1995 Tour de France

The 1995 Tour de France was the 82nd Tour de France, taking place from 1 to 23 July. It was Miguel Indurain's fifth and final victory in the Tour. On the fifteenth stage Italian rider Fabio Casartelli died after an accident on the Col de Portet d'Aspet.

1995 Tour de France
Route of the 1995 Tour de France
Race details
Dates1–23 July
Stages20 + Prologue
Distance3,635 km (2,259 mi)
Winning time92h 44' 59"
Results
Winner  Miguel Indurain (ESP) (Banesto)
  Second  Alex Zülle (SUI) (ONCE)
  Third  Bjarne Riis (DEN) (Gewiss–Ballan)
Points  Laurent Jalabert (FRA) (ONCE)
Mountains  Richard Virenque (FRA) (Festina–Lotus)
  Youth  Marco Pantani (ITA) (Carrera Jeans–Tassoni)
  Combativity  Hernán Buenahora (COL) (Kelme–Sureña)
  Team ONCE

The points classification was won by Laurent Jalabert, while Richard Virenque won the mountains classification. Marco Pantani won the young rider classification, and ONCE won the team classification.

Lance Armstrong's best finish in the Tour de France went down to his 36th-place finish in 1995, after his results from August 1998 to August 2012, including his seven Tour titles were stripped on 22 October 2012.[1][2]

Teams
For a more comprehensive list, see List of teams and cyclists in the 1995 Tour de France.

There were 21 teams in the 1995 Tour de France, each composed of 9 cyclists.[3] The teams were selected in two rounds. In May 1995, the first fifteen teams were announced.[4] In June, five wildcards were announced.[5] Shortly before the start, Le Groupement folded because their team leader Luc Leblanc was injured,[6] and because of financial problems. Their spot went to Aki–Gipiemme, the first team in the reserve list.[7] Additionally, the organisation decided to invite one extra team: a combined team of Team Telekom and ZG Mobili, with six riders from Telekom and three from ZG Mobili.[8]

The teams entering the race were:[3]

Qualified teams

Invited teams

Pre-race favourites

Banesto's Indurain, the winner of the four previous Tours, was the clear favourite for the overall victory. His main challengers were expected to be Rominger from Mapei, Berzin from Gewiss and Zülle from ONCE.[6]

Route and stages

The 1995 Tour de France started on 1 July, and had two rest days, the first at 10 July when the cyclists were transferred from Seraing to Le Grand-Bornand, and the second on 17 July in Saint-Girons.[9] The highest point of elevation in the race was 2,115 m (6,939 ft) at the summit of the Col du Tourmalet mountain pass on stage 15.[10][11]

Stage characteristics and winners[12][13]
Stage Date Course Distance Type Winner
P 1 JulySaint-Brieuc7.3 km (4.5 mi)Individual time trial Jacky Durand (FRA)
1 2 JulyDinan to Lannion233.5 km (145.1 mi)Plain stage Fabio Baldato (ITA)
2 3 JulyPerros-Guirec to Vitre235.5 km (146.3 mi)Plain stage Mario Cipollini (ITA)
3 4 JulyMayenne to Alençon67.0 km (41.6 mi)Team time trial Gewiss–Ballan
4 5 JulyAlençon to Le Havre162.0 km (100.7 mi)Plain stage Mario Cipollini (ITA)
5 6 JulyFécamp to Dunkirk261.0 km (162.2 mi)Plain stage Jeroen Blijlevens (NED)
6 7 JulyDunkirk to Charleroi (Belgium)202.0 km (125.5 mi)Plain stage Erik Zabel (GER)
7 8 JulyCharleroi (Belgium) to Liège (Belgium)203.0 km (126.1 mi)Hilly stage Johan Bruyneel (BEL)
8 9 JulyHuy (Belgium) to Seraing (Belgium)54.0 km (33.6 mi)Individual time trial Miguel Indurain (ESP)
10 July Le Grand-Bornand Rest day
9 11 JulyLe Grand-Bornand to La Plagne160.0 km (99.4 mi)Stage with mountain(s) Alex Zülle (SUI)
10 12 JulyLa Plagne to L'Alpe d'Huez162.5 km (101.0 mi)Stage with mountain(s) Marco Pantani (ITA)
11 13 JulyLe Bourg-d'Oisans to Saint-Étienne199.0 km (123.7 mi)Hilly stage Maximilian Sciandri (GBR)
12 14 JulySaint-Étienne to Mende222.5 km (138.3 mi)Hilly stage Laurent Jalabert (FRA)
13 15 JulyMende to Revel245.0 km (152.2 mi)Plain stage Serhiy Utchakov (UKR)
14 16 JulySaint-Orens-de-Gameville to Guzet-Neige164.0 km (101.9 mi)Stage with mountain(s) Marco Pantani (ITA)
17 July Saint-Girons Rest day
15 18 JulySaint-Girons to Cauterets206.0 km (128.0 mi)Stage with mountain(s) Richard Virenque (FRA)
16 19 JulyTarbes to Pau149.0 km (92.6 mi)Stage with mountain(s)—[lower-alpha 1]
17 20 JulyPau to Bordeaux246.0 km (152.9 mi)Plain stage Erik Zabel (GER)
18 21 JulyMontpon-Ménestérol to Limoges166.5 km (103.5 mi)Plain stage Lance Armstrong (USA)
19 22 JulyLac de Vassivière to Lac de Vassivière46.5 km (28.9 mi)Individual time trial Miguel Indurain (ESP)
20 23 JulySainte-Geneviève-des-Bois to Paris (Champs-Élysées)155.0 km (96.3 mi)Plain stage Djamolidine Abdoujaparov (UZB)
Total 3,635 km (2,259 mi)[15]

Race overview
Main articles: 1995 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 10 and 1995 Tour de France, Stage 11 to Stage 20
Miguel Indurain (pictured at the 1993 Tour), winner of the general classification

The first riders in the prologue rode in sunny weather, but then it started to rain, and the riders who started late had to ride on slippery roads. Chris Boardman, a big favourite for the prologue and an outsider for the overall classification, crashed during his ride, was then hit by his team's car, and had to abandon due to injury. The winner of the prologue was Jacky Durand, one of the early starters.[14]

Durand stayed in the lead until the third stage, when Laurent Jalabert overtook him due to time bonuses won in intermediate sprints. Jalabert kept the yellow jersey for two stages, losing it due to a crash in the fourth stage. Ivan Gotti, member of the Gewiss-team that had won the team time trial in stage three, became the new leader.[14] A surprising attack from Indurain in stage seven changed the standings. Indurain attacked in the hilly Ardennes, and only Johan Bruyneel was able to follow him. Indurain did all the work, creating a margin of almost one minute, and Bruyneel only followed him, but beat Indurain in the sprint, winning the stage and becoming the new leader.[14] Indurain was now in second place in the general classification, and after winning the time trial in the eighth stage, he became the new leader. His closest rival in the overall classification was Bjarne Riis at 23 seconds, the others were more than two minutes behind.[14]

The Tour then reached the high mountains in stage nine. Zülle escaped, and created a margin of several minutes. Indurain calmly chased him until the final climb, where he sped away from the others. Zülle won the stage and jumped to the second place in the overall classification, but Indurain won minutes on all other cyclists.[14] The tenth stage was again in the high mountains. Pantani, already irrelevant for the overall classification, won the stage; behind him Indurain, Zülle and Riis finished together.[14]

Stage twelve was not expected to be relevant for the general classification. But when Laurent Jalabert attacked early in the stage, this changed. Jalabert was a teammate of second-placed Zülle, and he was sixth in the general classification, more than nine minutes behind Indurain. Jalabert was joined by three other cyclists, of which two teammates. One of them, Melchior Mauri, was in eighth place, and was himself also a threat. The teammates worked together well, and when they were more than ten minutes ahead, Jalabert was the virtual leader. At that moment, Indurain's Banesto team and Riis' Gewiss team started to work together to close the gap. They reduced it to almost six minutes, which meant that Jalabert jumped to third place in the general classification. ONCE now had three cyclists in the top five: Zülle in second place, Jalabert in fourth place and Mauri in fifth place.[14]

In stage thirteen Serhiy Utchakov and Lance Armstrong broke clear and were alone heading for the finish where Utchakov won the sprint. Armstrong was asked why he wasn't living up to expectations as far as competing with Indurain to which he replied that Indurain didn't finish his first two Tours and finished in the bottom half of several others before blossoming in to who he is. "They expect you to be with Miguel Inurain all the time and that's just... You just can't do that in a race like this. This is a man's race and it's hard for kid to compete."

The Pyrenées were reached in stage fourteen. Pantani again showed his strengths in the mountains, winning the stage. The other favourites stayed more or less together, so there were no big changes in the general classification.[14]

In the fifteenth stage, Richard Virenque escaped early in the stage, reaching all six tops in the stage first, and won the stage. Behind him, several cyclists crashed on the descent of the Portet d'Aspet, including Fabio Casartelli. Casartelli's head hit a concrete barrier at high speed without wearing a helmet, and he was declared dead in the hospital.[14]

Out of respect for Casartelli, the sixteenth stage was raced non-competitively. Casartelli's teammates from Motorola were allowed to cross the finish line first. The eighteenth stage was won by Lance Armstrong, a teammate of Casartelli. Armstrong dedicated this stage victory to Casartelli.[14] Indurain was still leading firmly, and extended his lead by winning the last time trial.

Classification leadership and minor prizes
Miguel Indurain's yellow jersey of the 1995 Tour

There were several classifications in the 1995 Tour de France.[16] The most important was the general classification, calculated by adding each cyclist's finishing times on each stage. The cyclist with the least accumulated time was the race leader, identified by the yellow jersey; the winner of this classification is considered the winner of the Tour.[17]

Additionally, there was a points classification, which awarded a green jersey. In the points classification, cyclists got points for finishing among the best in a stage finish, or in intermediate sprints. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, and was identified with a green jersey.[18]

There was also a mountains classification. The organisation had categorised some climbs as either hors catégorie, first, second, third, or fourth-category; points for this classification were won by the first cyclists that reached the top of these climbs first, with more points available for the higher-categorised climbs. The cyclist with the most points lead the classification, and wore a white jersey with red polka dots.[19]

The fourth individual classification was the young rider classification, which was not marked by a jersey. This was decided the same way as the general classification, but only riders under 26 years were eligible.[20]

For the team classification, the times of the best three cyclists per team on each stage were added; the leading team was the team with the lowest total time.[21]

In addition, there was a combativity award given after each mass-start stage to the cyclist considered most combative. The decision was made by a jury composed of journalists who gave points. The cyclist with the most points from votes in all stages led the combativity classification.[22] Hernán Buenahora won this classification, and was given overall the super-combativity award.[9] The Souvenir Henri Desgrange was given in honour of Tour founder Henri Desgrange to the first rider to pass the summit of the Col du Tourmalet on stage 15. This prize was won by Richard Virenque.[23]

Classification leadership by stage[24][25]
Stage Winner General classification
 Points classification
 Mountains classification
 Young rider classification[lower-alpha 2] Team classification Combativity
Award Classification
P Jacky Durand Jacky Durand Jacky Durand Arsenio Gonzalez Gabriele Colombo Castorama no award
1 Fabio Baldato Fabio Baldato François Simon Erik Dekker Erik Dekker
2 Mario Cipollini Laurent Jalabert Djamolidine Abdoujaparov Dirk Baldinger Eric Vanderaerden
3 Gewiss–Ballan Gabriele Colombo Gewiss–Ballan no award
4 Mario Cipollini Ivan Gotti Mario Cipollini Evgeni Berzin Francisco Cabello
5 Jeroen Blijlevens Dimitri Konyshev Rolf Järmann Rolf Järmann
6 Erik Zabel Bjarne Riis Djamolidine Abdoujaparov Herman Frison
7 Johan Bruyneel Johan Bruyneel Laurent Jalabert Richard Virenque Miguel Indurain Miguel Indurain
8 Miguel Indurain Miguel Indurain no award
9 Alex Zülle Marco Pantani ONCE Alex Zülle Alex Zülle
10 Marco Pantani Laurent Brochard
11 Max Sciandri Hernán Buenahora
12 Laurent Jalabert Laurent Jalabert Laurent Jalabert
13 Serguei Outschakov Serguei Outschakov
14 Marco Pantani Marco Pantani
15 Richard Virenque Richard Virenque Hernán Buenahora
16 —[lower-alpha 1] no award
17 Erik Zabel Thierry Marie
18 Lance Armstrong Lance Armstrong
19 Miguel Indurain no award
20 Djamolidine Abdoujaparov Serhiy Utchakov
Final Miguel Indurain Laurent Jalabert Richard Virenque Marco Pantani ONCE Hernán Buenahora
  • In stage 1, Thierry Laurent wore the green jersey.
  • Stage 16 was annulled after Fabio Casartelli died during stage 15. The peloton rode the stage slowly and allowed Casartelli's teammates, riding side-by-side, to cross the finish line first.

Final standings
Legend
Denotes the winner of the general classification Denotes the winner of the points classification
Denotes the winner of the mountains classification

General classification
Final general classification (1–10)[26]
Rank Rider Team Time
1  Miguel Indurain (ESP) Banesto92h 44' 59"
2  Alex Zülle (SUI)ONCE+ 4' 35"
3  Bjarne Riis (DEN)Gewiss–Ballan+ 6' 47"
4  Laurent Jalabert (FRA) ONCE+ 8' 24"
5  Ivan Gotti (ITA)Gewiss–Ballan+ 11' 33"
6  Melchor Mauri (ESP)ONCE+ 15' 20"
7  Fernando Escartin (ESP)Mapei–GB–Latexco+ 15' 49"
8  Toni Rominger (SUI)Mapei–GB–Latexco+ 16' 46"
9  Richard Virenque (FRA) Festina–Lotus+ 17' 31"
10  Hernán Buenahora (COL)Kelme–Sureña+ 18' 50"

Points classification

Final points classification (1–10)[12][27]
Rank Rider Team Points
1  Laurent Jalabert (FRA) ONCE333
2  Djamolidine Abdoujaparov (UZB)Novell–Decca–Colnago271
3  Miguel Indurain (ESP) Banesto180
4  Bjarne Riis (DEN)Gewiss–Ballan175
5  Erik Zabel (GER)Team Telekom/ZG Mobili–Selle Italia168
6  Giovanni Lombardi (ITA)Polti–Granarolo–Santini144
7  Bo Hamburger (DEN)TVM–Polis Direct103
8  Maximilian Sciandri (GBR)MG Maglificio–Technogym102
9  Andrea Ferrigato (ITA)Team Telekom/ZG Mobili–Selle Italia97
10  Andrei Tchmil (BEL)Lotto–Isoglass95

Mountains classification

Final mountains classification (1–10)[12][27]
Rank Rider Team Points
1  Richard Virenque (FRA) Festina–Lotus438
2  Claudio Chiappucci (ITA)Carrera Jeans–Tassoni214
3  Alex Zülle (SUI)ONCE205
4  Miguel Indurain (ESP) Banesto198
5  Hernán Buenahora (COL)Kelme–Sureña177
6  Marco Pantani (ITA)Carrera Jeans–Tassoni142
7  Laurent Dufaux (SUI)Festina–Lotus132
8  Fernando Escartin (ESP)Mapei–GB–Latexco121
9  Laurent Brochard (FRA)Festina–Lotus104
10  Federico Muñoz (COL)Kelme–Sureña101

Young rider classification

Final young rider classification (1–10)[12]
Rank Rider Team Time
1  Marco Pantani (ITA)Carrera Jeans–Tassoni93h 11' 19"
2  Bo Hamburger (DEN)TVM–Polis Direct+ 8' 29"
3  Beat Zberg (SUI)Carrera Jeans–Tassoni+ 40' 48"
4  Lance Armstrong (USA)Motorola+ 1h 01' 46"
5  Georg Totschnig (AUT)Polti–Granarolo–Santini+ 1h 03' 27"
6  Andrea Peron (ITA)Motorola+ 1h 15' 58"
7  Gabriele Colombo (ITA)Gewiss–Ballan+ 1h 30' 54"
8  Didier Rous (FRA)Carrera Jeans–Tassoni+ 1h 41' 19"
9  Erik Dekker (NED)Novell–Decca–Colnago+ 2h 12' 08"
10  Marco Milesi (ITA)Brescialat–Fago+ 2h 27' 50"

Team classification

Final team classification (1–10)[12][27]
Rank Team Time
1 ONCE278h 29' 35"
2 Gewiss–Ballan+ 13' 23"
3 Mapei–GB–Latexco+ 55' 53"
4 Festina–Lotus+ 1h 17' 05"
5 Carrera Jeans–Tassoni+ 1h 23' 31"
6 Banesto+ 1h 54' 11"
7 Kelme–Sureña+ 2h 01' 09"
8 Castorama+ 3h 03' 39"
9 Motorola+ 3h 17' 31"
10 Brescialat–Fago+ 3h 28' 02"

Combativity classification
Final combativity classification (1–3)[12]
Rank Rider Team Points
1  Hernán Buenahora (COL)Kelme–Sureña36
2  Richard Virenque (FRA) Festina–Lotus30
3  Laurent Jalabert (FRA) ONCE30

Notes
  1. Stage sixteen was raced non-competitively due to the death of Fabio Casartelli in the previous stage.[14]
  2. A white jersey was not awarded to the leader of the young rider classification between 1989 and 1999.[20]
gollark: When you asked where?
gollark: They could hardly ban it on unofficial sites anyway.
gollark: Moderators = CrazyPeople.
gollark: ... what.
gollark: Is that ridiculous ND rule still in place?

References
  1. Walsh, David (22 October 2012). "Covering Lance Armstrong was a wild ride, but the truth came out". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 29 April 2014. Retrieved 26 April 2014.
  2. "Lance Armstrong Receives Lifetime Ban And Disqualification Of Competitive Results For Doping Violations Stemming From His Involvement In The United States Postal Service Pro-Cycling Team Doping Conspiracy - U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)". 24 August 2012. Archived from the original on 30 December 2013. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
  3. "The history of the Tour de France – Year 1999 – The starters". Tour de France. Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived from the original on 30 July 2019. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  4. "Deelname TVM aan Tour is nog onzeker". Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). De krant van toen. 19 May 1995. p. 21. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  5. "Ploeg TVM naar Tour de France". Leeuwarder Courant (in Dutch). De krant van toen. ANP. 13 June 1995. p. 21. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  6. "Startlist for the 1995 Tour de France". Cyclingnews. 1995. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 16 June 2009.
  7. "21 equipos, 189 hombres" (PDF). Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 29 June 1995. p. 39. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 October 2019.
  8. "Tourdirectie komt ZG en Telekom tegemoet" (in Dutch). Volkskrant. 17 June 1995. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  9. Augendre 2016, p. 86.
  10. Augendre 2016, p. 188.
  11. "Bergetappes" [Mountain stages]. de Volkskrant (in Dutch). 1 July 1995. p. 33 – via Delpher.
  12. "82ème Tour de France 1995" [82nd Tour de France 1995]. Mémoire du cyclisme (in French). Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  13. "The history of the Tour de France – Year 1995 – The stage winners". Tour de France. Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived from the original on 3 April 2020. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  14. McGann & McGann 2008, pp. 220–227.
  15. Augendre 2016, p. 110.
  16. Nauright & Parrish 2012, pp. 452–455.
  17. Nauright & Parrish 2012, pp. 452–453.
  18. Nauright & Parrish 2012, pp. 453–454.
  19. Nauright & Parrish 2012, p. 454.
  20. Nauright & Parrish 2012, pp. 454–455.
  21. Nauright & Parrish 2012, p. 455.
  22. van den Akker 2018, pp. 211–216.
  23. "82ème Tour de France 1995" [82nd Tour de France 1995]. Mémoire du cyclisme. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 15 November 2019.
  24. "Tour de France 1995 – Leaders overview". ProCyclingStats. Archived from the original on 16 February 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2019.
  25. van den Akker, Pieter. "Informatie over de Tour de France van 1995" [Information about the Tour de France from 1995]. TourDeFranceStatistieken.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 2 March 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
  26. "Tour de France 1995 – Le Classement général". Tour de France (in French). Amaury Sport Organisation. Archived from the original on 26 June 1998. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
  27. Culot, Jacques (24 July 1995). "Le rouleur au lac et le sprinter auxh Champs (19e et 20e étapes)" (in French). Le Soir. p. 19. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2013.

Bibliography
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