Tour Redux: The 1968 Tour Of Good Health

As the ASO looks forward to a fresh start at this year's Tour, PEZ' Guy Wilson-Roberts looks back forty years to 1968 when the Tour de France hoped to prevent doping in the peloton and ensure a tour of good health following Tom Simpson's death the year before. Contributed by: Guy Wilson-Roberts Last year's Tour was, on all but the level of fan support, a disaster for director Christian Prudhomme. While other top riders were being ejected for positive dope tests, Prudhomme was forced to take decisive action in the case Michael Rasmussen and in his media appearances was visibly angry with having to deal with a situation he believed the UCI should have dealt with before the race started. As the doping controversy mounted, German television suspended its coverage and local French newspapers called the Tour 'dead'. This year,... [read full story]