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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.
Rest day - Tuesday, July 16, Bordeaux
Rest day at the Tour - except for the TV crews of course.
Is Lance playing a game as did last year on l'Alpe de Huez? Holding back a bit, leaving ONCE in yellow, pacing his way through the Tour? My cameraman Eric, who knows little about cycling but is a top rated lensman and experienced in the media world, commented after our interview that he thought Armstrong was faking a bit, that he seemed so eager to communicate his dismay at losing while maintaining an aura of supreme confidence, that it struck him as strange.
I took the comment in, of course Lance has done this before and we know he likes to stick with plans that work , but didn't think too much about it until Graham Watson came up with the same scenario. "Maybe, because the Tour is pretty steady, that is there are no monster stages, Lance just wants to calmly ride his way through the race and win it when he is ready." Watson also commented that "Lance gives things away, he's generous, too much so, part of his character, so maybe he's letting everyone have a bit of glory before he grabs it all." Something to think about, after all, Lance has been tremendously influenced by Miguel Indurain, and has modelled his style on Big Mig's - who in turn modelled his career on that of Jacques Anquetil. Win the Tour through control in the mountains, wins in the time trials and by creating alliances in the peloton for the crucial moments when you might need some help.
In 2000 Armstrong seemed to have a relationship with Pantani. The Italian knew he couldn't beat Lance in the race, but that he could keep his public image as the greatest climber in the world by winning the prestigious mountain stages. You often saw the Mercatone Uno riders chasing dangerous breaks in the early days of that Tour when it made no sense for them to do so, often coming in when the Postal Team seemed to be folding a bit. When Lance offered the Ventoux to Pantani, he did it a maladroit way, and Pantani's Latin pride was offended. The war began, and Pantani rode the rest of the Tour with the sole intention of making Armstrong lose. And he almost pulled it off on that famous last mountain stage into Morzine. Great stuff, what makes the sport so absolutely engrossing.
Thank goodness tomorrow stage is short, as Jonathon Vaughters put it, "We'll just be flying along so fast that we'll be "getting air" on the tops of the climbs." No one has any patience, we just want the mountains to begin so we can see the truth
