Tour de France 2008

Tour de France 2008
Host country	France Italy
Competition period	July 5th to 27th, 2008
Stages	21st
overall length	3559.5 km
Starting field	180 in 20 teams (of which 145 arrived at the finish)
winner
Overall rating	1. Carlos Sastre 85:48:35 h 2. Cadel Evans + 0:58 min 3. Bernhard Kohl + 01:13 min
Team evaluation	Team CSC-Saxo Bank 263: 29: 57 h
Scoring jerseys
Yellow jersey	Carlos Sastre
Green jersey	Óscar Freire
Dotted jersey	Bernhard Kohl
White jersey	Andy Schleck
course
← 2007	2009 →

Final result after the 21st stage

	Carlos Sastre	87:52:52 h (40.504 km / h)
Second	Cadel Evans	+ 0:58 min
Third	Bernhard Kohl	+ 1:13 min
Fourth	Denis Menshov	+ 2:10 min
fifth	Christian Vande Velde	+ 3:05 min
Sixth	Frank Schleck	+ 4:28 min
seventh	Samuel Sánchez	+ 6:25 min
Eighth	Kim churches	+ 6:55 min
Ninth	Alejandro Valverde	+ 7:12 min
Tenth	Tadej Valjavec	+ 9:05 min
	Óscar Freire	270 p.
Second	Thor Hushovd	220 p.
Third	Erik Zabel	217 P.
	Bernhard Kohl	128 P.
Second	Carlos Sastre	80 p.
Third	Frank Schleck	80 p.
	Andy Schleck	88:04:24 h
Second	Roman Kreuziger	+ 1:27 min
Third	Vincenzo Nibali	+ 17:01 min
	Team CSC-Saxo Bank	263: 29: 57 h
Second	Ag2r	+ 15:35 min
Third	Rabobank	+ 1:05:26 h
	Sylvain Chavanel

The 95th Tour de France began on Saturday 5th July 2008 in Brest and ended on Sunday 27th July on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées in Paris. The total length of the route was 3559.5 km and was thus similar to the previous year ; a total of around 50,000 vertical meters had to be overcome.

Overall winner was Carlos Sastre from the CSC-Saxo Bank team . After Óscar Pereiro (2006) and Alberto Contador (2007), a Spaniard won for the third time in a row.

On June 3, 2008 it was announced that this Tour de France will be run by the ASO under the supervision of the French cycling federation FFC and not the UCI , like the Paris – Nice and Paris – Roubaix bike races carried out by the same organizer . In response, the UCI threatened participating teams with punishment and suspended the French Cycling Federation. The Tour de France 2008 has been removed from the UCI ProTour 2008 calendar.

One change in the regulations was the elimination of time credits for the intermediate sprints and the stage finish.

Starting position

Field of participants

On March 20, 2008, the OSA announced the 20 participating teams. With the exception of the Astana team around last year's winner Alberto Contador , all ProTour teams were invited. The reason for the exclusion of the Astana team was its involvement in the Fuentes doping scandal and the uncovered cases of the former Astana drivers Alexander Vinokurow and Andrei Kaschetschkin . The three Professional Continental Teams Agritubel , Barloworld and Garmin-Chipotle (formerly Slipstream-Chipotle) ​​received a wildcard.

The 2007 tour runner-up Cadel Evans and Alejandro Valverde were favorites for the overall standings . Other contenders for the yellow jersey were Denis Menschow , Vuelta winner 2005 and 2007, Damiano Cunego , winner of the Giro d'Italia 2004, Kim Kirchen , seventh in 2007, and the CSC team riders: Carlos Sastre , fourth in the tour 2007 and the Luxembourgers Andy and Fränk Schleck .

Michael Rogers was not at the start after his long retirement due to Pfeiffer's glandular fever . He lacked the form for a three-week tour.

Three prominent drivers were missing from the sprinters: Alessandro Petacchi was banned for doping, Tom Boonen was unloaded by the organizers due to a positive cocaine result, and Daniele Bennati canceled the race due to an Achilles tendonitis . The most promising sprinters in the field included Óscar Freire , Thor Hushovd , Erik Zabel , Robbie McEwen , Mark Cavendish , Gerald Ciolek , Robert Förster , Robert Hunter and Jimmy Casper .

A total of 180 drivers started in 20 teams.

→ Main article driver field 2008

Routing

On January 25, 2007, the organizer announced the starting points for the first three stages, all of which are in Brittany . For the first time since 1966 , the Tour de France began not with a prologue or a time trial, but with an ordinary stage. This led from Brest to Plumelec . The second stage led from Auray to Saint-Brieuc . The starting point for the third stage was Saint-Malo . Denmark had also applied to start the 2008 tour.

The complete course was presented on October 25, 2007. The route ran almost exclusively through France, the tour only made a detour to Italy on the 15th and 16th stages. There were a total of 10 flat stages, five high mountain and four low mountain stages as well as two individual time trials.

The tour led on the 197.5 km long 1st stage inland to Plumelec. The 2nd, 3rd and 5th stages followed typical flat stages for the first week of the tour, where mass sprints at the finish line are very likely. The first individual time trial took place on July 8th and thus represented the 4th stage.

The 6th and 7th stages were moderately difficult and already had some mountains of the 2nd category , whereby the sixth stage ended with a mountain arrival ( Super Besse , Cat. 2). The 8th stage was a transfer stage with a possible mass sprint in the destination Toulouse .

The 9th, 10th and 11th stages led through the Pyrenees . Three stages of transfer followed. The first alpine stage took place before the second day of rest on July 21st. The destination was Prato Nevoso in Italy. On July 22nd there was a very difficult stage with two mountain ratings of the highest category (hors categorie) and one day later the 17th stage - the queen stage of this tour to L'Alpe d'Huez with three mountain ratings of the highest category (hors categorie) including the famous Col du Galibier .

Stages 18 and 19 were moderately difficult and therefore favorable for outliers (groups). The individual time trial on July 26th was the last chance to catch up, while the last stage to Paris was all about the prestigious stage win on the Champs-Élysées .

Race course

At the finish of the first stage in Plumelec, Alejandro Valverde was the first to cross the finish line with a one-second lead. This made him the first to wear the yellow jersey. The second stage ended in a pure mass sprint, with Thor Hushovd as the winner, Valverde stayed in the yellow jersey. A mass sprint was also expected on the third stage, but four drivers managed a successful escape and Samuel Dumoulin sprinted to victory. His escape companion Romain Feillu wore the yellow jersey. The fourth stage, an individual time trial, was won by Stefan Schumacher , who took over the overall lead.

The peloton on the fifth stage.

The fifth stage had a flat profile. 23-year-old Mark Cavendish was the fastest in the mass sprint . The sixth stage ended with a mountain finish. Stefan Schumacher kept up with the leading group, but fell several hundred meters from the finish. The Luxembourger Kim Kirchen was the new bearer of the yellow jersey, Riccardo Riccò won the stage . The seventh stage also led through the Auvergne. Luis León Sánchez was able to pull away a few kilometers from the finish and won. Kirchen stayed in yellow.

On the evening before the eighth stage, Manuel Beltrán was suspended from his Liquigas team. He tested positive after the first stage. On the tenth stage, Cadel Evans took over the yellow jersey from Kim Kirchen. The Australian was only one second ahead of Fränk Schleck from Luxembourg . Before the start of the eleventh stage, it was announced that Moisés Dueñas tested positive for EPO after the fourth stage. Syringes and blood bags were found in Dueña's hotel room. Shortly before the start of the twelfth stage, Riccardo Riccò , the two-time stage winner and leader in the mountain and youngsters' classification, was convicted of doping. His Saunier Duval-Scott team immediately withdrew the entire team, including the winner of the 10th stage, Leonardo Piepoli . After the twelfth stage, Sebastian Lang received the dotted jersey and Vincenzo Nibali the white jersey - Riccò had previously been in the lead in both ratings.

Kurt Asle Arvesen , Mark Cavendish (two stages) and Óscar Freire won the transfer stages between the Pyrenees and the Alps . Simon Gerrans won the first Alpine stage on Prato Nevoso in Italy ahead of three other outliers. The overall lead was taken over by Fränk Schleck driving in the main field. Bernhard Kohl , who led the pursuers, won the dotted jersey as the best climber and moved up to second place. After the second rest day, the second Alpine stage followed - with the roof of the tour, the Cime de la Bonette-Restefond. Again a breakaway group managed to escape, Cyril Dessel won . Of the favorites, Christian Vande Velde could not follow on the last climb. Denis Menshov lost half a minute on the descent towards the goal.

Carlos Sastre on the way to the stage win in L'Alpe d'Huez, the cornerstone of the overall victory

The third Alpine stage was the queen stage to L'Alpe d'Huez. The favorites waited for the final climb. Sastre attacked there. Only Menshov responded, but he could not follow the pace. Sastre won with a two-minute lead and thus took over the yellow jersey from his team-mate Fränk Schleck. In the favorite group, Andy Schleck countered the numerous attacks and held the group together.

The next two stages won outliers - Marcus Burghardt and Sylvain Chavanel . Stefan Schumacher also won the second time trial ahead of the favorite Fabian Cancellara . Cadel Evans, classified as the stronger time trial and favorite to win the Tour, could not make up enough time on Sastre and had to be content with second place in the overall standings, more than a minute behind. Mountain specialist Bernhard Kohl defended his third podium with a ninth place in the time trial. Fränk Schleck dropped from second to sixth overall.

The Belgian Gert Steegmans won the final stage on the Champs-Élysées in a mass sprint.

Stage overview

Links to the articles for the individual stages are in the first column of the table. The wearers of the yellow jersey are indicated at the end of the stage.

Stages	Type	Day	Start finish	km	profile	Altitude meters	Stage winner	Time (h)	Average (km / h)	Gelbes Trikot
01st stage		Saturday, July 5th	Brest - Plumelec	197.5		2,300	Alejandro Valverde	4:36:07	42.917	Alejandro Valverde
02nd stage		Sun, July 6th	Auray - Saint-Brieuc	164.5		1,810	Thor Hushovd	3:45:13	43.824
03rd stage		Mon. July 7th	Saint-Malo - Nantes	208		1,410	Samuel Dumoulin	5:05:28	40.856	Romain Feillu
04th stage	EZF	Tuesday, July 8th	Cholet - Cholet	029.5		265	Kim churches	0:35:44	49.534	Stefan Schumacher
05th stage		Wed, July 9th	Cholet - Châteauroux	232		970	Mark Cavendish	5:27:52	42.456
06th stage		Thursday, July 10th	Aigurande - Super Besse	195.5		3,310	Alejandro Valverde	4:57:52	39,380	Kim churches
07th stage		Fri., July 11th	Brioude - Aurillac	159		2,730	Luis León Sánchez	3:52:53	40.960
08th stage		Sat, July 12th	Figeac - Toulouse	172.5		2,060	Mark Cavendish	4:02:54	42.610
09th stage		Sun, July 13th	Toulouse - Bagneres-de-Bigorre	224		3,730	Vladimir Efimkin	5:39:28	39,592
10th stage		Mon., July 14th	Pau - Hautacam	156		4,250	Juan José Cobo	4:19:27	36.076	Cadel Evans
1st day of rest		Tuesday, July 15th	-
11th stage		Wed, July 16	Lannemezan - Foix	167.5		2,990	Kurt Asle Arvesen	3:58:13	42.188	Cadel Evans
12th stage		Thursday 17th July	Lavelanet - Narbonne	168.5		1,390	Mark Cavendish	3:40:52	45.774
13th stage		Friday, July 18	Narbonne - Nîmes	182		1,320	Mark Cavendish	4:25:42	41.099
14th stage		Sat, July 19	Nîmes - Digne-les-Bains	194.5		1,480	Óscar Freire	4:13:08	46.102
15th stage		Sun, July 20th	Embrun - Prato Nevoso ( ITA )	183		4.210	Simon Gerrans	4:50:44	37.767	Frank Schleck
2nd day off		Mon., July 21	-
16th stage		Tuesday, July 22nd	Cuneo (ITA) - Jausiers	157		4,610	Cyril Dessel	4:31:27	34.703	Frank Schleck
17th stage		Wed., July 23	Embrun - L'Alpe d'Huez	210.5		6,060	Carlos Sastre	6:07:58	34,324	Carlos Sastre
18th stage		Thursday, July 24th	Le Bourg-d'Oisans - Saint-Etienne	196.5		1,790	Marcus Burghardt	4:30:21	43.610
19th stage		Friday, July 25th	Roanne - Montluçon	165.5		1,930	Sylvain Chavanel	3:37:09	45.729
20th stage	EZF	Sat, July 26th	Cérilly - Saint-Amand-Montrond	053		355	Fabian Cancellara	1:03:50	49.817
21st stage		Sun July 27th	Étampes - Paris , Champs-Élysées	143		1,070	Gert Steegmans	3:51:38	37.041

→ Main article : List of Tour de France stage locations

Ratings in the course of the tour

The table shows the leader in the respective classification at the beginning of the respective stage.

stage	Yellow jersey	Green jersey	Dotted jersey	White jersey	Team evaluation	Most combative driver
01st stage	Alejandro Valverde	Alejandro Valverde 1)	Thomas Voeckler	Riccardo Riccò	Caisse d'Epargne	Lilian Jégou
02nd stage		Kim churches				Sylvain Chavanel
03rd stage	Romain Feillu			Romain Feillu 2)	Garmin Chipotle	William Frischkorn
04th stage	Stefan Schumacher			Thomas Lövkvist		EZF: Not awarded
05th stage		Thor Hushovd				Nicolas Vogondy
06th stage	Kim churches	Kim Kirchen 3)	Sylvain Chavanel			Sylvain Chavanel
07th stage			David de la Fuente		Team CSC-Saxo Bank	Luis León Sánchez
08th stage		Óscar Freire				Laurent Lefèvre
09th stage		Kim Kirchen 3)		Andy Schleck		Sebastian Lang
10th stage	Cadel Evans	Óscar Freire Gomez	Riccardo Riccò	Riccardo Riccò 4)	Saunier Duval-Scott	Rémy Di Gregorio
11th stage			Sebastian Lang 5)	Vincenzo Nibali 6)	Team CSC-Saxo Bank	Amael Moinard
12th stage			Sebastian Lang	Vincenzo Nibali		Arnaud Gérard
13th stage						Niki Terpstra
14th stage						José Iván Gutiérrez
15th stage	Frank Schleck		Bernhard Kohl			Egoi Martínez
16th stage				Andy Schleck		Stefan Schumacher
17th stage	Carlos Sastre					Peter Velits
18th stage						Marcus Burghardt
19th stage						Sylvain Chavanel
20th stage						EZF: Not awarded
21st stage						Nicolas Vogondy
winner	Carlos Sastre	Óscar Freire Gomez	Bernhard Kohl	Andy Schleck	Team CSC-Saxo Bank	Sylvain Chavanel

• ¹⁾ Philippe Gilbert wore the green jersey as second in the points classification.
• ²⁾ Andy Schleck wore the white jersey as second in the young professional ranking.
• ³⁾ On the 7th stage Thor Hushovd wore the green jersey as second in the points classification, on the 8th and 10th stage Óscar Freire .
• ⁴⁾ Vincenzo Nibali wore the white jersey as second in the young professional class.
• ⁵⁾ After Riccardo Riccò was excluded and the Saunier Duval-Scott team withdrew with the runner-up David de la Fuente, none of the riders wore the dotted jersey on stage 12.
• ⁶⁾ Vincenzo Nibali was initially intended as a substitute carrier on the 12th stage, but after Riccardo Riccò's suspension he was the leader of the young professional classification.
• ⁷⁾ Sylvain Chavanel, the overall winner of this classification, wore the red number on the last stage. The most aggressive driver of the last part of the day was Nicolas Vogondy .

The red lantern for last place in the overall ranking was awarded to Wim Vansevenant for the third time . No driver has been the last to reach Paris three times before him.

doping

Doping prevention

All teams taking part in the Tour de France were required to sign an "anti-doping contract" which provided for a fine of 100,000 euros if a doping offense was discovered during the tour if the driver doped with the team's knowledge. The fine should be paid to the French Cycling Federation. Possible disputes between teams and organizers should be regulated by the French NOK . It was unclear whether this contract would have more legal weight than the declaration of honor that had to be signed by the individual drivers at the last event. All 20 participating teams signed the contract.

Doping cases

After the seventh stage it became known that the Spaniard Manuel Beltrán had tested positive for EPO before the start of the first stage . The driver was withdrawn from the race by his Liquigas team and temporarily suspended until the results of the B-test became known. The French police were unable to detect any doping substances in Beltran's hotel room. Also Moisés Dueñas was tested at the fourth stage positive for EPO, gave the French anti-doping agency AFLD announced before the start of the eleventh stage. The 27-year-old was immediately suspended from his Barloworld team. In addition, abnormal blood tests were found in 5 to 20 drivers.

After the eleventh stage it became known that the two-time stage winner at this year's Tour Riccardo Riccò had also tested positive for EPO. As a result, his Saunier Duval-Scott team did not take part in the 12th stage. The next day, Leonardo Piepoli , another driver doped with EPO, was caught. Like Riccardo Riccò, Saunier Duval-Scott sacked him immediately.

After the 18th stage, Kazakhs Dmitri Fofonow , who was in 19th place overall, tested positive for a stimulant from the Crédit Agricole team .

On August 9, 2008, it was announced that there was Jimmy Casper, the fifth doping case. Traces of cortisone were found in his urine. The disciplinary commission of the French Cycling Federation acquitted Casper, however, as the doping allegation was due to an exemption for the drug that had not yet been renewed. Casper, who suffers from asthma, had such an exemption for the past twelve years, which expired on May 29 and was not extended before the tour.

On October 13, 2008, the French sports newspaper L'Équipe reported that the winner of the mountain classification, Bernhard Kohl , as well as his Gerolsteiner teammate and Tour roommate Stefan Schumacher, during the follow-up checks on the Tour de France doping tests by the French anti-virus Doping authority AFLD had tested positive for the EPO doping agent CERA. The A sample was also positive for the Italian Leonardo Piepoli.

On October 15, 2008, Kohl admitted to ORF that he had doped at the Tour de France. He therefore decided not to open the B sample.

Prize money

During the tour, prize money of € 3.25 million was distributed. Each team received an entry fee of € 51,243. Traditionally, all drivers and helpers shared the prize money within the teams.

Prize money for the various ratings

placement	1.	2.	3.	4th	5.	6th	7th	8th.	Every day
Overall rating	€ 450,000	€ 200,000	€ 100,000	€ 70,000	€ 50,000	€ 23,000	€ 11,500	€ 7,600	€ 350
Scoring	0€ 25,000	0€ 15,000	0€ 10,000	0€ 4,000	0€ 3,500	0€ 3,000	0€ 2,500	€ 2,000	€ 300
Mountain scoring	0€ 25,000	0€ 15,000	0€ 10,000	0€ 4,000	0€ 3,500	0€ 3,000	0€ 2,500	€ 2,000	€ 300
Young talent evaluation	0€ 25,000	0€ 15,000	0€ 10,000	0€ 5,000	-				€ 300
Team ranking	0€ 50,000	0€ 30,000	0€ 20,000	€ 12,000	0€ 8,000	-
Most combative driver	0€ 20,000	-

Prize money at the stages

placement	1.	2.	3.	annotation
Stage ranking	€ 8,000	€ 4,000	€ 2,000	staggered up to 20th place (200 €)
Intermediate sprints	0€ 800	0450 €	0€ 300	45 intermediate sprints during the tour
Mountain classification cat. HC	0€ 800	0450 €	0€ 300	08 ratings during the tour
Mountain classification cat. 1	0€ 650	0400 €	0150 €	04 ratings during the tour
Mountain classification cat. 2	0500 €	0250 €	-	05 ratings during the tour
Mountain classification cat. 3	0€ 300	-		14 ratings during the tour
Mountain classification cat. 4	0€ 200	-		26 ratings during the tour
Young drivers	0500 €	-		Fastest young driver of the stage
Most combative driver	€ 2,000	-		Except time trial
team	€ 2,800	-		Fastest team on the stage

Special ratings

Souvenir Jacques Goddet on the Col du Tourmalet for the first: 5000 €

Souvenir Henri Desgrange on the Col du Galibier for the first: 5000 €

Ranking of the teams according to prize money won

	team	€
1.	Team CSC Saxo Bank	621.210
2.	Silence lotto	233,450
3.	Gerolsteiner	192.370
4th	Rabobank	154,250
5.	Team Columbia	113,450
6th	Cofidis	91,460
7th	Garmin Chipotle	82,570
8th.	Ag2r-La Mondiale	71,060
9.	Caisse d'Epargne	59,510
10.	Crédit Agricole	55,450
11.	Euskaltel-Euskadi	53,130
12.	Liquigas	49,220
13.	Française des Jeux	45,780
14th	Team Milram	35,490
15th	Agritubel	32,540
16.	Quick Step	31,470
17th	Bouygues Telecom	24,900
18th	Barloworld	22,480
19th	Lampre	9,840
20th	Saunier Duval-Scott	0

The CSC-Saxo Bank team around the tour winner Sastre won the most prize money. Saunier Duval-Scott received no prize money due to Riccò's positive doping test.

The CSC-Saxo Bank team received € 450,000 for the overall victory from Sastre alone.

Retired drivers

A total of 35 drivers were eliminated. Thus 145 drivers reached the destination in Paris. CSC Saxo Bank , Milram and Euskaltel-Euskadi finished the tour completely with all nine riders.

stage	driver	team	reason
DNF 0 1.	Hervé Duclos-Lassalle	Cofidis	Fall
DNF 03.	Ángel Gómez	Saunier Duval-Scott	Fall
DNF 05.	Mauricio Soler	Barloworld	Fall
DNS 0 6.	Aurélien Passeron	Saunier Duval-Scott	Fall injuries
DNF 07.	Mauro Facci	Quick Step	task
DNF 07.	Lilian Jégou	Française des Jeux	Collision with a tree
DNF 07.	John Gadret	ag2r La Mondiale	task
DNF 07.	Christophe Moreau	Agritubel	task
DSQ 0 7.	Magnus Backstedt	Garmin Chipotle	Timed out
DNS 08.	Manuel Beltran	Liquigas	Suspension due to suspected doping: Positive A-sample after 1st stage
DNF 10.	Yuri Trofimov	Bouygues Telecom	task
DNS 11.	Moisés Dueñas	Barloworld	Suspension on suspicion of doping: positive A sample after stage 4
DNF 11.	Paolo Longo Borghini	Barloworld	Fall
DNF 11.	Félix Cárdenas	Barloworld	Fall
DNS 12.	Riccardo Riccò	Saunier Duval-Scott	Suspension on suspicion of doping: positive A sample after stage 4
DNS 12.	Rubens Bertogliati	Saunier Duval-Scott	Team retreat
	Juan José Cobo
	David de la Fuente
	Jesús Del Nero
	Josep Jufré
	Leonardo Piepoli
DNF 12.	Bathing Cooke	Barloworld	Fall
DNF 14.	Nicolas Jalabert	Agritubel	task
DNS 15.	Mark Cavendish	Team Columbia	exhaustion
DNF 15.	Mark Renshaw	Crédit Agricole	task
DNF 15.	Stijn Devolder	Quick Step	task
DNF 15.	Óscar Pereiro	Caisse d'Epargne	Fall
DNF 16.	Sébastien Chavanel	Française des Jeux	task
DSQ 16.	Francesco Chicchi	Liquigas	Timed out
DSQ 17.	Jimmy Casper	Agritubel	Timed out
DNS 19.	Damiano Cunego	Lampre	Fall on the 18th stage
DNF 19.	Christophe Brandt	Silence lotto	task
DSQ 19.	Fabian Wegmann	Gerolsteiner	Timed out
DSQ 19.	Romain Feillu	Agritubel	Timed out
DSQ 19.	Juan Antonio Flecha	Rabobank	Timed out

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Kohl was subsequently deleted from the rating because of doping.
2. ↑ ^{a b} rad-net.de: Tour: 100,000 euros fine for doping offenses , accessed on June 3, 2008.
3. ↑ fr-online .: Association threatens tour teams , accessed on June 4, 2008.
4. ↑ rad-net.de: UCI suspends French association , accessed on June 13, 2008.
5. ↑ rad-net.de: High Road without Michael Rogers on the tour , accessed on June 17, 2008.
6. ↑ rad-net.de: All 20 teams sign tour contracts , accessed on June 7, 2008.
7. ↑ Voices on the BeltranSonntag case - Fear of further doping cases (July 13, 2008)
8. ↑ Les dépêches ( Memento of the original of July 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. the 11th stage on letour.fr, accessed on July 16, 2008 
9. ↑ rad-net.de: Schumacher stark - Beltran's first doping case , accessed on July 13, 2008.
10. ↑ fr-online.de: Everything as always , accessed on July 13, 2008.
11. ↑ tour.ard.de from July 17, 2008: Riccardo Ricco also positive ( Memento from July 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
12. ↑ La formation Saunier-Duval s'est retirée de la course ( Memento of the original from July 18, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on www.letour.fr, accessed on July 17, 2008 
13. ^ Spiegel Online: Fourth case: Fofonov tested positive for doping , accessed on July 27, 2008.
14. ↑ live-radsport.ch: Jimmy Casper the 5th doping case of the tour , accessed on August 9, 2008.
15. ↑ L'Equipe on October 13, 2008 ( Memento of the original from January 22, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
16. ↑ ORF ( Memento of the original from October 17, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on October 15, 2008 
17. ^ Piepoli of Italy wins 10th stage of Tour
18. ↑ tdf.sbs.com.au of July 20, 2008: Cavendish pulls out of Tour de France ( Memento of July 24, 2008 in the Internet Archive )

Web links

Commons : Tour de France 2008  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• official website
• Tour de France 2008 in the ProCyclingStats.com database