Vive Le Tour de France

I have the need for one more non-financial post about Le Tour de France.  I posted my chart of the Dow earlier for those who need their $ fix.

The media is well known for trying to create a buzz out of nothing to sell papers or gain viewership.  This year they actually had something to work with as doping in Le Tour overshadowed the event.  Two riders tested positive during the three week event for a week, one was kicked out for testing positive prior to the start and another was kicked out for lying.  The mass media missed reporting on a Tour that ended up being one of the most exciting of all time.  That’s a rather short-term menality for the media producers I think.  While people love taking a look at the train wreck of Le Tour’s drug scandal, a deeper dive into the competition could have created a greater understanding of the sport and thus increased viewership in years to come. 

I think this same mentality that keeps many Americans from understanding the beauty of a no-hitter in baseball or a 0-0 tie in soccer also keeps them from understanding the inner workings that make professional cycling so exciting.  Johan Bruyneel, the directeur sportif of Team Discovery Channel, is a strategic genius.  He coached Lance Armstrong to seven consecutive Tour titles and after a year of the team seeming to take a deep breathe, he came back with the greatest team ever with two riders on the podium (one the winner) and another only a few spots back in eighth place.  Those three high ranking placements gave Discovery Channel the overall team win for the first time.  He has created a team that is selfless in their giving to each other.  Contador worked for Leipheimer and vice versa.  Popovych rode one of the greatest domestique rides of all time in his unrelenting support of the team on every single stage.

While CBS’ horrid coverage (at least Versus gave good coverage) continues every year in what seems an effort to keep American’s from watching, the closest finish for the top three riders played out.  After riding 91 hours over three weeks, the top three riders finished within 31 seconds of each other.  The time trial was on the second to last day and the riders placed 1, 2 and 3 finished in reverse order of fastest giving the chance that the third rider could have finished before both of the riders in front and nearly had all three changing podium positions.  I watched Greg LeMond beat Fignon by 8 seconds in 1989 and this Saturday evoked the same kinds of emotions for me.  I’ll always be a fan of Le Tour de France.

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