1987 Tour de France Mountain Stage to La Plagne

[hershism]

man I used to love these John Tesh tracks! used to put on the walkman and go riding while listening to this stuff!

[scuddy07]

Also for this stage though kudos to Anselmo Fuente (2nd place - team BH). He broke away with Roche and still had enough in the tank to counter Fignon. He finished 8th overall that year. Finally this was the second time the stage ended atLa Plagne and guess who won that stage? Laurent Fignon (1984)...He must have loved that place...RIP Laurent...

[scuddy07]

It was actually the mix of music and racing that got me hooked on cycling. I would go on my bike pretending to be a pro but always had the songs you would hear in these races inmy head. Phil Liggett's live call of this stage was a classic as well. At the end he states how Delgado could just have one the race until he realizes that it was Roche. He states "It's Roche; it's Roche" among a few other things.

[angus4463]

Roche got away with a tactical error.. that year killed his body though.. was never the same..

[FunkMonk1000]

Anybody know the names of the music on the video?

[sjl62]

@FunkMonk1000 I've always wondered that. It's not on any of the 80s Tesh collections, although CBS used it virtually every year for Paris-Roubaix.

[EMC2Scotia]

Hey Baneg, look at the scoreboard/GC for the 1987 Tour. Go Roche.

[banegagol]

Delgado the best!! Irish suck

[ah4fecksake]

@banegagol doesn't look too sucky to when he leaves the spaniard crying into his cornflakes.....boohoo

[banegagol]

@ah4fecksake cagen dena i en la teua puta mare, malparit fill de mona

[ah4fecksake]

@banegagol Ní leor teanga amháin ? Hablan ingles,cobarde espanol.....you are the one full of shit.

[EMC2Scotia]

The KAS rider i would bet is a french rider named Gilles Saunders.

[Jaeger17]

muller74 YOU ARE CORRECT It was another KAS rider. My bad -- but boy I still love this segment!

[esca4ever]

Yeah almost nothing is hard enough these days...Amazing how they struggled up to La Plagne in 1987 and how it looked like a walk in the park in 2007

[jansweelinck]

Does anyone know why they don't have difficult tours anymore? I mean this year has all of two maybe three HC climbs. Also, back in the day they, particularly the early 70's through the late 80's, they wouldn't have so many transfers and rest days. If they needed to get from one point to the next, they would race there. Just curious if anyone else feels like there have been weak tours lately, especially this year- 2009.

[starbucks3954]

Yeah, I agree. This year's tour de france has been the best, but it was like waiting every 5 days for a decent stage to show up, and even then it's not that hard.

[chapman7804]

i totally agree mate the 80s early 90s wer the best couldent wait 2 get home watch the tour even b4 a sundays club run i would put on a tour vid and watch this mountain stage todays tour i dont know half of the riders its not exciting nomore,

[jollyrogrs]

"Armed with a willing group of men out for the day's spoils". Maybe the best Ligget line ever.

[sjl62]

"At last, he was playing all the cards he had been dealt -- was it a winning hand?" Only one man can get away with lines like that . . .

[chris14091975]

I think that this is probably the 2nd best tour ever (after 89)

[FTMJarra]

89 Tour was probs best but this one was an absolute classic...how many mountain finishes?? man it was awesome...I can remember being glued to the TV every night for the highlights and jumping up and down when Roche reeled Delgado in at the top of La Plagne.

[sjl62]

God, look at that stage profile . . . SO hard . . . And this was one of (I think) five consecutive mountain stages in the last week of that Tour.

[Jaeger17]

Great charge by Roche on the flat...With countryman and personal idol Sean Kelly in goup to help. Great moments!

[muller74]

@Jaeger17

Unfortunately, Kelly had retired from the race earlier on in the race with a broken collar bone.

[klovnan]

that`s one of best stages i ever has seen

[hfer]

one of the best stages ever !!!!!!!!

[kinceyboy]

ya was superb effort by roche. Liggett by far the best commentator ever in cycling.

[cornbread1972]

Amazing to see all the columbians back then....Pre EPO

[sjl62]

It should be pointed out what a horribly tough last week the 1987 Tour had: five consecutive days of climbing with finishes at Mont Ventoux, Villard de Lans, Alpe D'Huez, La Plagne and Morzine (that last one being, of course, the infamous stage 17 from last year).

[justinmarku]

Possibly the best commentary the tour has had and even better is the music ( inspiring ! ).

[EilertPilarmDM]

Amazing----listening to this one I remember I had this very segment converted from VHS to cassette and I used to ride with the 'walkman' loaded up with these audio clips.

[EilertPilarmDM]

classic stuff--you can find the music by looking for old Yanni and John Tesh new age CDs (Tesh before he started doing the gospel stuff)

[fisbo10011001]

Which Stage# is this?

[sjl62]

Stage 21, Bourg d'Oisans to La Plagne. French Wikipedia holds the answers to many important questions!

[topgunmckeague]

This was a brilliant TDF, Roche was amazing, remember watching it, I was 14.

[chris14091975]

great music by john tesh, too bad we cant find a dvd of the race, i was 11 years old and i recorded every weekend on abc. Thanks socialrider909 for the memories

[wackojackohighcliffe]

What is the Music?

[wackojackohighcliffe]

if only roche didnt get injured so much he could have been an all-time great

[wackojackohighcliffe]

great music dramatic stuff

[MartinEarly]

I´m interested in change old cycling videos or cd - dvd.

Thos video is exceptional for me! Never said!

Cheers from Spain!

[truebrit38]

Stephen Roche along with Luis Herrera was one of the few riders still using pedal toe-clips in '87. He still beat the rest of them!

[foldingbikedude]

Awesome, inspiring stuff. Worth it just for the music.

[mikethern]

<<< Awesome, inspiring stuff. Worth it just for the music. >>>

That tour de france was created by john tesh.

[sjl62]

When Ligget says that Fignon's day has "very nearly ended in tragedy" (9:15), he's referring to a crash on a descent earlier in the race, when only a few bushes keep Fignon from flying hundreds of feet down the mountainside.