| A day at the races...July 13, 3:19pm, Mont
Ventoux stage of the TDF. There's a small group
of riders one minute ahead of this all-important group with both Lance,
Ullrich and Pantani. This is at the very base of the climb, and very
shortly Lance's team mates Tyler Hamilton and Kevin Levingston will do
everything they can do blow things apart and set the tempo on the climb.
They will succeed, with Pantani attacking off the front with about 6km to
go, and Lance joining him. From the TV coverage, it appeared that
Lance was the stronger of the two, at one point urging Pantani to ride
faster as he tried to put as much distance between himself and 2nd-place
Jan Ullrich. At the top, Lance allowed Pantani to take the stage,
setting up a verbal battle (trash talk) between the two that probably
continues as you read this (with Pantani saying that Lance didn't
"allow" him to win, he did so on his own, etc.). Quite an
exciting day to be in France!
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| July 14, 11:07am, just prior to the start of the Avignon
stage of the TDF. George Hincapie, US Postal
sprinter, and Fred Rodriguez, an American riding for the Mapei team,
enjoying the adulation of fans and a relatively calm moment before the
start of the race. That's the walled city of Avignon in the
background, in southern France (Provence).
Fred went on to take 4th place in the final stage in
Paris, leading out his Mapei team mate for the win!
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| Reflections on the Y2K Tour de France
Wow. My five and a half years of racing (back in the day) never
prepared me for anything like this. To be right there, behind the
lines at the Tour de France (at one point getting my camera strap hooked
on Richard Virenque's brake lever...as they'd say in Fargo, "Oh geez")
is just the most amazing thing. And in the grand tradition of life
imitating art imitating life, where nearly everything you come across is
familiar as a past that you experienced in a movie, it came to me that
this must be how a baseball player feels who was never quite good enough
to make it to the "show" (a player on a National or American
League team).
Tomorrow, Lance will enter Paris wearing the Yellow Jersey, as millions
watch the final minutes of this 2000+ mile spectacle. Barring
something truly catastrophic, Lance will be on the winner's podium again,
just as he was last year, but few Americans will understand the magnitude
of his triumph. I feel truly fortunate to be one of those
few.
While in France, I was able to watch live TV of the last hour of stage
10...where Lance destroyed the field on the climb to Hautacom, putting
four minutes between himself and 2nd-place Jan Ullrich. Remember the
first time you saw Rocky? This was better.
The following day I took part in LeTape du
Tour, an organized ride/race that travels the exact course of the Mont
Ventoux stage. You'd think that my prior racing career would have
given me some understanding of what a stage from the Tour de France would
be like...but it's one thing to dream from a far-away land, it's entirely
another to be there yourself. And then, two days later, to witness
the spectacle of the 'Tour itself going through, well, you just can't
imagine what it's like. From our vantage point at the foot of Mont
Ventoux, we could gaze down across the valleys that would carry the riders
to us, watching their progress by noting the position of the numerous
helicopters covering the event. And the insane Publicity Caravan
that precedes the riders... a hundred vehicles of all shapes & sizes,
advertising whatever the 'Tour sponsors have to offer, tossing trinkets
& trash to people lining the streets.
More on my France trip (including, as
always, lots of photos!)
Also check out Memories of France for raw,
unedited journal entries.
--Mike--
Last updated
05/06/05
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1999
Tour de France