2004 Temple Owls football team
The 2004 Temple Owls football team represented Temple University in the college 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. Temple competed as a member of the Big East Conference. The team was coached by Bobby Wallace and played their homes game in Lincoln Financial Field.


2004 Tennessee Democratic presidential primary
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by Woko Sapien (talk | contribs) at 15:47, 25 June 2020. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


2004 Tennessee Democratic presidential primary
The 2004 Tennessee Democratic presidential primary was held on February 10 in the U.S. state of Tennessee as one of the Democratic Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 2004 presidential election.


2004 Tennessee Titans season
The 2004 Tennessee Titans season was the franchise's 35th season in the National Football League, the 45th overall and the 8th in the state of Tennessee. The team attempted to improve upon their previous output of 12–4, but only ended up with a 5-11 for that year, and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2001.


2004 Tennessee Titans season
The season is notable when the team lost three starters from the famed 1999 team; lineman Jevon Kearse went to the Philadelphia Eagles, running back Eddie George was released before the season, and he would later sign with the Dallas Cowboys and tight end Frank Wycheck retired after the 2003 season.


2004 Tennessee Volunteers football team
The 2004 Tennessee Volunteers (variously "Tennessee", "UT", or the "Vols") represented the University of Tennessee in the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. Playing as a member of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Eastern Division, the team was led by head coach Phillip Fulmer, in his twelfth full year, and played their home games at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee. They finished the season with a record of ten wins and three losses (10–3 overall, 7–1 in the SEC), as the SEC Eastern Division champions and as champions of the Cotton Bowl Classic after they defeated Texas A&M.


2004 Tennis Masters Cup
The 2004 Tennis Masters Cup was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 35th edition of the year-end singles championships, the 30th edition of the year-end doubles championships, and was part of the 2004 ATP Tour. It took place at the Westside Tennis Club in Houston, Texas, United States, from November 13 through November 21, 2004.


2004 Tennis Masters Cup, Points Breakdown, Doubles
1 Malisse and Rochus qualified due to winning French Open and a top 20 finish according to the rules


2004 Tennis Masters Cup, Champions, Doubles
Bob Bryan /  Mike Bryan def. Wayne Black /  Kevin Ullyett, 4–6, 7–5, 6–4, 6–2


2004 Tennis Masters Cup – Doubles
Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan were the defending champions, and won in the final 4–6, 7–5, 6–4, 6–2, against Wayne Black and Kevin Ullyett.


2004 Tennis Masters Cup – Doubles, Draw, Red Group
Standings are determined by: 1) Number of wins; 2) Number of matches; 3) In two-players-ties, head-to-head records; 4) In three-players-ties, percentage of sets won, or of games won; 5) Steering Committee decision.


2004 Tennis Masters Cup – Doubles, Draw, Blue Group
Standings are determined by: 1) Number of wins; 2) Number of matches; 3) In two-players-ties, head-to-head records; 4) In three-players-ties, percentage of sets won, or of games won; 5) Steering Committee decision.


2004 Tennis Masters Cup – Singles
Defending champion Roger Federer successfully defended his title, defeating Lleyton Hewitt in the final, 6–3, 6–2 to win the Singles tennis title at the 2004 Tennis Masters Cup.


2004 Tennis Masters Cup – Singles, Draw, Red Group
Standings are determined by: 1) Number of wins; 2) Number of matches; 3) In two-players-ties, head-to-head records; 4) In three-players-ties, percentage of sets won, or of games won; 5) Steering Committee decision.


2004 Tennis Masters Cup – Singles, Draw, Blue Group
Standings are determined by: 1) Number of wins; 2) Number of matches; 3) In two-players-ties, head-to-head records; 4) In three-players-ties, percentage of sets won, or of games won; 5) Steering Committee decision.


2004 Tercera División play-offs
The 2004 Tercera División play-offs to Segunda División B from Tercera División (Promotion play-offs) were the final playoffs for the promotion from 2003–04 Tercera División to 2004–05 Segunda División B. The first four teams in each group (excluding reserve teams) took part in the competition.


2004 Tercera División play-offs, Group E
Navalcarnero, At. Arteixo, Marino, Guijuelo, Huesca, Sestao River, Peralta, Lemona, Badalona, Benidorm, Levante B, Alcoyano, Díter Zafra, Alcalá G., Don Benito, Arenas & Castillo


2004 Texas A&M Aggies football team
The 2004 Texas A&M Aggies football team completed the season with a 7–5 record. The Aggies had a regular season Big 12 record of 5–3.


2004 Texas Democratic presidential primary
A presidential primary for the Democratic Party was held in Texas in 2004 as part of the selection process for the Democratic candidate for the presidential elections that year.


2004 Texas Longhorns baseball team
The 2004 Texas Longhorns baseball team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 2004 NCAA Division I baseball season. The Longhorns played their home games at Disch–Falk Field. The team was coached by Augie Garrido in his 8th season at Texas.


2004 Texas Longhorns baseball team
The Longhorns reached the College World Series final, falling in two games to champion Cal State Fullerton.


2004 Texas Longhorns baseball team, Schedule
^ Collegiate Baseball ranks 40 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season. † NCBWA ranks 35 teams in their preseason poll, but only ranks 30 teams weekly during the season. * New poll was not released for this week so for comparison purposes the previous week's ranking is inserted in this week's slot.


2004 Texas Longhorns football team
The 2004 Texas Longhorns football team represented the University of Texas at Austin in the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. The team was coached by head football coach Mack Brown and led on the field by quarterback Vince Young. Ranked third in wins in Division I-A college football history, the University of Texas has traditionally been considered a college football powerhouse, but Brown had not managed to lead the Longhorns into a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) game. The 2004 season included some controversy related to the selection of Texas as an at-large team to attend the 2005 Rose Bowl. Brown coached the team to win that game with a thrilling last-second victory. The victory brought the Longhorns to 11 wins and 1 loss for the season (11–1) and it earned the Longhorns a top 5 finish in the polls.


2004 Texas Longhorns football team, Season highlights
In 2004, the Longhorns began the season with a No. 7 ranking nationally and started out with a 65–0 blowout of North Texas, setting several UT school records in the process. This was followed by a narrow 22–20 win against unranked Arkansas. They defeated Rice and Baylor 35–13 and 44–14 respectively.


2004 Texas Longhorns football team, Season highlights
This left them ranked fifth coming into the annual matchup with then No. 2 Oklahoma in the Red River Shootout. Oklahoma shut-out the Longhorns 12–0. Texas dropped to No. 9, before rebounding with wins over No. 24 Missouri 28–20, at No. 24 Texas Tech 51–21, and at Colorado 31–7.


2004 Texas Longhorns football team, Season highlights
Then Texas set a record for the largest come from-behind-win in school history, beating No. 19 Oklahoma State 56–35 after falling behind 7–35. After this performance, Texas again fell behind against Kansas but squeaked out a win 27–23. Kansas coach Mark Mangino stirred up controversy by claiming that the officials were biased in favor of Texas.


2004 Texas Longhorns football team, Season highlights
This brought UT back up to No. 5 in the rankings as they welcomed arch-rival Texas A&M to Austin and won 26–13. However, Oklahoma stood undefeated, which meant the Sooners would represent the Big 12 South in the Championship game against a much lower ranked team from the North Division. Once again, the loss to Oklahoma had kept Texas out of playing for a National or Conference Title, and had seemingly destined them to a non-Bowl Championship Series bowl as well.


2004 Texas Longhorns football team, Season highlights
However, Brown began lobbying the voters in the two polls based on human voters (one on college football coaches, the other on Associated Press (AP) writers) to place the Longhorns high enough in the rankings to ensure they received a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl-bid. The rules of the BCS were such that Texas might get left out of the eight chosen teams even though they ranked fifth nationally.


2004 Texas Longhorns football team, Season highlights
The No. 4 California Golden Bears won their final regular season game 26–16 over 24-point underdog Southern Miss. Cal did not try to run-up the score at the end of the game. Several AP voters were besieged by fan emails and phone calls attempting to sway their votes, apparently spurred from Brown's pleas to rank Texas ahead of other "less deserving teams." Nine of the 65 AP voters switched Texas ahead of Cal, and three of them were from Texas.


2004 Texas Longhorns football team, Season highlights
In the coaches poll, four voters moved Cal down to No. 7 and two to No. 8, when the week before none had them lower than No. 6. Meanwhile, two coaches moved Texas up to No. 3 when the team did not play that week. The Los Angeles Times wrote that accusations were raised about coaches manipulated voting, but the individual coaches votes were not released to prove or disprove the allegations. The AP Poll makes its voters' records public.


2004 Texas Longhorns football team, Season highlights
No. 6 Texas gained 23 points on No. 4 Cal in the AP poll, and the fifth-ranked Longhorns closed 43 points on the fourth-ranked Bears in the coaches poll. That allowed Texas to earn a BCS berth, finishing .0129 points ahead of Cal in the BCS standings after being .0013 points behind. In part because of the controversy with Texas' and Cal's BCS ranking, the AP poll withdrew from the BCS after the season. This lobbying effort and ensuing result led to criticism of Brown for playing politics to get his team into a top bowl. Thus, he was no longer criticized for failing to get into a top bowl, he was criticized for doing so (and the way he had done it).


2004 Texas Longhorns football team, Season highlights, Rose Bowl
The appearance in the "Grand-daddy" of all bowl games was the first visit by the Longhorns, due mainly to the fact that the Rose Bowl traditionally pitted the winner of the Pac-10 against the winner of the Big Ten. Texas' opponent was Michigan, whom Texas was playing for the very first time. Texas and Michigan each had over 100 years of football history. The meeting of the two teams set a college football record for the most games played collectively by two opponents before facing each other for the first time.


2004 Texas Longhorns football team, Season highlights, Rose Bowl
Texas won the game 38–37 on a last second field goal kick by Longhorn Dusty Mangum in what had been called one of the greatest Rose Bowl games of all time. It was the only time in the history of the Rose Bowl that the game has been decided as time expired off the clock. Vince Young set several Rose Bowl records and also won the Rose Bowl MVP award.


2004 Texas Longhorns football team, After the season
In the NFL Draft that followed, three Longhorns were drafted – RB Cedric Benson went 4th overall to Chicago Bears and Derrick Johnson went 15th overall to the Kansas City Chiefs. TE Bo Scaife was picked in the 6th round by the Tennessee Titans and would be later reunited with quarterback Vince Young


2004 Texas Longhorns football team, After the season
With the exception of these players, most of the team returned to play for the 2005 Texas Longhorns football team, including redshirt sophomore quarterback Vince Young. Therefore, expectations were high coming into the 2005 season. At the trophy presentation in Pasadena, Vince Young had proclaimed, "We'll be back! ", referencing the fact that the Rose Bowl was the host for the next year's BCS National Championship.


2004 Texas Rangers season
The Texas Rangers finished the 2004 season in 3rd place in the West division of the American League. Five Rangers were All Stars, Francisco Cordero, Kenny Rogers, Hank Blalock, Michael Young and All-Star Game MVP Alfonso Soriano.


2004 Texas Rangers season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


2004 Texas Rangers season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


2004 Texas Republican presidential primary
The 2004 Texas Republican presidential primary was held on March 9 in the U.S. state of Texas as one of the Republican Party's statewide nomination contests ahead of the 2004 presidential election. Incumbent George W. Bush won the primary in a landslide.


2004 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team
The 2004 Texas Tech Red Raiders football team represented Texas Tech University in the Big 12 Conference (Big 12) during the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fifth season under head coach Mike Leach, the Red Raiders compiled an 8–4 record (5–3 against Big 12 opponents), finished in a tie for third place in Southern Division of the Big 12, defeated California in the 2004 Holiday Bowl, and outscored opponents by a combined total of 434 to 314. The team played its home games at Jones SBC Stadium in Lubbock, Texas.


2004 Thailand National Games
The 34th Thailand National Games (Thai:การแข่งขันกีฬาแห่งชาติ ครั้งที่ 34 “ราชบุรีเกมส์”) also known (2004 National Games, Ratchaburi Games) held in Ratchaburi, Thailand during 18 to 28 December 2004. Representing were 35 sports and 76 disciplines.


2004 Thailand Open (tennis)
The 2004 Thailand Open was a men's tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. It was the 2nd edition of the Thailand Open, and was part of the International Series of the 2004 ATP Tour. It took place at the Impact Arena in Bangkok, Thailand, from 27 September through 3 October 2004. Roger Federer won the singles title.


2004 Thailand Open (tennis), Finals, Doubles
Justin Gimelstob /  Graydon Oliver defeated  Yves Allegro /  Roger Federer, 5–7, 6–4, 6–4


2004 Thailand Open – Doubles
Justin Gimelstob and Graydon Oliver won the doubles tennis matches in the final 5–7, 6–4, 6–4, against Yves Allegro and Roger Federer


2004 Thailand Open – Singles
Roger Federer won in the final 6–4, 6–0 against Andy Roddick.


2004 The Citadel Bulldogs football team
The 2004 The Citadel Bulldogs football team represented The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina in the 2004 NCAA Division I-AA football season. John Zernhelt served as head coach for the first season. The Bulldogs played as members of the Southern Conference and played home games at Johnson Hagood Stadium.


2004 The Citadel Bulldogs football team, Schedule
The Bulldogs first game of the season, against Charleston Southern was cancelled due to Hurricane Gaston.


2004 Thomas & Uber Cup
The 2004 Thomas & Uber Cup was held from 7 May to 16 May 2004 in Jakarta, Indonesia. It was the 23rd edition of World Men's Team Badminton Championships, Thomas Cup and 20th edition of World Women's Team Badminton Championships, Uber Cup.


2004 Thomas & Uber Cup
After a 12-year drought China finally lifted their fifth title of Thomas Cup and also won their ninth title of Uber Cup.


2004 Thomas & Uber Cup, Host city selection
Indonesia, Japan, and the United States are the countries to submit a bid for hosting the event. Indonesia was selected as host during IBF council meeting in Birmingham.


2004 Thomas & Uber Cup, Teams
The following nations from 5 continents, shown by region, qualified for the 2004 Thomas & Uber Cup. Of the 16 nations, defending champions of Uber Cup, China, and host nation as well as defending champion of Thomas Cup, Indonesia and its Uber Cup team qualified automatically and did not play the qualification round.


2004 Three Days of De Panne
The 2004 Three Days of De Panne was the 28th edition of the Three Days of De Panne cycle race and was held on 30 March to 1 April 2004. The race started in Middelkerke and finished in De Panne. The race was won by George Hincapie.


2004 Three Rivers District Council election
Elections to Three Rivers Council were held on 10 June 2004. One third of the council was up for election and the Liberal Democrat party stayed in overall control of the council. Overall turnout was 42.1%.


2004 Thuringian state election
The 2004 Thuringian state election was held on 13 June 2004 to elect the members of the 4th Landtag of Thuringia. The incumbent Christian Democratic Union (CDU) government led by Minister-President Dieter Althaus retained its majority and continued in office.


2004 Thuringian state election, Parties
The table below lists parties represented in the 3rd Landtag of Thuringia.


2004 Thurrock Council election
The 2004 Thurrock Council election took place on 10 June 2004 to elect members of Thurrock Council in Essex, England. The whole council was up for election with boundary changes since the last election in 2002. The Conservative party gained overall control of the council from the Labour party.


2004 Thurrock Council election, Election result
The results saw the Conservatives win control of the council, which Labour had run before the election with 33 of the 49 seats. The Conservatives gained 18 seats while Labour lost 14.


2004 Time Warner Cable Road Runner 250
The 2004 Time Warner Cable Road Runner 250 was the third round of the 2004 Bridgestone Presents the Champ Car World Series Powered by Ford season, held on June 5, 2004 at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin. The relatively cold temperatures for the night race limited passing, allowing Ryan Hunter-Reay to lead every lap of the race from the pole.


2004 Tippeligaen
The 2004 Tippeligaen was the 60th completed season of top division football in Norway. The season began on 12 April 2004 and ended on 30 October 2004.


2004 Tippeligaen
Each team played 26 games with three points given for wins and one point for a draw. Number thirteen and fourteen are relegated, number twelve has to play two qualification matches (home and away) against number three in the first division (where number one and two are directly promoted) for the last spot.


2004 Tippeligaen, Overview, Summary
Rosenborg won their thirteenth consecutive title and 19th top-flight title overall. Stabæk and Sogndal were relegated. Rosenborg, Vålerenga, Brann and Tromsø finished in the top four and qualified for the 2004–05 Royal League.


2004 Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship
The 2004 Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship was the 114th staging of the Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship since its establishment by the Tipperary County Board in 1887. The knock-out stage of the new-look league-championship began on 5 September 2004 and ended on 10 October 2004.


2004 Tipperary Senior Hurling Championship
On 10 October 2004, Toomevara won the championship after a 4-12 to 2-12 defeat of combination side Éire Óg-Golden-Kilfeacle in the final  at Semple Stadium. It was their 19th championship title overall and their second title in succession.


2004 Tippmix Budapest Grand Prix
The 2004 Tippmix Budapest Grand Prix was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts in Budapest, Hungary that was part of the Tier V category of the 2004 WTA Tour. It was the tenth edition of the tournament and was held from 26 April until 2 May 2004. Eighth-seeded Jelena Janković won the singles title and earned $16,000 first-prize money.


2004 Tippmix Budapest Grand Prix, Finals, Doubles
Petra Mandula /  Barbara Schett defeated  Virág Németh /  Ágnes Szávay 6–3, 6–2


2004 Tippmix Budapest Grand Prix – Doubles
Petra Mandula and Elena Tatarkova were the defending champions, but Tatarkova didn't play in 2004.


2004 Tippmix Budapest Grand Prix – Singles
Magüi Serna was the defending champion from 2003, but chose not to compete in 2004.


2004 Tippmix Budapest Grand Prix – Singles
Jelena Janković won this title, defeating Martina Suchá in the final in straight sets.


2004 Tirreno–Adriatico
The 2004 Tirreno–Adriatico was the 39th edition of the Tirreno–Adriatico cycle race and was held from 10 March to 16 March 2004. The race started in Sabaudia and finished in San Benedetto del Tronto. The race was won by Paolo Bettini of the Quick-Step team.


2004 Toledo Rockets football team
The 2004 Toledo Rockets football team represented the University of Toledo during the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. They competed as a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) in the West Division. The Rockets were led by head coach Tom Amstutz. The Rockets offense scored 432 points while the defense allowed 404 points.


2004 Tommy Murphy Cup
The first Tommy Murphy Cup, a Gaelic football tournament, was held in 2004. All those teams that lost in the early rounds of the championship were invited to play, but only four actually competed. Clare were the inaugural champions, Ordan O'Dwyer scoring the crucial goal in the final.


2004 Tonga Major League
The 2004 season of the Tonga Major League was the 26th season of top flight association football competition in Tonga. Lotohaʻapai United won the championship for the seventh time, the 7th in a record streak of 11 titles in the Tonga Major League.


2004 Top League Challenge Series
The 2004 Top League Challenge Series was the 2004 edition of the Top League Challenge Series, a second-tier rugby union competition in Japan, in which teams from regionalised leagues competed for promotion to the Top League for the 2004–05 season. The competition was contested from 10 to 24 January 2004.


2004 Top League Challenge Series
IBM Big Blue and Toyota Verblitz won promotion to the 2004–05 Top League, while Kyuden Voltex and Toyota Industries Shuttles progressed to the promotion play-offs.


2004 Top League Challenge Series, Competition rules and information
The top two teams from the regional Top East League, Top West League and Top Kyūshū League qualified to the Top League Challenge Series. The regional league winners participated in Challenge 1, while the runners-up participated in Challenge 2.


2004 Top League Challenge Series, Competition rules and information
The top two teams in Challenge 1 won automatic promotion to the 2004–05 Top League, while the third-placed team in Challenge 1 and the Challenge 2 winner qualified to the promotion play-offs.


2004 Top League Challenge Series, Qualification
The teams qualified to the Challenge 1 and Challenge 2 series through the 2003 regional leagues.


2004 Top League Challenge Series, Qualification, Top West League
The final standings for the 2003 Top West League were:


2004 Top League Challenge Series, Qualification, Top East League
The final standings for the 2003 Top East League were:


2004 Top League Challenge Series, Qualification, Top Kyūshū League
The final standings for the 2003 Top Kyūshū League were:


2004 Top League Challenge Series, Challenge 1, Standings
The final standings for the 2004 Top League Challenge 1 were:


2004 Top League Challenge Series, Challenge 1, Matches
The following matches were played in the 2004 Top League Challenge 1:


2004 Top League Challenge Series, Challenge 2, Standings
The final standings for the 2004 Top League Challenge 2 were:


2004 Top League Challenge Series, Challenge 2, Matches
The following matches were played in the 2004 Top League Challenge 2:


2004 Toppserien
The 2004 season of the Toppserien, the highest women's football (soccer) league in Norway, began on 17 April 2004 and ended on 30 October 2004.


2004 Toppserien
18 games were played with 3 points given for wins and 1 for draws. Number nine and ten were relegated, while the two top teams from the First Division were promoted.


2004 Toray Pan Pacific Open
The 2004 Toray Pan Pacific Open was a women's tennis tournament played on indoor carpet courts. It was the 21st edition of the Toray Pan Pacific Open, and was part of the Tier I Series of the 2004 WTA Tour. It took place at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan, from January 30 through February 8, 2004. Lindsay Davenport won the singles title.


2004 Toray Pan Pacific Open, Finals, Doubles
Cara Black /  Rennae Stubbs  defeated  Elena Likhovtseva /  Magdalena Maleeva, 6–0, 6–1


2004 Toray Pan Pacific Open – Doubles
Elena Bovina and Rennae Stubbs were the defending champions, but had different outcomes. While Bovina did not compete this year, Stubbs partnered with Cara Black and successfully defended her title, defeating Elena Likhovtseva and Magdalena Maleeva 6–0, 6–1 in the final. It was the 2nd title in the year for the pair, and the 14th title for Black and 44th title for Stubbs, in their respective careers.


2004 Toray Pan Pacific Open – Singles
Lindsay Davenport was the defending champion and successfully defended her title, defeating Magdalena Maleeva 6–4, 6–1 in the final. It was the 1st title of the year and the 39th of her career.


2004 Toray Pan Pacific Open – Singles, Seeds
The first four seeds received a bye into the second round.


2004 Torneo Apertura (Chile)
The 2004 Campeonato Nacional Apertura Copa Banco del Estado was the 75th Chilean League top flight, in which Universidad de Chile won its twelfth league title after beating Cobreloa in the final, on penalties, with goalkeeper Johnny Herrera scoring the winning penalty kick.


2004 Torneo Apertura (Chile), Playoffs, First Round
Deportes Temuco and Universidad de Chile qualified as best losers.


2004 Torneo Apertura (Chile), Pre-Copa Sudamericana 2004 Tournament, Final round
Santiago Wanderers & Universidad de Concepción qualified to 2004 Copa Sudamericana


2004 Torneo Clausura (Chile)
The 2004 Campeonato Nacional Clausura Copa Banco del Estado  was the 76th Chilean League top flight, in which Cobreloa won its 8th league title after beating Unión Española in the finals.


2004 Torneo Descentralizado
The 2004 Torneo Descentralizado (known as the Copa Cable Mágico for sponsorship reasons) was the eighty-eighth season of Peruvian football. A total of 14 teams competed in the tournament, with Alianza Lima as the defending champion. Alianza Lima won its twenty-first Primera División title after beating Sporting Cristal in the final playoff.


2004 Torneo Descentralizado, Changes from 2003, Structural changes
The number of teams for the 2004 season grew from 12 to 14. The relegation system was re-introduced but the system was determined by a points per match average. The qualification for the Copa Sudamericana was determined by the aggregate table instead of the Torneo Apertura playoffs. Due to a structure change in the Copa Libertadores, only two teams will qualify directly to the group stage (the half-year champions) and the best-placed non-champion will have to play in the first stage.


2004 Torneo Descentralizado, Changes from 2003, Promotion and relegation
No teams were relegated from the 2003 season and thus the number of teams grew from 12 to 14. Segunda División champion Sport Coopsol and Copa Perú 2003 champion U. César Vallejo were promoted.


2004 Torneo di Viareggio
The 2004 winners of the Torneo di Viareggio (in English, the Viareggio Tournament, officially the Viareggio Cup World Football Tournament Coppa Carnevale), the annual youth football tournament held in Viareggio, Tuscany, are listed below.


2004 Torneo di Viareggio, Format
The 40 teams are seeded in 10 pools, split up into 5-pool groups. Each team from a pool meets the others in a single tie. The winning club from each pool and three best runners-up from both group A and group B progress to the final knockout stage. All matches in the final rounds are single tie. The Round of 16 envisions penalties and no extra time, while the rest of the final round matches include 30 minutes extra time with Golden goal rule and penalties to be played if the draw between teams still holds. Semifinal losing teams play 3rd-place final with penalties after regular time. The winning sides play the final with extra time, no Golden goal rule and repeat the match if the draw holds.


2004 Toronto Argonauts season
The 2004 Toronto Argonauts season was the 115th season for the professional Canadian football team since the franchise's inception in 1873. The team finished in second place in the East Division with a 10–7–1 record and qualified for the playoffs for the third consecutive year. The Argonauts defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in the East Semi-Final and then won the Eastern Final against the Montreal Alouettes. Toronto faced the BC Lions in the 92nd Grey Cup and won their 15th Grey Cup championship by a score of 27–19.


2004 Toronto Argonauts season, Postseason, Grey Cup
Toronto Argonauts (27) – TDs, Damon Allen (2), Robert Baker; FGs Noel Prefontaine (2); cons., Prefontaine (3).


2004 Toronto Argonauts season, Postseason, Grey Cup
BC Lions (19) – TDs, Jason Clermont, Dave Dickenson; FGs Duncan O'Mahony (2); cons. O'Mahony (1).


2004 Toronto Argonauts season, Postseason, Grey Cup
First Quarter BC—TD Clermont 12-yard pass from Dickenson (O'Mahony convert) 4:07


2004 Toronto Argonauts season, Postseason, Grey Cup
Second Quarter TOR—FG Prefontaine 27-yard field goal 7:40 TOR—TD Allen 1-yard run (Prefontaine convert) 12:22  BC—FG O'Mahony 42-yard field goal 13:13 TOR—TD Baker 23-yard pass from Allen (Prefontaine convert) 14:37


2004 Toronto Argonauts season, Postseason, Grey Cup
Third Quarter TOR—TD Allen 1-yard run (Prefontaine convert) 4:45 BC—FG O'Mahony 36-yard field goal 9:16


2004 Toronto Argonauts season, Postseason, Grey Cup
Fourth Quarter BC—TD Dickenson 7-yard run (convert failed) 6:06 TOR—FG Prefontaine 16-yard field goal 12:19


2004 Toronto Blue Jays season
The 2004 Toronto Blue Jays season was the franchise's 28th season of Major League Baseball. It resulted in the Blue Jays finishing fifth in the American League East with a record of 67 wins and 94 losses, their worst record since 1980. The Blue Jays' radio play-by-play announcer, Tom Cheek, called every Blue Jays game from the team's inaugural contest on April 7, 1977, until June 3, 2004, when he took two games off following the death of his father – a streak of 4,306 consecutive regular season games and 41 postseason games. It was the team's first season where Ace is the sole mascot, following the removal of Diamond at the end of the previous season.


2004 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, Summary
The 2004 season was a disappointing year for the Blue Jays right from the beginning. They started the season 0–8 at SkyDome and never started a lengthy winning streak. Much of that was due to injuries to All-Stars Carlos Delgado, Vernon Wells and Roy Halladay among others. Although the additions of starting pitchers Ted Lilly and Miguel Batista and reliever Justin Speier were relatively successful, veteran Pat Hentgen faltered throughout the season and retired on July 24.


2004 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, Summary
Rookies and minor league callups David Bush, Jason Frasor, Josh Towers and others filled the void in the rotation and the bullpen; however, inconsistent performances were evident. Most starting pitchers did not pitch further than the sixth inning; thus, the overused bullpen contributed to the frequent relinquishing of early scoring leads.


2004 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, Summary
The offense really sputtered due to the injuries of Wells, Delgado, Catalanotto and others, although in their absence, Josh Phelps emerged as the team's go to guy, hitting 12 homers and driving in 51 runs before being limited to playing against left-handed pitching and was traded to the Cleveland Indians. Five different catchers were used: Greg Myers, Bobby Estalella, Kevin Cash, Gregg Zaun, and rookie Guillermo Quiróz. Greg Myers was injured running the bases in Minnesota, early in the season, and was lost for the year. Bobby Estalella was called up, but he proved to be brittle as well. Gregg Zaun landed the starting catching job for the rest of the season. Kevin Cash continued to struggle from an offensive standpoint and would be moved in the offseason. The highly touted Guillermo Quiróz was promoted from the minors near the end of the season.


2004 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, Summary
With the team struggling in last place and mired in a five-game losing streak, manager Carlos Tosca was fired on August 8, 2004, and was replaced by first-base coach John Gibbons through the end of the season. The Jays' trying year would also touch long-time radio announcer Tom Cheek, who had to break his streak of calling all 4,306 regular season games in franchise history, upon the death of his father. Cheek had to take more time off later to remove a brain tumor, and by the end of the season, Cheek only called the home games.


2004 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, Summary
Nevertheless, prospects Russ Adams, Gabe Gross, and Alex Ríos provided excitement for the fans. Adams hit his first major league home run in his second game, in which Gross also earned his own first major league grand slam. Alex Ríos was among the MLB Rookie of the Year Award candidates. However, the award went to Bobby Crosby of the Oakland Athletics. Rookie pitchers David Bush, Gustavo Chacín and Jason Frasor also showed promise for the club's future. The Blue Jays' lone MLB All-Star Game representative in 2004 was pitcher Ted Lilly.


2004 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, Summary
On October 2, 2004, the Toronto Blue Jays announced the dismissals of pitching coach Gil Patterson and first-base coach Joe Breeden, effective at the end of the season. One day later, the Blue Jays finished the 2004 campaign with a 3–2 loss against the New York Yankees in front of an announced crowd of 49,948. However, the Jays' annus horribilis continued after the game, when it was announced that former pitcher and current TV broadcaster John Cerutti died suddenly of natural causes at the age of only 44.


2004 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, Summary
More losses to the Jays family came in the offseason. Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame member Bobby Mattick, the manager from 1980 to 1981 and perhaps the best baseball man in the organization, suffered a stroke and died at the age of 89. Mattick had also served as the Vice President of Baseball Operations for the Blue Jays. A few days before Christmas, the Jays also mourned the loss of former first baseman Doug Ault, who had hit two home runs in the team's inaugural game in 1977; he was only 54 years old.


2004 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, Summary
Rogers Communications, the owner of the Jays, purchased SkyDome from Sportsco International in November 2004 for approximately $25 million CAD ($21.24 million USD), just a fraction of the construction cost.


2004 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, Summary
Just days after superstar Carlos Delgado became a free agent after the club refused arbitration, the Jays announced the signing of Manitoban third baseman Corey Koskie, formerly of the Minnesota Twins. One month after Koskie was inked, the Jays traded pitching prospect Adam Peterson to the Arizona Diamondbacks for corner infielder/DH Shea Hillenbrand.


2004 Toronto Blue Jays season, Regular season, 2004 Draft picks
The 2004 MLB draft was held on June 7–8. The Blue Jays had two compensation picks.


2004 Toronto Blue Jays season, Player stats, Batting, Starters by position
Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


2004 Toronto Blue Jays season, Player stats, Batting, Other batters
Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in


2004 Toronto Blue Jays season, Player stats, Pitching, Starting pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned Run Average; SO = Strikeouts


2004 Toronto Blue Jays season, Player stats, Pitching, Other pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned Run Average; SO = Strikeouts


2004 Toronto Blue Jays season, Player stats, Pitching, Relief pitchers
Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned Run Average; SO = Strikeouts


2004 Toronto International Film Festival
The 29th Toronto International Film Festival ran from September 9 through September 18. The festival screened 328 films of which 253 were features and 75 were shorts (148 of the films screened were in a language other than English).


2004 Toronto International Film Festival, Awards
No first or second runners-up were officially named for the People's Choice Award; however, festival director Piers Handling did provide the media with a list of numerous other films that had been in the running, including Crash, Gunner Palace, I, Claudia, Up and Down, 3-Iron, Ma Mère, The Holy Girl, Red Dust, Brides, Saving Face and Sideways.


2004 Toronto International Film Festival, Canada's Top Ten
The festival's year-end Canada's Top Ten list was announced in December.


2004 Toronto International Film Festival, Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time
In 2004 a new Top 10 Canadian Films of All Time list was made, an exercise previously carried out in 1984 and 1993.


2004 Toronto Rock season
The Toronto Rock are a lacrosse team based in Toronto playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 2004 season was the 7th in franchise history and 6th as the Rock.


2004 Toronto Rock season
The Rock continued its dynasty on top of the NLL standings, finishing first in its division for the sixth straight year. The Rock lost to the Buffalo Bandits in the division final, failing in their attempt at three consecutive championships.


2004 Toronto Rock season, Regular season, Conference standings
x: Clinched playoff berth; c: Clinched playoff berth by crossing over to another division; y: Clinched division; z: Clinched best regular season record; GP: Games PlayedW: Wins; L: Losses; GB: Games back; PCT: Win percentage; Home: Record at Home; Road: Record on the Road; GF: Goals scored; GA: Goals allowedDifferential: Difference between goals scored and allowed; GF/GP: Average number of goals scored per game; GA/GP: Average number of goals allowed per game


2004 Toronto Rock season, Player stats, Runners (Top 10)
Note: GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; LB = Loose Balls; PIM = Penalty Minutes


2004 Toronto Rock season, Player stats, Goaltenders
Note: GP = Games Played; MIN = Minutes; W = Wins; L = Losses; GA = Goals Against; Sv% = Save Percentage; GAA = Goals Against Average


2004 Totesport League
The 2004 totesport League season was a 45 over English county cricket competition; colloquially known as the Sunday League. Glamorgan Dragons won the League for the third time.


2004 Tour Down Under
The 2004 Tour Down Under, known as Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under for sponsorship reasons, was the sixth edition of the Tour Down Under stage race. It took place from 20 January to 25 January  in and around Adelaide, South Australia and was the first major stage race of the season. The race was won by Patrick Jonker, who rode for Team UniSA.


2004 Tour Down Under, Stages, Stage 1
20 January 2004 – Adelaide - Adelaide, 50 km (31 mi)


2004 Tour Down Under, Stages, Stage 2
21 January 2004 – Norwood to Kapunda, 157 km (98 mi)


2004 Tour Down Under, Stages, Stage 3
22 January 2004 – Goolwa - Victor Harbor, 150 km (93 mi)


2004 Tour Down Under, Stages, Stage 4
23 January 2004 – Unley - Hahndorf, 141 km (88 mi)


2004 Tour Down Under, Stages, Stage 5
24 January 2004 – Willunga - Willunga, 147 km (91 mi)


2004 Tour Down Under, Stages, Stage 6
25 January 2004 – Adelaide - Adelaide, 90 km (56 mi)


2004 Tour de France
The 2004 Tour de France  was a multiple stage bicycle race held from 3 to 25 July, and the 91st edition of the Tour de France. It has no overall winner—although American cyclist Lance Armstrong originally won the event, the United States Anti- Doping Agency announced in August 2012 that they had disqualified Armstrong from all his results since 1998, including his seven Tour de France wins from 1999 to 2005; the Union Cycliste Internationale confirmed this verdict.


2004 Tour de France
The event consisted of 20 stages over 3,391 km (2,107 mi). Armstrong had been favored to win, his competitors seen as being German Jan Ullrich, Spaniards Roberto Heras and Iban Mayo, and fellow Americans Levi Leipheimer and Tyler Hamilton. A major surprise in the Tour was the performance of French newcomer Thomas Voeckler, who unexpectedly won the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification in the fifth stage and held onto it for ten stages before finally losing it to Armstrong.


2004 Tour de France
This Tour saw the mistreatment of Filippo Simeoni by Armstrong on Stage 18. Armstrong also made a "zip-the-lips" gesture on camera, apparently referencing Simeoni.


2004 Tour de France
The route of the 2004 Tour was remarkable. With two individual time trials scheduled in the last week, one of them the climb of Alpe d'Huez, the directors were hoping for a close race until the end. For the first time in years, the mountains of the Massif Central made an appearance.


2004 Tour de France, Teams
The first 14 teams in the UCI Road World Rankings at 31 January 2004 were automatically invited. Initially the organisers had an option for a 22nd team, which would be Kelme, but after Jesús Manzano exposed doping use in that team, Kelme was not invited, and the race started with 21 teams of nine cyclists.


2004 Tour de France, Route and stages
The highest point of elevation in the race was 2,000 m (6,600 ft) at the summit of the Col de la Madeleine mountain pass on stage 17.


2004 Tour de France, Race overview
During this Tour de France the men who were delivering the drugs to riders had names like Alibaba, Asterix, Obelixand Motoman.


2004 Tour de France, Race overview, Doping
The 18th stage saw mistreatment of Filippo Simeoni by Lance Armstrong, after Simeoni had testified about doping and doctor Michele Ferrari.


2004 Tour de France, Race overview, Doping
The book L. A. Confidentiel, by David Walsh and Pierre Ballester, came out shortly before the 2004 Tour, accusing Lance Armstrong of doping. Lance Armstrong and his lawyers asked for an emergency hearing in French court to insert a denial into the book. The French judge denied this request. Armstrong also launched defamation suits against the publisher and the authors, as well as magazine L'Express and UK newspaper The Sunday Times which both referenced it.


2004 Tour de France, Race overview, Doping
Subsequent to Armstrong's statement to withdraw his fight against United States Anti- Doping Agency's (USADA) charges, on 24 August 2012, the USADA said it would ban Armstrong for life and stripped him of his record seven Tour de France titles. Later that day it was confirmed in a USADA statement that Armstrong was banned for life and would be disqualified from any and all competitive results obtained on and subsequent to 1 August 1998, including forfeiture of any medals, titles, winnings, finishes, points and prizes. On 22 October 2012, the Union Cycliste Internationale endorsed the USADA sanctions, and decided not to award victories to any other rider or upgrade other placings in any of the affected events.


2004 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
There were four main individual classifications contested in the 2004 Tour de France, as well as a team competition. The most important was the general classification, which was calculated by adding each rider's finishing times on each stage. Time bonuses given at the end of each mass start stage. If a crash had happened within the final 3 km (1.9 mi) of a stage, not including time trials and summit finishes, the riders involved would have received the same time as the group they were in when the crash occurred. The rider with the lowest cumulative time was the winner of the general classification and was considered the overall winner of the Tour. The rider leading the classification wore a yellow jersey.


2004 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
The second classification was the points classification. Riders received points for finishing in the highest positions in a stage finish, or in intermediate sprints during the stage. The points available for each stage finish were determined by the stage's type. The leader was identified by a green jersey.


2004 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
The third classification was the mountains classification. Most stages of the race included one or more categorised climbs, in which points were awarded to the riders that reached the summit first. The climbs were categorised as fourth-, third-, second- or first-category and hors catégorie, with the more difficult climbs rated lower. The leader wore a white jersey with red polka dots.


2004 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
The final individual classification was the young rider classification. This was calculated the same way as the general classification, but the classification was restricted to riders who were born on or after 1 January 1979. The leader wore a white jersey.


2004 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
The final classification was a team classification. This was calculated using the finishing times of the best three riders per team on each stage; the leading team was the team with the lowest cumulative time. The number of stage victories and placings per team determined the outcome of a tie.


2004 Tour de France, Classification leadership and minor prizes
In addition, there was a combativity award given after each mass start stage to the rider considered, by a jury, to have "made the most effort and who has demonstrated the best sportsmanship". The winner wore a blue number bib the following stage. At the conclusion of the Tour, Richard Virenque (Quick-Step–Davitamon) was given the overall super-combativity award. The Souvenir Henri Desgrange was given in honour of Tour founder Henri Desgrange to the first rider to pass the summit of the highest climb in the Tour, the Col de la Madeleine on stage 17. This prize was won by Gilberto Simoni.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9
The 2004 Tour de France first ten stages began with the Prologue individual time trial in Liège, Belgium and continued through Stage 9 (Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat to Guéret). The stages were mostly flat and most ended with the main field finishing together. However, Stage 4 was a team time trial with each team riding alone competing against the clock. Also, between Stages 8 and 9 the riders had a rest day where no stage occurred.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9
188 riders from 21 teams began the Prologue, but 16 dropped out of the race due to varying reasons leaving only 172 riders at the end of Stage 9. Five different riders had the overall lead in the race, including five-time defending champion Lance Armstrong. With a long breakaway in Stage 5, where a group of five riders had a 12 minute advantage over the main competitors, Frenchman Thomas Voeckler of the Brioches La Boulangère team took a 9 minute lead over all of the pre-race favorites. He held the lead through the rest of these ten stages and into the next group of stages.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Jerseys
The jerseys in the Tour de France are used to signify the leaders in each category during each stage. The overall leader in the general classification is given the maillot jaune (yellow jersey). Intermediate sprint points are placed throughout each stage with points given to the first set of riders to pass the point as well as points given to stage winners, with the points leader given the Maillot Vert (green jersey).


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Jerseys
Any classified mountain during stages are given a set of points for the first riders to crest the mountain with the leader in mountain points given the Maillot à Pois Rouges (polka-dot jersey). Any rider under the age of 26 on 1 January 2004 were eligible to win the young rider competition and the Maillot Blanc (white jersey) as the highest overall young rider in general classification. Additional awards are given for the best placed team and the most combative in each stage which are presented as colored numbers for the back of the riders jerseys. At the end of each stage the leaders/winners of each category for the day are awarded their jerseys/numbers and wear them for the next stage.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Prologue
3 July 2004 — Liège, 6.1 km (3.8 mi) (ITT)


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Prologue
The short time trial covered 6.1 km (3.8 mi) of the streets of Liège. The course was almost completely flat, with just a 5 metre peak at 4.3 km completed. The course was raced in cool, cloudy conditions and despite occasional light rain proved to be very fast, but it caused the fall of several riders.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Prologue
The winner was Swiss Tour-debutant Fabian Cancellara who completed the course in 6'51" at an average speed of 53.560 km/h, the third fastest in the race's history. Cancellara was in his second year with the Fassa Bortolo and was junior and U23 world time trial champion in 1999 and 2000 respectively.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Prologue
Lance Armstrong finished second, just seconds behind Cancellara's time, and impressively ahead of most of his major competitors in the general classification, and all the other expected challengers finished within 20" of Cancellara, who after the prologue declared that he believed himself to be the world's best rider in such short distances. Cancellara's performance put him at the top of both the general classification and the race for sprinters points, which would give him both the yellow, white and green jerseys. Since one does not wear two jerseys, however, the green jersey is "loaned" to the racer in second place in that competition, which, in this case, had the unusual result of putting Lance Armstrong in green.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 1
4 July 2004 — Liège to Charleroi, 202.5 km (125.8 mi)


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 1
The stage covered 202.5 km (125.8 mi) from Liège to Charleroi, heading south from Liège before looping back and heading west to the finish. The first third of the route included three cat-4 climbs and there were a cat-3 and a cat-4 climb around the middle of the course. For the Tour the course was almost flat and a mass sprint was expected at the finish. The weather was cool and cloudy at the start, later there was rain.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 1
The race had a lively start with a breakaway barely 15 minutes from the start. With various contributors the small group led by less than 20 seconds over the first two climbs. Their lead extended to 1'10" on the third climb and after the first hour of racing the five-strong group was almost 2'30" clear. The main sprinter's teams in the peloton were slow to organise as a number of crashes and other problems delayed their team leaders. The lead peaked at around 3'45" but after 115 km in the lead the breakaways were reeled in by the main group.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 1
The sprint teams held the peloton together until the third intermediate sprint at Eghezee. An attack by Jakob Piil and Marc Wauters raced away and they stretched their advantage to over 1'50". But with around 25 km to go riders from Lotto, Fassa Bortolo and other sprinter's teams took to the front of the peloton. The lead of Wauters and Piil was slowly reduced until they were caught with less than 2 km to the finish. In a mass sprint veteran Jaan Kirsipuu broke early and held off Robbie McEwen to win by the smallest of margins. It was his fourth career Tour win. After the time bonuses from intermediate sprints were counted Cancellara remained in yellow, four seconds clear of Hushovd and ten ahead of Armstrong.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 2
5 July 2004 — Charleroi to Namur, 197 km (122.4 mi)


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 2
The stage was 197 km. Namur, the Walloon capital, is to the east of Charleroi and only 30 km away. The route of the race described a rough square to the west, with both cities in the top east corner. Again the route was mostly flat, marked by only two cat-4 climbs, so a mass sprint finish was almost certain. The race started in clouds but ended in sunshine.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 2
The race began with a number of early attacks and after the first climb at 7 km a group of six riders slipped away. Their lead grew quickly and by 40 km raced they were over four minutes clear and were working hard together. The lead peaked at 5', but the sprinter teams Quick-Step and Crédit Agricole finally began to push the pace in the peloton. The lead group held on, their time falling slowly, but as other teams took a turn their advantage fell away and they were caught with 23 km to go.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 2
Despite the remaining distance the peloton was held together by Quickstep and later Fassa Bortolo. The mass sprint ended in a clear victory for Robbie McEwen, second - despite breaking his bike at 20 km to go - was Thor Hushovd. With the 12" time bonus for his position the Norwegian National Champion took the maillot jaune, the first Norwegian to ever wear it. There were a number of crashes during the race and Gian Matteo Fagnini broke his collarbone and was forced to withdraw.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 3
6 July 2004 — Waterloo to Wasquehal, 210 km (130.5 mi)


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 3
This was another fairly flat stage, of 210 km, tending south before turning west and leading the Tour out of Belgium and into France. The two categorized climbs, a cat-3 and a cat-4, included the well-known Muur of Geraardsbergen of the Tour of Flanders. Part of the stage also included the notorious pavé of the Paris–Roubaix Classic for the first time on the Tour since 1983. The two stretches of narrow cobbled streets totaling just 4 km, but were certainly the most 'ominous' feature of the course. The weather was warm and dry.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 3
After another retirement, that of Frédéric Bessy (Cofidis), 185 riders started. As on the previous two days there was a very early attack, this time by Jens Voigt and Bram de Groot. Again as on the first two stages, the escapers quickly stretched their advantage, leading by 4'30" at the 25 km mark. The lead rose to 6'10" just after the first sprint (Meerbeke at 42 km). After the Muur de Geraardsbergen the peloton, led by Crédit Agricole, started to push the pace but the leaders held out and even increased their lead.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 3
As the pavé at Erre approached  (146 km) and the race leaders held a 5'45" advantage the 'pushing' for the head of the peloton began. This led to a nasty crash involving Iban Mayo, considered one of Armstrong's major competitors in this Tour, 2 km before the pavé. Armstrong used this opportunity to have his team launch an attack, and the peloton broke into two large groups.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 3
The push at Erre slashed at the lead of Voight and De Groot, it also put Armstrong, Ullrich, Zabel and ninety or so others in a group ahead of the main peloton and the yellow jersey. With 50 km to go the leading pair had 1' advantage over the nearest chasers, but almost 3' over the main pack. US Postal pushed hard to maximise their advantage and finally, at 163 km raced, Voight and De Groot were caught, the main group still lagging 1'50" behind.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 3
The leading group rattled over the second section of pavé with trouble and took their lead over the yellow jersey to 2'30". There were a series of attacks off the front of the leading group but there were enough sprinter's teams to close them down. In the final race for the line McEwen kicked early but Jean-Patrick Nazon and Erik Zabel slipped by to take first and second. The second group, with Mayo and Thor Hushovd, who wore the yellow jersey coming into the stage, came in 3'53" behind - enough back to end Mayo's hopes of a victory. With the time bonuses McEwen took over the yellow and green jerseys, the yellow for the first time in his career.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 4
7 July 2004 — Cambrai to Arras, 64.5 km (40.1 mi) (TTT)


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 4
This 64.5 km stage was the team time trial, an event with some vociferous critics. This year, new rules were introduced for this stage to reduce the impact on the lighter-weight climbing teams. Under the new rules, the second place team would not receive a time penalty more than 20 seconds slower than the first place team for the purposes of the general classification. The third place team would not receive more than 30 seconds loss to that of the first, the fourth place 40 seconds, and so on to a maximum time deficit of three minutes. The course for the time trial had numerous gentle slopes, none of which merited a category. The day started dry but heavy rain quickly picked up.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 4
As expected, despite a slow start (5th after first time check), US Postal won the stage - putting Armstrong in yellow, filling six of the top seven overall places with his colleagues, and, remarkably, giving the top three places in the general classification to Americans (Armstrong, George Hincaple, and Floyd Landis). The results were good news for Armstrong, giving him a 36 second lead on Tyler Hamilton, a 55 second lead on Jan Ullrich, and, of course, giving him a yellow jersey, albeit one he was not expected to try to defend in the short term. Their only stress was dropping Benjamin Noval, who was shaken up from a crash yesterday - the same one that had brought down Mayo. Noval finished within the minimum time, however, and the Postal squad notably broke off their press interviews to congratulate him at the finish line.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 4
Hamilton's Phonak team also did extremely well, especially considering that by the time they reached the finish line mechanical problems had whittled them down to five riders - the minimum number to receive a time in the team time trial (although all of their riders eventually did finish). Phonak was also hampered by the unusual decision to have Hamilton slow down and wait for Santos González when he had some mechanical trouble. Despite this, they finished second, ahead of Illes Balears in third, and Ullrich's T-Mobile team in fourth.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 4
Fasso Bortolo had a tough day, getting penalized two minutes for infractions - one for pacing themselves off of the team cars, and another for pushing each other for speed, adding another insult to what was shaping up to be a disappointing Tour for Alessandro Petacchi.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 5
8 July 2004 — Amiens to Chartres, 200.5 km (124.6 mi)


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 5
The bad storms from stage four continued, with fierce crosswinds, adding the potential for drama to a stage that was otherwise basically a straight, flat ride to Chartres. An early break at 12 km got 15' ahead, when a crash with around 90 km to go slowed the peloton as they let the fallen riders catch up. That let the breakaway get to 17'30" ahead, and it was clear that they weren't going to be caught.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 5
Another crash at 30 km to go took out Robbie McEwen, adding to an already lousy day for the Australian, who was losing a lot of ground to Stuart O'Grady, who was racking up points for the green jersey. The breakaway crossed the line well ahead of the peloton following a brutal series of attacks among the five riders, including Thomas Voeckler, who began the stage three minutes behind Armstrong, and who was thus clearly going to end up in the yellow jersey.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 5
The peloton eventually closed the gap to 12'36". Voeckler, who came in fourth, moved from 59th to 1st in the general classification, taking the yellow jersey from Armstrong with a 9'35" lead over Armstrong, and a 3 min 13 s lead over second place Stuart O'Grady, though this was not a particularly bad blow for Armstrong, since Voeckler, despite being the French National Champion, would not prove to be a climber until much later in his career. McEwen held onto the green jersey, but Stuart O'Grady managed an impressive 53 sprinters points, more than doubling his total to 81, and putting him in 6th place for the green.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 5
Bradley McGee, who wore the yellow jersey for the first three days of the 2003 Tour de France, had a tough day, having never quite recovered from a crash on Stage 1. He got dropped off the back of the peloton and eventually dropped out of the tour.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 6
9 July 2004 — Bonneval to Angers, 196 km (121.8 mi)


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 6
With no hills at all, this was, from the start, clearly going to be a day for the sprinters. The day began with the announcement that both Alessandro Petacchi and Mario Cipollini had dropped out of the race, Petacchi due to injury on Stage 5, Cipollini due to an injury on Stage 3 that had reopened. Neither had won any stages.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 6
Near the start of the stage, a number of riders crashed, including Lance Armstrong; however, all involved in this crash were able to rejoin the peloton. An early break got caught late, with the last rider being pulled back to the peloton with 2 km to go. A massive pileup at the 1 km mark, however, split the peloton, leaving only a handful of riders with any chance of winning. Young Belgian Tom Boonen took it clearly, with Stuart O'Grady in second. Robbie McEwen was hurt in the crash and limped in towards the finish, getting no sprinters points today. This meant that O'Grady's second place finish, with its associated 30 points, was enough to put him in green. The overall standings remained unchanged, save for O'Grady closing 12 seconds on Voeckler from his time bonus.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 7
10 July 2004 — Châteaubriant to Saint-Brieuc, 204.5 km (127.1 mi)


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 7
On the last day for the sprinters before the mountains get started, the major battle was set to be between McEwen and O'Grady for the green jersey, and it didn't disappoint. The first hour or so of racing consisted of a series of failed breaks as the peloton rocketed along at an average speed of 50 km/h. After about an hour, a two man break consisting of Erik Dekker, who had already won four Tour stages in previous years, and Thierry Marichal shot off and held on for most of the race.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 7
The two riders came to a sort of a compromise, with Marichal taking first in the sprint checkpoints, and Dekker taking first in both of the checkpoints for the King of the Mountains competition. Meanwhile, back in the peloton, Bobby Julich's CSC team attacked with 50 km to go, splitting the peloton. The main contenders all managed to hold on in the front group, though, and eventually the peloton would reconvene.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 7
The pair was finally brought in by the CSC-led chase around 31 km from the finish, and only a few kilometers later CSC led another attack when Jacob Piil broke off the front, joined by three other riders. With 8.5 km to go, they were brought in only to have another break of seven take off. That one survived to the end, but with 2 km to go three riders took off from that, and managed to hold it to the end, with the stage win going to Italian Fillippo Pozzato.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 7
Back in the peloton, though, O'Grady managed to sneak in ahead of McEwen, making up for the four points McEwen took on him in the intermediate sprints, and holding onto the green jersey for another day, this time by a razor-thin one point. The overall standings remained unchanged among the major competitors.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 8
11 July 2004 — Lamballe to Quimper, 168 km (104.4 mi)


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 8
Today was a shorter stage, only 168 km, with more climbs than the past few days - three category four climbs and a category three. After yesterday's constant attacks, though, the pack took it slower and easier. A three man break took off at 16 km, containing, predictably, Jacob Piil, as well as Matteo Tosatto and Ronny Scholz. Karsten Kroon joined them, but early on got a flat tire and was swallowed by the peloton.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 8
The breakaway was caught with 9 km to go, and the peloton remained solid through to the finish. As with many of the stages this year, there was a crash towards the end, this time at the back of the peloton, caused by a dog running across the road. It didn't slow things down much, though, and the peloton continued to the line, Thor Hushovd taking the sprint. Robbie McEwen took fourth, ahead of O'Grady's eighth, and claimed the green jersey. The general classification remained unchanged as the riders head into the first of two rest days before starting through the mountains in Stage 9.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 9
13 July 2004 — Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat to Guéret, 160.5 km (99.7 mi)


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 9
This 160.5 km stage was another with more hills after a two-day rest, although only two were categorized and a sprinters' finish was expected. This was the last stage before some big climbs so the balance was between 'resting' for the following day and a last chance for sprinters. The weather was, at last, warm with temperatures up to 25 °C.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 9
The race began with a few early escape attempts, with groups of from one and eight riders breaking and being caught within the first 20 km. The attacks continued but the peloton maintained a high pace with US Postal at the front. Jaan Kirsipuu was dropped from the peloton and abandoned the race. At about 38 km raced Inigo Landaluze  managed to get away, he was chased and caught by Filippo Simeoni and the duo pulled out their lead. A number of riders attempted to join them but none made it across the gap, although Karsten Kroon spent a long time alone between the two groups before giving up the solo chase on thesecond climb, the Cote d'Aubusson.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 9
With 100 km to the finish the two leaders were almost 2 min 30 s clear and the peloton slowed a little. The leaders' advantage rapidly increased, rising by over four minutes in the next 25 km and peaked at 10 min 05 s when the peloton reached the second climb. After the climb the riders of Crédit Agricole, Lotto-Domo and Quickstep came to the front of the peloton and raised the pace.


2004 Tour de France, Prologue to Stage 9, Stage 9
The lead fell slowly, with 44 km to go they were still 6 min 10 s ahead. With 25 km to the finish they still had a little under four minutes in hand, with 15 km just two minutes, 10 km 1 min 25 s, 5 km just 40 seconds. With just the final kilometre to race Landaluze and Simeoni were swept up, they had started playing tactical games for the final lead out and the sprinters just blew past them. In the sprint for the line Robbie McEwen just edged out Thor Hushovd and Stuart O'Grady. McEwen now had an 18 point lead in the green jersey clash.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20
The 2004 Tour de France was the 91st edition of Tour de France, one of cycling's Grand Tours. The Tour began in Liège, Belgium with a prologue individual time trial on 3 July and Stage 10 occurred on 14 July with a hilly stage from Limoges. The race finished on the Champs-Élysées in Paris on 25 July.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 10
14 July 2004 — Limoges to Saint-Flour, 237 km (147.3 mi)


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 10
This 237 km stage was the longest of the 2004 Tour and the first to feature some serious climbs. Cutting through the departments of Haute-Vienne, Correze, and Cantal, and so part of the Massif Central, the big climbs were the cat-1 Col du Pas de Peyrol (Le Puy Mary) and the cat-2's the Col de Neronne and the Col de Prat de Bouc. On Bastille Day the predominantly French crowd was willing a French stage win, a feat achieved thirteen times since 1947, the last being Laurent Jalabert in 2001. The day was calm, warm and sunny. 172 riders started the stage.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 10
The race began with small attacks in the first few kilometres but the peloton kept control until around Linards, at 35 km. A group of four riders, including veteran climber Richard Virenque, managed to pull out a small lead, they were joined by seven other riders just before the first sprint, but their lead was just 20 seconds. After the small lead group swelled to eighteen riders US Postal came to the front of the peloton and all the escapees except Virenque and Axel Merckx (son of Eddy) were soon back in the main group.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 10
The determined duo slowly pulled away, extending their advantage to 60 seconds by the 50 km mark. Joly and Kroon tried to join them but fell short and after they returned to the peloton the pace of the main group fell slightly, USP reduced their efforts, and the two leaders pulled further ahead. After the second climb (Col de Lestards, 67 km raced, cat-3) they were almost four minutes ahead.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 10
Virenque and Merckx pulled further ahead over the third climb and by the second intermediate sprint were 8'05" clear. At the summit of the Cote de Chalvignac (126.5 km raced) they had over nine minutes in hand. Brioches la Boulangere were doing most of the work at the front of the peloton. On the Col de Neronne the lead was 10'40", Virenque had taken maximum points on every climb.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 10
On the ascent of the cat-1 Col du Pas de Peyrol, after 135 km together, Merckx was dropped by Virenque. His lead over the peloton was down to 9'00" and he had about half-a-minute over Merckx. On the descent there were two nasty crashes out of the peloton by Matthias Kessler and Sebastian Hinault.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 10
Over the eighth summit (Col d'Entremont) Virenque had a minute over Merckx and had maintained his advantage over the peloton. On the final major summit, the Col de Prat de Bouc, with 31.5 km to the finish, Virenque led Merckx by over four minutes and had 7'45" over the rest. Merckx was caught by the peloton on the descent and then dropped by the peloton (he finished a minute down on the peloton).


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 10
Virenque held his lead, the peloton did not make a major effort to catch him, and he came in over five minutes ahead. He had been out in front for 202 km and raced the final 62 km alone. It was his seventh career Tour stage victory, his maximum points haul was enough to put him in the polka-dot jersey for the first time in 2004 and his win also jumped him 51 places in the classement général.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 11
15 July 2004 — Saint-Flour to Figeac, 164 km (101.9 mi)


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 11
This 164 km stage remained in hilly territory but featured no climbs as severe as Stage 10. There were just five categorised climbs, the largest being the cat-2 Côte de Montsalvy at 99.5 km. The day was warm, road-side temperatures reached as high as 45 °C and there was little wind.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 11
After the usual early escape attempts the peloton split on the very first climb at 6.5 km, although they were soon back together. Very quickly after the regrouping Jens Voigt and Juan Antonio Flecha broke away, they were joined by four others, but never got further than 20 seconds ahead and soon rejoined the US Postal led peloton. Minutes after that group had been swept up seven more riders tried to get away, they were soon caught and again another four riders made an attack. This group grew to seven before being caught on the second climb, the Cote de Therondels.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 11
On the short descent, after 56 km raced, David Moncoutie and Egoi Martinez made a break, they were soon joined by Flecha and the trio managed to push their lead above 30 seconds and then further. In the 15 km to the third climb they established a 1'50" gap. Their advantage reached 7'50" at 90 km raced, fell back over the fourth climb, the Cote de Montsalvy, before rising again to over eight minutes.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 11
The leaders took an eight-minute advantage into the final 10 km and the attacks began from within the trio. Flecha had an attempt and was caught, but then Moncoutie broke away and the remaining pair didn't chase. His lead grew by 60 seconds in the next 4 km and he cruised over the line for his first Tour victory 2'15" ahead of his two chasers, who both looked decidedly jaded. Moncoutié is a native of the region and the first régionaux winner since 1974. The peloton came in six minutes after Moncoutié and there were no changes to the top ten.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 12
16 July 2004 — Castelsarrasin to La Mongie, 197.5 km (122.7 mi)


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 12
This 197.5 km stage was the first to enter the Pyrenees. The route had no categorised climbs until the 160 km mark. The two climbs were both cat-1, the Col d'Aspin was included in a stage for the 66th time and the finish was at La Mongie (third inclusion), a ski resort at the top of another cat-1 climb. There were expectations that Armstrong would make a move on this stage, as he had won a previous stage to La Mongie in 2002. It was another sunny, cloudless day at the start but as the riders approached the mountains there was heavy rain.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 12
A break by four riders in the first two minutes was allowed to get away. Counter-attacks were swallowed up by the US Postal and Brioches la Boulangere led peloton, but the foursome built their lead over the long approach to the Col d'Aspin to a maximum of just over four minutes. With about 100 km raced the peloton started to cut into the leaders' advantage and caught them three km from the start of the ascent of the Col d'Aspin.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 12
US Postal led the peloton up the mountain, setting a pace that dropped many non-climbers. There were several attacks on the ascent and the riders were led over the summit by Mickael Rasmussen, who had a 5" lead over Christophe Moreau, Virenque was third. Despite the wet road the descent was rapid and broke up the peloton.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 12
The rain stopped as the riders approached the final climb. Rasmussen took a 30" lead into the ascent but he was soon caught by a group of eleven, including Armstrong and Mayo. Having dropped Ullrich, Armstrong was quick to attack himself and the group pulled away from Ullrich. Sastre was still ahead of the group and with 3 km to the finish he was chased by Armstrong, who was accompanied by Ivan Basso. Armstrong caught and dropped Sastre and led Basso under the 1 km mark.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 12
In the final metres Basso put on a spurt, Armstrong did not respond, and Basso won the stage. Mayo came in 1'09" down, Ullrich 2'30", and Tyler Hamilton 3'27". Other riders staggered in over the next 100 minutes. Thomas Voeckler finished 3'59" behind but stayed in yellow  (he has now spent longer in yellow than any Frenchman since 1992), Armstrong rose to second in the classement général.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 13
17 July 2004 — Lannemezan to Plateau de Beille, 205.5 km (127.7 mi)


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 13
This was the second day in the Pyrenees. The 205.5 km stage had five major climbs, including the 15.9 km hors categorie climb to the finish at Plateau-de-Beille, the first such climb on the 2004 Tour. The other main climbs were the Col de Portet d'Aspet, the Col de la Core, the Col de Latrape, and the Col d'Agnes. The Col d'Agnes actually has a steeper gradient than the final climb (average 8.2% to average 7.8%) but is shorter at 9.8 km. Many mountains on this stage have been included before, notably the Col du Portet d'Aspet, this is its 51st inclusion since 1910 including the tragic occasion in 1995 when Fabio Casartelli crashed on the descent and later died. On another bright and hot day 165 riders started the stage.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 13
The usual early break, this time by fifteen riders, was quickly chased down by the US Postal team. Haimar Zubeldia was dropped early and abandoned the Tour, a short while later Denis Menchov abandoned and before the first climb Gerrit Glomser dropped out. Another smaller group quickly sprang away after the capture of the first break, and held a slim advantage for a few more kilometres before being swept up. Again there was another break, this time by Sylvain Chavanel and Jens Voigt. The pair broke away, and as the peloton slowed, built up a reasonable lead - heading the peloton by 3'06" over the first climb, with Michael Rasmussen caught in no-man's-land 70" behind the leaders.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 13
On the second climb, the Col du Portet d'Aspet, Rasmussen caught and stayed with the two leaders and the three went over the summit with a lead of 3'50" over the peloton. A substantial group (a grupetto) were dropped on the ascent by the main peloton. As the riders passed through the feedzone Tyler Hamilton abandoned.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 13
The trio extended their lead on the flatter part and had a 5'00" advantage over the Col de Core. On the fourth climb they pulled out a little further and the chasing peloton dropped many riders including Iban Mayo and Thomas Voeckler, Roberto Heras was also finding it tough. On the Col d'Agnes Voigt and Rasmussen dropped Chavanel and in the twenty-strong chasing group the five US Postal riders started to push harder. At the summit the leading pair's advantage over the peloton had fallen to 3'40", Voeckler was a further minute back, with Mayo a surprising 14'05" adrift.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 13
Over the Port de Lers Voigt stopped working and simply followed Rasmussen over the summit, 3'50" ahead. Behind them the chasers joined up, forming a thirty-strong group including Voeckler, who had fought his way back. At the start of the final climb Voigt and Rasmussen held an insufficient 3'10" lead.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 13
On the final climb US Postal led the chasers. The group quickly started losing riders, again including Voeckler. By the time the gap had been cut to 1'30" the chasing group had shrunk to just eleven, notables were Armstrong, Ullrich, Leipheimer, Mancebo and stage 12's winner Basso. By the time Voight was caught, Armstrong's group was just four - himself, teammate Jose Azevedo, Georg Totschnig and Ivan Basso. Rasmussen was quickly caught too, but Armstrong powered on and shed Totschnig and both the previous leaders.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 13
Azevedo led the other two into the last 8 km before falling away, by 5 km to go the two leaders were 45" ahead of Totschnig (Azevedo was 1'40" behind). Basso led out the last kilometre but in the final 100 m Armstrong passed him for his first stage win of the 2004 Tour and his 19th career Tour victory. Ullrich came in 2'42" later, Voeckler was 13th at 4'42" and kept the yellow jersey by 22".


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 14
18 July 2004 — Carcassonne to Nîmes, 192.5 km (119.6 mi)


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 14
After the Pyrenees comes a 192.5 km stage without a single categorised climb. The flat stages after mountains often have long breakaway winners as the main competitors recuperate. On a hot and hazy day with a slight breeze 160 riders started the stage.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 14
The race started with a flurry of attacks, all were quickly closed down - including a twenty-man break. US Postal and Voeckler's 'Bakery Boys' led the peloton. After 30 km raced a four strong attack built up a little lead, the group pushed their lead out to 60 seconds over the first sprint but were pulled back to barely 15" soon afterwards. With the leaders so close there were plenty of riders trying to cross the gap and they were caught at the 65 km mark by a Rabobank lead peloton.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 14
There were a number of other attacks, including a twelve-man attempt, but Lotto and Quickstep closed them down, the overall pace was high - over 45 km/h average in the second hour. However, around 15:00, with 100 km raced, ten men made it away, coalescing from a number of smaller breaks - they were a sufficient mix of teams (nine!) and low places (the best placed was 43rd) that there was no team wanting to chase. The ten quickly pulled away, gaining a 2'50" advantage in the next 15 minutes of racing. After an hour in the lead and with 50 km to go their advantage was 10'50". The peloton was 'policed' by Brioches la Boulangere and the ten men kept working together into the final 15 kilometres, leading by 13'19".


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 14
As the finish approached, cooperation among the ten fell apart and a series of attacks and chases split and rejoined the group. With around 5 km to go Aitor Gonazalez attacked for a second time and tore away into a 15" lead as the others hesitated, only Nicolas Jalabert and Christophe Mengin chased and they couldn't catch him. Gonzalez won, Jalabert grabbed second and the others drifted in.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 14
The peloton came in 14'12" back, with sprinters points going down to 25th place there was a strongly contested sprint, with McEwen just beating Hushovd for 11th place and one extra point over his green jersey rival. The top ten in the classement général was completely unchanged. Monday, July 19, is a rest day before a return to mountains - the Alps.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 15
20 July 2004 — Valréas to Villard-de-Lans, 180.5 km (112.2 mi)


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 15
This 180.5 km stage was the first in the Alps, and it was all up or down. There were seven categorised climbs, including four in the final 50 km with the additional cat-2 rise to the finish. The biggest climbs were the 10.7 km of the cat-2 Col des Limouches, the 12 km climb of the cat-1 Col de l'Echarasson and the 10.3 km up the cat-2 Col de Chalimont. The day was hot and sunny as 158 riders started the stage (Mayo and Piil abandoned, Piil was injured while Mayo was simply disgusted with his form).


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 15
As on other mountain stages with a flat(ish) start an early break was allowed to get away. Nine riders led over the first two climbs, chasing them down split the peloton - leaving a sixty-strong group lagging a minute behind. After the breakaway was caught another sprang away - a group of, eventually, 15 riders led by over 3'30" on the third climb. The group included Stuart O'Grady who raced away to win the points of the second intermediate sprint.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 15
On the long climb up the Col de l'Echarasson, while the leaders were slowly caught, Ullrich attempted his own break, leading Armstrong by 40" as he went over the summit. He pulled further away over the Col de Carri but as Jens Voigt dropped back from his break-away group to assist Ivan Basso in defending his 2nd overall spot against Ullrich's attack, Armstrong's group quickly caught Ullrich before the sixth climb. Rasmussen and Virenque were only 50" ahead.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 15
Armstrong's group caught everyone, and chased down a break by Leipheimer, on the ascent of the Col de Chalimont. Thomas Voeckler was over seven minutes back. On the final climb to the finish the leading group was still nine strong, with 1 km to go it was down to Armstrong, Basso, Klöden, and Ullrich. In the final sprint Armstrong beat Basso, claiming his 20th stage victory and the yellow jersey. Voeckler came in 9'27" down.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 16
21 July 2004 — Bourg d'Oisans to Alpe d'Huez, 15.5 km (9.6 mi) (ITT)


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 16
This 15.5 km stage was an individual time trial, including the 13.9 km up the twenty-one hairpin bends of the famous hors categorie L'Alpe d'Huez. The mountain had been included in the Tour on over 20 occasions, first in 1952. The stage was dedicated to Italian cyclist Marco Pantani, who had died earlier in 2004. Pantani had set the ascent time record of 36' 50" in the 1995 Tour de France, measured from 13.8 km below the summit. Starting in reverse order of standings, 157 riders raced the stage. It was sunny and warm, with light cloud cover.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 16
Lance Armstrong won, passing Ivan Basso on the road. The huge number of spectators, some estimated over 750,000, seemed to impede the later riders, particularly as the first part of the course was wholly open, and many riders found themselves spat on by their detractors as they struggled to beat their way through the crowd. It would later be revealed that Armstrong had received death threats the day before this stage - something that would have been all too easy to carry out given the open course. Although much looked forward to, the stage was regarded by many as something of a disappointment due to the unmanageability of the crowds.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 17
22 July 2004 — Bourg d'Oisans to Le Grand-Bornand, 204.5 km (127.1 mi)


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 17
On this, the last big mountain stage, the drama started early on the Col de la Madeleine, the highest climb in the Tour, as a group led by Giberto Simoni was caught just before the summit by Richard Virenque, who gave Simoni a tight chase for the mountain points and for the five thousand Euro prize earmarked for the winner of that climb. Simoni managed to edge it out, though, taking the sprint.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 17
As the stage wore on, US Postal led the peloton with typical skill, until the final climb, where the lead break consisted of Armstrong, Ullrich, Basso, Klöden, and Armstrong's support rider Floyd Landis. At the top of the final climb, Armstrong told Landis to go for the win, and Landis took off, but was successfully ridden down by Ullrich, Basso, and Klöden.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 17
Klöden took off for the win pulling out what seemed to be a decisive gap in the last kilometre, but Armstrong, determined to compensate for his teammate Landis's loss of the stage, put in a devastating final sprint and got past him at the line for another stage win, and yet more of an advantage over his rivals in the GC.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 18
23 July 2004 — Annemasse to Lons-le-Saunier, 166.5 km (103.5 mi)


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 18
This stage was 166.5 km and the last in the mountains, it featured only one substantial climb, the cat-2 Col de la Faucille. With the time trial of Stage 19 looming this was a perfect chance for some lower placed riders to get away. The weather was hot and humid with a little rain at the start. Just 147 riders started the stage.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 18
Some early drama was provided when Italian rider Filippo Simeoni, who has claimed that a doctor with ties to Armstrong had told him how to take performance-enhancing drugs without being caught, tried to join an early (and, as it would turn out, successful) break. Armstrong himself chased him down - unusual for a team leader and yellow jersey, especially since Simeoni was no threat to Armstrong in the overall standings.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 18
Armstrong, taking upon himself the self-styled role of 'boss' or 'le patron' of the peloton in the tradition of others in the past such as Bernard Hinault, forced his will and stayed with the break until they got two minutes ahead, at which point the rest of the break asked Simeoni to leave, which he did, followed by Armstrong. Simeoni harshly criticized Armstrong in the press following the stage, while Armstrong maintained that he was protecting the interests of the peloton, and accused Simeoni of trying to destroy professional cycling.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 18
Left alone, and with US Postal controlling the peloton, the rest of the break rapidly pulled away. They held a lead of up to 7 minutes until the third climb, after which they moved even further ahead. Their advantage peaked at around 12'00". Into the final 20 km the group of six began to split as the attacks came. With 10 km to the finish Mercado and Garcia-Acosta attacked and made it away, they worked together into the final kilometre, Mercado just winning the sprint - his first ever stage win. The peloton came in 11'29" down led by Thor Hushovd.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 19
24 July 2004 — Besançon, 55 km (34.2 mi) (ITT)


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 19
The final time trial held less suspense this year than it sometimes does, since Armstrong already had such a commanding lead, but Armstrong came in saying he was racing to win. The biggest questions coming in, however, were whether Jan Ullrich would be able to race fast enough to get himself a podium spot, and whether Thomas Voeckler, who managed to hold the yellow jersey for ten days, despite numerous predictions he'd lose it well before that, would hold onto the lead in the young riders classification, which he held with a 45-second lead.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 19
Starting with the last place rider, Jimmy Casper, and ending with Armstrong, the riders ran the loop in and out of Besançon. For most of the race, US Postal riders held the fastest time, with Viatceslav Ekimov setting an early fast time, eventually beaten by Bobby Julich. Julich was eventually beaten by Floyd Landis, who held the fastest time until the last few riders came in, with Kloden, Ullrich, and Armstrong all beating him. Armstrong had the fastest time, coming in a full minute over his nearest rider, Ullrich. Ullrich ran an impressive time trial, but wasn't able to pull ahead of Basso, and will almost certainly finish the Tour in 4th place.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 19
Voeckler, meanwhile, finally had his luck run out, finishing six minutes behind his nearest rival for the white jersey, Vladimir Karpets, who came in 8th in the time trial.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 20
25 July 2004 — Montereau-Fault-Yonne to Paris, 163 km (101.3 mi)


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 20
The largely ceremonial run into Paris held some drama this year due to the closeness of the green jersey competition, which Robbie McEwen led going in by a slim 11 points. With two intermediate sprints and the finish line in Paris, there were plenty of opportunities for Thor Hushovd to take the lead. The two intermediate sprints had no effect on the overall standings, with Hushovd taking one and McEwen taking the other. The final sprint sealed it for McEwen, however, as he finished fourth and Hushovd failed to finish in the top 10.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 20
Early dramatics, however, were provided when Fillipo Simeoni made another attack at 1 km. He was pulled in by 8 km by the US Postal led peloton, and Armstrong did not make any personal effort to chase him down this time. He made three subsequent attacks throughout the stage, all unsuccessful.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 20
Shortly after Simeoni's first attack, Jimmy Casper, the lanterne rouge, or last place rider, made an attack, shooting out ahead of Armstrong. Having gotten his lead, he removed a digital camera from the pocket of his jersey and snapped a picture of him leading Armstrong, then dropped back to the peloton. 2004 is the second year that Casper has finished the Tour de France, and the second year he won the lanterne rouge.


2004 Tour de France, Stage 10 to Stage 20, Stage 20
As the peloton reached Paris, a ten-man break including Axel Merckx and Thomas Voeckler got away, but was pulled back several laps further down the Champs-Élysées. Eventually, the stage was won with a solid sprint by Tom Boonen. Armstrong sat well back, losing ten seconds to his nearest rival, but staying in the yellow jersey by well over six minutes. This appeared at the time to represent an unprecedented sixth Tour de France win for Armstrong, but he was stripped of the 2004 title with all others following a 2012 doping investigation.


2004 Tour de Georgia
The 2004 Tour de Georgia was the second annual bicycle road racing event held in the state of Georgia, United States. The six-day, seven stage 1050 km race was held April 20 through April 25, 2004 with no winner declared for the overall title and yellow jersey, following the disqualification of the first-placed rider for using illegal drugs and practices to win. Canadian Gord Fraser (Health Net Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis) claimed the points jersey for sprinters, while teammate Jason McCartney won the King of the Mountains competition for climbers. Kevin Bouchard-Hall (TIAA-CREF) won the Best Young Rider (blue jersey) competition.


2004 Tour de Hongrie
The 2004 Tour de Hongrie was the 31st edition of the Tour de Hongrie cycle race and was held from 26 July to 1 August 2004. The race started in Veszprém and finished in Budapest. The race was won by Zoltán Remák.


2004 Tour de Langkawi
The 2004 Tour de Langkawi was the 9th edition of the Tour de Langkawi, a cycling stage race that took place in Malaysia. It began on 6 February in Bayan Baru and ended on 15 February in Merdeka Square, Kuala Lumpur. In fact, this race was rated by the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) as a 2.2 category race.


2004 Tour de Langkawi
Fredy González of Colombia won the race, followed by Ryan Cox of South Africa second and Dave Bruylandts of Belgium third. Gordon Fraser of Australia won the points classification category and Ruber Marín of Colombia won the mountains classification category. Barloworld won the team classification category.


2004 Tour de Langkawi, Stages
The cyclists competed in 12 stages, covering a distance of 1,242.9 kilometres.


2004 Tour de Langkawi, List of teams and riders
A total of 20 teams were invited to participate in the 2004 Tour de Langkawi. Out of the 140 riders, a total of 121 riders made it to the finish in Kuala Lumpur.


2004 Tour de Pologne
The 2004 Tour de Pologne was the 61st edition of the Tour de Pologne cycle race and was held from 6 September to 12 September 2004. The race started in Gdańsk and finished in Karpacz on a route similar to that of the previous edition. The race was won by Ondřej Sosenka.


2004 Tour de Romandie
The 2004 Tour de Romandie (58th Edition) cycling road race started on 27 April and finished on 2 May in Switzerland. It was won by Tyler Hamilton.


2004 Tour de Suisse
The 2004 Tour de Suisse was the 68th edition of the Tour de Suisse cycle race and was held from 12 June to 20 June 2004. The race started in Sursee and finished in Lugano. The race was won by Jan Ullrich of the T-Mobile team.


2004 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 1
12 June 2004 - Sursee to Beromünster, 176 km (109 mi)


2004 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 2
13 June 2004 - Dürrenroth to Rheinfelden, 169.9 km (105.6 mi)


2004 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 3
14 June 2004 - Rheinfelden to Juraparc-Vallorbe, 185 km (115 mi)


2004 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 4
15 June 2004 - Vallée de Joux to Bätterkinden, 211.6 km (131.5 mi)


2004 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 5
16 June 2004 - Bätterkinden to Adelboden, 161.7 km (100.5 mi)


2004 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 6
17 June 2004 - Frutigen to Linthal, 185.4 km (115.2 mi)


2004 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 7
18 June 2004 - Linthal to Malbun, 133 km (83 mi)


2004 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 8
19 June 2004 - Buchs to Bellinzone, 191.3 km (118.9 mi)


2004 Tour de Suisse, Stages, Stage 9
20 June 2004 - Lugano to Lugano, 25.6 km (15.9 mi) (ITT)


2004 Tour de la Région Wallonne
The 2004 Tour de la Région Wallonne was the 31st edition of the Tour de Wallonie cycle race and was held on 26 July to 30 July 2004. The race started in Aubel and finished in Charleroi. The race was won by Gerben Löwik.


2004 Tour du Haut Var
The 2004 Tour du Haut Var was the 36th edition of the Tour du Haut Var cycle race and was held on 21 February 2004. The race started and finished in Draguignan. The race was won by Marc Lotz.


2004 Tour of Britain
The 2004 Tour of Britain was the first edition of the latest version of the Tour of Britain. It took place over five days in early September 2004, organised by SweetSpot in collaboration with British Cycling, and was the first Tour of Britain to be held since 1999. Sponsored by the organisers of London's 2012 Olympics bid, it attracted teams such as T-Mobile Team and U.S. Postal Service. It was designated a 2.3 category race on the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) calendar.


2004 Tour of Britain
The tour climaxed with a 45 miles (72 km) criterium in London, where an estimated 100,000 spectators saw a long break by Bradley Wiggins last until the penultimate lap, before Enrico Degano of Team Barloworld took the sprint on the line. The Colombian Mauricio Ardila, of Chocolade Jacques, won the race overall.


2004 Tour of Flanders
The 88th Tour of Flanders bicycle race in Belgium was held on 4 April 2004. It was the second leg of the UCI Road World Cup. German Steffen Wesemann won the monument classic ahead of Belgians Leif Hoste and Dave Bruylandts.