Historical evidence of cheating at the Tour

[bluegoose]

Apparently, doping in the Tour de France has been around for much longer than I suspected. In fact, during the very first ever Tour in 1903, the winner was eventually disqualified for cheating, not for using EPO or steroids, but rather coal. He took the steam engine to the finish, instead of riding his bike.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/...woodland_garin

Sounded like a lot more fun back then:

"This was the race, after all, in which riders were knocked off their bikes and even beaten up."

"Cheating was nothing novel to anyone in the field because, even if they didn't do it themselves, they were well aware that others were taking short cuts, being towed by cars (a wire fixed to a wing mirror and held between the teeth by a cork was a favourite trick) or even sitting inside them."

[BarbaraGordon]

Originally Posted by bluegoose

"This was the race, after all, in which riders were knocked off their bikes and even beaten up."

"Cheating was nothing novel to anyone in the field because, even if they didn't do it themselves, they were well aware that others were taking short cuts, being towed by cars (a wire fixed to a wing mirror and held between the teeth by a cork was a favourite trick) or even sitting inside them."

Hey, that sounds like some real ingenuity there. That can't be all bad.