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I love cycling season. Ever since the OLN TV network started carrying extensive footage of the three European Grand Tours (The Giro d’Italia, The Tour de France and The Vuelta a Espana) I’ve become completely hooked on the sport of bicycle road racing. Before that, it was mighty hard to figure out the strategy and the major players from the scanty coverage provided by ESPN. And then there was Lance Armstrong. An incredible story from both a medical and athletic standpoint, he has, over the past four years, made the Tour de France his race. The 2002 Tour de France was Armstrong’s chance to become a four-time winner, a rare accomplishment indeed. Each year World Cycling Productions puts together a retrospective of the Tour, available for the first time this year on DVD.

The DVD basically consists of four hours of the finest highlights from the Tour. While four hours seems like an awful lot of time to spend on highlights of a single sporting event, one must keep in mind that the Tour consists of three weeks and over 2000 miles of cycling. Condensing those grueling miles in to only four hours is quite a feat. In fact, there is a ten hour VHS version available as well.

Our narrators for this trip through the French countryside are Phil Ligget and Paul Sherwin, whose voices have come to be a great part of this spectacular yearly event. The coverage is set up by stage, a stage being one day of riding. Each stage has a winner, in and of itself a spectacular achievement, as these are the best cyclists in the world. And each stage builds toward the final winner. The one man who, after three weeks, has ridden the massive course in the least amount of time. All of the footage used comes from a single source, the official French footage taken during the race. Internationally, all coverage uses this same footage, editing as they see fit. There are no other cameras allowed.

Each stage is covered, though some more thoroughly than others. The filmmakers do a good job of condensing the stages and showing the most interesting portions. For the most part, the flat stages, which take up much of the first week, are given the briefest coverage. Very little usually happens in terms of the overall winner in the flat stages. It is during these stages that the green jersey competition is in full swing. The green jersey is the sprint jersey, and the flat stages often contain intermediate sprints during the course. The riders who pass these sprint points in the first positions earn points toward the green jersey, and winning these stages is crucial for any rider who wants to go home wearing green. Most of the coverage of these flat stages focuses on the green jersey competition.

Also given significant attention are the massive sprint finishes at the end of each flat stage. These are truly a sight to behold, with many dozens of cyclists powering toward the line at remarkable speeds. It’s amazing that there isn’t a massive crash every single day. Phil and Paul, our intrepid narrators, provide excellent commentary, helping identify riders and team strategy that is easily lost to the untrained eye.

The stages that get the most extensive coverage are the Pyrenean and Alpine stages, where the riders climb, and climb, and climb through the mountains. These are the stages that often determine the overall winner, and they also tend to carry the most drama. In a 2000-mile race where the winner is often determined by no more than a few minutes overall, it is easily possible to lose upwards of 30 minutes on a mountain stage, even for the very best riders. The giant peleton (group of riders making up the main field) that we see so much of during the flat stages, disappears in the mountains, and the race becomes much more grueling.

Another aspect of the Tour is the King of the Mountains polka dot jersey. This is the climbing stage counterpart to the green jersey. As in the flat stages, there are points to be earned for reaching the top of various peaks throughout each mountain stage. The polka dot and green jerseys are much coveted and the men who win them stand on the podium at the end of the race with the overall winner. Phil and Paul give us an overall look at the points being earned and the standings in the King of the Mountains contest throughout the climbing stages.

The most interesting part of these mountain stages is the team strategy that comes into play. Each team has a leader, the man deemed most likely to finish highest overall, or take one of the specialty jerseys. The rest of the team’s job is, for the most part, to support that rider. This is especially true of those teams that have a rider in contention for one of the top overall spots. There is a great deal of strategy that goes into this support, team tactics are one of the most integral parts of any individual rider’s success. When watching most cycling coverage, this aspect is all but ignored as the focus is on the individual riders, but here we have Phil and Paul talking us through team strategy, cluing us in to what each team does to support their leader and hinder the efforts of the others. One of the finest aspects of this documentary coverage is the excellent overview of each team and the tactics being employed on each stage. As the film is put together after the race, the viewer gets the benefit of both the hindsight of the knowledgeable commentators and the thoughts of the actual riders and coaches. These are things not readily available during the race, since a team is unlikely to discuss their strategy mid-Tour.

And then we have Lance. As the dominant force in the Tour for the past four years, he is an obvious focus of this retrospective, in fact, the actual title of the 2002 highlights is Lance Armstrong – Four and Counting! Knowing that he’s the winner, there is quite a bit of interview with him sprinkled throughout the film. The interview was done after the race, and he discusses various aspects of the major stages. That is not to say that the entire thing is nothing but an ode to Lance. We have an excellent chance to get to know the other major riders. Phil and Paul discuss their histories, strengths, weaknesses and teams, as well as indulging in quite a bit of speculation about various riders’ futures in the sport.

There are also segments discussing the technological aspects of racing, things from shoes to shorts to the bikes themselves. We also get some interesting behind the scenes footage of the training protocol that Armstrong subjects himself to in order to be ready for this race. To say that the man is dedicated is a gross understatement. Also sprinkled throughout is coverage of the myriad crashes that occur during this three-week period. While most are minor and get no time here, there are always quite a few that involve major contenders or a very large numbers of riders. The crashes are always spectacular, the kind of thing you can’t imagine walking away from. But the vast majority of the time, the riders continue with the race, the only concern being how much time has been lost in dressing wounds and changing bikes. Watching these men ride, it’s hard to believe that there aren’t more serious injuries, and some riders do crash out of the race each year, but for the most part the scrapes, bumps and bruises are treated as just another part of the Tour.

As the 2003 Tour quickly approaches, it’s fun to look back at 2002. Much has changed in the world of cycling over the past year, and this year’s race will have an entirely different set of challenges. The World Cycling Production of the 2002 Tour de France highlights is a great way to learn about the sport, and become familiar with the major players, many of whom will undoubtedly make an appearance in 2003. Even when this year’s Tour is history, the 2002 Tour will still be on record as one of the greats. It’s also a great way to become familiar with Phil Ligget and Paul Sherwen; our quirky commentators who help make the event so entertaining. For any fan of either Armstrong or the sport of cycling, this is a great retrospective of an historic Tour, well worth the four-hour viewing time.


Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD