| The sport the French are truly mad about is cycling. It was, after all, in Paris's Palais Royale gardens in 1791 that the precursor of the modern bicycle, the célerifière, was presented, and seventy years later the Parisian father-and-son team of Pierre and Ernest Michaux constructed the vélocipede (hence the modern French term vélo for bicycle), the first really efficient bicycle. The French can also legitimately claim the sport of cycle racing as their own, with the first event, a 1200-metre sprint, held in Paris's Parc St-Cloud in 1868 – sadly for national pride, however, the first champion was an Englishman. That most French of sporting events, and the world's premier cycling race, the Tour de France (held in July), celebrated its centenary in 2003. Covering around 3500-kilometres, the course of the three-week event changes every year but some truly arduous mountain stages and some time trials are always part of the action, and sometimes foreign countries are included in the itinerary (Britain and Ireland, among others, have hosted stages). An aggregate of each rider's times is made daily, the overall leader wearing the coveted yellow jersey (maillot jaune). Huge crowds turn out to cheer on the cyclists at the finishing line of the ultimate stage on the Champs-Élysées when the French president himself presents the jersey to the overall winner – however, the crowds have been waiting for a French cyclist to win the Tour since Bernard Hinault's victory in 1985. Over recent years the event has been rocked by drug scandals, beginning in 1998 when evidence of systematic doping within the cycling teams came to light. These scandals have cast a shadow over the American rider Lance Armstrong's monumental achievement of not only fighting to overcome cancer but then going on to win every race since 1999. Other classic long-distance bike races include the Paris–Roubaix, instigated in 1896, which is reputed to be the most exacting one-day race in the world, parts of it over cobblestones; the Paris–Brussels held since 1893; and the rugged seven-day Paris–Nice event, covering over 1100km. The Grand Prix des Nations, which takes place in September in the Seine-Maritime département, is the world's foremost time trial; the Palais Omnisport de Bercy in Paris holds other time trials and cycling events.
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