain in his legs that he couldn't feel the brake levers. |
| he persuaded her to let him have a baby with her adult | | | | Bahamontes said that he loved a good hot day in the |
| daughter, a woman named Annie. They had a child | | | | mountains because the riders juiced up on |
| named Sophie. Of course, Annie and Jeanine began to | | | | amphetamines couldn't take the heat. |
| quarrel. Annie moved out and Jeanine invited her son | | | | Was Tom Simpson a bad person or a hero? He was |
| and his wife, Dominique, to move in. Anquetil promptly | | | | neither. He knew that riding without dope wasn't |
| seduced Dominique and a son, Christopher. | | | | possible, |
| Anquetil took his wild ways to his cycling events. Most | | | | The day after Simpson's death. the peloton agreed to |
| riders always go for a ride on the rest day because | | | | ride if one of Simpson's British teammates would be |
| their bodies are so used to cycling. Jacques Anquetil, | | | | allowed a ceremonial stage victory to honor Simpson's |
| however, liked to enjoy life. He would go to a picnic | | | | memory. |
| and enjoy himself on big portions of barbecued lamb | | | | Merckx Rules the Road |
| and lots of drink. | | | | Eddy Merckx of Belgium won in 1969, a stunning debut |
| Anquetil, the five-time winner, sat out 1965 and | | | | that earned him the nickname "cannibal," a rider ready |
| returned in 1966. But this would be his last Tour. | | | | to devour everything it takes to win. Merckx flew into |
| Tragedy Strikes, Doping Raises its Ugly Head | | | | Paris with a 17 minute lead. Merckx dominated the |
| In 1967, tragedy struck and this would be the year the | | | | cycling world, winning 250 major races, one a week |
| Tour would first become tainted by a doping scandal. | | | | for six years. Without a doubt he was the most |
| Tom Simpson was the best British rider of his day. | | | | complete and capable rider alive. |
| Sadly, he fell victim to doping but actually died due to | | | | In 1975 Merckx was finally beaten by Bernard |
| the heat as he crossed Mont Ventoux. His death led | | | | Thevenet. Merckx had been punched and knocked |
| to the first drug testing in 1968. | | | | from his bike by a jealous French fan. This is the first |
| Tom Simpson was a very well regarded racer. His | | | | year that the race finishes along the Champs Elysees |
| sole goal in life was winning the Tour. Simpson knew | | | | France celebrated Thevenet's second win in 1977. He |
| he had to deliver. He turned to drugs, something that | | | | was a bit of a wonder boy, with seven more home |
| wasn't new to the Tour. For some time now many | | | | wins until the last, in 1985. |
| riders had been using a life-threatening cocktail of | | | | The race's next hero was a blunt Frenchman from |
| drugs: amphetamines as a stimulant, Palfium to kill the | | | | Brittany, Hinault, who would become the third man to |
| pain in their legs and then sleeping pills at night to | | | | win five Tours. The years between 1978 and 1984 |
| counteract the amphetamines. | | | | became known as "le blaireau" (the badger's) golden |
| Cycling began to grapple with this problem The first | | | | era. |
| races were staggeringly long and tested the limits of | | | | Then France cheered a new hero, a sophisticated |
| human endurance. Stages in the early Tour could take | | | | bespectacled young Parisian called Laurent Fignon. |
| over 17 hours to complete. From the beginning riders | | | | Fignon rode into his home city of Paris in yellow, |
| took various substances to allow them to complete | | | | beating Hinault by 10 minutes and proving that 1983 had |
| their ordeals. When the Pélissier brothers | | | | been no fluke. |