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The 2003 Tour de France was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 5 July to 27 July 2003, and the 90th 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 and ended in Paris, covering 3,427.5 km (2129.75 mi), proceeding clockwise in twenty stages around France, including six major mountain stages. Due to the centennial celebration, this edition of the tour was raced entirely in France and did not enter neighboring countries. In the centenary year of the race the route recreated, in part, that of 1903. There was a special ''Centenaire Classement'' prize for the best-placed in each of the six stage finishes which match the 1903 tour - Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Nantes and Paris. It was won by Stuart O'Grady, with Thor Hushovd in second place. The 2003 Tour was honored with the Prince of Asturias Award for Sport. Of the 198 riders the favorite was again Armstrong, aiming for a record equalling fifth win. Before the race, it was believed that his main rivals would include Iban Mayo, Aitor González, Tyler Hamilton, Ivan Basso, Gilberto Simoni, Jan Ullrich, and Joseba Beloki but Armstrong was odds-on favorite. Though he did go on to win the race, it is statistically, and by Armstrong's own admission, his weakest Tour from his seven-year period of dominance over the race. ==Participating teams== The team selection was done in three rounds: in November 2002, the fourteen highest-ranking UCI teams would automatically qualify; four wildcards were given in January 2003, and four wildcards in mid-May.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Tour de France - July 5-27, 2003 )〕 :: wildcard given in January. :: wildcard given in May. Some notable cyclists excluded from the race were Mario Cipollini and Marco Pantani, whose teams and were not selected. Especially the absence of Cipollini, the reigning world champion, came as a surprise. The Tour organisation gave the reason that Cipollini had never been able to finish the race. In the first round, the Coast team had been selected to compete, and in January 2003 they signed Jan Ullrich. Financial problems then almost prevented the team from starting, but after Bianchi stepped in as a new sponsor, Team Bianchi was allowed to take the place of Team Coast. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「2003 Tour de France」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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