It's a pity that the camera director seemed to be starkly disconnected with what was happening in the Tour de France that year. No footage of the the rider place 2nd overall the whole way up the climb, a rider who was dangerously close and had pulled off a startling breakaway earlier in the day, greatly weakening his rivals. Understandably the stage leaders would be given Moto1, especially since it was their own darling Laurent Fignon. Understandably, the RACE leader Pedro Delgado would be given Moto 2. But what of Moto 3? Or of the helicopter which is often used to bridge the gap in coverage when the motorbike cameras are all taken up? Very poor. And then when the 2nd placed rider OVERALL astonishes everyone by showing up out of nowhere, we still have no cameras on the ground to get crucial human interest footage of Roche as he has evidently produced the ride of his life, and most definitely at that point had kept himself in contention. No. We get another boring 2 minutes or more of the 'also-rans' traipsing over the line and lots of empty road in between. Besides being seemingly clueless of the big picture, the camera director was obviously caught napping on the line too. "Hey Boss! Réveillez-vous!! Wake up Monsieur!! Fignon looks like he could win ze stage!!" Sleeping Boss: "Eh...? Oh...eh??" Grunts, farts, grunts again. "Awwh Zut! Alors!! Make sure you get all cameras on ze Lion!! Vive la France! We will celebrate zis day" "Ah oui Monsieur, mais eh....what about Monsieur Roche qui arrivee tres rapide tout-de-suite non?? Et Jean Francois?? "Qui?? Bernard - bah! 'Roche', qui 'est?? Awwh...he's down ze mountainside in a pub somewhere. Keep ze cameras ALL ZE CAMERAS on Fignon, and a little bit on ze maillot jaune!" Terrible.
This commentary and sequence of events is inscribed in cycling folklore, largely because of the failings identified here. Blanket coverage leads to little by way of surprise, not in the way witnessed here. The flaws led to something brilliant.
Very true. Even the relatively sparse American coverage on CBS at least showed Roche's bold breakaway starting in the valley before the climb of the Col de la Madeleine and the frantic chase by Delgado and the other leaders. All of that of course set up the drama and how things played out on the final climb. And again, the American coverage at least showed clips of Roche on the final climb as he dug deep within himself to pull back Delgado before the finish and stay in contention. I thought for sure this longer coverage would include that.
Thanks for posting. So much better than the CBS coverage
"Argy Bargy " !
Luv hearing Paul Sherwen!
🚴🏜️
I remember this commentary in Ireland as a kid 🇮🇪 "And who is that coming up behind Pedro Delgado, it's Roche, it's Stephen Roche"
Fignon gives a textbook demonstration of how to outfox a pure climber.
Vive the legend..Laurent Fignon
Fignon was a Beast! And Oh So Parisian ! Vive Fignon !
Great heart from Roche
what a rider and what a performance triple crown winner and only 1002 likes
100% doping
PERICO DELGADO UN GRANDE.
Riposa in pace, grande Laurant Fignon.
Fignon needs to be remembered as the hard charging champion he was. And how he represented France! Chapeau! RIP
One of the great stages in the Tour's history.
Delgado no tuvo un buen día, aquí se le fue el tour de aquel año
Fernando Triviño Gomez de las Cortinas this got me riding again
What joy
Efectivamente. Ahí fue donde lo perdió, en su terreno.
Malcolm Elliott @ 8.07
Tuvo suerte fignon, si Anselmo fuerte ataca en la subida lo hubiera dejado atrás, pero lo dejo para el sprint y hay el francés le ganó
Fignon fue el mejor cyclista de la temporada 1987 ?
It's a pity that the camera director seemed to be starkly disconnected with what was happening in the Tour de France that year.
No footage of the the rider place 2nd overall the whole way up the climb, a rider who was dangerously close and had pulled off a startling breakaway earlier in the day, greatly weakening his rivals.
Understandably the stage leaders would be given Moto1, especially since it was their own darling Laurent Fignon.
Understandably, the RACE leader Pedro Delgado would be given Moto 2.
But what of Moto 3? Or of the helicopter which is often used to bridge the gap in coverage when the motorbike cameras are all taken up? Very poor.
And then when the 2nd placed rider OVERALL astonishes everyone by showing up out of nowhere, we still have no cameras on the ground to get crucial human interest footage of Roche as he has evidently produced the ride of his life, and most definitely at that point had kept himself in contention.
No.
We get another boring 2 minutes or more of the 'also-rans' traipsing over the line and lots of empty road in between.
Besides being seemingly clueless of the big picture, the camera director was obviously caught napping on the line too.
"Hey Boss! Réveillez-vous!! Wake up Monsieur!! Fignon looks like he could win ze stage!!"
Sleeping Boss: "Eh...? Oh...eh??" Grunts, farts, grunts again.
"Awwh Zut! Alors!! Make sure you get all cameras on ze Lion!! Vive la France! We will celebrate zis day"
"Ah oui Monsieur, mais eh....what about Monsieur Roche qui arrivee tres rapide tout-de-suite non?? Et Jean Francois??
"Qui?? Bernard - bah! 'Roche', qui 'est?? Awwh...he's down ze mountainside in a pub somewhere.
Keep ze cameras ALL ZE CAMERAS on Fignon, and a little bit on ze maillot jaune!"
Terrible.
Sionnach1601 This was 1987, you have to bear this in mind. The coverage back then was nothing like it is now.
This commentary and sequence of events is inscribed in cycling folklore, largely because of the failings identified here. Blanket coverage leads to little by way of surprise, not in the way witnessed here. The flaws led to something brilliant.
Very true. Even the relatively sparse American coverage on CBS at least showed Roche's bold breakaway starting in the valley before the climb of the Col de la Madeleine and the frantic chase by Delgado and the other leaders. All of that of course set up the drama and how things played out on the final climb. And again, the American coverage at least showed clips of Roche on the final climb as he dug deep within himself to pull back Delgado before the finish and stay in contention. I thought for sure this longer coverage would include that.
Si en ese tour no ponían etapas contrarreloj tan largas, Herrera era el campeón. Hacía doblete, Vuelta y Tour .
Very different accent here by Sherwen compared to later years
nairo quintana el mejo escalador del mundo , hincha de ecuador
Quintana fue un corredor in este Tour 1987 ?
The irish are tough people