Oh la vache! Zut alors!
And various other French phrases of distress.
Since Rob and Jeff have effectively banned me from talking about the Tour on Radio Free Sports (I question the whole free thing, personally), I've returned to the blog to tackle a topic that's often hard for Americans to resist:
Picking on the French.
This won't consist of snarky jokes about freedom fries and white flags. Rather, it will rely on cold hard facts.
There have been 19 stages completed in the Tour de France so far. Only one - Stage 12 - has been won by a Frenchman. Only David Moncoutie's win has salvaged some French pride.
There are no Frenchmen in the top 10 in the overall standings. Christophe Moreau fell to 11th.
The last time a Frenchman won the Tour was 1985, when Bernard Hinault won. That's 20 years, if you're counting.
What in the name of Jacques Anquetil is going on here? This is the Tour de FRANCE. How is it possible that the cycling crazy host country has produced so little cycling talent in the last two decades?
As if that weren't enough angst for the French, consider this. If Lance Armstrong claims his seventh title on Sunday, that will make it an even 10 titles for U.S. riders since 1986. And it's not just a case of two phenoms - Armstrong and Greg Lemond. There are two other Americans - Levi Leipheimer and Floyd Landis - in the top 10. They'll be contenders next year, after Armstrong retires.
Comments (6)
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Jim: I think I read somewhere (cyclingnews.com? though I can't find it when I need it) that the French papers pointed out this week that, if riders were grouped by nationality and not teams, French riders would be down there somewhere between Luxembourg (which doesn't have a rider in the race) and Brazil (ditto, but the one they had abandoned early on).
I think the recent French cycling doldrums can be traced back to 1996 and the Curse of Cofidis. Cofidis was the French outfit that fired Lance Armstrong after his cancer diagnosis.
Laurent Jalabert and Richard Virenque kept French cycling respectable for a few years after Hinault and Fignon retired. Today, though, you're right: French cycling stinks. It's sort of like the U.S. in world basketball, but much, much worse.
But France sure puts on a nice bike race. Love the sunflowers.
Posted on July 22, 2005 2:41 PM
I read the same thing, John. The top 5 French riders in the Tour would be 3 hours 26 minutes behind the top 5 American riders of the Tour.
Jim, don't forget George Hincapie. I know he's only 18th at this point, but he'll be a contender next year if Discovery decides to make him their leader. He'll pick up some places in the time trial too. Ditto with Bobby Julich, who has been riding for Ivan Basso this year.
Posted on July 22, 2005 3:37 PM
John,
I'll give you Laurent Jalabert as an example of French cycling respectability but not Richard Verinque. Don't forget, he was the team leader of Festina back when the whole team was kicked out of the race after the team masseuse was arrested with a car full of doping supplies.
And Kehaar, as much as I love Big George, pride of Greenville, South Carolina (woo hoo!) I don't think he'll be a team leader for Discovery next year. Seems like that title will likely be passed to Yaroslave Popovych, the wearer of the white jersey
Posted on July 22, 2005 5:40 PM
Jim: The Festina scandal aside, Virenque won the climbing jersey seven times (a record, I think, or close to it) and had two podium finishes. He's certainly one of the better Tour riders over the past decade, and I don't think his popularity in France has diminished one bit.
As for who will lead Discovery next year, no, I agree that he probably won't be the team leader. He's good, but not great, at most of the key disciplines. I could see him grab a top 10, but not the win. Popovych seems like the odds-on favorite. Salvodelli could be the man if he weren't Italian -- that means he has to ride the Giro, and it's held too close to the Tour for him to recover and win (see "Basso, Ivan"). Tom Danielson, who won this year's Tour of Georgia, is a possibility down the road. So is Manuel Beltran, although he'll be 35 when the next Tour begins. Or Discovery could sign some big name, and Discovery has some serious cash to throw around.
p.s. Hincapie is a native of Queens, N.Y.
Posted on July 24, 2005 12:11 PM
You're forgetting Christophe "Replace me with Vino? But what about my perennial 10th- or 11th-place finish?" Moreau.
Hincapie grew up in New York but has lived in Greenville for years.
Posted on July 27, 2005 12:20 PM
Btw, The Daily Show riffed Monday on Lance and the tour. Good stuff.
Check out the video here.
Posted on July 27, 2005 1:36 PM