2007 Tour de France

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2007 final standings
Overall	Alberto Contador	91h 00´26"
Second	Cadel Evans	+23"
Third	Levi Leipheimer	+31"
Points	Tom Boonen	256
Second	Robert Hunter	234
Third	Erik Zabel	232
Climber	Mauricio Soler	206
Second	Alberto Contador	128
Third	Yaroslav Popovych	105
Youth	Alberto Contador	91h 00'26"
Second	Mauricio Soler	+16'51"
Third	Amets Txurruka	+49'34"
Teams	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	273h 12'52"
Second	Caisse d'Epargne	+19'36"
Third	Team CSC	+22'10"

Stages in 2007

The 2007 Tour de France, the 94th running of the race, took place from July 7 to July 29, 2007. The Tour began with a Prologue in London, and ended with the traditional finish in Paris. Along the way, the route also passed through Belgium and Spain. It was won by Spanish rider Alberto Contador.

The Tour was marked by doping controversies, with three riders and two teams withdrawn during the race following positive doping tests, including pre-race favorite Alexandre Vinokourov and his Astana team. Following Stage 16, the holder of the yellow jersey, Michael Rasmussen, was removed from the Tour by his Rabobank team, who accused him of lying about the reasons for missing several drug tests earlier in the year.

The green jersey, given to the best sprinter, was won for the first time by Tom Boonen, who had failed to complete the previous two Tours after leading the green jersey competition at times during each. The polka dot jersey, given to the best mountain climber, was won by Mauricio Soler in his first Tour appearance.

The yellow jersey, given to the overall leader, was closely contested until the final time trial on Stage 19. The top three riders, Alberto Contador in yellow, Cadel Evans in second, and Levi Leipheimer in third, were separated by only 2:49, with both Evans and Leipheimer recognized as far superior time trialists to Contador. In the end, each rider held his place after the final time trial, but with considerably slimmer margins, as the Tour ended with the smallest-ever spread of only 31 seconds among the top three riders. Alberto Contador also won the white jersey as the best young (under age 25) rider.

1 Overview
2 Doping scandals
3 Other incidents
4 Stages
- 4.1 Stage recaps
- 4.2 Jersey progress
5 Overall standings
6 Withdrawals
7 Teams
8 Pre-race favourites
9 See also
10 References
11 External links

[edit] Overview

The organisers of the Tour and London mayor Ken Livingstone announced on January 24, 2006 that the start of the Tour would take place in London. Livingstone noted the two stages would commemorate the victims of the 7 July 2005 London bombings, saying "Having the Grand Départ on the seventh of July will broadcast to the world that terrorism does not shake our city."

The routes for the Prologue in London and the first full stage through Kent, finishing in Canterbury, were announced on February 9, 2006 at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre. This was the third time the Tour visited England, including Plymouth in (1974) and two stages in Kent, Sussex and Hampshire in (1994).

Tour director Christian Prudhomme unveiled the 2007 route in Paris on October 26, 2006. In total, the route covered 3,569.9 kilometres (2,218.2 mi).^[1]

[edit] Doping scandals

Main article: Doping at the 2007 Tour de France

The first scandal arrived when it was made public on July 18 that rider Patrik Sinkewitz from the T-Mobile team, had tested positive one month before the Tour started. Sinkewitz had already withdrawn from the race having incurred an injury during the 8th stage. The scandal was big enough to prompt German TV broadcasters ZDF and ARD to drop their coverage.^[2]

The Tour was dealt a major blow when the first-place Astana Team withdrew from the race on July 24, 2007, after team member and pre-race favorite Alexander Vinokourov from Kazakhstan tested positive for an illegal blood transfusion.^[3] Vinokourov's teammates Andreas Klöden and Andrey Kashechkin were in 5th and 7th place respectively at the time.

At the start of the 16th stage on July 25, some teams made a protest against the laxness of the official attitude to doping in the race.^[4] After the stage, race officials announced that Cofidis team member Cristian Moreni of Italy had tested positive for elevated levels of testosterone, and the Cofidis team withdrew from the race.

Spanish cyclist Iban Mayo tested positive for EPO on the second rest day of the Tour, on July 24.^[5]

[edit] Other incidents

German cyclist Marcus Burghardt collided with a Labrador Retriever during Stage 9. The bike struck the dog on its backside, which buckled the front wheel and threw Burghardt over the handlebars onto the road. Remarkably the dog was unhurt by the collision, and it was grabbed by a spectator before any more damage could be caused.^[6]

A second incident involving a dog occurred on Stage 18. Sandy Casar and Frederik Willems were in a four-man break when Casar collided with a dog running across the road, causing both him and Willems to fall. Casar was able to rejoin the break with the help of Axel Merckx despite receiving road rash on his right buttock, while Willems returned to the peloton. Casar went on to win the stage.^[7]^[8]^[9]^{[dead link]}

After Stage 16, overall leader Michael Rasmussen was fired by his team, Rabobank, for violating team rules after he told the team that he was in Mexico with his wife in June, then being sighted training in Italy by Italian journalist Davide Cassani.^[10] Rasmussen disputes this claim, continuing to maintain that he was in Mexico. Thus, at the start of stage 17 there was no holder of the yellow jersey. Afterward the lead and the jersey were transferred to Team Discovery's Alberto Contador.^[11]

[edit] Stages

Stage	Route	Distance	Type	Date	Stage winner	GC leader
P	London	7.9 km	Individual time trial	Saturday, July 7	Fabian Cancellara	Fabian Cancellara
1	London - Canterbury	203 km	Flat stage	Sunday, July 8	Robbie McEwen	Fabian Cancellara
2	Dunkirk - Ghent	168.5 km	Flat stage	Monday, July 9	Gert Steegmans	Fabian Cancellara
3	Waregem - Compiègne	236.5 km	Flat stage	Tuesday, July 10	Fabian Cancellara	Fabian Cancellara
4	Villers-Cotterêts - Joigny	193 km	Flat stage	Wednesday, July 11	Thor Hushovd	Fabian Cancellara
5	Chablis - Autun	182.5 km	Intermediate stage	Thursday, July 12	Filippo Pozzato	Fabian Cancellara
6	Semur-en-Auxois - Bourg-en-Bresse	199.5 km	Flat stage	Friday, July 13	Tom Boonen	Fabian Cancellara
7	Bourg-en-Bresse - Le Grand-Bornand	197.5 km	Mountain stage	Saturday, July 14	Linus Gerdemann	Linus Gerdemann
8	Le Grand-Bornand - Tignes	165 km	Mountain stage	Sunday, July 15	Michael Rasmussen	Michael Rasmussen
Rest day				Monday, July 16
9	Val-d'Isère - Briançon	159.5 km	Mountain stage	Tuesday, July 17	Mauricio Soler	Michael Rasmussen
10	Tallard - Marseille	229.5 km	Flat stage	Wednesday, July 18	Cedric Vasseur	Michael Rasmussen
11	Marseille - Montpellier	182.5 km	Flat stage	Thursday, July 19	Robert Hunter	Michael Rasmussen
12	Montpellier - Castres	178.5 km	Intermediate stage	Friday, July 20	Tom Boonen	Michael Rasmussen
13	Albi	54 km	Individual time trial	Saturday, July 21	Cadel Evans⁽¹⁾	Michael Rasmussen
14	Mazamet - Plateau-de-Beille	197 km	Mountain stage	Sunday, July 22	Alberto Contador	Michael Rasmussen
15	Foix - Loudenvielle	196 km	Mountain stage	Monday, July 23	Kim Kirchen⁽¹⁾	Michael Rasmussen
Rest day				Tuesday, July 24
16	Orthez - Gourette-Col d'Aubisque	218.5 km	Mountain stage	Wednesday, July 25	Michael Rasmussen	Michael Rasmussen⁽²⁾
17	Pau - Castelsarrasin	188.5 km	Intermediate stage	Thursday, July 26	Daniele Bennati	Alberto Contador
18	Cahors - Angoulême	211 km	Flat stage	Friday, July 27	Sandy Casar	Alberto Contador
19	Cognac - Angoulême	55.5 km	Individual time trial	Saturday, July 28	Levi Leipheimer	Alberto Contador
20	Marcoussis - Paris Champs-Élysées	146 km	Flat stage	Sunday, July 29	Daniele Bennati	Alberto Contador
Total		3,569.9 km

Notes

(1) = Initially Vinokourov was declared winner of the stages 13 and 17, and taken out of the race after the classification was made following stage 15. In April 2008, it was announced that Vinokourov was officially removed from the classification and Cadel Evans and Kim Kirchen respectively were considered the winners.^[12]
(2) = Rasmussen was taken out of the race after the classification was made.

[edit] Stage recaps

[edit] Jersey progress

Notes^[13]

(1) = In Stage 1, Fabian Cancellara – the winner of the Prologue – wore the yellow jersey, and Andreas Klöden wore the green jersey.
(2) = In Stage 8, Linus Gerdemann – the overall leader – wore the yellow jersey, and Mauricio Soler wore the white jersey.
(3) = In Stages 9–16, Michael Rasmussen – the overall leader – wore the yellow jersey; Sylvain Chavanel wore the polka-dot jersey in Stage 9, and in Stages 10–16, Mauricio Soler wore it.
(4) = The day after the stage, on July 24, 2007, the Astana team withdrew after Alexander Vinokourov tested positive for an illegal blood transfusion after stage 15. On April 29, 2008, it was announced that Alexander Vinokourov, who initially was declared winner, was removed from the classification, and Kim Kirchen, who finished second place, was officially the winner of the stage.^[12]
(5) = On July 25, 2007, shortly after Rasmussen won Stage 16, his Rabobank team removed him from the Tour for violation of team rules; therefore in Stage 17, nobody in the race was physically wearing the yellow jersey.
(6) = In Stages 18–20, Alberto Contador – the overall leader – wore the yellow jersey, and Mauricio Soler – second in the youth classification – wore the polka-dot jersey as the King of the Mountains; therefore, Amets Txurruka wore the white jersey
(7) = After the final time trial, the combativity award was given to Amets Txurruka.

[edit] Overall standings

[edit] General classification

^[14]

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Alberto Contador	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	91h 00'26"
2	Cadel Evans	Predictor-Lotto	23"
3	Levi Leipheimer	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	31"
4	Carlos Sastre	Team CSC	7'08"
5	Haimar Zubeldia	Euskaltel-Euskadi	8'17"
6	Alejandro Valverde	Caisse d'Epargne	11'37"
7	Kim Kirchen	T-Mobile Team	12'18"
8	Yaroslav Popovych	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	12'25"
9	Mikel Astarloza	Euskaltel-Euskadi	14'14"
10	Óscar Pereiro	Caisse d'Epargne	14'25"
11	Mauricio Soler	Barloworld	16'51"
12	Michael Boogerd	Rabobank	21'15"
13	David Arroyo	Caisse d'Epargne	21'49"
14	Vladimir Karpets	Caisse d'Epargne	24'15"
15	Chris Horner	Predictor-Lotto	25'19"
16	Iban Mayo*	Saunier Duval-Prodir	27'09"
17	Frank Schleck	Team CSC	31'48"
18	Manuel Beltran	Liquigas	34'14"
19	Tadej Valjavec	Lampre-Fondital	37'08"
20	Juan Jose Cobo	Saunier Duval-Prodir	37'14"
21	Juan Manuel Garate	Quick Step-Innergetic	38'16"
22	Iván Gutiérrez	Caisse d'Epargne	45'42"
23	Amets Txurruka	Euskaltel-Euskadi	49'34"
24	George Hincapie	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	54'50"
25	Christian Vandevelde	Team CSC	55'50"
26	Dmitriy Fofonov	Crédit Agricole	56'23"
27	Stephane Goubert	AG2R Prévoyance	1h 06'30"
28	Jens Voigt	Team CSC	1h 08'22"
29	Patxi Vila	Lampre-Fondital	1h 09'37"
30	Patrice Halgand	Crédit Agricole	1h 12'45"
31	Bernhard Kohl	Team Gerolsteiner	1h 13'27"
32	Kanstantsin Siutsou	Barloworld	1h 15'16"
33	Alexander Botcharov	Crédit Agricole	1h 22'25"
34	Markus Fothen	Team Gerolsteiner	1h 30'12"
35	Thomas Dekker	Rabobank	1h 30'34"
36	Linus Gerdemann	T-Mobile Team	1h 30'47"
37	Christophe Moreau	AG2R Prévoyance	1h 33'06"
38	Vladimir Gusev	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	1h 33'50"
39	Moises Duenas Nevado	Agritubel	1h 36'33"
40	Bram Tankink	Quick Step-Innergetic	1h 36'44"
41	Marzio Bruseghin	Lampre-Fondital	1h 36'44"
42	Carlos Barredo	Quick Step-Innergetic	1h 36'46"
43	Iñigo Landaluze	Euskaltel-Euskadi	1h 36'50"
44	Ludovic Turpin	AG2R Prévoyance	1h 44'54"
45	Charles Wegelius	Liquigas	1h 46'25"
46	Xavier Florencio	Bouygues Télécom	1h 52'19"
47	Christian Knees	Team Milram	1h 53'23"
48	Gorka Verdugo	Euskaltel-Euskadi	1h 53'32"
49	David de la Fuente	Saunier Duval-Prodir	1h 54'50"
50	Ruben Perez	Euskaltel-Euskadi	1h 56'15"
51	Inigo Cuesta	Team CSC	1h 58'45"
52	Jose Luis Arrieta	AG2R Prévoyance	2h 00'07"
53	Iker Camaño	Saunier Duval-Prodir	2h 05'17"
54	John Gadret	AG2R Prévoyance	2h 06'50"
55	Cédric Vasseur	Quick Step-Innergetic	2h 08'14"
56	Dario Cioni	Predictor-Lotto	2h 10'42"
57	Nicolas Portal	Caisse d'Epargne	2h 15'14"
58	Laurent Lefevre	Bouygues Télécom	2h 15'17"
59	Michael Albasini	Liquigas	2h 18'35"
60	Fabian Wegmann	Team Gerolsteiner	2h 19'36"
61	Egoi Martinez	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	2h 20'16"
62	Axel Merckx	T-Mobile Team	2h 21'00"
63	Johan Van Summeren	Predictor-Lotto	2h 21'57"
64	Thomas Lövkvist	Française des Jeux	2h 22'50"
65	Sergio Paulinho	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	2h 23'21"
66	Thomas Voeckler	Bouygues Télécom	2h 24'34"
67	Kurt-Asle Arvesen	Team CSC	2h 24'36"
68	Jerome Pineau	Bouygues Télécom	2h 24'59"
69	David Millar	Saunier Duval-Prodir	2h 32'07"
70	Mario Aerts	Predictor-Lotto	2h 32'58"
71	Sandy Casar	Française des Jeux	2h 33'46"
72	Francisco Perez Sanchez	Caisse d'Epargne	2h 37'25"
73	Frederik Willems	Liquigas	2h 37'41"
74	Martin Elmiger	AG2R Prévoyance	2h 37'41"
75	Daniele Bennati	Lampre-Fondital	2h 38'30"
76	Kjell Carlström	Liquigas	2h 39'34"
77	Christophe Rinero	Saunier Duval-Prodir	2h 40'59"
78	Andriy Hryvko	Team Milram	2h 41'41"
79	Erik Zabel	Team Milram	2h 42'28"
80	Juan Miguel Mercado	Agritubel	2h 44'27"
81	Ronny Scholz	Team Gerolsteiner	2h 44'39"
82	Jorge Azanza	Euskaltel-Euskadi	2h 50'30"
83	Benoit Vaugrenard	Française des Jeux	2h 50'54"
84	Pierrick Fédrigo	Bouygues Télécom	2h 53'42"
85	Juan Antonio Flecha	Rabobank	2h 55'58"
86	Grischa Niermann	Rabobank	2h 56'09"
87	Stefan Schumacher	Team Gerolsteiner	2h 56'30"
88	Alessandro Ballan	Lampre-Fondital	2h 57'05"
89	Aleksandr Kuschynski	Liquigas	2h 58'46"
90	Iñaki Isasi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	2h 59'37"
91	José Vicente García	Caisse d'Epargne	3h 00'38"
92	Nicolas Vogondy	Agritubel	3h 00'50"
93	Johann Tschopp	Bouygues Télécom	3h 07'19"
94	Simon Gerrans	AG2R Prévoyance	3h 09'19"
95	Paolo Bossoni	Lampre-Fondital	3h 09'56"
96	Daniele Righi	Lampre-Fondital	3h 10'35"
97	Lilian Jegou	Française des Jeux	3h 14'11"
98	Anthony Geslin	Bouygues Télécom	3h 14'15"
99	Alexander Efimkin	Barloworld	3h 14'19"
100	Fabian Cancellara	Team CSC	3h 15'48"
101	Murilo Fischer	Liquigas	3h 16'08"
102	Freddy Bichot	Agritubel	3h 16'58"
103	David Cañada	Saunier Duval-Prodir	3h 17'19"
104	Sébastien Rosseler	Quick Step-Innergetic	3h 18'25"
105	Bert Grabsch	T-Mobile Team	3h 19'58"
106	Félix Cardenas	Barloworld	3h 19'58"
107	Julian Dean	Crédit Agricole	3h 21'57"
108	Matteo Tosatto	Quick Step-Innergetic	3h 22'14"
109	William Bonnet	Crédit Agricole	3h 22'59"
110	Leif Hoste	Predictor-Lotto	3h 23'02"
111	Giampaolo Cheula	Barloworld	3h 23'11"
112	Mathieu Ladagnous	Française des Jeux	3h 23'17"
113	Manuel Quinziato	Liquigas	3h 23'42"
114	Nicolas Jalabert	Agritubel	3h 24'02"
115	Benjamin Noval	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	3h 24'13"
116	Ralf Grabsch	Team Milram	3h 24'35"
117	Mickael Delage	Française des Jeux	3h 24'46"
118	Robert Hunter	Barloworld	3h 26'12"
119	Tom Boonen	Quick Step-Innergetic	3h 26'19"
120	Marcel Sieberg	Team Milram	3h 26'48"
121	Bernhard Eisel	T-Mobile Team	3h 26'57"
122	Alessandro Cortinovis	Team Milram	3h 27'04"
123	Steven de Jongh	Quick Step-Innergetic	3h 27'45"
124	Paolo Longo Borghini	Barloworld	3h 27'48"
125	Benoit Salmon	Agritubel	3h 28'59"
126	Claudio Corioni	Lampre-Fondital	3h 29'26"
127	Marcus Burghardt	T-Mobile Team	3h 29'37"
128	Pieter Weening	Rabobank	3h 31'49"
129	Heinrich Haussler	Team Gerolsteiner	3h 32'30"
130	Sébastien Chavanel	Française des Jeux	3h 35'25"
131	Enrico Poitschke	Team Milram	3h 35'28"
132	Sébastien Hinault	Crédit Agricole	3h 35'37"
133	Peter Wrolich	Team Gerolsteiner	3h 36'05"
134	Bram de Groot	Rabobank	3h 37'46"
135	Robert Förster	Team Gerolsteiner	3h 40'10"
136	Anthony Charteau	Crédit Agricole	3h 40'44"
137	Sven Krauss	Team Gerolsteiner	3h 40'51"
138	Gert Steegmans	Quick Step-Innergetic	3h 41'38"
139	Thor Hushovd	Crédit Agricole	3h 41'57"
140	Geraint Thomas	Barloworld	3h 46'51"
141	Wim Vansevenant	Predictor-Lotto	3h 52'54"

Notes:

As well as winning the maillot jaune for winning the overall general classification, Alberto Contador also won the maillot blanc for being the best rider under 25 years of age.
After the conclusion of the race, Iban Mayo was announced to have failed a drugs test on July 24, 2007.

[edit] Points classification

^[14]

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Tom Boonen	Quick Step-Innergetic	256
2	Robert Hunter	Barloworld	234
3	Erik Zabel	Team Milram	232
4	Thor Hushovd	Crédit Agricole	186
5	Sébastien Chavanel	Française des Jeux	181
6	Daniele Bennati	Lampre-Fondital	160
7	Robert Förster	Team Gerolsteiner	140
8	Fabian Cancellara	Team CSC	112
9	Cadel Evans	Predictor-Lotto	109
10	Alberto Contador	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	88

[edit] King of the Mountains classification

^[14]

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Mauricio Soler	Barloworld	206
2	Alberto Contador	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	128
3	Yaroslav Popovych	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	105
4	Cadel Evans	Predictor-Lotto	92
5	Laurent Lefevre	Bouygues Télécom	85
6	Juan Manuel Garate	Quick Step-Innergetic	77
7	Carlos Sastre	Team CSC	74
8	Juan José Cobo	Saunier Duval-Prodir	68
9	Levi Leipheimer	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	64
10	Haimar Zubeldia	Euskaltel-Euskadi	64

[edit] Young riders' classification

^[14]

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Alberto Contador	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	91h 00'26"
2	Mauricio Soler	Barloworld	16'51"
3	Amets Txurruka	Euskaltel-Euskadi	49'34"
4	Bernhard Kohl	Team Gerolsteiner	1h 13'27"
5	Kanstantsin Siutsou	Barloworld	1h 15'16"
6	Thomas Dekker	Rabobank	1h 30'34"
7	Linus Gerdemann	T-Mobile Team	1h 30'47"
8	Vladimir Gusev	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	1h 33'50"
9	Thomas Lövkvist	Française des Jeux	2h 22'50"
10	Andriy Grivko	Team Milram	2h 41'41"

[edit] Teams classification

^[14]

Rank	Team	Time
1	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	273h 12'52"
2	Caisse d'Epargne	19'36"
3	Team CSC	22'10"
4	Rabobank	36'24"
5	Euskaltel-Euskadi	46'46"
6	Saunier Duval-Prodir	1h 44'33"
7	Predictor-Lotto	1h 50'21"
8	Lampre-Fondital	2h 19'41"
9	Crédit Agricole	2h 25'44"
10	AG2R Prévoyance	2h 26'08"

[edit] 2007 UCI ProTour points awarded

Cyclists in the UCI ProTour (therefore not members of the wildcard entries Barloworld or Agritubel) are awarded UCI ProTour points for their performance in the Tour de France. The winner of a stage receives 10 points, second receives 5 points and third 3 points. UCI ProTour points are also awarded for high places in the final classification, with 100 points for the overall winner.^[15]

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Alberto Contador	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	113
2	Cadel Evans	Predictor-Lotto	88
3	Levi Leipheimer	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	75
4	Carlos Sastre	Team CSC	55
5	Alejandro Valverde	Caisse d'Epargne	53
5	Haimar Zubeldia	Euskaltel-Euskadi	53
7	Kim Kirchen	T-Mobile Team	45
8	Yaroslav Popovych	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	35
9	Mikel Astarloza	Euskaltel-Euskadi	30
10	Tom Boonen	Quick Step-Innergetic	28
11	Fabian Cancellara	Team CSC	25
11	Óscar Pereiro	Caisse d'Epargne	25
11	Michael Rasmussen	Rabobank	25
14	Daniele Bennati	Lampre-Fondital	23
15	Thor Hushovd	Crédit Agricole	20
15	Alexander Vinokourov	Astana	20
17	Erik Zabel	Team Milram	16
18	Sandy Casar	Française des Jeux	15
18	Michael Boogerd	Rabobank	15
20	Óscar Freire	Rabobank	13
20	Vladimir Karpets	Caisse d'Epargne	13
20	Filippo Pozzato	Liquigas	13
23	David Arroyo	Caisse d'Epargne	12
24	Iban Mayo	Saunier Duval-Prodir	11
25	Linus Gerdemann	T-Mobile Team	10
25	Robbie McEwen	Predictor-Lotto	10
25	Gert Steegmans	Quick Step-Innergetic	10
25	Cedric Vasseur	Quick Step-Innergetic	10
29	Chris Horner	Predictor-Lotto	8
29	Andreas Klöden	Astana	8
31	Markus Fothen	Team Gerolsteiner	5
31	Iñigo Landaluze	Euskaltel-Euskadi	5
31	Axel Merckx	T-Mobile Team	5
31	Frank Schleck	Team CSC	5
35	Manuel Beltran	Liquigas	4
36	Michael Albasini	Liquigas	3
36	Martin Elmiger	AG2R Prévoyance	3
36	Murilo Fisher	Liquigas	3
36	David de la Fuente	Saunier Duval-Prodir	3
36	George Hincapie	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	3
36	Laurent Lefevre	AG2R Prévoyance	3
36	Danilo Napolitano	Lampre-Fondital	3
36	Tadej Valjavec	Lampre-Fondital	3
44	Juan Jose Cobo	Saunier Duval-Prodir	2

[edit] Withdrawals

48 riders withdrew, were disqualified, or injured

Type	Stage	Rider	Team	Reason
DNF	1	Eduardo Gonzalo	Agritubel	Injury due to crash
DNS	3	Tomas Vaitkus	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	Fractured thumb
DNF	4	Xabier Zandio	Caisse d'Epargne	Injury due to crash
DNS	5	Rémy Di Gregorio	Française des Jeux	Broken elbow
DNF	5	Brett Lancaster	Team Milram	Stomach bug
DNS	6	Geoffroy Lequatre	Cofidis	Finger contusions
DNS	7	Óscar Freire	Rabobank	Saddle sore
DNS	7	Rubén Lobato	Saunier Duval-Prodir	Death of a relative
DNF	7	Enrico Degano	Barloworld	Injury due to crash
DNF	8	Mark Cavendish	T-Mobile Team	Planned withdrawal
DNF	8	Iván Parra	Cofidis	Stomach problems
DNF	8	Stuart O'Grady	Team CSC	Injury due to crash: five broken ribs, three broken vertebrae, broken scapula, both clavicles, collapsed lung
DNF	8	Michael Rogers	T-Mobile Team	Dislocated right shoulder
DNF	8	Romain Feillu	Agritubel	Unknown
DSQ	8	Cédric Hervé	Agritubel	Finished outside time limit
DSQ	8	Robbie McEwen	Predictor-Lotto	Finished outside time limit
DSQ	8	Danilo Napolitano	Lampre-Fondital	Finished outside time limit
DNS	9	Patrik Sinkewitz	T-Mobile Team	Injury (broken nose) due to crash with a spectator
DNF	11	Sylvain Calzati	AG2R Prévoyance	Tendinitis
DNF	11	Igor Antón	Euskaltel-Euskadi	Unknown
DSQ	11	David Zabriskie	Team CSC	Finished outside time limit
DNF	12	Alberto Ongarato	Team Milram	Injury due to crash
DSQ	12	Stef Clement	Bouygues Télécom	Finished outside time limit
DNS	14	Francisco Ventoso	Saunier Duval-Prodir	Injured hand
DNS	15	Philippe Gilbert	Française des Jeux	Fever and stomach problems
DNS	15	Filippo Pozzato	Liquigas	Fever
DNF	15	Cyril Dessel	AG2R Prévoyance	Unknown
DNF	15	Christophe Le Mével	Crédit Agricole	Injury sustained from a crash
DNF	15	Fred Rodriguez	Predictor-Lotto	Stomach problems
DSQ	16	Alexander Vinokourov	Astana	Team withdrew from race after his positive A-test for blood doping.^[3]
DNS	16	Antonio Colom	Astana	Team withdrew from the event due to teammate Vinokurov's positive blood doping test
DNS	16	Maxim Iglinsky	Astana	Team withdrew from the event due to teammate Vinokurov's positive blood doping test
DNS	16	Sergei Ivanov	Astana	Team withdrew from the event due to teammate Vinokurov's positive blood doping test
DNS	16	Andrey Kashechkin	Astana	Team withdrew from the event due to teammate Vinokurov's positive blood doping test
DNS	16	Andreas Klöden	Astana	Team withdrew from the event due to teammate Vinokurov's positive blood doping test
DNS	16	Daniel Navarro	Astana	Team withdrew from the event due to teammate Vinokurov's positive blood doping test
DNS	16	Gregory Rast	Astana	Team withdrew from the event due to teammate Vinokurov's positive blood doping test
DNS	16	Paolo Savoldelli	Astana	Team withdrew from the event due to teammate Vinokurov's positive blood doping test
DNF	16	Matthieu Sprick	Bouygues Télécom	Stomach problems
DSQ	17	Cristian Moreni	Cofidis	Arrested by French police after his positive test for testosterone because doping is a crime in France
DNS	17	Sylvain Chavanel	Cofidis	Team withdrew from the event after teammate Christian Moreni was arrested for doping
DNS	17	Staf Scheirlinckx	Cofidis	Team withdrew from the event after teammate Christian Moreni was arrested for doping
DNS	17	Bradley Wiggins	Cofidis	Team withdrew from the event after teammate Christian Moreni was arrested for doping
DNS	17	Rik Verbrugghe	Cofidis	Team withdrew from the event after teammate Christian Moreni was arrested for doping
DNS	17	Stéphane Augé	Cofidis	Team withdrew from the event after teammate Christian Moreni was arrested for doping
DNS	17	Nick Nuyens	Cofidis	Team withdrew from the event after teammate Christian Moreni was arrested for doping
DNS	17	Michael Rasmussen	Rabobank	Withdrawn by team for violating internal team rules^[16]
DNF	17	Denis Menchov	Rabobank	Personal decision.

Quick Step-Innergetic and Gerolsteiner were the only teams to finish with full nine-man lineup.

[edit] Teams

Main article: List of teams and cyclists in the 2007 Tour de France

21 teams started the race – each had 9 riders at the start of the tour i.e., 189 started in total. The teams^[17] were:

Belgium

Predictor-Lotto

Quick Step-Innergetic

Denmark

Team CSC

France

AG2R Prévoyance

Agritubel ^*

Bouygues Télécom

Cofidis, le Crédit par téléphone

Crédit Agricole

Française des Jeux

Germany

Gerolsteiner

T-Mobile Team

Italy

Lampre-Fondital

Liquigas

Team Milram

Netherlands

Rabobank

Spain

Caisse d'Epargne

Euskaltel-Euskadi

Saunier Duval-Prodir

Switzerland

Astana

United Kingdom

Barloworld ^*

United States of America

Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team

Geraint Thomas of Team Barloworld at the teams presentation

^* Wild card entries.

[edit] Pre-race favourites

After the retirement of seven-time winner Lance Armstrong and with Floyd Landis not entering the Tour, the bookmakers' favourite to win the 2007 Tour de France was Alexander Vinokourov, who was unable to start in 2006 due to lack of team members, but did win the 2006 Vuelta a España. The main challengers were expected to be the 2006 Tour de France second place finisher Andreas Klöden; and Alejandro Valverde, who dropped out of the 2006 Tour de France after a crash, but came second to Vinokourov in the 2006 Vuelta a España.

Shown in the table below are the riders that, according to the bookmakers^[18] on July 7, 2007, the start day of the 2007 Tour de France, had the best chances of winning the 2007 Tour.

Rider	Team	Notes	Fractional Odds	Decimal Odds	Final Place
Alexander Vinokourov	Astana	Unable to start in 2006, 5th in 2005	15/8	2.87	WD
Andreas Klöden	Astana	2nd in 2006, winner of 2007 Tirreno-Adriatico	4/1	5.00	WD
Alejandro Valverde	Caisse d'Epargne	Crashed and withdrew in 2006 and 2005, winner of 2006 UCI ProTour	4/1	5.00	6th (11'37")
Cadel Evans	Predictor-Lotto	4th in 2006	12/1	13.00	2nd (23")
Carlos Sastre	Team CSC	3rd in 2006	12/1	13.00	4th (7'08")
Levi Leipheimer	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	12th in 2006	16/1	17.00	3rd (31")
Andrey Kashechkin	Astana	Unable to start in 2006, 2nd in Young Riders' Classification in 2005	16/1	17.00	WD
Denis Menchov	Rabobank	5th in 2006	18/1	19.00	WD
Fränk Schleck	Team CSC	Winner of Stage 15 to Alpe D'Huez in 2006, 10th overall	22/1	23.00	17th (31'48")
Christophe Moreau	AG2R Prévoyance	7th in 2006, winner of 2007 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré	22/1	23.00	37th (1h 33'06")
Vladimir Karpets	Caisse d'Epargne	Best young rider in 2004 Tour, winner of 2007 Volta a Catalunya and 2007 Tour de Suisse	25/1	26.00	14th (24'15")
Alberto Contador	Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team	Winner of 2007 Paris-Nice	28/1	29.00	1st (91h 00'26")
Michael Rogers	T-Mobile Team	9th in 2006; three-time World Time-Trial Champion	40/1	41.00	WD
Óscar Pereiro	Caisse d'Epargne	1st in 2006	50/1	51.00	10th (14'25")

withdrawn

Finished in Top 5

Janez Brajkovič, Damiano Cunego, Tom Danielson and Koldo Gil were all offered at odds within the range of this table, but withdrew before the race field was finalised.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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