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Posted: August 2, 2004

Cycling: Tour De France Times - A Wrap-up

By James Raia

Publisher's Greeting

The 91st Tour de France ended a little more than one week ago, and Lance Armstrong's record sixth straight title has been well documented.

During the final week of the journey, publishing Tour de France Times daily became problematic for various technical reasons and therefore was suspended.

With the event now an aftermath, the newsletter will revert to its monthly publishing schedule.

Featured in this issue are the top-10 event articles I authored during this year's race. I've also included a Postcard From Le Tour, a human-interest piece on a race sponsor that stresses a component of the Tour de France not often discussed - charity.

Thanks to TFT subscribers for their e-letters during this year's race. After eight years of attending the event, I maintain my simple assessment of the race: It's a wondrous grind. Cheers, James.

Postcard From Le Tour

Salami, Salami, We Got Salami

The Tour de France is a marketing jungle. Baseball caps, souvenir T-shirts, keychains, stuffed animals and replica jerseys, among many other products, are sold prior to, during and after each stage.

Trinkets distributed by sponsors' vehicles in the publicity caravan are also tossed to the crowd each day, about 90 minutes prior to each stage.

Some of the sponsors' promotional methods extend past the point of saturation. Consider Cochonou, a sausage manufacturer and distributor.

A French company known for its red-and-white checkered logo, Cochonou has been a Toue de France sponsor for the past seven years.

One of its marketing approaches during the race was a guy with a wide handlebar mustache who rode a bicycle with a wide container full of small, dry sticks of salami.

The salami was distributed all daylong. In fact, more than 400,000 salamis were tossed to the crowds in three weeks.

But Cochonou's marketing ways also reached past the eager hands of race fans who sometimes risked their safety on mountaintops and country roads for anything free.

In each of several cities during the Tour de France, the folks who distributed salami from the prologue to the 20th of the race stopped and gave generous amounts of their product to the homeless.

News, Notes And Quotes

Tyler Hamilton, George Hincapie, Bobby Julich, Levi Leipheimer and Jason McCartney will represent the United States in the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The men's road race will be held Aug. 14 and the individual time trial will be held Aug. 18. Hamilton and Julich will also compete in the individual time trial . . .

Speaking of the Olympic road race, Fred Rodriguez, a Giro d'Italia stage winner this year, is still upset with his non-selection. In a recent interview on Cycling News.com, Rodriguez expressed no bad feelings toward his compatriots on the team. But he was critical of the selection procedure that caters toward cyclists who succeed in stage races, instead of the pending primarily flat route scheduled in Greece. Rodriguez said he would have been a logical choice, and his opinion is hard to dispute . . .

The Outdoor Life Network, which in past years has televised all three Grand Tours, will only televise the Tour of Spain on one day this year, in a wrap-up show. The September event is the final three-week tour of the season, but OLN has opted not to showcase the route's picturesque countryside this year. Read the change as budget related . . .

Matt Damon's name continues to be bantered about as the actor who will portray Lance Armstrong in the still-on-the-horizon movie about the six-time Tour de France winner . . .

Just for the record: Kudos to Phil Liggett, the international broadcaster who worked the Tour de France for the 32nd time last month. Liggett didn't have time to visit the press room often during the Tour, so personal chats were infrequent. But he continues to impress race onlookers with his knowledge and enthusiasm. In a half-hour chat one day in the broadcasting compound, Liggett commented: "I don't see how Lance can stay away. He loves the race and he loves to wear the (Yellow) Jersey."

Top 10 GC & Americans In The Tour

FINAL OVERALL STANDINGS -
1. Lance Armstrong (Austin, Texas), U.S.P.S., 83 hours, 36 minutes, 2 seconds
2. Andreas Kloden (Germany), T-Mobile @ 6:19
3. Ivan Basso (Italy), CSC, @ 6:40
4. Jan Ullrich (Germany), T-Mobile @ 8:50
5. Jose Azevedo (Portugal), U.S.P.S. @ 14:30
6. Francisco Mancebo (Spain), Illes Balears-Banesto @ 18:01
7. Georg Totschnig (Austria), Gerolsteiner @ 18:27
8. Carlos Sastre (Spain), CSC @ 19:51
9. Levi Leipheimer (Santa Rosa, Calif.), Rabobank @ 20:12
10. Oscar Pereiro (Spain), Phonak @ 22:54
23. Floyd Landis (San Diego, Calif., ), U.S. P.S. @ 42:55
33. George Hincapie (Greenville, S.C.), U.S.P.S. @ 1:04:09
40. Bobby Julich (Reno, Nev.), CSC @ 1:12:42
56. Christian Vande Velde (Lemont, Ill.), Liberty Seguros @ 1:48:11
DNF - Tyler Hamilton (Marblehead, Mass.), Phonak

Publisher's Notices

Tour de France Times (TFT), an electronic newsletter about cycling's pinnacle event and the cyclists who compete in it, is written, edited and published by James Raia, a journalist in Sacramento, California. Tour de France Times is published monthly, except daily during the three-week Tour de France.

Story links, race information, suggestions and letters to the editor are encouraged via e-mail. Please include your name and city and state of residence. Names held upon request.

Use of this newsletter is encouraged with the publisher's permission.

Send correspondence to: AMES@BYJAMESRAIA.COM.

For complete results, visit the web sites:

CyclingNews.com
LeTour.fr
ProCycling.com
VeloNewws.com
More TDF Links