-
A Welsh Cyclist was reported to have died the Bordeaux to Paris race fter drinking a mixture of cocaine, caffeine and strychnine. It was the first death due to doping in cycling, and although doping was common, it wasn't illegal.
-
In 1924, three cyclists gave an interview stating that they took a combination of cocaine, chloroform, aspirin, strychnine and 'horse ointment'. The interview was titled 'The Convicts of the Road'
-
By 1930, doping in cycling was so common that in the rule book published by Henri Desgrange, it told riders that drugs wouldn't be provided by the race organisers.
-
Throughout the 1900’s there were a variety of high profile doping cases, including Fausto Coppi, who ingested amphetamines developed during WWII to keep submariners awake and alert, and the Wiel’s-Groene Leeuw affair, where 12 riders during the Tour de France fell ill, claiming to have eaten ‘bad fish’ though none of the hotels served fish.
-
The use of PED's in cycling became illegal.
-
ON the 29th of July, 1966, drug testing began at the Tour de France.
-
Lance Armstrong was accused of doping in the 1999 Tour de France, but never tested positive. He admitted to doping in 2013.
-
FLoyd Landis tested positive for using PED's in his 2006 Tour de France win, and in 2007 was stripped of his medal and banned from cycling for 2 years.
