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89th Tour de France - Grand Tour
France, July 6-28, 2002
2002 Tour de France journals
John Eustice, Tour de France International Show host
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Nationality: American
New Yorker John Eustice is the host of the Tour de France's 2002 International Show, broadcasting to over 30 countries world-wide, with play by play by Phil Ligget. Eustice is covering his ninth Tour De France, his previous eight with ESPN and ABC Sports. In cycling, the 46 year old Eustice was the first-ever USPRO Champion in 1982. Originally from Ivyland, Pennsylvania, Eustice competed in the Giro d'Italia, Vuelta a Espana and World Cycling Championships. When he's not at the Tour de France, the father of two runs his sports event promotion company Sparta, organizers of the Housatonic Valley Classic and the Univest Grand Prix.
Stage 5 - Thursday July 11: Soissons - Rouen, 195 km
Stage 6 - Friday July 12: Fourges-les-Eaux - Alencon, 199.5 km
Flat Earth Stages
When we were finishing up the show yesterday, we closed the live on a comment of Phil's to the effect that "I think this is Eric's 12th or 13th stage win...not quite sure. Well, to begin with Phil is rarely not sure - his vast knowledge of the facts and figures is of course very well known, and if he's ever stuck, he can call on his incredible database of results on the riders. FYI, Phil is a trained accountant so numbers just run around in his head and he can organize them in an instant.
So I picked up on the comment as a way to introduce Eric Zabel to the podium, but first went back to the official Tour "l'Histoire, les Archives" results book and carefully counted Zabel's victories. Ten. Counted again. Ten. "So Eric Zabel climbs the stage winners podium for the 11th time in his career." And up on the satellite it went.
I wake up this morning and read the headlines on Zabel's 12th career stage victory, equalling Cipollini. What a disaster. I run back to my room and grab the book - it's wrong, it doesn't list a win in 2000. I'll have to go to the top on this one. JM Leblanc perhaps.
Telekom got it together yesterday, manoeuvred other teams into doing much of the early work (by placing Wesemann in the break for one thing) and then perfectly setting up the leadout. Hondo was pulling the last km with Fagnini behind, with, I think it was Ivanov, on his wheel. Hondo pulled off, and Zabel jumped, not waiting for Fagnini to launch - in the same way that he did on stage 2. Maybe Fagnini just isn't going or Zabel jumped because Ivanov was on Fagnini's wheel and he didn't want the rival taken close to the line.
Whatever the reason, this time the move worked. Fagnini started a fake sprint, then slammed in on Ivanov who swerved in turn to block Freire. Rough tactic, right on the very edge. The UCI commissaires came into our truck to look at the finish on the replay and there was much discussion about the ploy. Fagnini ended up with a "severe warning" for dangerous riding and a SF200 fine. Piece of cake when it allows your teammate to win. He'll cool it during the next sprints as they'll be looking for him.
Zabel was like a raging animal. He slammed into a Mapei soigneur into the finish and proceeded to attack every cameraman in reach as he strode to the podium. It was atypical behaviour for him. Of course he's a cutthroat killer sprinter on the bike, but off it he's known for being a good guy. McEwen is putting a lot of pressure on him, and we know that the Aussie can make it all the way to Paris. So maybe Eric is feeling the heat.
I'm a big Jacky Durand fan. First of all, he's a great stylist on the bike, with one of the best positions in the peloton. And he has a built a wonderful record over the years: Tour of Flanders, Champion of France, 3 stage wins in the Tour (if you can believe that damned book) and had held the Yellow and Polka Dot jerseys. There is a constant stream of riders following him around the peloton who know that sooner or later, he'll be in front and on the world TV feed, and they can be there too.
Jacky likes to wait until the race is going 60kph to attack (you've got to love comments like that). He feels it's then, when the riders are at their limits and are more inclined to fold a bit on the front, that he can get some space. Once he gets his gap, he holds it (in the case of a long breakaway) steady until an hour to the finish - calculates the possibilities, then, if he thinks he can make it, goes flat out to the finish. Jacky has given tremendous excitement to the Tour over the years and is a real "coursier." Yesterday was a real classic Jacky day, he was caught but got himself and his sponsors on TV.
These flat stages are what make the Tour what it is: the ultimate test. The field is racing in 53x11-14 the entire day, their nerves are on edge as everyone is pushing and shoving through the field and constantly skirting disaster - or, in the case of David Millar (3 crashes), Bertogliati (down yesterday), Verbrugghe (broken collarbone), Marco Pinotti (I had one like that once, face smashed into pieces), Richard Virenque (hard hit on the knee), Alexandr Shefer (taken away in an ambulance), Ironman Tyler Hamilton (shoulder again) and lot's more, encountering disaster.
There's an entire group of riders whose Tour "ends" next Wednesday in Pau. They have three stages left to make a name, possibly get or extend a contract, and will take every risk imaginable to get to the front. The Tour is run on very narrow roads and there's just not space for everyone. Boom, down they go.
A word on Kirsipuu and his win on Thursday: his director is an old racing buddy of mine. Vincent Lavenu was part of a group of us who used to tear it up in South Eastern France. Vincent gets these great results with tiny budgets and Kirsipuu is completely loyal to him. Kirsipuu, coming back from a tendon injury suffered in training, just cannot get the explosive strength back into his legs due to the damaged knee. So he's changing into an attacker/sprinter in the same way that Sean Kelly and Davis Phinney did. You cannot keep a champion down.
