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paintballimpact.com / Sports / Tour de France
Tour de France | Road Racing
The Tour de France is probably the biggest road racing event of the year. The Tour de France is a timed event, where the winner of the event finishes all of the courses in the in the shortest amount of time. The most famous Tour de France winner is Lance Armstrong, who won seven consecutive times, from 1999 to 2005. And Lance Armstrong won all 7 races after recovery from brain, lung, and testicular cancer. Lance Armstrong was also the World Cycling Champion in 1993, and the US National Cycling Champion in 1993. The Tour de France is the most famous cycling race. Other cycling disciplines include mountain biking, BMX, track cycling, and the cycling portion of the triathlon. The triathlon has three sections of the event, run back to back. The triathlon involves swimming, cycling, and running. Sometimes, very long triathlons are called the Ironman Competition. Other major road racing events include the Giro d'Italia in Italy and the Vuelta a Espana in Spain. The Tour de France, Vuelta a Espana, and Giro d'Italia together make up the Grand Tours in Europe.
Many Tour de France winners have come from the United States, with Lance Armstrong being the most famous winner. The fist run of this race occurred in 1903, with Maurice Garin from France winning this first hour. Due to the condition of today's athletes, the conditions of the road ridden on, and the advances in bicycle technology, tour riders are traveling faster than they have ever before. The 1903 winner of the Tour de France finished the entire event in 94 hours, 33 minutes, and 19 seconds. The winner of the 2006 Tour de France finished the event in 89 hours, 39 minutes and thirty seconds. Floyd Landis, also from the United States, won this event in a controversial fashion. Though Floyd Landis finished this event in the shortest amount of time, he as subsequently found to have tested positive for steroids as a result of random drug testing. Anabolic steroids are considered illegal under the rules of the international Cycling Union (UCI). Floyd Landis, as a result of the random testing, was found to have an unnaturally high concentration of the hormone epitestosterone in his system, a violation of the Unions rules. Landis is currently in the process of appealing the ruling of the UCI. If all of his appeals fail, he will be stripped of the title, and the title will be given to the second place winner, Oscar Pereiro of Spain.
The Tour de France has an official site at www.letour.fr. The Le Tour France website has a French version and an English version that will allow fans of the event to read about their favorite players on the tour and the individual stage of the event. Traditionally, the winners of this event have come predominantly from France, Spain, Italy, and the United States.
The Tour de France and the Millennium Series, a paintball event, are two sporting events that are popular in Europe.
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