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International Review for the Sociology of Sport
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TWILIGHT OF THE HERO IN THE TOUR DE FRANCE

Stephen G. Wieting

University of Iowa, USA

Maurice Garin won the first Tour de France in 1903, and Lance Armstrong won in 1999, providing 86 races for analysis (after cancellations for war). Participation, fan interest, and success have been heavily French and by continent almost exclusively European. The bounded population of occurrences and singular geographical locus combine for a useful analytical frame for investigating how particular sports are affected by national cultures. The second race and the 1998 Tour yielded visible scandals, and there have been many other races where riders were censored even as winners were celebrated. A provocative element within the established bases for opprobrium and honor is that there are two (rather than one) normative frameworks: one of the racers themselves and the other of the surrounding society, originally French and now increasingly global. The research intends to illustrate the frequent tension and strong discontinuity between the increasingly complex surrounding normative order and the more contained normative order of the Tour participants. Culture use sports to celebrate moral values by valorizing competitors as heroes. However, the 1998 Tour and the lingering crisis of trust in the integrity of the event in 1999 create the prospect of systemically induced rule infractions and the demise of the sport hero.

Key Words: cycling • doping • heroes • Tour de France

International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Vol. 35, No. 3, 348-363 (2000)
DOI: 10.1177/101269000035003007
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[Abstract] [PDF]