The 2004 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 3 to 25 July, and the 91st 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 to 2005; the Union Cycliste Internationale confirmed the result.
HTC–Highroad was a former professional cycling team competing in international road bicycle races. Their last title sponsor was HTC Corporation, a Taiwanese manufacturer of smartphones but dissolved at the end of the 2011 season from a failure to find a new sponsor. High Road Sports was the management company of team manager Bob Stapleton. Past title sponsors include Columbia Sportswear and Deutsche Telekom.
The 2004 Tour de France was the 91st edition of Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Tour began in Liège, Belgium with a prologue individual time trial on 3 July and Stage 10 occurred on 14 July with a hilly stage from Limoges. The race finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 25 July.
Paolo Bettini is an Italian former champion road racing cyclist, and the former coach of the Italian national cycling team. Considered the best classics specialist of his generation, and probably one of the strongest of all times, he won gold medals in the 2004 Athens Olympics road race and in the 2006 and 2007 World Road Race Championships. He is nicknamed Il Grillo for his repeated sudden attacks and his sprinting style.
Portugal competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. Portuguese athletes have competed at every Summer Olympic Games in the modern era since 1912. The Olympic Committee of Portugal sent the nation's second-largest team to the Games. A total of 81 athletes, 64 men and 17 women, were selected by the committee to participate in 15 sports. Men's football was the only team-based sport in which Portugal had its representation at these Games. There was only a single competitor in badminton, canoeing, equestrian, artistic and trampoline gymnastics, triathlon, and wrestling, which made its official Olympic comeback after an eight-year absence.
Belarus competed at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, from 13 to 29 August 2004. This was the nation's fifth appearance at the Summer Olympics in the post-Soviet era. The Belarus Olympic Committee sent a total of 151 athletes to the Games, 82 men and 69 women, to compete in 22 sports.
Viatcheslav Vladimirovich Ekimov, nicknamed Eki, is a Russian former professional racing cyclist. A triple Olympic gold medalist, he was awarded the title of Russian Cyclist of the Century in 2001.
Sérgio Miguel Moreira Paulinho, ComIH is a Portuguese road bicycle racer, who currently rides for UCI Continental team Credibom / LA Alumínios / Marcos Car. He was a domestique in the 2007, 2009 and 2010 Tour de France and won the silver medal for Portugal in the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
The men's points race in cycling at the 2004 Summer Olympics consisted of a 160 lap points race with 16 sprints where points were awarded. The event was held on 24 August 2004 at the Athens Olympic Velodrome. There were 23 competitors from 23 nations, with each nation limited to one cyclist in the event. The event was won by Mikhail Ignatiev of Russia, the nation's first victory in the men's points race. Spain's Joan Llaneras, the defending champion, took silver; he was the first and only person to win multiple medals in the relatively short-lived points race, and ended with three medals after another gold in 2008. Guido Fulst of Germany took bronze, the first medal in the event for that nation since 1900.
The women's points race in cycling at the 2004 Summer Olympics consisted of a 100 lap points race with 10 sprints where points were awarded. 5 points were given to the first finisher of each sprint, with 3 going to the second-place finisher, 2 going to the third place cyclist, and 1 going to the fourth place rider. Cyclists could also score points by lapping the main body of riders, known as the peloton. 20 points were gained by doing this, while 20 points were lost if the peloton lapped the cyclist.
The men's track time trial in Cycling at the 2004 Summer Olympics was a time trial race in which each of the 17 cyclists from 13 nations attempted to set the fastest time for four laps of the track. Nations were limited to two cyclists each. The event was won by Chris Hoy of Great Britain, the nation's second consecutive victory in the men's track time trial. Arnaud Tournant of France earned silver after a disappointing fifth-place finish four years earlier. Stefan Nimke put Germany on the podium for the second consecutive Games with his bronze.
The men's individual road race was a road bicycle racing event held as part of the Cycling at the 1964 Summer Olympics programme. It was held on 22 October 1964. The course, just short of 25 kilometres, was covered 8 times for a total distance of 194.832 kilometres. 132 cyclists from 35 nations competed. The maximum number of cyclists per nation was four. The event was won by Mario Zanin of Italy, the nation's second victory in the men's individual road race and third consecutive Games in the top two. Kjell Rodian earned Denmark's first medal in the event with his silver. Walter Godefroot's bronze was Belgium's fifth medal in five Games.
The men's individual road race at the 1952 Summer Olympics was held on 2 August, the 2nd last day of the Olympics on an 11,2 km course running counter-clockwise from Käpylä through Pakila and Maunula and back to Käpylä. The course was circled seventeen times, so the total length of the competition was 190,4 km. About half of the road was hard-surfaced, the other half sand-surfaced. There were 154 entries from 31 nations and 111 participants from 30 nations. Each nation could enter up to four cyclists; nations entering at least three cyclists had the scores of their best three finishers summed for the team road race event. The individual event was won by André Noyelle of Belgium, the nation's first victory in the men's individual road race. His teammate Robert Grondelaers took silver. Edi Ziegler earned Germany's first medal in the event since 1896 with his bronze.
The men's individual road race at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, was held on Wednesday, 27 September 2000 with a race distance of 239.4 km. The estimated global TV audience was 600 million. They were specifically held in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs. There were 154 cyclists from 41 nations competing. The maximum number of cyclists per nation had been five since professionals were allowed in 1996. The event was won by Jan Ullrich of Germany, the nation's first victory in the men's individual road race. His teammate Andreas Klöden's bronze made this race the first time one nation had taken two medals in the event since 1988—when West Germany had done so by taking silver and bronze. Alexander Vinokourov took silver for Kazakhstan's first medal in the event.
The men's individual road race at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, was held on July 31, 1996. There were 183 participants from 57 nations in the race over 221.85 km, with 116 cyclists finishing. For the first time, the event was open to professionals. The maximum number of cyclists per nation was five, up from three in previous editions of the event. The event was won by Pascal Richard of Switzerland, the nation's first victory in the men's individual road race and first medal in the event since a bronze in 1936. Rolf Sørensen earned Denmark's third medal in the event, silver just as in 1964 and 1968. Max Sciandri similarly matched Great Britain's best result: a bronze, as in 1896 and 1956.
The men's road race, a part of the cycling events at the 2008 Summer Olympics, took place on August 9 at the Urban Road Cycling Course in Beijing. It started at 11:00 China Standard Time (UTC+8), and was scheduled to last until 17:30 later that day. The 245.4-kilometre (152.5 mi) course ran north across the heart of the Beijing metropolitan area, passing such landmarks as the Temple of Heaven, the Great Hall of the People, Tiananmen Square and the Beijing National Stadium. After rolling over relatively flat terrain for 78.8 km (49.0 mi) north of the Beijing city center, the route entered a decisive circuit encompassing seven loops on a 23.8 km (14.8 mi) section up and down the Badaling Pass, including ramps as steep as a 10 percent gradient.
The men's points race at the 2008 Summer Olympics took place on August 16 at the Laoshan Velodrome. There were 23 competitors from 23 nations. The event was won by Joan Llaneras of Spain, his second victory in the points race and third consecutive medal in the event. Llaneras was the only person, of any gender, to win multiple medals in the points race, which is no longer on the Olympic programme. His two gold medals made Spain only the second nation to win multiple golds in the men's event; Italy had three. Silver went to Roger Kluge of Germany. Great Britain earned its first medal in the men's points race with Chris Newton's bronze.
The men's individual road race at the 1948 Summer Olympics was held on an 11.45 km course. The course was circled seventeen times, so the total length of the competition was 194.6 km. There were 141 entries from 31 nations and 101 participants from 29 nations. Of the 101 starters, 28 rode the distance to the end. The event was won by José Beyaert of France, the nation's second consecutive victory in the men's individual road race. The Netherlands and Belgium won their first medals in the event, with Gerrit Voorting's silver and Lode Wouters's bronze, respectively.
The men's individual road race at the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome, Italy, was held on 30 August 1960. There were 142 participants from 42 nations. Each nation could enter up to four cyclists. Of the 142 starters 76 rode the distance to the end. The event was won by Viktor Kapitonov of the Soviet Union, the nation's first medal in the event. Livio Trapè of Italy took silver, putting that country on the podium for the second consecutive Games. Willy Vanden Berghen's bronze gave Belgium its fourth medal in four Games.
The road race is one of two road bicycle racing events held at the Summer Olympics, the other being the time trial. The road race is a mass start, distinguished from the separate starts of the time trial. The men's road race was first held at the 1896, was not held again for 40 years, then has been held every Summer Games since the 1936 Summer Olympics. The women's event was first contested at the 1984 Summer Olympics, being the first women's cycling event.
