The 1998 Tour de France was the 85th edition of the Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The 3,875 km (2,408 mi) race was composed of 21 stages and a prologue. It started on 11 July in Ireland before taking an anti-clockwise route through France to finish in Paris on 2 August. Marco Pantani of Mercatone Uno–Bianchi won the overall general classification, with Team Telekom's Jan Ullrich, the defending champion, and Cofidis rider Bobby Julich finishing on the podium in second and third respectively.
Robert "Bobby" Julich, popularly called Bobby Julich, is an American former professional road bicycle racer who last rode for Team CSC in the UCI ProTour racing series. He got his international breakthrough when he finished 3rd overall in the 1998 Tour de France, becoming only the second American to finish on the podium. He is a strong time trialist who won a silver medal at the 2004 Olympic Individual Time Trial, and combined with his high versatility he has won a number of stage races on the international circuits including the 2005 edition of Paris–Nice. In September 2008, he announced his retirement as a professional cyclist.
Tinkoff was a Russian-registered professional cycling team from Russia and previously Denmark. It competed in the UCI World Tour. The team was owned by former Tour de France winner Bjarne Riis from 2000 until 2013 and Russian banker Oleg Tinkov from 2013 until it closed in 2016, who provided the teams last sponsor, Russian Tinkoff Bank.
The Benelux Tour is a road bicycle racing stage-race that is part of the UCI World Tour. The race was established in 2005 and was originally known as the Eneco Tour, named after the original sponsor. In 2017, the online discount broker BinckBank took over as the title sponsor, with the name of the race changing accordingly. In 2021, with the absence of a title sponsor, the race was known again as the Benelux Tour. The race was not held in 2022 due to conflicts with the racing calendar. In 2023, waste management company Renewi joined as a sponsor and renamed the race once again, this time to the Renewi Tour.
The 2005 ProTour was the first year of the newly introduced UCI ProTour system, in which the ProTour teams are guaranteed, and obliged to, participate in the series of ProTour races. In certain ways the ProTour replaced the UCI Road World Cup series of one-day races, which in 2004 was won by one-day specialist Paolo Bettini for the third time in a row. The beginning of the ProTour saw difficult negotiations with the organizers of the Grand Tours, the Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España.
Philippe Gilbert is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer, who is best known for winning the World Road Race Championships in 2012, and for being one of two riders, along with Davide Rebellin, to have won the three Ardennes classics – the Amstel Gold Race, La Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège – in a single season, which he accomplished in 2011. Gilbert also finished the 2011 season as the overall winner of the UCI World Tour.
Alessandro Ballan is an Italian former professional road bicycle racer who most recently rode for UCI World Tour team BMC Racing Team. He is best known for winning the World Road Race Championships, in 2008. Although he possessed a frame that was usually more associated with climbing, Ballan established himself as a leading spring classics contender. His nickname, Bontempino, is a diminutive reference to Guido Bontempi, to whom he bears a resemblance.
The 2006 Tour of California was the inaugural edition of a professional road cycling stage race that made its debut on February 19, 2006. Sponsored by the biotechnology company Amgen, the eight-day, 700 mile (1,126 km) race started in San Francisco, winding its way down the California coast to finish in Redondo Beach. With eight of the twenty European UCI ProTour teams in attendance, the inaugural Tour of California proved to be one of the largest cycling races in the United States since the demise of the Coors Classic in 1988.
Svein Tuft is a Canadian former road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2019 for the Symmetrics, Garmin–Transitions, SpiderTech–C10, Mitchelton–Scott and Rally UHC Cycling teams. Tuft was the winner of the 2006–07 UCI America Tour, and was a thirteen-time champion at the Canadian road cycling championships: twice in the road race, and eleven times in the time trial.
The 2006 Eneco Tour road cycling race took place from 16 to 23 August, two weeks later in the season than the year before. The second edition of the Eneco Tour covered parts of the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. As in 2005, 23 teams took part in the race. Next to the 20 UCI ProTour teams, Chocolade Jacques–Topsport Vlaanderen, Skil–Shimano and Unibet.com received wild card entries.
Andriy Askoldovich Hrivko is a Ukrainian former racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2005 and 2018. Since retiring from racing, Hrivko currently serves as the president of the Ukrainian Cycling Federation.
The 2007 Eneco Tour road cycling race took place from 22 to 29 August. The third edition of the Eneco Tour covered parts of the Netherlands and Belgium. Instead of 23 teams like before, only 21 teams take part in the race this year. Of the 20 UCI ProTour teams, only Astana chose not to take part. The teams Chocolade Jacques–Topsport Vlaanderen and Skil–Shimano were each given a wild card.
Niki Terpstra is a Dutch former racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2003 and 2022 for six different teams. He is the brother of fellow racing cyclist Mike Terpstra. He is the third Dutch cyclist to have won both of the cobbled Monument spring classics, Paris–Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders, after Jan Raas and Hennie Kuiper.
Jürgen Roelandts is a Belgian former professional road bicycle racer, who rode professionally between 2008 and 2020, for the Lotto–Soudal, BMC Racing Team and Movistar Team squads. He now works as a directeur sportif for his final professional team, Movistar Team.
The 2009 Eneco Tour was the fifth edition of the Eneco Tour cycling stage race. It took place from 18 August to 25 August 2009 in the Benelux. Like the previous years, parts of the Netherlands and Belgium were covered. It was part of the inaugural UCI World Ranking. It began with a short individual time trial in Rotterdam and ended with a longer one in Amersfoort.
The 2011 Eneco Tour was the seventh running of the Eneco Tour cycling stage race. It started with an individual time trial in Amersfoort in the Netherlands on 8 August and finished on 14 August 2011 in Sittard-Geleen, also in the Netherlands.
The 2012 Eneco Tour was the eighth running of the Eneco Tour cycling stage race. It started on August 6 in Waalwijk in the Netherlands and ended on August 12 in Geraardsbergen, Belgium, after seven stages. It was the 20th race of the 2012 UCI World Tour season.
The 2013 Eneco Tour was the ninth running of the Eneco Tour cycling stage race. It started on 12 August in Koksijde and ended on 18 August in Geraardsbergen, Belgium, after seven stages. It was the 20th race of the 2013 UCI World Tour season and was won by Zdeněk Štybar.
The 2015 Eneco Tour was a road cycling stage race that took place in the Netherlands and Belgium between 10 and 16 August 2015. It was the 11th edition of the Eneco Tour stage race and was the twenty-first race of the 2015 UCI World Tour.
The 2016 Eneco Tour is a road cycling stage race which took place between 19 and 25 September 2016 in the Netherlands and Belgium. It was the 12th edition of the Eneco Tour stage race and the twenty-sixth race of the 2016 UCI World Tour. It was won by Niki Terpstra.