Teams and Riders
Because the 1997 Tour had seen many crashes in the first week, the organisation decided to reduce the number of teams from 22 to 21. 189 riders in 21 teams commenced the 1998 Tour de France, only 96 riders finished. The first round of teams that were invited were the sixteen teams of the UCI Rankings on 1 January 1998, provided that they were still in the top 2000 after transfers were factored into the calculation. All these sixteen teams fulfilled this requirement:
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Later, the organisation gave wildcards to four teams:
- Cofidis
- Asics-CGA
- Vitalicio Seguros
- Riso Scotti-MG Maglificio
One team was added with a special invitation:
- BigMat-Auber 93
Read more about this topic: 1998 Tour De France
Famous quotes containing the words teams and/or riders:
“A sturdy lad from New Hampshire or Vermont who in turn tries all the professions, who teams it, farms it, peddles, keeps a school, preaches, edits a newspaper, goes to Congress, buys a township, and so forth, in successive years, and always like a cat falls on his feet, is worth a hundred of these city dolls. He walks abreast with his days and feels no shame in not “studying a profession,” for he does not postpone his life, but lives already.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“Good swimmers drown and good riders get thrown.”
—Chinese proverb.