...The Tour de France Executive Summary 1.1 Introduction and Description of the Tour De France The Tour de France is an annual bicycle race held in France and nearby countries. First staged in 1903, the race covered more than 3,600 kilometres (2,200 miles) and lasted three weeks. Nearly 200 riders begin each tour on the first weekend in July (Thompson, 2008). The number of teams usually varies between 20 to 22 teams, with nine riders in each team. No set numbers of stages are required in the Tour each year, but in recent years, at least 20 stages have comprised the race. The cyclist with the lowest cumulative time after the 20 stages wins (Liggett et al, 2005). This report aims to examine the development, management, impacts and success of this event and how it could be successfully replicated in Northern Ireland. 1.2 Background and development of the Tour De France A hundred summers ago, the Tour de France was born out of political conflict, and from a circulation war between competing sports journals. An editor of one these journals - Henri Desgrange, decided that he needed a sensational publicity venture to attract new readers. He himself was an enthusiastic cyclist and cycle racer. A six-day race was suggested all around France. Long-distance cycle races were a popular means to sell more newspapers. If it succeeded, it would help the journal match its rivals. The first Tour de France was staged in 1903 and the plan was a five-stage...
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...Strategic interaction in cycling Strategic Interaction in Sports This short paper is about strategic interaction in cycling with reference to the ‘Le Tour de France’ 2013. It will give a short description of the meaning ‘Strategic Interaction’ and it will focus on the teamwork in the different teams from the ‘Le Tour de France’. Furthermore, there will be also given an introduction to an economic principle that can refer to the ‘Le Tour de France’. Strategic interaction is a term that identifies the process when different parties try to achieve common goals which relies on intensive communication between these parties. This intensive communication is needed to make any progress in pursuing a goal. The meaning ‘Strategic interaction’ comes from ‘Game Theory’. This is the study of strategic interaction between people in a structured environment. A game theory is used in practical ways to predict, explain and prescribe events (Camerer, 2003). “Game theory attempts to determine mathematically and logically the actions that players or team members should take to secure the best outcomes for themselves in a wide array of games” following Avinash Dixit (Dixit, 2008). This is why the goal of game theory is getting benefits from using these strategic interactions. Game theory is what happens when people, genes or nations interact. Strategic interaction could occur in the most simplest situations but becomes more complex and more complicated when it will occur in bigger events....
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...collection Cross Channel by Julian Barnes, which was published in 1996. All the stories in this collection focus on the connection between England and France. At the very beginning, we meet Andy, who’s a rider and his friend and coach. They’re both on the top of Mount Moran and are going to descend from the mountain. They don’t use breaks, but rush as fast as possible down the mountain. We also get to know Chreesteen, who is Andy’s girlfriend; she ran away from home together with Andy and went to France where Andy is going to participate in Tour De France. Another guy we get to know in the story is Sean Kelly, who’s probably Andy’s idol. Andy doesn’t feel like the Tour is something exciting, but rather boring, because they don’t do anything else, but biking all day and seeing the same boring view, and he’s a bit scared of the hills too. Chreesteen has got a job as a stripper at a bar, and she enjoys it, because the atmosphere at her job is good, and her boss is great. Andy tells several stories in the text for instance where a rider is going to get drug tested and the rider is using a woman’s urine, which leads to the conclusion that the rider is clean, but pregnant, and another Story about Sean Kelly and Linda’s marriage and so on. At the end we get to know who Brambilla was. He was an Italian rider, who lost Tour De France on the last day. He used to slap himself if he was bad. At the end of Brambillas career he buried his own bike in the back of his garden, because he didn’t...
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...respected is found guilty of cheating, feelings run high. My essay is in response to numerous articles on Lance Armstrong’s use of performance enhancing drugs. In January of 2013, in an exclusive interview with Oprah Winfrey, Lance admitted to using performance enhancing drugs. He also admitted to using other illegal methods to win the Tour De France (Stanley). Before his confession he was already stripped of all his medals, won from the Tour De France. He was also banned from competitive professional cycling for life, and was dismissed from his charity organization, Livestrong, founded by him in 1997 (MacLaggan). Who is Lance Armstrong? Lance Armstrong is a well-known biker famous for his major success in the professional cycling world. Lance was born September, 18, 1971. He did his first triathlon at age 16, and joined professional cycling in 1992. He first cycled for the Motorola Professional Cycling Team. In 1996 he was diagnosed with testicular cancer that eventually spread to his lungs and brain. However after intense chemotherapy and other treatment, he was announced cancer free in 1997. Lance was the winner of seven consecutive Tour De France titles. Unfortunately he didn’t win them honestly. How does this affect me? Lance Armstrong was on my very short list of heroes and people I looked up to. I was a strong believer in his philosophy that hard work and dedication makes champions, not just talent. I was never a talented...
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...Whooo Hooo! The rumbling cheers from the crowd shook the ground, as Lance pushed his petals with all his might, showing the pulsing veins throughout his body. Then in a flashing second he storms passed the finish line. Lance Armstrong inspires me to keep fighting in life, even when you get knocked down because he was thrown so many obstacles including a devastating case of cancer. But in the end he fought back, got cured, and won multiple Tour de Frances. Lance Armstrong is arguably one of the greatest athletes of all time, he has won the Tour de France seven consecutive times. He was Born on September 18, 1971 in Plano, Texas (he is 44 years old). His father named him after Dallas Cowboy wide receiver, Lance Russell. His career began as a triathlete, as a little kid. But, in high school he started...
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...make champions. While these are valid points, However, if PEDs in sports were allowed and regulated, not only would it help the athletes improve performance, it would also make doping safer for the athletes as limits could be set on how much an athlete can use/have in their system. By regulating doping in professional sports, not only would this help keep athletes from injuring themselves, it also has the potential of improving the entertainment of spectating the sports by leveling the playing field even more and allowing for even greater spectacular feats to occur. Lance Armstrong was a role model. Not only did he survive cancer, despite having brain and lung metastases, he came back to win the most grueling race in sports, the Tour de France, a record 7 times. He was an icon, but that time has passed. In Rozansky's article he argues that Lance, and other athletes like him, by choosing to use performance-enhancing drugs choose to participate not in sports but in a spectacle that bears only a mocking resemblance to true athletic achievement. As such, we cannot induct them into our temples of grand sportsmen, nor can we consider them the best sportsmen in a corrupted era (Rozansky). I would agree with most of what Rozansky said, if sports were only...
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...4/9/13 Doping in sports Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano Cycling is probably the most common sport where catching a cyclist using Performance Enhancing Drug (PED) can be called “normal”. The most known case of PED in cycling is Lance Armstrong. However, because this is a case that everybody knows and everybody already gave their opinion about it, I am not going to talk about that case. Today I will talk about the case of a Spanish cyclist, Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano. Gonzalez’s case was during the Tour de France, in 2002. He was one of the most dangerous competitors for Lance Armstrong during that Tour de France. At the end of the competition, Gonzalez finished 5th, and in the PED test got positive for Salbutamol. According to some research I did, he was able to finish the tour because he proved to be allowed for the use of the medication which is use in patients with asthma. However, he couldn’t compete in the 2003 Tour de France because the amounts of salbutamol founded in his blood where too high. In my opinion, the sanctions for cyclist taking PEDs are not strong enough and for this reason a big percentage of cyclists use these drugs. In the moral side of the story, I think there is a little of justice when people uses these kind of drugs, because most of the top competitors use them and they are the ones that win, get the prize and many other benefits. And even if they get caught, they can still comeback in a year or two. I would say it is unfair and also unlucky for those...
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...Steroids in Sports While many are attracted to steroids for an improvement in athletic performance many athletes now a days are taking steroids, why is that? Is it to make a squad, or impress a member of the opposite sex? There is not a right or wrong answer to why athletes feel the need to take performance enhancing drugs. However ones psychological state, genetic mishaps, or even performance pressures from the coaching staff, can lead an athlete to steroids. Issues of cheating or winning at any cost, are becoming more and more common among athletes of all ages and levels of ability. The use of steroids is one of the biggest issues in the current debate whether or not it is fair for drug-free athletes to have to compete with athletes that break the law and take illegal steroids. Allowing those with an unfair advantage to compete can pressure drug-free athletes to use steroids to remain competitive. The use of steroids by athletes over the last decade and a half is well documented and proven no matter how many tried to deny their cheating in order to get a leg up on their competitors. Steroids continue to taint the sports world as we speak. It has come to light that baseball superstars Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, and Mark McGwire have admitted using preforming enhancing drugs during their baseball careers. Each athlete’s statistics ballooned to numbers never achieved before by prior athletes. While some athletes deny knowing they were doing anything illegal or cheating they...
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...An amazing athlete loses his seven Tour De France titles due to the use of drugs.The Tour De France is a hard and brutal race, which is why Lance Armstrong decided to use drugs to help alleviate the pain, but it hurt him in long run. I am going to tell you about the use of drugs in the Tour De France, the case against Lance Armstrong, and how he was publicly shamed. Since the very first race of the Tour De France in 1903, doping was actually allowed. The reason they allowed it was because the race is so long and brutal that it was painful for the racers to keep pedaling for such long periods of time, so in order to get rid of the pain, racers used drugs and drank alcohol. (“Hero”) They only allowed doping for the first 60 years of the Tour...
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...published a story on Armstrong doctor Michele Ferrari , Michele was later investigated for supplying performances enhancers to cyclist. David wrote the article L.A confidential, where he has statements of people suggesting Armstrong of suspicious acts . " If you consider my situation a guy who comes back arguably , you know a death sentence, why would I then enter into a sport and dope myself up and risk my life again? That's crazy. I would never do that . No. No way", -lancer Armstrong (2005 article). In 2010 Floyd landis was stripped from his 2006 Tour de France for drug use and he was not going down alone. Floyd admitted to drug use and also implied that other former teammates were blood doping as well . In june 2012 , George Himicapie, Levi Leipheimer, David zabriskieand Christian veiled all where going to testify against Armstrong. It was not till 2013 where Armstrong confessed to blood doping helping him win his Tour de France. Lance Armstrong openly admitted to Oprah Winfrey during an interview, he confessed to using enchantment drugs most of his cycling career. He used erythropoietin and human growth hormone. He had false documents stating he had passed all...
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...became the first person ever to win the Tour de France seven times. Armstrong’s unprecedented achievement was all the more remarkable for the fact that in 1996 Armstrong was treated for testicular cancer that had spread to his lungs and brain. Even without cancer, Lance Armstrong was not an obvious candidate for title of the greatest cyclist ever. Despite certain natural advantages – notably a heart 30% larger than normal with an abnormally slow beat rate (32 times per minute while at rest) – Armstrong’s aerobic rate was less than that of cycling greats such as Miguel Indurain and Greg LeMond. For most of his career, Armstrong was not the world’s preeminent cyclist. He won the world championship just once (1993) and his Olympic best was a bronze medal in 2000 Sydney games. Armstrong’s seven-year dominance of the Tour de France resulted from a combination of factors, not least of which was his singleminded focus, not just on cycling, but on a single race. Between his 1999 and 2005 Tour de France victories, Armstrong was overall winner in only five other cycle races. Armstrong raised planning for the Tour to a new level of sophistication. His meticulous preparations included: “. . . computer calculations that balanced my body weight and my equipment weight with the potential velocity of my bike,” and “careful computer graphs of my training rides, calibrating the distances, wattages, and thresholds.” Armstrong abilities were well-suited to the Tour – as well as all-round strengths as...
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...Running head: DOPING IN CYCLING 25 June 2014 Utrecht School of Economics The Economics of Doping: policy advices to create a level-playing field in professional cycling. Authors: Danilo Fattorini (3790215) Orkhan Hajizada (3773663) Supervisors: Drs. Erwin van Sas (USE) Dr. Tineke Lambooy (RGL) Group Supervisor: Drs. Erwin van Sas Table of Contents Abstract3 Introduction4 1. Institutional Framework7 1.1. Embeddedness7 1.2. Institutional Environment9 1.2.1. Formal Institutions9 1.2.2. Informal institution – the doping market112 1.3. Governance14 1.4. Resource Allocation and Employment16 2. Decision-making process16 2.1. Prize money and Doping17 2.2. Health and Doping22 2.3. Size of Punishment and Probability of Detection 23 2.3.1. Doping game: introduction26 2.3.2. Theoretical example using real numbers 30 2.4. Number of participants and Doping 34 2.5. Conclusion 37 3. Policy advices38 3.1. Efficiency Comparison 38 3.2. Application of Criminal Law 41 Conclusion42 Bibliography44 Appendix A: Interview with Filippo Simeoni49 Appendix B: Interview with Axel Dekker55 Abstract Sports victories are often strived to at the cost of sportsmen’s integrity, reputation, health, security, or even life. The tendency to use performance-enhancing drugs is shaped by factors characterizing the institutional framework. In particular, the prize money, health costs, severity and frequency of punishment, and number of participants are...
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...Lance Armstrong and Livestrong Foundation: Rising again after the fall Salman Danny Harry Introduction Facts about Lance E. Armstrong • American professional road racing cyclist • Won 7 Tour de France Titles • In 1996 was diagnosed as having testicular cancer • He won the fight against cancer with 50/50 percent chance of survival • In 2012 the UCI disqualified him from all those races for doping offences, banning Armstrong from competitive cycling for life Interview Facts about Livestrong Foundation • Founded in 1997 by Lance Armstrong • Raised over $500 million • Supported by countless public figures and celebrities worldwide • Through Nike raised more than $100 million through the sales of the wristband and other Livestrong apparels • Lance Armstrong personally contributed nearly $6.5 million to foundation Global search index 6th tour de France victory 7th tour de France victory Lance Armstrong Retirement announced Livestrong Return announced Oprah’s next chapter interview Law suit started Marketing communication process © 2003 McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., McGraw-Hill/Irwin Culture Objects Persons Context Celebrity Endorsement Celebrity Product Consumption Product consumer McCracken model Source factors Source attribute Credibility Attractiveness Power Process Internalization Identification Compliance Source credibility • Expertise • Trustworthiness Internalization Source attractiveness • Similarity...
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...which allowed him to dominate the shorter races (Rose & Fisher, 2014). By the time he was 21, Lance had already ridden in his first tour and won the U.S. Pro Championship. Lance Armstrong also cheated death at the young age of 25. He won the battle against cancer when he was diagnosed with testicular cancer that then spread to his lungs and brain (Rose & Fisher, 2014). Lance vowed to return to the cycling world someday and that he did. Taking with him the hearts of Americans. With personal sponsors such as Nike, Oakley and Giro and creating the Lance Armstrong Foundation, Lance became an iconic figure. In 1997, when the USPS (United States Postal Service) sponsored the U.S. cycling team, they also took a chance with Lance. It was a rocky start until Johan Bruyneel became the team director and changed Lance’s training schedule and regime (Rose & Fisher, 2014). Armstrong was the key decision maker when it came to the team such as choosing the other riders, the doctors and the support staff. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in January, Armstrong admits to having used performance-enhancing drugs throughout his cycling career and "bullying" teammates and others to lie about it. He said he began using testosterone, EPO, and blood transfusions in the mid-1990s and the illegal substances contributed to each of his seven Tour de France victories. He was definitely wrong for using performance-enhancing drugs during his career and unfairly...
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...Ronald Reagan once said “There is no constraint on the human mind, no walls around the human spirit, and no barriers to our progress except those we ourselves erect”. But the million dollar question still remains unanswered- How far can the human spirit actually take anyone? Two words, Lance Armstrong. Ladies and Gentlemen my topic for today is my role model in sports and that has to undoubtedly be Lance Armstrong. Lance Armstrong is an American cycling legend who has won the prestigious Tour de France 7 times. To win this competition is an ultimate dream for any cyclist, but to achieve it after being diagnosed with stage 3 cancer is next to impossible isn’t it? He didn’t think so. The biggest things in life which eventually go on to define you happen when you least expect them. As John Lennon says “Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans.” In the year 1995, Armstrong, then aged 25 was diagnosed with stage 3 testicular cancer. This is the age when a sportsman is supposed to be at his physical peak. But this man was suffering from a type of cancer which spread to his lungs and brain. He had a less than 40% chance of survival. On the face of it this seems to be not only a career threatening but a life threatening situation. Ladies and gentlemen it is not how you go down in flames, but how you rise from the ashes that make a person a true hero and a champion. Cycling is one sport which requires one of the highest levels...
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