The early eighties saw the tide change in the European Peloton. Components were taking on a new, curvy shape as they left their boxy forms behind. The glint of toe clips in the sun would become a rarer sight as the move towards clipless pedals would take hold in 1985. English speakers were winning the big races classically won by continental Pros.
The 1984 Tour could be my favorite edition of the race. In 1983, the rookie Laurent Fignon had won in the absence of Le Patron, Bernard Hinault. The 1984 race saw the two go head-to-head, with Fignon becoming the one and only person in history to have laughed at Hinault and lived. He did more than live, he won. The new guard was here, and they were making their presence known.
This photo is from the stage to l’Alpe d’Huez. LeMond was riding in support of Fignon, and Robert Millar, in his second Tour, was leading the King of the Mountains competition, which he would eventually win. Millar wrote an account of this stage in Issue 13 of Rouleur, which everyone should make an effort to find a copy of. He describes the attacks that come fast and furious on the penultimate climb in such vivid detail, it makes my guns ache. But worse than that is his and LeMonds effort to hold on to Fignon and Hinault’s wheels in the ride through the valley to Le Bourg d’Oisans and the base of the final climb. It is the perfect description of the suffering of the Cyclist. LeMond, in service to his leader, is on the front one moment as he reels Hinault in after an attack, before being cast into the gutter and the back wheel a moment later when the next attack comes.
Just as 1984 was a watershed moment in the Pro peloton, 2013 is a watershed year for the VSP. This year we are offering five amazing prizes from five amazing partners.
Prizes
First prize is a Veloforma Strada iR road frame, painted in an exclusive Velominati color scheme with the newly-designed Velominati Super Prestige logo. Please note that this is a brand-spankin’ new frame for Veloforma. The geometry can be reviewed here.
Second prize is a pair of Café Roubaix carbon tubular wheels. The winner of this prize will be given the choice between the sub-1000g Haleakala wheels or a road version of my beloved Arenberg wheelset. As an additional incentive, anyone who enters their picks in the Tour VSP will get a $200 discount on any wheelset at Café Roubaix.
Third prize is a pair of Bont cycling shoes. The winner of this prize will be assisted in selecting the size, color, and model of shoe.
Fourth prize is a Flandrian Best kit from DeFeet consisting of a wool U-D-Shirt, Arm Skins, Kneekers, Slipstreams, and a pair of V-Socks.
Fifth prize is a wool jersey from our Keepers Tour tour partners, Pavé Cycling Classics.
Many thanks to each of our sponsors for providing such exciting prizes.
Rules
Enter your picks for the top five riders on G.C. by the time the countdown clock goes to zero; Grand Tour scoring rules apply. Check the mapping of your picks by the end of Stage 1 and use the dispute system should it be mapped incorrectly.
We will be enforcing Piti Principle rules much more closely. We will be accepting pick disputes through the start of Stage 2. After that, it will be at The Keepers’ discretion as to whether or not we allow the dispute. If your pick is ambiguous and we map them to the wrong rider, make sure you check your disputes before the deadline; we may reject the dispute after that time. For example, should both Tony and Dan Martin take the start and you enter “Martin” as your pick, we will pick one for you and you will have to live with it if you forget to dispute it before the deadline.
Good luck, and Merckxspeed.
Update: This is the same paint scheme that the winner will have, except the VSP Winner’s Badge will be replacing the V-Lion.
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View Comments
@frank
Yeah, LOVED the classics season.
Just seems like there has not been a lot of exciting action to date. Too many sprints for me. Over half way through the race and no real decisive stages at all. I know that the organizers want to try to keep it close to the end and stack the big mtn stages later in the race but there is a hell of a battle going on for 2-13th place and that could be fought out over the whole three weeks as opposed to just the final week.
Just has not drawn me in to it like usual. But, could also just be me as well.
@Buck Rogers which brings us back to the age old debate on race radios. How many more breakaways might succeed and provide some entertainment if they were banned...
@ChrisO
I'm not sure what coverage you're watching but to me, it seems like all the NBCSN coverage is IS background coverage and pre-packaged inserts, stage maps, results and then commercials - they don't show very much of the actual racing (because a lot of it is pretty damn boring if we're being honest). We'll have to agree to disagree on the reason people tune in - from my understanding there is a large portion of the French television audience that tunes in for the aerials of France even if they aren't fans of cycling in general (much like they way people in the US tune in to the Superbowl even if they aren't into to teams playing the game or football in general) and obviously that is who the ASO is going to try to capitalize on. Even as a cycling fan I would be disappointed if this wasn't a big part of the coverage - its one of the reasons I love watching the sport. I'm not saying I wouldn't, but I don't know how many of those people would really care about telemetry showing Froome's current wattage and/or how that relates to his weight.
@Deakus
Oh yeah, I am all for banning them, at least internal team communciations. They could have race radios and have only race commissaire access for updates about crashes/road hazards etc but no internal team communications or overall race updates.
EBH out due to broken stuff. At this rate Froome will be rolling into Paris alone.
@Buck Rogers I seem to remember feeling the same last year: too many boring flat stages before the mountains. One or two exciting stages so far this year, but 9-10 ho-hum ones. I just don't get the "ride 200km and then have a bunch sprint" model.
But this year I've been particularly disappointed with the Pyrenees stages: no Tourmalet, Aubisque, Hautacam. They need to cover more hills, dammit! The Pyrenees also has spectacular scenery (and not too many chateaus!) so no need for contrived commentary (well, one can always hope).
IMHO I think the race could be shorter: drop some of the flat stages, make it a two-week race in more varied terrain. But of course there are SOO many reasons (beyond pure cycling) why this will never happen.
@Buck Rogers
Stage 7 with Cannondale splitting the peloton apfirst everyone thinking they'd only keep it up to the intermediate sprint but the driving it all the way to the finish. Lotto, OPQS and Argos burying themselves to bring their fast boys back to the group. Two mental days in the mountains , Froome and Ricie's big day out followed by the Spannish inquisition.
Maybe it's been a bit thin on the ground but those were great stages.
Edvald Broken Hagen
@margc
I recall the 1988 TdF had two stages in a day. A road race in the morning and then a TTT in the afternoon. I have a VHS recording of it. CBS with non-stop Tesh tunes throughout. I'll look for it and upload. It's great viewing.
The 1988 TdF on had one rest day, used for transfer.
@Buck Rogers
It would sure put some fight back in to the field. There should be a few stages that they remove all electronic devices and strap a watch on the stem and tell them they have only so much time to finish.