How to Avoid Disqualification in the Tour de France

Though it remains the premier event in all of cycling, the Tour de France has recently been rocked by a series of doping scandals. The incidents have shed light on the rules governing the race, and ways in which competitors can be disqualified from the Tour. If you're lucky enough to compete in the Tour de France and want to avoid disqualification, make sure you know all the rules and the penalties for breaking them.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Avoid performance-enhancing drugs. The use of drugs forbidden by the International Cycling Union (UCI) is grounds for disqualification or, at the very least, severe scoring penalties. Random drug testing takes place throughout the Tour, so it is extremely difficult to avoid.
2. Refrain from grabbing onto your team's car to gain speed. Cars are used to provide food and drink for the cyclists at certain specified stages of the race, as well as repairs to the bikes and medical service. Gripping the sides of a car as a means of accelerating without effort is strictly forbidden, as is using cars to "slipstream" and avoid wind resistance.
3. Obey French law. The Tour de France has an overall caveat that riders must follow the laws of France at all times. Violating the law through acts of vandalism, assaults on spectators or fellow cyclists, or any other act that will get you charged with a crime in France, is grounds for disqualification.
4. Avoid placing wagers. Gambling on the Tour de France, or on any UCI race in which you or your team is participating, can result in instant disqualification.
5. Avoid violating the official rules or cheating. In the Tour de France, cheating is defined as "any form of deal aimed at winning by means other than sporting." This includes bribery, sabotage of other competitors or their equipment, alteration of timekeeping and scoring devices and the use of equipment which does not follow the guidelines laid down by the Tour.
6. Remain on the designated race route at all times. Diverging from the prescribed course is permitted in exceptional circumstances (such as times when riders are forced off the road), but deliberately changing course in order to get some sort of advantage will get you disqualified.
7. Avoid assisting any fellow team member. You are not permitted to push or pull any other cyclist along during the Tour de France.
8. Keep at least three members of your team from being disqualified. Any team reduced to less than three members (out of the nine that began) is immediately dropped from the race.

Tips & Warnings

• Disqualification of a cyclist or team is usually imposed by the chairman of the Tour's stewards committee and the official director of the Tour de France. Cyclists are usually permitted to explain and justify their actions before they are disqualified.
• Check the UCI's official rules and regulations site (see Resources below). All the official Tour de France rules, including a list of banned substances and the penalties imposed on riders who break the rules, are listed.