Cycling Tour de France 2002 Part 1

The 2002 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 6 July to 28 July 2002, and the 89th 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 Tour de France wins from 1999–2005; the Union Cycliste Internationale has confirmed this verdict. The event started in Luxembourg and ending in Paris. France was visited counter-clockwise, so the Pyrenees were there before the Alps. On average, the stages were shorter than in previous years, in an attempt to make illegal substances (doping) less necessary for the riders.[citation needed] The favourite was Armstrong, at the time, winner in 1999, 2000 and 2001. The main opposition would probably come from the ONCE team with Joseba Beloki (3rd last year), Igor González de Galdeano (5th last year) and Marcos Serrano (9th last year), and from the Kelme riders Óscar Sevilla (7th last year, 2nd in last year's Vuelta a España) and Santiago Botero (8th last year). Other riders to keep in account for a high place in the final rankings were Tyler Hamilton (2nd Giro 2002), Levi Leipheimer (3rd Vuelta 2001), Christophe Moreau (4th Tour 2000) and Armstrong's team mate Roberto Heras (4th Vuelta 2001). Important riders who were not present were Jan Ullrich (2nd last year, injury) and Gilberto Simoni (winner 2001 Giro).