"Michael Baldwin" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:
[email protected]...
| Mike J. reminds us all;
|
| >It is important, very important, to keep in mind the
| >history of the 'Tour, and the background of those who
| >now run it. This is not an athletic endeavor as
| >much as it is journalistic and commercial.
|
| Yes, TdF was originally organized by a french sports newspaper as more
| or less a publicity stunt as I recall.
| One can understand from a _french_ perspective, LA virtually killed
| the "spirit" of TdF.
One can also understand that the TdF was having real problems getting
attention until Lance came upon the scene. The Festina affair was still
fresh, and it had been quite some time that somebody stood out from the
crowd as either hero or villain.
I have attended each TdF from 2000-on. And the popularity, within France,
among the French, increased significantly each year, perhaps leveling off in
2004. In 2000, if you went in search of a bar with the 'Tour on, you'd
likely not find one. Football (Soccer) was much more common. But by 2002
that had changed, the TdF was everything, everywhere. And the French
spectators? Somewhere around 2002-2003 those in the countryside would bring
out their families and have hand-painted "Lance" signs and talk about what a
hero he was. I found no hint of scorn, only admiration for what he was
doing. It was a most-amazing thing.
It didn't have to be Lance; it could have been anybody who had taken charge
of the TdF and given us, and them, structure. Removed the randomness of the
event and made it simpler for people to understand and follow. And follow
they did.
I think, looking back at the history of the TdF, it will be easy to make a
case that the more-popular years were those in which the race was easier to
follow because people knew the players. Years when you had racers who had
already made their mark, and were coming back for more. Lance, for at least
5 years, did that extremely well.
So, perhaps from a journalistic perspective, a French journalist most-likely
employed by ASO, Lance might have killed *their* idea of the spirit of the
TdF. Because, to those journalists, they believed it was their responsiblity
to create drama from epic battles that existed as much in their minds as on
the roads. They (the journalists) made the heroes! But to the public at
large, I don't think Lance did anything but enhance the interest in the TdF.
Because he made either a great hero or villain. He polarized things in a way
that made it easy to understand.
--Mike-- Chain Reaction Bicycles
www.ChainReactionBicycles.com