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Jan Ullrich

Jan Ullrich (born 2 December 1973) is a German former professional road bicycle racer. Ullrich won gold and silver medals in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. He won the 1999 Vuelta a España and the HEW Cyclassics in front of a home crowd in Hamburg in 1997. He had podium finishes in the hilly classic Clásica de San Sebastián. His victorious ride in the 1997 Tour de France led to a bicycle boom in Germany. He retired in February 2007.

In 2006, Ullrich was barred from the Tour de France amid speculation of having doped. In February 2012, Ullrich was found guilty of a doping offence by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. He was retroactively banned from 22 August 2011, and all results gained since May 2005 were removed from his palmarès. In 2013 he admitted to blood doping, and in 2023 to using performance enhancing substances.

Early life and amateur career
At a young age, Ullrich joined SG Dynamo Rostock (de) in his hometown. He won his first bicycle race at the age of nine while riding in sports shoes and on a rented bicycle. He was educated in the sports training system of the German Democratic Republic attending the KJS sports school in Berlin in 1986. In 1988, he was champion of the German Democratic Republic. The school closed two years after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989. He, his trainer Peter Sager, and teammates joined an amateur club in Hamburg until 1994. In 1991, he was 5th in the amateur cyclo-cross world championships.

In 1993, aged 19, Ullrich won the amateur road title at the UCI Road World Championships in Oslo, as Lance Armstrong won the professional championship. The following year, he finished third behind Chris Boardman and Andrea Chiurato in the world time trial championship in Sicily.

Early professional career
In 1995, Ullrich turned professional for the Telekom team under Walter Godefroot.

Ullrich was inconspicuous in his first 18 months as a professional. In 1995 he became national time trial champion. He also achieved top ten placings on stages of the 1995 Tour de Suisse. At 21 he wanted to start the 1995 Tour de France but Godefroot thought it was early. Instead he went to the small German stage race, the Hofbräu Cup, where he ended third. Ullrich started the 1995 Vuelta a España later that year only to abandon on stage 12.

1996 Tour de France
Ullrich gave up a place in the 1996 German Olympic team to ride his first Tour. He finished the prologue 33 seconds down. He stayed within the top 20 until the mountains on stage 7 when Miguel Induráin cracked. Ullrich finished 30 seconds back, 22 behind his teammate Bjarne Riis while Indurain finished four minutes down. On the following stage, he finished in the same group as Indurain 40 seconds behind Riis. On stage 9, Riis rode into the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification while Ullrich finished 44 seconds back and also into 5th place overall 1-minute 38 seconds from Riis.

Over the final mountains, Ullrich rode into second place behind Riis, but he conceded time on each mountain stage, eventually being nearly four minutes behind Riis. He won the final individual time trial and secured his first Tour stage win. He cut 2 minutes 18 seconds into Riis's lead. This led Indurain to comment that Ullrich would win the Tour some day, adding that it was a remarkable victory considering that Ullrich had been helping Riis. Ullrich dismissed suggestions he would have done better if he had not had to help Riis, saying Riis had inspired the team. Jan finished his first tour in second place at 1-minute 41 seconds from his teammate Bjarne Riis.

1997 Tour de France

Ullrich had 2 wins before the 1997 Tour; a stage in the Tour de Suisse and the national Road Race championship a week before the tour. He became favorite in the 1997 Tour de France. He started strongly, finishing second in the prologue behind Chris Boardman. On stage 9, the first mountain stage which was won by Laurent Brochard, Ullrich worked for Riis. Only on the last ascent when Richard Virenque attacked did Ullrich react. Riis struggled to keep up and finished 30 seconds behind Virenque, Marco Pantani and Ullrich. On stage 10 from Luchon to Andorra Arcalis, with Riis again falling back, Ullrich dropped back to the team car to ask permission to attack. He returned to the lead group and pushed up the climb leaving Pantani and Virenque. He finished a minute ahead which earned his first yellow jersey as leader of the general classification. L'Équipe, greeted Ullrich with Voilà le Patron ("Here is the boss"). Ullrich won the Stage 12 time trial with three minutes between himself and the second placed rider, Virenque, who had started three minutes in front of him.

Marco Pantani attacked on the stage to the Alpe d'Huez. Ullrich, who was nine minutes ahead of Pantani overall, limited his losses to 47 seconds. Pantani attacked again on the Morzine stage and won, while Ullrich again limited his losses. In the final time trial, won by Abraham Olano, Ullrich extended his lead over Virenque and the following day became the first German to win the Tour de France. At 23, Ullrich was the fourth youngest winner of the Tour since 1947. Two weeks later, he won the Hews Cycling Classic in Hamburg. A further two weeks later Ullrich was beaten by Davide Rebellin in a sprint in the GP Suisse. He was chosen "sports person of the year" in Germany in 1997.

1998 Tour de France
Ullrich was defending champion in 1998. He took the lead in the general classification on stage 7, a time trial, over 58 km of undulating roads. However, on stage 15 Marco Pantani blew the Tour apart with a victory which began on the Galibier. Ullrich was without support when Pantani attacked. Pantani topped the Galibier alone. It was misty and the roads were wet. The descent was dangerous and Pantani increased his lead. By the bottom of the final climb, Les Deux Alpes, Pantani had nearly four minutes. Telekom brought Udo Bölts and then Riis to pace Ullrich. Pantani was race leader as he crossed the line. Ullrich finished almost nine minutes back, dropping to fourth position, six minutes behind Pantani.

Ullrich attacked on stage 16 on the Col de la Madeleine. Only Pantani could match him. Over the top, they started to work together. Ullrich won a photo-finish sprint and moved into third. He won the final stage, a 20 km time trial, and moved into second.

The Tour of 1998 was haunted by doping affairs, giving it the nickname "Tour de Dopage."

In the following year during the inaugural Deutschland Tour, Ullrich fell after getting entangled with Udo Bölts during stage 3. He had a knee injury and could not ride the 1999 Tour, which ended in the first of seven 'victories' for Lance Armstrong. Ullrich set his targets on the world time trial championship in October by riding the Vuelta.

1999 Vuelta a España
On the first mountain stage, Ullrich narrowly won against the defending Vuelta a España champion Abraham Olano of Team ONCE in a group sprint that included Frank Vandenbroucke, Roberto Heras and Davide Rebellin. Olano took the leader's golden jersey with Ullrich second. Olano won the following stage, a time trial, with almost one minute over Ullrich and increased his lead in stage 8. On stage 11, Ullrich gained 30 seconds back on Olano. Ullrich took the lead on stage 12 won by Igor González de Galdeano, Olano faltered due to a broken rib and finished seven minutes behind Ullrich. He later abandoned the race.

Gonzales de Galdeano had moved into second overall and became a threat to Ullrich. On stage 18 Banesto and other Spanish teams tried to crack Ullrich, who struggled on the final climb but recovered to limit his losses to González. In the final time trial, Ullrich won by almost three minutes and built his overall lead to four minutes on González. Ullrich won his second major Tour. Several weeks later he became world time trial champion over Sweden's Michael Andersson and Briton Chris Boardman.

2000–2002 Tours
The 2000 Tour de France brought Ullrich, Marco Pantani and Armstrong against each other for the first time. Armstrong proved too strong and won then and again in 2001. Ullrich crashed in a descend in 2001 and Armstrong waited for him to return to his bike. Ullrich cited his failure to defeat Armstrong as why he fell into depression the next year.

Ullrich rode well in the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. After establishing a three-man break with Telekom teammates Andreas Klöden and Alexander Vinokourov, Ullrich won the gold with Vinokourov second and Klöden rounding out the all-Telekom podium. He won the silver in the time-trial, losing by only seven seconds to Viatcheslav Ekimov but beating Armstrong soundly into third.

In May 2002, Ullrich had his driver's license revoked after a drunk driving incident. After a positive blood sample for amphetamine in June 2002, Ullrich's contract with Team Telekom was ended, and he was banned for six months. He said he had taken ecstasy with amphetamine. He had not been racing since January due to a knee injury, and the German Cycling Federation's disciplinary committee agreed that he was not attempting to use the drug for performance enhancement, so he was given a minimum suspension.

Following a disappointing 2002 season, Ullrich was looking for a new team, with interest coming from, , and.

2003 Tour and sportsmanship
On 13 January 2003, Ullrich, along with his advisor Rudy Pevenage, joined Team Coast on a multi-million Euro deal. Financial problems at the team were known from the beginning of the season. These led to the Coast team folding in May 2003. Ullrich moved on to the newly founded Team Bianchi, set up from the remainders of Coast by Jacques Hanegraaf, a former cyclist at Team Telekom.

The 2003 Tour de France was the first for many years that Ullrich had not been considered a favorite. In the first week, Ullrich became sick and almost retired. He lost a minute and a half on Armstrong in the Alps. Ullrich fought back in the time trial. Armstrong had trouble with the heat and lost one and a half minutes to Ullrich. Ullrich was within a minute of Armstrong in the classification. The next day, he closed the gap by another 19 seconds in the first mountain stage. Two days later Ullrich rode away from Armstrong on the Tourmalet but Armstrong caught up. Halfway into the next climb, Luz Ardiden, Armstrong's handlebar got caught in a spectator's yellow musette waving in the air and he fell. Ullrich waited for Armstrong to recover, returning the courteous display by Armstrong 2 years previously. Armstrong then caught the group and attacked shortly afterwards.

Ullrich lost 40 seconds in the final kilometers, but the final time trial would be decisive. In it, Ullrich crashed and saw a stage and Tour victory disappear. He finished second, by 71 seconds.

For waiting on Armstrong after his fall during the stage to Luz Ardiden, the German Olympic Association (Deutsche Olympische Gesellschaft) gave Ullrich their fair-play medal. Commenting on Ullrich's wait for Armstrong to recover, Dan Boyle, of the Institute for International Sport said "It was an act that will live with him forever, cynics will say he lost money, but it was a highly commendable thing that he did."

2004 and 2005 Tour

For 2004 Ullrich returned to Team Telekom, now named T-Mobile. He won the Tour de Suisse, beating Swiss Fabian Jeker by one second overall. In the Tour de France, he finished fourth, 8:50 behind Armstrong, his first finish lower than second. Klöden finished second and Ivan Basso third.

For 2005, Ullrich again captained T-Mobile. He maintained a low profile for the early season, surfacing in the 2005 Tour de Suisse, which he finished third behind Aitor González and Michael Rogers. The day before the 2005 Tour de France, Ullrich was training when his team car stopped unexpectedly. Ullrich hit the back window, ending up in the back seat of the car. Less than 24 hours later Ullrich was passed by Armstrong in the time trial. Ullrich fell again in the mountains, bruising his ribs. He could not keep up with Armstrong or Ivan Basso. Ullrich began focusing on finishing ahead of Michael Rasmussen for a podium position. He rode a good second time trial, beating all but Armstrong. Rasmussen had several crashes and bike changes, which gave Ullrich a podium place in the Tour.

Post-Armstrong
Armstrong retired after the Tour in 2005. Ullrich decided to ride one or two more years. Early reports said Ullrich was in better shape than previous years and could be ready for his second victory in the Tour. Ullrich finished 115th in the Tour de Romandie on 30 April. However, he injured his knee in the off-season, which could have limited his performance in the 2006 Tour, had he participated (see below).

In May, riding the Giro d'Italia to prepare for the Tour, Ullrich targeted the stage 11 50 km time trial, and won by 28 seconds over Ivan Basso, who beat Marco Pinotti by another 33 seconds. Only five riders finished within two minutes of Ullrich.

Ullrich dropped out of the Giro during stage 19, with back pain. Rudy Pevenage said the problem was not bad but that Ullrich wanted to avoid Tour de France problems.

Ullrich won the Tour de Suisse for a second time, winning the final time trial and jumping from third to first.

Doping
During the 2006 Giro d'Italia, Ullrich was mentioned in a doping scandal, Operación Puerto. Ullrich denied the rumors. However, on 30 June 2006, one day before the Tour de France, he was suspended from participating. Ivan Basso and other riders were also excluded. On 20 July 2006, Ullrich was fired from T-Mobile. General manager Olaf Ludwig announced the news during the 18th stage of the Tour between Morzine and Macon. Ullrich said his dismissal was 'unacceptable.'

 * I am very disappointed that this decision was not communicated to me personally but that it was faxed to my lawyers. I find it shameful that after so many years of a good and fruitful working relationship and after all that I have done for the team, I am merely sent a fax.

On 3 August 2006, doping expert Werner Franke claimed Ullrich purchased, in a single year, about €35,000 worth of doping products; his claim was based on documents uncovered in the Operación Puerto doping case. A German court imposed a gag order on Franke after it found there was not enough evidence to link Ullrich to doping. On 14 September 2006, officials raided Ullrich's house and collected DNA material while Ullrich was honeymooning with his new wife Sara. On 4 April 2007, Ullrich's DNA sample, had "without a doubt" matched nine bags of blood taken from Eufemiano Fuentes' office.

On 18 October 2006, Ullrich laid off his personal physiotherapist Birgit Krohme. Speculation rose that this was a sign that Ullrich had given up hope of returning to racing. Ullrich denied these rumors. One day later, Ullrich canceled his licence of the Swiss Cycling Federation, and was looking for a different federation for a licence of 2007. Ullrich claimed that the Swiss Cycling Federation had to stop their doping investigation, but the Swiss federation continued the investigation. On 25 October 2006, a document from the Spanish court on Ullrich's website stated that no charges would be filed.

On Monday, 26 February 2007, Ullrich retired. At the press conference in Hamburg he said, "Today, I'm ending my career as a professional cyclist. I never once cheated as a cyclist." He said he would be an advisor to.

The IOC has investigated if Ullrich should be stripped of his gold medal won at the 2000 Olympic Games, which was possible because there was an eight-year deadline for investigations, and the investigation started after seven years. It was decided that there was no solid evidence against Ullrich, and that Ullrich could keep his medal.

In 2008, the German investigation was closed after a settlement, which by German law means Ullrich was found not guilty. The Swiss investigation was still ongoing at that time, but they closed the case in February 2010, because Ullrich was no longer member of the Swiss Cycling Federation, and so they had no jurisdiction after he retired. The UCI appealed that decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

In 2010, with the doping allegations still ongoing, Ullrich was diagnosed with burn-out, and avoided public appearances for a few months. When Lance Armstrong announced his comeback as a professional cyclist, Ullrich made clear that he was not going to do the same.

In February 2012, Ullrich was found guilty of a doping offence by the CAS. He was retroactively banned from 22 August 2011, and all results gained since May 2005 were removed from his Palmares. Ullrich published a statement on his website, that said he would not appeal the decision. He admitted that he had had contact with Fuentes, which he considered a mistake that he now regrets.

In June 2013, Ullrich went on record stating that he'd "always said that Lance wouldn't get out of it. He made too many enemies." Later that month, he admitted that he doped with the help of Spanish doctor Eufemiano Fuentes. His name was on the list of doping tests published by the French Senate on 24 July 2013 that were collected during the 1998 Tour de France and found positive for EPO when retested in 2004.

In 2023, Ullrich admitted to using performance enhancing substances throughout his career, starting from when he turned professional in 1995 with the Telekom team.

Refusal to return Olympic medals
At the 2000 Sydney Olympics Ullrich finished 1st in the men's road race and 2nd in the men's time trial race. Unlike Armstrong who had been stripped of his medal and had returned it, he said that he refused to return his medals if he was stripped of his finishes. In an interview with Sky Sports he said: "Almost everyone at the time was taking performance-enhancing substances. I didn't take anything that was not taken by the others. It would only have been cheating for me if I had gotten an advantage, which was not the case. I just wanted to ensure I had an equal opportunity." To date, Ullrich has not been stripped of his finishes.

Ullrich bicycles
In May 2006 Ullrich launched Jan Ullrich Collection bicycles, which he helped to develop.

The bicycles are built in a partnership with German builders Ghost Bikes.

Personal life
Ullrich lived in Merdingen, Germany, from 1994 to 2002 with his partner, Gaby Weiss, with whom he had a daughter. They moved to Scherzingen, municipality of Münsterlingen, Switzerland, in 2002. Since separating in 2005, allegedly because Weiss's reluctance to be in the media spotlight conflicted with Ullrich's celebrity life, Ullrich has continued to live in Scherzingen. Weiss returned with Sarah to Merdingen. In September 2006 Ullrich married Sara Steinhauser, the sister of his former teammate and training partner, Tobias Steinhauser. They had three children.

In 2017, Ullrich was convicted of drunk driving in Switzerland after a 2014 car crash in which two people were injured. He received a suspended sentence of four years plus a fine of €10,000. Personal issues with alcohol and drugs led to his separation from his wife, Sara, at the end of 2017.

In August 2018, Ullrich faced charges in Spain after he broke in to the Mallorca home of his neighbour, the German actor and filmmaker Til Schweiger, and threatened him. An alleged attack on an escort in a Frankfurt hotel led to his admission to a psychiatric hospital. On 28 August 2019, a German court ordered him to pay a fine of €7,200.

Ullrich featured on a podcast with Lance Armstrong covering the 2021 UCI Road World Championships, in which Ullrich said that he was fully recovered from his personal difficulties but that he had almost suffered the same fate as Marco Pantani, who died following acute cocaine poisoning in 2004. Ullrich told Armstrong: "Three years ago I had big problems and then you came to see me. I was so glad you came and yes, I was just like Marco Pantani . . . nearly dead."

In 2018 Ullrich revealed that he has been diagnosed with ADHD.

Major results

 * 1993
 * 1st Jersey rainbow.svg Road race, UCI Amateur Road World Championships

 * 1994
 * 2nd Time trial, National Road Championships
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Time trial, UCI Road World Championships

 * 1995
 * 1st MaillotAlemania.PNG Time trial, National Road Championships
 * 2nd Overall Tour du Limousin
 * 3rd Overall Hofbrau Cup

 * 1996
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Regio-Tour
 * 1st Stage 3a (ITT)
 * 2nd Overall Tour de France
 * 1st Young rider classification
 * 1st Stage 20 (ITT)
 * 2nd Road race, National Road Championships
 * 3rd Telekom Grand Prix (with Bjarne Riis)
 * 4th Grand Prix Eddy Merckx
 * 6th Classic Haribo
 * 10th Tour du Haut Var

 * 1997
 * 1st MaillotAlemania.PNG Road race, National Road Championships
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour de France
 * 1st Young rider classification
 * 1st Stages 10 & 12 (ITT)
 * 1st HEW Cyclassics
 * 1st Luk-Cup Bühl
 * 2nd Züri-Metzgete
 * 3rd Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 1st Stage 3
 * 3rd Overall Ronde van Nederland
 * 5th Klasika Primavera
 * 7th Classique des Alpes
 * 9th Overall Vuelta a Aragón
 * 9th Rund um den Henninger Turm
 * 10th Tour de Berne

 * 1998
 * 1st Rund um Berlin
 * 1st Rund um die Nürnberger Altstadt
 * 1st Sparkassen Giro Bochum
 * 2nd Overall Tour de France
 * 1st Young rider classification
 * 1st Stages 7 (ITT), 16 & 20 (ITT)
 * 2nd Road race, National Road Championships
 * 3rd Overall Vuelta a Castilla y León
 * 4th Overall Route du Sud
 * 5th Overall Ronde van Nederland
 * 9th HEW Cyclassics
 * 10th Overall Tour de Suisse

 * 1999
 * UCI Road World Championships
 * 1st Jersey rainbow chrono.svg Time trial
 * 8th Road race
 * 1st Jersey gold.svg Overall Vuelta a España
 * 1st Stages 5 & 20 (ITT)
 * 3rd Milano–Torino
 * 7th Overall Ronde van Nederland

 * 2000
 * Olympic Games
 * 1st Gold medal olympic.svg Road race
 * 2nd Silver medal olympic.svg Time trial
 * 1st Coppa Ugo Agostoni
 * 2nd Overall Tour de France
 * 2nd Züri-Metzgete
 * 2nd Luk-Cup Bühl
 * 4th Road race, National Road Championships
 * 4th Tre Valli Varesine
 * 5th Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 1st Stage 1 (TTT)
 * 5th EnBW Grand Prix (with Andreas Klöden)

 * 2001
 * 1st Jersey rainbow chrono.svg Time trial, UCI Road World Championships
 * 1st MaillotAlemania.PNG Road race, National Road Championships
 * 1st Giro dell'Emilia
 * 1st Stage 3 Giro della Provincia di Lucca
 * 1st Stage 1 Hessen-Rundfahrt
 * 2nd Overall Tour de France
 * 2nd Züri-Metzgete
 * 2nd Coppa Ugo Agostoni
 * 4th Luk-Cup Bühl
 * 5th EnBW Grand Prix (with Andreas Klöden)
 * 8th Grand Prix Eddy Merckx

 * 2003
 * 1st Rund um Köln
 * 2nd Overall Tour de France
 * 1st Stage 12 (ITT)
 * 2nd Züri-Metzgete
 * 3rd HEW Cyclassics
 * 5th Sparkassen Giro Bochum
 * 5th Overall Deutschland Tour
 * 6th GP du canton d'Argovie
 * 7th Overall Tour de Suisse

 * 2004
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 1st Jersey green.svg Points classification
 * 1st Stages 1 & 9 (ITT)
 * 1st Coppa Sabatini
 * 3rd Giro del Lazio
 * 4th Overall Tour de France
 * 5th Giro dell'Emilia
 * 5th Rund um die Hainleite
 * 6th Time trial, Olympic Games
 * 7th Overall Deutschland Tour

 * 2005
 * 10th Overall Circuit de la Sarthe

 * 2nd Overall Deutschland Tour
 * 1st Stage 8 (ITT)
 * 3rd Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 1st Stage 2 (ITT)
 * 3rd Overall Tour de France
 * 10th GP Ouest–France

 * 2006
 * 1st Jersey yellow.svg Overall Tour de Suisse
 * 1st Stage 9 (ITT)
 * 1st Stage 11 (ITT) Giro d'Italia

title: Jan Ullrich


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2000 Taiwanese presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Taiwan on 18 March 2000 to elect the president and vice president. With a voter turnout of 83%, Chen Shui-bian and Annette Lu of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) were elected president and vice president respectively with a slight plurality.

This election ended more than half a century of Kuomintang (KMT) rule on the island, during which it had governed as a one-party state since the retreat of the government from the Chinese mainland during the closing stages of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. This was also the first time in Chinese history that a ruling political party peacefully transferred power to an opposition party under a democratic system. The nominees included the then-current vice president Lien Chan for the KMT, former provincial governor James Soong as an independent candidate (upon his loss of the KMT nomination), and former Taipei mayor Chen Shui-bian for the DPP.

Controversy arose throughout the course of the election; in particular, the candidacy of James Soong was beset by accusations of splitting the Kuomintang vote and involvement in corruption during the presidency of Lee Teng-hui, culminating in protests and the expulsion of the latter from the Kuomintang, while Chen's campaign attracted criticism from neighboring China due to his party's traditionally pro-independence stance. The issues of corruption and cross-strait relations were dominant during this election. Chen's victory was initially seen as unlikely, but several compounded effects like the splitting of the Kuomintang vote and the aforementioned controversies are seen as having led to his victory. Chen performed most strongly in the southern part of Taiwan, while Soong tended to win in northern areas.

Kuomintang
The ruling Kuomintang (KMT) ran vice president Lien Chan for president and Premier Vincent Siew for vice president. Both were career civil servants and Lien, originating from the Taiwanese aristocracy, was seen as aloof and unable to empathize with the common people.

Though more popular and consistently ranked higher in the polls, the outspoken former Taiwan governor James Soong failed to gain the Kuomintang's nomination. As a result, he announced his candidacy as an independent candidate. The Kuomintang responded by expelling Soong in November 1999. It is a very common belief among KMT supporters that president Lee Teng-hui was secretly supporting Chen Shui-bian, and purposely supported the less popular Lien in order to split the Kuomintang, and this belief was given a great deal of credibility after the 2000 election with Lee's defection to the Pan-Green coalition, though Lee's defection came only after his expulsion by the KMT. Soong, a mainlander, tried to appeal to the native Taiwanese by nominating surgeon Chang Chao-hsiung, who is a native Taiwanese, as his running-mate. This, combined with the fact that Chang had connections to both the Democratic Progressive Party and the KMT reinforced Soong's campaign message of bridging political and cultural divide.

In December 1999 the KMT began to attack Soong's integrity. They sued Soong for theft, alleging that as party secretary-general, he stole millions of Taiwan dollars in cash intended for the family of the late president Chiang Ching-kuo and hid the money in the Chunghsing Bills Finance Co. Soong defended himself by saying he was acting under Lee's direction, though Lee denied this and many found the explanation unconvincing. Initially holding a commanding lead in the polls, Soong ended up losing by just over 300,000 votes.

Both candidates had some obstacles presenting themselves as reform candidates with regard to corruption, given their high rank in the Kuomintang government. Soong's strategy was to openly admit his past wrongdoing and present his insider status as an advantage: i.e. that he could most easily tackle the corruption because of his experience with it; however, many saw his credibility as a reformer as broken by his financial scandal. Lien advocated for reform, but had some difficulty in direct criticism as such attacks may have offended the ruling government; this is thought to have contributed to his defeat.

Democratic Progressive Party
The DPP ran former Taipei mayor Chen Shui-bian and Taoyuan County magistrate Annette Lu for vice president. Having run for the 1996 election on a radical independence platform and lost by a landslide, the DPP in May 1999 moderated its stance by issuing the "Resolution on the Future of Taiwan". The resolution accepted the status quo and promoted the moderate view that Taiwan was already independent, so any formal declaration would not be urgently necessary, if at all, and Chen presented a more conciliatory stance regarding the mainland. Also included was the pledge that any change in Taiwan's international status will have to be done through a referendum, thus alleviating the fear that, if elected, a DPP government would unilaterally declare independence without popular approval. The Chen-Lu ticket also promised to be more aggressive in fighting black gold, a system of connections and corruption which had become intertwined with the KMT. The last minute public endorsement of Chen Shui-bian by President of the Academia Sinica and Nobel laureate Yuan T. Lee is also thought to have played a role in his election, with Yuan T. Lee offering to negotiate with the PRC on Taiwan's behalf.

Other candidates
All independent presidential tickets were required to turn in a petition of 224,000 names to the Central Election Commission to confirm their candidacy and appear on the ballot.

Former DPP Chairman Hsu Hsin-liang, who had quit the party after failing to prevent Chen from running, ran as an independent with New Party (NP) legislator Josephine Chu as his running mate. As DPP Chairman, Hsu had moderated the platform of the party, promoting reconciliation with the People's Republic of China and the opening of direct links, a move not then supported by the KMT. During the 2000 campaign, the Hsu-Chu ticket promoted unification under something similar to, but not the same as, 'one country, two systems', claiming that that exact system would be "bound to bring immediate loss to Taiwan".

The New Party nominated independent social commentator Li Ao—an acclaimed author, historian, and former political prisoner—for president and legislator Elmer Fung for vice president. Li, who supported "one country, two systems", said he took the election as an opportunity to educate the people in Taiwan on his ideas, and show them the nation's "dark side". Despite his nomination Li refused to join the NP. Both he and the NP publicly encouraged people to vote for James Soong to the point of stating during the televised presidential debates that he was not planning to vote for himself and that people should vote for Soong so that the pro-unification vote would not be split.

A white paper issued by the People's Republic of China (PRC) prior to the election had mentioned that they would "not permit the 'Taiwan question' to drag on", which generated condemnation from American leaders, including John Kerry and Stanley Roth; along with a downturn in the stock market, but little in terms of a Taiwanese reaction. Then, shortly before the election, Zhu Rongji, the premier of the People's Republic of China attempted to influence the outcome, warning that voters should "not just act on impulse at this juncture, which will decide the future course that China and Taiwan will follow" and should "shun a pro-independence candidate", further stating that "[n]o matter who comes into power in Taiwan, Taiwan will never be allowed to be independent. This is our bottom line and the will of 1.25 billion Chinese people." According to Christopher R. Hughes, emeritus professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics, a conclusion was made that the statements of Chinese government had actually been counterproductive and helped Chen to win; consequently, China avoided making such an open attempt to influence the 2004 elections, adopting a "wait and see" attitude with Chen.

Results
Voting was held on 18 March 2000. The Soong-Chang ticket appeared first on the ballot, followed by the Kuomintang's Lien and Siew, then two independent tickets, Li-Fung and Hsu-Chu. The eventual winning DPP ticket of Chen and Lu were listed fifth. Chen's ticket won by a margin of about 2.46%, ahead of Soong in second place and Chan in third. Generally, the Soong ticket led in the northern half of Taiwan, while the Chen ticket led in the south; however, there were exceptions, including Yilan County in the north, whose vote Chen won, and Taitung County in the south, whose vote Soong won.

Aftermath
Chen's victory was seen as unlikely before Soong's financial scandal broke out. Under the first-past-the-post voting system, the split of the KMT vote between James Soong and Lien Chan, who together polled nearly 60% of the vote (compared to Chen's 39%), played a large role in the Taiwan independence-leaning candidate Chen's victory. Soong Chu-yu's financial scandals, Nobel laureate Lee Yuan-tseh's endorsement, and arguably the last minute saber-rattling by the PRC tipped the balance to Chen's favor. Chen's victory marked the first time since the retreat from the mainland that a party other than the KMT won the presidency, ending 50 years of rule by the latter, which was partly under a one-party state. This also marked the first peaceful transition of power under a democratic regime in Chinese history.

As the results were announced, several thousand protesters, mostly KMT loyalists who believed Lee Teng-hui had intentionally tried to sabotage the pro-unification vote, gathered outside the KMT headquarters in Taipei and demanded Lee resign as Chairman. Lee promised to resign at the party congress in September 2000. Though the protest was without permit, the government did not order an end to it, though Taipei mayor Ma Ying-jeou attempted to dispel the crowd on the first night. The protesters blocked the entrances to the building and kept Lee holed in his office for hours until riot police with water cannon were able to open a path for the motorcade. Protesters also dragged presidential advisor Hsu Li-teh out of his car and beat him. The protests ended in success on March 24 when Lee resigned as KMT Chairman and was replaced by Lien. Ma Ying-jeou also resigned from the Central Standing Committee of the KMT as a result of his dissatisfaction with the leadership at the time, calling for reform.

On the day of the election, Soong announced the formation of the People First Party before a crowd of his supporters, though he urged calm and the avoidance of "bloodshed". In the following party congress, Lien Chan was able to achieve Lee's expulsion and began to move the party back towards a unificationist platform. Lee and his supporters later formed the radical pro-independence Taiwan Solidarity Union. Lee was expelled from KMT on 21 September 2001, the first party chairman thus far to have membership revoked. To avoid a repeat of the 2000 split, Lien and Soong agreed to run on a single ticket as president and vice president, respectively, in the 2004 election. They made the announcement on 14 February 2003, more than a year before the next presidential election. Nevertheless, they were still defeated by Chen Shui-bian in the next election.

Some authors, including John Fuh-hsieng Hsieh and Shelley Rigger, surmised that Chen Shui-bian's ascent to the presidency was not as groundbreaking as might be thought: the presidency's supposed power was largely drawn from the power a KMT leader would have when both the legislature and the presidency were controlled by the party, but the government of Taiwan was largely dominated by the legislative branch, which remained under the control of the KMT. As such, Chen ascended into a relatively weak presidency. Consequently, Chen's first cabinet consisted of some KMT members along with DPP members. However, after the legislative elections in 2001, Chen was expected to be able to exert more influence, due to the KMT's loss of a majority. Chen's more pro-independence stance initially caused concerns on behalf of the United States to raise such that they sent senior officials to the PRC to ease tensions. Tensions later relaxed, though a somewhat rocky relationship remained.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: 2000 Taiwanese presidential election


text:
1996 Taiwanese presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Taiwan on 23 March 1996. It was the first direct presidential election in Taiwan, officially the Republic of China. In the previous eight elections the president and vice president had been chosen in a ballot of the deputies of the National Assembly, in accordance with the 1947 constitution. These were the first free and direct elections in the History of Taiwan.

Lee Teng-hui was re-elected President and Lien Chan as Vice President. Lee stood as the candidate of the ruling Kuomintang. He won a majority of 54% of the votes cast. His election followed missile tests by the People's Republic of China (PRC). These were an attempt to intimidate the Taiwanese electorate and discourage them from supporting Lee, however the tactic backfired. Voter turnout was 76.0%.

Candidates
The ruling Kuomintang nominated president Lee Teng-hui in August 1995 at its 14th Party Congress after plans to institute a closed primary system by his opponents were thwarted. As his running mate, Lee chose Lien Chan, who had attempted to resign his position as Premier of the Republic of China to join Lee's ticket. Lee did not accept Lien's resignation, as Lien's potential successors to the premiership stood little chance of legislative confirmation. After the election, the Judicial Yuan allowed Lien to keep both posts.

The opposition Democratic Progressive Party conducted an extensive nomination process: the presidential candidate was selected after two rounds of voting and fifty public debates by the two finalists. Hsu Hsin-liang, Lin Yi-hsiung, You Ching, and Peng Ming-min contended for this position. The seventy-two-year-old Peng emerged victorious and nominated legislator Frank Hsieh to be his running mate. Peng opposed trade with mainland China unless the PRC promised to "treat Taiwan as an equal." Though he argued that the One-China policy would lead to another February 28 Incident, he took the position that Taiwan was already de facto independent so a formal declaration of Taiwan independence was unnecessary unless the PRC attacked. However, Peng rejected unification with the mainland outright, describing the notion as "suicide" and "self-destruction."

Former Taiwan Provincial Governor Lin Yang-kang ran as an independent with former Premier Hau Pei-tsun as his running mate. After the pair registered as candidates, they were endorsed by New Party. Both Lin and Hau were expelled from the Kuomintang on 13 December 1995. They supported the One-China principle and favored opening direct links with the mainland. They argued that the KMT, led by Lee, had abandoned all attempts at unification.

A second independent ticket consisted of former Control Yuan President Chen Li-an for President and Control Yuan member Wang Ching-feng for Vice President. Chen Li-an, the son of former Premier and Vice President Chen Cheng, used his Buddhist background (lay leader of the Fo Guang Shan order) and stressed moral purity and honest government. He walked for eighteen days wearing a farmer's straw hat to spread his views.

Former Taipei mayor Kao Yu-shu declared an end to his candidacy in January 1996. Feminist writer Shih Chi-ching also bid for the presidency, selecting Wu Yue-chen as her vice president. However, Shih and Wu's campaign ended after the Judicial Yuan ruled against them, finding that the ticket failed to meet the endorsement quota. Mudslinging was rampant between the remaining four presidential tickets. The KMT claimed that the Taiwanese mafia had amputated Peng's arm to recoup gambling debts. However, Peng had lost his arm in an American air raid on Nagasaki during World War II. Independent candidate Lin Yang-kang alleged that Lee Teng-hui had been a Chinese Communist Party member, which he denied at the time, but later admitted involvement in a 2002 interview. The Kuomintang's website was also subject to cyberattacks. Chen Li-an criticized every other candidate for their advanced age.

1996 Taiwan Strait Crisis
From March 8 to March 15, the People's Liberation Army sent ballistic missiles within 25 to 35 nmi (just inside the ROC's territorial waters) off the ports of Keelung and Kaohsiung. This action was intended to intimidate the Taiwanese electorate into voting against Lee and Peng, which Beijing branded "absolutely identical in attempting to divide the motherland." Similarly, Chen Li-an warned, "If you vote for Lee Teng-hui, you are choosing war." The crisis came to an end when two U.S. aircraft carrier battle groups were positioned near Taiwan.

Lee, who told his people to resist "state terrorism," was seen as a strong leader who could negotiate with the PRC. Because of this, many constituents from southern Taiwan who favored independence voted for him. One Taipei newspaper, United Daily News reported that up to 14 to 15 percent of Lee's 54% vote share came from DPP supporters.

Maps

 * Blue: Lee-Lien ticket; Yellow: Lin-Hau ticket

title: 1996 Taiwanese presidential election


text:
2004 Taiwanese presidential election

Presidential elections were held in Taiwan on 20 March 2004. A consultative referendum took place on the same day regarding relations with the People's Republic of China.

President Chen Shui-bian and Vice President Annette Lu of the Democratic Progressive Party were re-elected by a narrow margin of 0.22% over a combined opposition ticket of Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan and People First Party Chairman James Soong. Lien and Soong refused to concede and unsuccessfully challenged the results.

Democratic Progressive Party
In the months leading up to December 2003, there was speculation as to whether President Chen would choose Vice President Annette Lu as his running mate. Polls had consistently showed that Chen would do better with another candidate such as Taipei county administrator Su Tseng-chang or Kaohsiung mayor Frank Hsieh, and many of the DPP's most popular lawmakers had petitioned Chen to seriously consider another candidate. After several weeks of very public infighting between various factions of the DPP, Chen formally nominated Lu as his running mate on December 11. They were backed by the Pan-Green Coalition.

The existence of only two tickets on the ballot led to several protest movements against both coalitions (most notably the Alliance of One Million Invalid Ballots) asking people to disqualify their ballots on purpose. This was partly responsible for the high number of invalid votes compared to the 2000 election.

Kuomintang and People First Party
In February 2003, the KMT and PFP agreed to run a combined ticket representing the entire Pan-Blue Coalition with Lien Chan for president and James Soong for vice president. The campaign emblem for the Lien-Soong campaign was a two-seat bicycle with a blue figure in the first seat and an orange figure in the second. There were initial doubts to this pairing since it was believed that the two men personally disliked each other—during the 2000 presidential election, Lien had accused Soong of positioning his family graves to interfere with Lien's Feng Shui, forcing Lien to reposition his graves. Additionally, it was thought to be difficult for the two men to agree upon who would run for president and who would run for vice president. Though Soong polled ahead of Lien in 2000 and was thought to be much more charismatic, he ended up running for vice president. The PFP's poor showing in the 2001 legislative election may have played a role in this decision. Initially, it was believed that the Lien-Soong ticket would be a sure win, given that both men garnered a combined 59.9% of the vote in 2000.

Issues
Although the political spectrum on Taiwan is defined in terms of Taiwan independence versus Chinese unification, both campaigns took moderate positions on this issue. Members of the electorate who were influenced greatly by either independence or unification were loyal iron votes for the Pan-Green or Pan-Blue coalitions respectively, so the goal of both campaigns was to capture the moderate middle.

The theme of the Pan-Green Coalition was to portray themselves as Taiwanese nationalists and reformers and the opposition as corrupt and lacking in loyalty to Taiwan. The theme of the Pan-Blue Coalition was to question Chen's competence and also to focus in on issues which interested specific interest groups. The Pan-Blue Coalition staunchly defended the existence of the Republic of China and also rejected unification under one country, two systems. They also abandoned the Under the Roof of One China policy.

The main issues in the campaign were relations with the People's Republic of China, political reform, and the economy. In addition, although they tend not be noticed by the international press, local issues were important in the campaign, particularly because these issues influence undecided voters. These issues varied from county to county but included funding for irrigation projects, the location of expressways, and location of local administrative boundaries.

As the election approached, the tone of campaigning became increasingly negative, with charges of tax evasion, draft dodging, illegal financial transactions, and domestic violence on the part of Lien Chan. Most observers attributed the negative nature of the campaign to the fact that each campaign had moderated their platforms to the extent that they were similar to each other, leaving nothing other than personal attacks to attract the few uncommitted voters in the race.

Demographic trends and public opinion
On the day of the election, each member of the electorate (most adult citizens aged 20 and upwards) stamped one from the two choices of president/vice-president tickets on the ballot. Since Taiwan does not provide absentee ballots, large numbers of Taiwanese expatriates living in North America and mainland China returned to Taiwan to vote. Typical estimates indicate that about 20,000 people travelled from North America and between 100,000 and 150,000 people travelled from mainland China. Most analysts believe that the voters from North America would be split evenly between the two candidates, but that those from mainland China voted overwhelmingly for Pan-Blue.

Polls indicated that Taiwan is split with about one-third identifying themselves as Pan-Blue, one-third identifying themselves as Pan-Green, and one-third as centrist. They also showed very little cross-party voting with over 90% of people who identify with one party group stating that they would vote for the party.

Pan-Blue did well among mainlanders, Taiwanese aborigines, and Hakka. They also showed strong support among 30–50-year-olds, the very rich, the very poor, and residents of northern and eastern Taiwan. Pan-Green did well among people aged 20–30 and 50–60, people with formal education (such as doctors), and residents of southern Taiwan.

The margin in favor of Pan-Blue narrowed significantly after the 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally, with some polls showing Pan-Green in the lead. Taiwanese law forbids publishing any poll results, either current or historical, less than ten days before the election.

Platforms and strategies
The DPP attempted to portray the Lien-Soong ticket as one which would sell out Taiwan to the PRC, and emphasized constitutional reform, proposing a new constitution, and a "peace referendum". This has led to fears that Chen intends to use a new constitution and a referendum to declare Taiwan independence. Worries about this have caused the United States at several points to ask for, and receive assurances that Chen has not abandoned the Four Noes and One Without policy.

The Lien-Soong ticket attempted to portray Chen as someone who let politics get in the way of improving the Taiwanese economy. Originally emphasizing Chen's inability to establish the Three Links with mainland China, the Lien-Soong ticket changed its message, in light of the SARS outbreak in mid-2003, to focus more on what they see as Chen's inability to deal with the recession. Until October 2003, the Lien-Soong strategy appeared to be to avoid doing or saying anything controversial to keep its lead. This strategy was widely seen as counterproductive by the end of October when Pan-Green started to pull ahead.

Chen's rise in the polls in 2003 caused the opposition to change its campaign strategy. To counter Chen's platform for a new constitution by 2008, the opposition campaigned for a major constitutional change by 2004. In addition, the opposition stopped its stalling of a referendum bill.

By the end of November 2003, the Lien-Soong ticket had appeared to recover some of the losses in polls that had occurred in October.

Both groups, in January 2004, seemed not to be focusing on issues of external policies, but instead on issues of personal finances. The Pan-Green Coalition raised the issue of Lien Chan's personal wealth and the properties which they asserted that the Kuomintang had illegally acquired while it was the ruling party. In response, the Pan-Blue Coalition asked why Chen Shui-bian has become much wealthier after assuming the presidency.

In March 2004, as the campaign was winding down, a series of posters comparing Chen to Adolf Hitler, Saddam Hussein, and Osama bin Laden were released by the Pan-Blue Coalition, creating controversy. The coalition eventually apologized to Taiwan's Jewish community for the comparison, although it refused to do so to Chen himself.

Reaction from the PRC
Most observers believed that the People's Republic of China (PRC) would have preferred to see Chen Shui-bian replaced by an administration less sympathetic to Taiwan independence and more in favor of Chinese unification. However, some observers believed that the PRC cared less about who became the President of the ROC, than that this person establish economic linkages which Beijing believes would bind Taiwan irrevocably to the mainland.

In contrast to the elections of 1996 and 2000, the PRC was quiet in this election until early November. Most observers believed that this was because the PRC learned that any comments, especially in the form of threats, were likely to be counterproductive. The PRC broke its silence in mid November 2003 and issued several very sharp threats that it would not stand by if Taiwan declared independence. This widely was seen as in response to two factors. In early November 2003, Chen Shui-bian took an unofficial trip to the United States in which he was much more publicly seen than before. This trip increased his popularity on Taiwan to the point where most polls indicated that he was even with or slightly ahead of Lien. The trip in November 2003, also alarmed the PRC in that it appeared to convince them that the United States would do less to constrain Chen Shui-bian than they had earlier believed. In December 2003, after the United States clarified its position on Taiwan stating support for the One-China policy and opposition to any referendum that would tend to move Taiwan toward independence, the PRC toned down its criticism and focused its attention on the proposed referendum rather than on the presidential race.

Incident of the Pan-Blue campaign offices
In February 2004, former Justice Minister Liao Cheng-hao, attempted to establish four campaign office branches on mainland China with the purpose of convincing Taiwanese businessmen on the mainland to support Pan-Blue. News of this caused an uproar on Taiwan, especially after Liao was photographed with several fugitives from Taiwan. Lien Chan quickly distanced himself from this action, and Liao wrote an essay stating that his activities were not authorized. Shortly thereafter, the PRC Taiwan Affairs Office spokesman said, "We did not, do not and will not interfere with elections in Taiwan...We do not care who will be elected. What we care about is the winner's attitude towards cross-Taiwan Strait relations and national reunification," and PRC issued instructions to local officials not to allow Taiwanese businessmen to openly campaign on the mainland.

At the same time, a number of organizations were operating to help Taiwanese businessmen return to Taiwan in order to vote. Though these organizations were formally politically neutral, most Taiwanese businessmen on the mainland widely favored Pan-Blue.

Election mechanics
The official campaigning period was from 07:00 to 22:00 every day from February 21, 2004, to March 19, 2004, though campaign activities had gone on for over a year. Taiwanese law forbids reports of polls in the last ten days of campaigning and any campaigning on the day of the election. Ballots in Taiwan are counted by hand with results generally available within two hours of the end of the election.

Because of Pan-Blue's strategy of having people cast no ballot in the referendum, one major controversy was the format of the election, specifically as whether the referendum questions would be on the same or different ballots as the presidency. After much debate the CEC decided that there would be a U-shaped line in which people would first cast a ballot for president and then cast a separate ballot for each of the two questions. Voters who choose not to cast a referendum ballot could exit the line at the base of the U. Near the end of the campaign, the CEC issued a number of conflicting and constantly changing directives as to what would constitute a valid ballot.

Official televised debates of the candidates
Televised debates between the two major candidates were held on February 14 and February 22. The parties were unable to reach agreement on dates for other presidential debates and for vice-presidential debates, though both candidates provided televised statements on February 28.

Popular mobilization
The main figures from the Pan-Green Coalition, including Chen Shui-bian and former president Lee Teng-hui, initiated the 228 Hand-in-Hand Rally, in which more than two million people joined hands from the very north of Taiwan to south to form an unbroken human chain. As an act of defiance against the P.R.China as well as a promotion of Taiwanese national identity, it occurred on February 28 in remembrance of the February 28 Incident. This demonstration was inspired by the human chain of two million that was organized in the Baltic states in 1989, where the Soviet Union later invaded to stop the Baltic states from declaring independence. Although billed as non-political, some of the symbolism of the demonstration, particularly the point in the event where participants "turn away from China," veered clearly toward support of Taiwan independence, and hence was not attended by members of the Pan-Blue Coalition.

In response, the Pan-Blue Coalition planned a series of events they dubbed "Heart Connecting to Hearts." These events included several rallies on 228, a blood drive, and a run in which a torch was passed from person to person through all 369 townships and cities of Taiwan in the course of two weeks. However, these events were unsuccessful at preventing a shift in support to Pan-Green after the 228 demonstration.

In response to declining polls numbers, the Pan-Blue coalition quickly organized a program of major rallies near the end of the election. Originally, the rallies were to protest black gold or political corruption, but the theme of the rallies were changed to "Change the President, save Taiwan." Critics of Pan-Blue argued that this change in theme was because Pan-Blue could not credibly be seen as anti-corruption. Supporters argued that this change was intended to focus the election on Chen's presumed lack of competence as president.

On March 13, the Pan-Blue Coalition held 24 rallies across Taiwan. The two million people attending beat gongs and made other noise and shouted "Change the President, save Taiwan" at 3:20 PM, in reference to the election date. The theme of the rallies were widely seen as an effort by Pan-Blue to shed the image that they were not really committed to Taiwan and would sell the island out to the PRC.

Soong led the rally in Taichung and knelt to kiss the ground along with his wife. Ten minutes later, Lien after giving a speech in Taipei which heavily talked about the need to love Taiwan and defend it, unexpectedly lay down prone on the ground kissing it with his wife and KMT Secretary-General Lin Fong-cheng.

Because of the poll blackout, there are no published reports which track the effect of 313 on Taiwanese public opinion, although anecdotal reports suggest that Pan-Blue supporters were deeply moved by Lien's actions while Pan-Green supporters saw them as disgusting and hypocritical.

Public endorsements
Buddhist master Wei Chueh endorsed Lien on March 11 and also urged his followers to boycott the referendum. This led to criticism from some other Buddhist leaders that his blunt condemnation of Chen broke the convention that religious figures remain politically neutral. In addition, Wei Chueh's temple was the object of many protests and had to be shut down until after the election.

Lee Yuan-tseh, widely credited for Chen's upset victory in 2000, issued a written statement on March 17 endorsing the Pan-Green candidates: "Four years ago, I endorsed Chen Shui-bian. Four years has elapsed, and I must admit in terms of the ability to run the country, the DPP has a lot of room to improve. But in terms of ideals and momentum to carry out reforms, the DPP is still the better choice." In response, Lien Chan, when asked about Lee's endorsement, remarked in English, "So what?"

Assassination attempt
On March 19, 2004, the last day of the election campaign, President Chen Shui-bian and Vice-president Annette Lu were both shot while campaigning in Tainan. They were traveling in an open convertible jeep in the presidential motorcade. One bullet struck Chen's abdomen and was later found in his clothes. It resulted in a flesh wound 8 cm long and 2 cm deep (four inches long, an inch wide, and an inch deep). Another bullet grazed Lu's knee and was found in the jeep. At first both believed that they had been hit by firecrackers, which are commonly used in Taiwanese political activities; the first sign of something more serious was when Chen noticed that he was bleeding from the abdomen, and that there was a bullet hole in the window.

Their injuries were not life-threatening, and both Chen and Lu were released from Chi-Mei Hospital on the same day without losing consciousness or having surgery. Nevertheless, the attack provoked shock and unease on Taiwan, where political violence of this kind is unknown in recent times.

Chen released a video in which he urged calm and indicated that neither his health nor the security of Taiwan were under threat. Within hours, police announced they were certain that the crime was not politically motivated, and that mainland China was not involved. On Internet chat rooms and talk radio, some Pan-Blue supporters theorized that the incident was faked in order for Chen to gain sympathy votes. These speculations were, however, considered highly offensive by Pan-Green supporters, and were not condoned by the Pan-Blue leadership until after Chen won the election.

Both Chen and Lien's election campaigns were suspended, but the next day's election was not postponed, as Taiwanese law only allows for suspension of election upon the death of a candidate. Lien Chan and Wang Jyng-ping tried to visit Chen on the night of the incident, but were unable to see the president because he was resting. Chen Shui-bian appeared publicly the next day when he voted.

Subsequent events
After all 13,749 polling places had reported, Lien appeared before his campaign headquarters and demanded a recount calling the vote "unfair". He demanded a full inquiry into the assassination attempt on Chen that had happened the day before, characterizing it as surrounded by "clouds of suspicion," seeming to fuel theories that it had been staged to get Chen re-elected.

On the next day, the KMT filed several lawsuits in major cities and Lien led 20,000 supporters in a march to the presidential office and staged an all night sit-in. This first set of lawsuits where thrown out because they were filed before a winner had been officially declared. Sit-ins were held in front of courthouses across Taiwan, with some protests becoming violent. The High Court ordered all ballot boxes be sealed, per Lien's demand. Protesters continued to camp on Ketagalan Boulevard outside the presidential office, despite Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou's calls on Sunday night to have people return to work. On Monday morning, hundreds still remained, with numbers swelling to about 10,000 in the evening. The crowds still remained until one week later, demanding a recount and an international investigation into the apparent assassination attempt.

On March 23, President Chen issued three directives to quell the contested results:
 * The Legislative Yuan should revise election laws to allow automatic recount if the margin of victory is less than 1% of the votes. The law, if passed, retroactively applies to the 2004 elections
 * If the law is passed, the President agrees to have the recount as soon as possible and expects Lien to acknowledge the results from the recount.
 * Since the President has shown goodwill in accepting Pan-Blue coalition's demand for a recount, the demonstrators in front of the Presidential Mansion should disperse and all protests be stopped.

The Legislature Yuan convened on March 26 to discuss the passage of the law, but the measure was not put to a vote. The Pan-Blue coalition demanded a recount by an executive order, bypassing the legislature; Chen claimed he had no such right, and that doing so would amount to declaring martial law.

Chen's controversial victory was officially confirmed by the Central Election Commission on March 26, 2004. Pan-Blue protesters stormed and hurled eggs at the CEC in response.

On March 27, 500,000 protesters massed in front of the presidential office (where protesters had remained all week). Lien told the crowd that he had counted more than 1,000 election irregularities (though he was not specific), but urged the crowd to disperse, promising more protests in the future if their demands were not met. Chen agreed to set up an independent task force to investigate the shooting and invited Henry Lee to be its leader.

At daybreak on March 28, 1,000 riot police moved into Ketagelan Boulevard to forcibly remove the last 200 protesters remaining. Another protest was held on the following Saturday, April 3, in which 15,000 people attended. The protest was deemed illegal and violently broken up by police.

On March 29, Chen and Lu signed letters promising not to contest the newly re-filed Pan-Blue petition for a recount, bypassing a lengthy judicial inquiry. On April 2, the High Court gave both sides five days to agree on a means to conduct the recount. Meanwhile, the Pan-Blue Coalition dropped its demand for another round of voting by disenfranchised members of the military and the police. By April 7, a procedural agreement for the recount still had not been reached and Pan-Blue held another rally the following Saturday, this time more than 100,000 strong. This protest was peaceful for most of the day, but several hundred demonstrators tried to storm the president's office in the evening. Police fired water cannons to push back the protesters.

A second lawsuit, originally filed on April 5 and refiled on April 7, charged that the Central Election Commission improperly allowed the presidential election to occur concurrently with the referendum and failed to postpone it after the apparent assassination attempt. This lawsuit sought to annul the results of the election. This was rejected by the High Court on November 4, 2004, but the Pan-Blue coalition is appealing to the Supreme Court. The Court also asked Pan-Blue to pay for the cost of the lawsuit.

A judicial recount under the jurisdiction of a special panel of the High Court began on May 10 and ended on May 18. It was conducted by about 460 teams situated in 21 courthouses across the Taiwan area. Each team comprised seven members - one judge, two members each from the district court and the local government election authorities, and two witnesses each representing the plaintiff (pan-blue alliance) and the defendant (pan-green alliance). Any disputed votes were sent to High Court in Taipei for verification. After the recount, Chen was confirmed the winner of the election by a smaller margin (25,563 from 29,518).

The High Court ruled that the election was legitimate in both lawsuits and also eventually turned down the appeals. The judges declared in the 2nd lawsuit that the voter lists did not need to be considered as evidence despite reports that widespread election fraud was found in the voter lists.

In late 2005 the Central Election Commission ruled that video cameras would no longer be allowed in voting stations and also took measures to remove certain practices such as stamping the back of IDs to prevent repeat voting.

By Administrative division
The leading candidate in each municipality is marked in red.

title: 2004 Taiwanese presidential election


text:
Col du Galibier

The Col du Galibier (el. 2642 m) is a mountain pass in the southern region of the French Dauphiné Alps near Grenoble. It is the eighth highest paved road in the Alps, and recurrently the highest point of the Tour de France.

It connects Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne and Briançon via the col du Télégraphe and the Col du Lautaret. The pass is closed during the winter. It is located between the massif d'Arvan-Villards and the massif des Cerces, taking its name from the secondary chain of mountains known as the Galibier.

Before 1976, the tunnel was the only point of passage at the top, at an altitude of 2556 m. The tunnel was closed for restoration until 2002, and a new road was constructed over the summit. The re-opened tunnel is a single lane controlled by traffic lights, which are among the highest such installations in Europe.

History
In 1876 the first passable road was opened between Maurienne and Briançon in the Oisans region. In the north the pass road begins in Valloire, only reachable via the Col du Télégraphe which is before Galibier and connects Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne with Valloire. In the south, the road begins at a level of 2,057 m Col du Lautaret, which connects Grenoble in the west with Briançon in the east. The highest point of this road was at an altitude of 2,658 m, 16 meters higher than nowadays. The road between Col du Lautaret is 24,5 kilometers long, 16 kilometers is the northern part, 8,5 kilometers is the south part. The road over the Galibier was first a natural road, later asphalted.

Construction and opening of tunnel
The area of the summit was a difficult passage, therefore, in 1890, a 363-meter-long tunnel was built, which was opened in 1891. This tunnel is four meters wide, allowing only for the passage of vehicles in one direction at a time.

Details of the climb

From the north, starting at Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne (including the Col du Télégraphe), the climb is 34.8 km long, gaining 2120 m in height (an average of 6.1%). The actual climb to the summit starts at Valloire and is 18.1 km long at an average of 6.9% (height gain: 1245 m). The maximum gradient is 10.1% at the summit.

From the south, the climb starts from the Col du Lautaret (el. 2058 m) and is 8.5 km long at an average gradient of 6.9% (height gain: 585 m) with a maximum of 12.1% at the summit.

On both sides of the Col du Galibier mountain pass cycling milestones are placed every kilometre. They indicate the distance to the summit, the current altitude, and the average slope in the following kilometre.

The Tour de France
The Col du Galibier was first used in the Tour de France in 1911; the first rider over the summit was Emile Georget, who, with Paul Duboc and Gustave Garrigou were the only riders not to walk.

The original summit was at 2556 m.; while the tunnel was closed from 1976 until 2002, the tour route went only over the pass closer to the mountain peak at 2645 m. In 2011, the Tour de France went through the tunnel for the first time during the 19th stage from Modane Valfréjus to L'Alpe d'Huez.

At the south portal of the tunnel, at the edge of the road, there is a monument to Henri Desgrange, instigator and first director of the Tour de France. The memorial was inaugurated when the tour passed on 19 July 1949. Whenever the tour crosses the Col du Galibier, a wreath is laid on the memorial. The Souvenir Henri Desgrange is awarded to the first rider across the summit of the highest mountain in each year's tour. In 2006, the prize of 5,000 euros was claimed on the Col du Galibier by Michael Rasmussen.

Since 1947, the Col de Galibier has been crossed 31 times by the Tour de France. It was scheduled to be used in 1996, but was left out at the last minute due to bad weather. As a result of snow on both the Col de l'Iseran and the Col du Galibier, the scheduled 190 km stage from Val-d'Isère to Sestriere in Italy was reduced to a 46 km sprint from Le-Monetier-les-Bains which was claimed by Bjarne Riis, resulting in him taking the yellow jersey which he retained to the finish in Paris.

In the 2008 Tour, the Col du Galibier had been crossed on 23 July in the 210 km stage 17 from Embrun to Alpe d'Huez.

The 2011 Tour climbed the Col du Galibier twice to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the first appearance of the pass in the Tour de France, including the first ever summit finish, won by Andy Schleck after a 60 km solo breakaway. This was the highest ever stage finish in the Tour de France. It was scheduled to be used again in stage 20 of the 2015 Tour, but was left out nine days before the race start due to landslides in the Chambon Tunnel, situated towards the bottom of the descent of the climb. It was also used twice, on stages 11 and 12, of the 2022 Tour.

The Giro d'Italia
The 2013 Giro d'Italia climbed the Col du Galibier, although the stage had to be shortened by 4 km due to heavy snowfall.

title: Col du Galibier


text:
Raymond Poulidor

Raymond Poulidor (15 April 1936 – 13 November 2019), nicknamed "Pou-Pou", was a French professional racing cyclist, who rode for his entire career.

His distinguished career coincided with two other outstanding riders – Jacques Anquetil and Eddy Merckx. This underdog position may have been the reason Poulidor was a favourite of the public. He was known as "The Eternal Second", because he never won the Tour de France despite finishing in second place three times, and in third place five times (including his final Tour at the age of 40). Despite his consistency, he never wore the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification in 14 Tours (of which he completed 12). He did win one Grand Tour, the 1964 Vuelta a España. Of the eighteen Grand Tours that he entered in his career, he finished in the top 10 fifteen times.

Early life and amateur career
Raymond Poulidor was the son of Martial and Maria Poulidor, small farmers outside the hamlet of Masbaraud-Mérignat, where the Creuse region east of Limoges meets the département of Haute-Vienne. Poulidor began working on the farm where, he remembered, "the soil was poor and we had to work hard; farming incomes were poor." The need for working hands on the farm meant he left school at 14 even though he wanted to continue his studies. Local entertainment went little further than village fairs, with coconut shies, sack-races, competitions for bottles of home-made jam... and inter-village cycle races. Poulidor continued to help out on his parents' farm even after he turned professional.

Poulidor was given his first bike by a local shop owner at the age of 14. He started racing bicycles at the age of 16, picking up the interest from the magazine Miroir-Sprint given to him by one of his school teachers. He initially hid his passion from his mother, who was afraid of the dangers the sport entailed.

It was only when Poulidor was taken into the army for compulsory national service in 1955 that he first travelled in a train. Pierre Chany, a French reporter who followed 49 Tours de France, drew the comparison with Poulidor's eventual rival, Jacques Anquetil: by the time Poulidor first stepped into a train, Anquetil had already been to Helsinki, ridden the Olympic Games, won a medal for France, turned professional and won the Grand Prix des Nations. Yet there was less than two years between them.

The army sent Poulidor to the war then going on in Algeria, where he worked as a driver and put on 12 kg through lack of exercise. In 1960 he dedicated himself to cycling again and lost the weight in a month. He won his first race after army service by six minutes. When he then came second in the GP de Peyrat-le-Château and won 80,000 old francs, he calculated that he had won more in one race than he would have earned in six years on the farm.

Professional career
Poulidor turned professional in 1960 with the Mercier team, directed by former Tour winner Antonin Magne. Magne offered Poulidor 25,000 old francs a month. Poulidor asked for 30,000. Magne countered that that was more than he paid Gauthier and Louis Privat and refused. Later, aware that he had a rival for Anquetil, he conceded.

In just his second season, Poulidor won Milan–San Remo, one of cycling's "monument classics". 125 km from the finish, he was about to abandon after he suffered a puncture and was two minutes behind the leading riders. Magne convinced him to continue and Poulidor bridged the gap. On the climb of the Capo Berta, he attacked, joined by Albertus Geldermans and teammate Jean-Claude Annaert, who set the tempo until they reached the foot of the final climb, the Poggio. Here, Poulidor attacked again and opened a gap. Despite being guided in the wrong direction by a police man in the final corner, he was able to hold off the chasing field by three seconds to take the victory. Also in 1961, he became French road race champion.

The Anquetil years
Poulidor's rivalry with Anquetil is a legend in cycling. While a good climber, Poulidor had a hard time matching Anquetil in the individual time trial, often having victory snatched from him by losing time in time-trial stages of the Tour de France.

Poulidor's riding style was aggressive and attacking, whereas Anquetil preferred to control the race in the mountains and win time in the time-trials. Poulidor became the darling of the French public, to the ire of Anquetil. Poulidor's mid-France upbringing and his slow Limousin speech also contrasted with Anquetil's northern background and sharper accent. Poulidor's face was deeply tanned and furrowed; Anquetil had high cheekbones, a smoother face and brushed-up blond hair.

Poulidor's best chance of defeating Anquetil came in the 1964 Tour de France, in the finish on the Puy de Dôme. Anquetil rode beside Poulidor but both were so exhausted that only in the last few hundred metres could Poulidor take nearly enough time to threaten Anquetil's first place in the general classification. The Tour organiser, Jacques Goddet, was behind the pair as they turned off the main road and climbed through what police estimated as half a million spectators.

Anquetil rode on the inside by the mountain wall while Poulidor took the outer edge by the precipice. They could sometimes feel the other's hot gasps on their bare arms. At the end, Anquetil cracked, after a battle of wills and legs so intense that at times they banged elbows. Poulidor says he was so tired that he has no memory of the two touching, although a photograph shows that they did. Of Anquetil, the veteran French reporter Pierre Chany wrote: "His face, until then purple, lost all its colour; the sweat ran down in drops through the creases of his cheeks." Anquetil was only semiconscious, he said. Poulidor gained time but when they reached Paris, Anquetil still had a 55-second lead and won his last Tour de France thanks to the time-trial on the final day.

Anquetil-Poulidor: the social significance
Anquetil unfailingly beat Poulidor in the Tour de France and yet Poulidor remained the more popular. "The more unlucky I was, the more the public liked me and the more money I earned", he said. Divisions between fans became marked, which two sociologists studying the impact of the Tour on French society say became emblematic of France old and new. Research showed that more than 4,000 newspaper articles appeared about him in France in just 1974 and that no other rider "had ever incited so many sociological investigations, so many university theses, seeking to find the cause of his prodigious popularity."

Poupou, the nickname
Poulidor's original nickname was Pouli. It was Émile Besson of the daily newspaper L'Humanité who first wrote of Poupou. The name was taken up throughout France, leading to headlines such as "Poupoularité" in L'Équipe. A poupée is a doll and the nickname hints at that and follows the French tradition of repeating the first syllable of a word in childspeak. Poulidor never liked the name but accepted it.

The Merckx years
The end of the Anquetil era presented opportunities for Poulidor to finally win the Tour de France. This was not to be due to injuries in 1967 and 1968, and the arrival of Eddy Merckx in 1969. Poulidor was no match for Merckx, although he offered much resistance.

In the 1973 Tour Poulidor almost lost his life on the descent from the Col de Portet d'Aspet when he plunged into a ravine, taking a serious blow to the head and crawling out with the help of the race director, Jacques Goddet.

Poulidor and Dr Mabuse
Antonin Magne remained manager of Poulidor's Mercier team until 1970, when he was replaced by another former rider, Louis Caput. Caput brought with him as deputy directeur sportif a man who described himself as a homeopath, Bernard Sainz. Sainz is known in cycling as Dr Mabuse, after a pulp-fiction character created by Norbert Jacques. Mabuse is a criminal mastermind who becomes rich through hypnotic powers. He plots to take over the world but is foiled by the police. From his cell he masterminds criminal plots by writing endless gibberish. Sainz recognises the nickname and used it in the name of his autobiography.

Sainz is a former velodrome rider of national level who stopped racing after a fall and became involved in horse racing, where he was twice convicted of maltreating horses. It was in horse-racing, where he turned unremarkable animals into champions, that he acquired his nickname. He has been repeatedly investigated by police and has been convicted of illegally practising medicine and incitement to doping. Sainz claims that he only engages in homeopathic treatment, though whatever methods he engages in are effective, casting doubt on this claim.

Louis Caput approached Edmond Mercier, the bicycle-maker behind Poulidor's team, and asked to bring Sainz into the team management. Mercier agreed, said Sainz, because he was already treating Mercier for his own health problems. Mercier had also brought in the insurance company, GAN, as main sponsor. GAN, said Sainz, demanded that Poulidor be in the team photo even if all he did was train with the team at the start of the season. In 1971 Poulidor had decided against riding any more. The tactic, Sainz said, was bluff, to increase his motivation. In Paris–Nice, the first important stage race of the season, Poulidor was 22 seconds behind Eddy Merckx on the morning of the last day. Poulidor attacked from the start, setting a speed record on the Col de la Turbie that stood for more than 10 years and won Paris–Nice by two seconds. Next year he won Paris–Nice again and also the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré.

Drug testing
Raymond Poulidor was the first rider to be tested for drugs in the Tour de France. Testers arrived at the Tour for the first time in 1966, in Bordeaux, although only after word had spread and many riders had left their hotels. The first competitor they found was Poulidor.

A few other riders were found, including Rik Van Looy, and some obliged and others refused. Next morning, the race left the city on the way to the Pyrenees and stopped in the suburb of Gradignan, in the university area of La House. The riders climbed off and began walking, shouting protests in general and in particular abuse at the race doctor, Pierre Dumas, whom some demanded should also take a test to see if he'd been drinking wine or taking aspirin to make his own job easier. Riders also criticised Poulidor for accepting to be tested. He dismissed their protests and stayed at the back of the strike. Other prominent riders, including Jacques Anquetil, were at the front. Poulidor said his indifference to the controls and the strike harmed his relations with fellow riders. "After that, they did me no favours in the peloton", he said.

Retirement and death

Poulidor has several times accepted that his career was handicapped by a lack of ambition and by the psychological domination of Jacques Anquetil. Poulidor said in an interview in 1992: I knew straight away that I was getting places everywhere. I got all the leaders' jerseys but I used to lose them. Tonin [Magne] said to me "Raymond, you're always in a daydream!" ''And was that true? Were you distracted?'' It was true. I thought what was happening to me was already marvellous enough. I never thought of winning. Never, ever, did I get up in the morning with the idea of winning!

On 25 January 1973 Poulidor was made a Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur. In 2003 the President, Jacques Chirac increased the award. Poulidor also has a rose named after him, reflecting his love of gardening in general and roses in particular.

He lived with his wife Gisèle in Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, east of Limoges, where he made short trips on his mountain bike. Their daughter, Corinne, is married to the former world cyclo-cross champion and Tour of Flanders winner Adri van der Poel. His grandsons David and Mathieu van der Poel are also cyclists: Mathieu became cyclo-cross world champion six times, and won three of the five Monuments and a stage in the 2021 Tour de France at which he dedicated his win and yellow jersey to his grandfather.

Poulidor worked in public relations for Crédit Lyonnais, sponsor of the yellow jersey, during the Tour. He had bicycles made under his name by the France-Loire company, and has appeared in television commercials aimed at older people.

When asked about his longevity compared to fellow cyclists, Poulidor said he took things in moderation and did not overstretch himself.

Poulidor has written several biographies, the first of which was Gloire sans le Maillot Jaune, written in 1964. Poulidor Intime was published in May 2007 by Éditions Jacob-Duvernet in France. In 2004 he helped write Poulidor par Raymond Poulidor with the radio reporter Jean-Paul Brouchon. The preface is by Eddy Merckx.

On 13 November 2019, Raymond Poulidor died in Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat. He had been in a hospital for two months prior, having suffered from heart problems.

Major results
Source:

 * 1959
 * 3rd Grand Prix d'Oradour-sur-Vayres

 * 1960
 * 1st Bordeaux–Saintes
 * 1st Overall Prestige Pernod
 * 2nd Nice–Mont Agel
 * 3rd Grand Prix de Fourmies
 * 3rd Overall Super Prestige Pernod
 * 4th Grand Prix du Midi Libre
 * 5th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 7th Paris–Tours
 * 10th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré

 * 1961
 * 1st MaillotFra.PNG Road race, National Road Championships
 * 1st Milan–San Remo
 * 1st Mont Faron hill climb
 * 1st Overall Challenge Yellow
 * 2nd Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
 * 2nd Nice–Mont Agel
 * 2nd Monaco–Mont Agel
 * 2nd Overall Super Prestige Pernod
 * 3rd Gênes–Nice
 * 3rd Grand Prix du Midi Libre
 * 3rd Grand Prix de Cannes
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 7th Bordeaux–Paris
 * 9th Overall Paris–Nice
 * 9th Paris–Bruxelles

 * 1962
 * 3rd Overall Tour de France
 * 1st Stage 19
 * 3rd Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
 * 3rd Grand Prix de Nice
 * 5th Paris–Roubaix
 * 7th Overall Paris–Nice
 * 7th Overall Super Prestige Pernod
 * 8th Grand Prix du Midi Libre

 * 1963
 * 1st La Flèche Wallonne
 * 1st Grand Prix des Nations
 * 1st Gran Premio di Lugano
 * 1st Overall Challenge Yellow
 * 1st Critérium National
 * 2nd Grand Prix de Cannes
 * 2nd Trofeo Baracchi (with Jacques Anquetil)
 * 2nd Gênes–Nice
 * 2nd Overall Prestige Pernod
 * 3rd Overall Super Prestige Pernod
 * 3rd Paris–Tours
 * 3rd Paris–Luxembourg
 * 5th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 5th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
 * 8th Overall Tour de France
 * 9th 1963 Tour of Flanders

 * 1964
 * 1st Overall Critérium National
 * 1st Stage 2b (ITT)
 * 1st Grand Prix de Cannes
 * 1st Grand Prix de Soissons
 * 1st Ronde de Seignelay
 * 1st Jersey gold.svg Overall Vuelta a España
 * 1st Stage 15 (ITT)
 * 1st Stage 1 Circuit du Provençal
 * 1st Overall Super Prestige Pernod
 * 1st Overall Prestige Pernod
 * 1st Overall Challenge Yellow
 * 2nd Overall Tour de France
 * 1st Stage 15
 * 2nd Milan–San Remo
 * 2nd Grand Prix d'Antibes
 * 2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
 * 1st Stages 2 & 4a (ITT)
 * 2nd Overall Tour de Haute-Loire
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 7th Overall Paris–Nice
 * 1st Stage 7

 * 1965
 * 1st Overall Escalada a Montjuïc
 * 2nd Overall Tour de France
 * 1st Stages 5b (ITT) and 14
 * 2nd Overall Vuelta a España
 * 1st Stages 4a (ITT) and 16 (ITT)
 * 2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
 * 2nd Overall Prestige Pernod
 * 4th Overall Super Prestige Pernod
 * 3rd Grand Prix des Nations
 * 4th Overall Paris–Nice
 * 4th Trofeo Baracchi (with Georges Chappe)
 * 6th Giro di Lombardia

 * 1966
 * 1st Overall Critérium National
 * 1st Stage 2b (ITT)
 * 1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
 * 1st Stage 7b (ITT)
 * 3rd Overall Tour de France
 * 1st Stage 14b (ITT)
 * 1st Stage 2 (ITT) Paris–Nice
 * 1st Subida a Arrate
 * 1st Overall Challenge Yellow
 * 1st Overall Prestige Pernod
 * 2nd Trofeo Baracchi (with Georges Chappe)
 * 3rd Bronze medal blank.svg Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 3rd Giro di Lombardia
 * 3rd Grand Prix d'Aix-en-Provence
 * 3rd Grand Prix de Monaco
 * 3rd Overall Super Prestige Pernod
 * 5th Grand Prix des Nations
 * 7th Milan–San Remo

 * 1967
 * 1st Bol d'Or des Monédières Chaumeil
 * 1st Circuit de l'Aulne
 * 1st A Travers Lausanne
 * 1st Overall Escalada a Montjuïc
 * 2nd Overall Critérium National
 * 3rd Giro di Lombardia
 * 3rd Polymultipliée
 * 3rd Grand Prix du Midi Libre
 * 4th Overall Prestige Pernod
 * 8th Overall Vuelta a España
 * 1st Stage 15b (ITT)
 * 9th Overall Tour de France
 * 1st Stage 22b (ITT)
 * 7th Paris–Roubaix

 * 1968
 * 1st Overall Critérium National
 * 1st Overall Escalada a Montjuïc
 * 1st Subida a Arrate
 * 2nd Overall Prestige Pernod
 * 3rd Overall Four Days of Dunkirk
 * 1st Stage 3 (ITT)
 * 1st Stage 3 Tour of Belgium
 * 3rd A Travers Lausanne
 * 5th Milan–San Remo
 * 6th Paris–Roubaix
 * 7th Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 8th Overall Tour de Suisse

 * 1969
 * 1st Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
 * 1st Stages 1a & 5a
 * 1st Overall Tour du Haut Var
 * 1st Overall Challenge Yellow
 * 1st Overall Prestige Pernod
 * 2nd Overall Paris–Nice
 * 1st Stage 1a (ITT)
 * 3rd Overall Tour de France
 * 1st Stage 4a (ITT) Tour of the Basque Country
 * 2nd Grand Prix des Nations
 * 2nd Grand Prix d'Aix-en-Provence
 * 4th Grand Prix du Midi Libre
 * 4th Overall Super Prestige Pernod
 * 5th Giro di Lombardia

 * 1970
 * 2nd Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
 * 2nd A Travers Lausanne
 * 2nd Overall Prestige Pernod
 * 4th Overall Paris–Nice
 * 7th Overall Tour de France
 * 8th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
 * 8th Grand Prix des Nations
 * 10th La Flèche Wallonne

 * 1971
 * 1st Overall Critérium National
 * 1st Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
 * 1st Overall Étoile des Espoirs
 * 1st Stage 5
 * 2nd Overall Tour of the Basque Country
 * 3rd Overall Prestige Pernod
 * 4th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
 * 6th Grand Prix des Nations
 * 9th Overall Vuelta a España

 * 1972
 * 1st Critérium des As
 * 1st Overall Critérium National
 * 1st Overall Paris–Nice
 * 1st Stage 7b (ITT)
 * 1st Overall Challenge Yellow
 * 1st Overall Prestige Pernod
 * 2nd Overall Setmana Catalana de Ciclisme
 * 1st Stage 1 (ITT)
 * 2nd La Flèche Wallonne
 * 2nd Overall Super Prestige Pernod
 * 3rd Overall Tour de France
 * 4th Grand Prix des Nations
 * 4th Grand Prix du Midi Libre
 * 7th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
 * 10th Paris–Roubaix

 * 1973
 * 1st GP de Soissons
 * 1st Grand Prix du Midi Libre
 * 1st Overall Paris–Nice
 * 1st Overall Challenge Yellow
 * 2nd Overall Prestige Pernod
 * 3rd A Travers Lausanne
 * 4th Liège–Bastogne–Liège
 * 7th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
 * 9th Grand Prix des Nations
 * 9th Overall Super Prestige Pernod
 * 10th Paris–Roubaix

 * 1974
 * 2nd Overall Tour de France
 * 1st Stage 16
 * 2nd Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
 * 1st Stage 6b
 * 2nd Silver medal blank.svg Road race, UCI Road World Championships
 * 2nd Overall Prestige Pernod
 * 4th Overall Super Prestige Pernod
 * 5th Overall Paris–Nice
 * 5th Overall Tour de Romandie
 * 1st Prologue (ITT)

 * 1975
 * 2nd Overall Tour du Limousin
 * 1st Stage 3
 * 2nd Overall Prestige Pernod
 * 3rd Paris–Bourges
 * 4th Overall Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré
 * 7th Grand Prix du Midi Libre

 * 1976
 * 3rd Overall Tour de France
 * 2nd Overall Prestige Pernod
 * 4th Grand Prix du Midi Libre
 * 5th Giro di Lombardia
 * 7th Overall Super Prestige Pernod
 * 8th Liège–Bastogne–Liège

 * 1977
 * 6th Overall Paris–Nice

title: Raymond Poulidor