1987 Tour de France - La Plagne

[112sje]

This was 1987 when there weren't as many en route TV cameras as there are now. If there had been we wouldn't have been treated to Phil's classic piece of commentary.

[Thegreenroomgroup]

Sorry I missed it, who is that rider behind Delgado?

[Trickcyclistgareth]

What a rider I was in Paris to see him tremendous

[jackseph03]

I watched the '87 tour as an 11 year old and have vivid memories of this stage. Watching the finish again now just gave me goose-bumps. Amazing stage, great Tour, Roche is a hero and Phil Liggett has never sounded so good.

[batman2909]

Cycling Weekly sent me here

[bobl20]

Classic cycling moment - commentary by Phil Liggett is incredible and is inspiring

[fellfox]

Phil Liggert, brilliant commentary. For us brits it's a "Kenneth Wolstenholme moment". What a year Roche had.

[shamblesuk]

2:10 brilliant "Stephen Roche"

[DavidMcCann995]

Ireland's greatest ever sporting moment

[Maveric78]

Phil Ligert - legend

[FTMJarra]

Wasn't '87 the last of the really long tours??...it was certainly a lot longer than '88.

Fair play to Roche, he was immense in '87....triple crown winner, Giro, Tour, Worlds....only the great Eddy Merccx* has achieved the same feat.

[dan32113]

@FTMJarra sadly there is a strong chance Roche was on the needle, Conconi was connected to Carrera who was a drug doctor! Delgado also was on the juice...

[artysmokes]

A current advert has Chris Boardman saying "I knew when they had to lift me off the bike at the end, I'd given it my all". Roche went better than that. He needed oxygen! He simply couldn't have given any more effort without killing himself.

[artysmokes]

I long ago forgot who won the stage. It's all about Roche's comeback and Phil Liggett's commentary. That is unforgettable. Thanks for sharing this amazing clip - one of all of sports' greatest moments.

[TonyBananas101]

why does the commentator say "surely now Stephen Roche will win the Tour De Francathe" when at that stage he was behind Delgado??

[Matteomjb]

@TonyBananas101 Because Delgado was the better climber but Roche was the better time triallist and descender. This was the last mountain top finish, there was one mountain stage to go (which had a descent to the finish) and a 40km time trial. Delgado needed a bigger lead at this point if he was going to beat Roche overall.

[TonyBananas101]

@Matteomjb I watched this tour at the time and was supporting Roche and remember being pleased at the time but it was so long ago I could't remember the circumstances. Thanks for the info

[32IRISHPRIDE]

@TonyBananas101 because the time trial was the next stage and then the flat run to paris. and roche was the fastest time trialist in the world. when delgado was only a few seconds ahead after the mountains it was all over for him. roche would destroy him on the flat. which he did.

[thesmiths42]

"...and just who is that rider coming up behind, because that looks like Roche!. That looks like Steven Roche!! IT'S STEVEN ROCHE COME OVER THE LINE..."

[nobabody]

i've got it, this is top of my 101 great sporting moments..awesome



[bobbyrob71]

its stephen roache its stephen roache brilliant

[carlosss666999]

unbelievable comeback from roche

[tackler7]

This is one of the greatest pieces of sporting commentary ever. I get goose pimples every time I listen to. Sheer brilliance from both rider and commentator.

[Darrenov]

I remember this, great cycling, great commentary.

[EMC2Scotia]

Anyone have the footage available of the next day's stage and Roche's amazing descent into Morzine? Roche is the epitome of how more tactically astute the riders of this generation were in comparison to today's riders.

[brian2546]

Paul Kimmage looked at this four times.

[sologuateque]

grande fabio parra dando la pelea que viva colombia !

[biggeordie1970]

amazing race off Roche. i just found my old photos of the 88 tour of britain, when roche wore the world champions top, malcolm elliott was in yellow and robert millar and sean yates were in the fagor team

[CERQ1]

HERRERA Y PARRA LOS MAS GRANDES DE COLOMBIA, ROCHE Y DELGADO DUELO DE 2 GRANDES CAMPEONES....QUE TIEMPOS AQUELLOS...

[farouthippy]

Steven Roche. Utmost respect.

[WARaxlyerin]

Fignon machacó en el sprint al del BH, jejej. Perico un salvaje con dos huevos! atacando desde el inicio del puerto...me acuerdo que en las primeras rampas pegó el tirón vestido de amarillo para sacar tiempo a Roche...Y Roche le alcanzó, porque el español se "apajaró"

[irelandbloke]

Excellent memories !

[spudmourph73]

23 years later and it still makes the hairs stand on the back of my neck, liggetts commentary is incredible, stephen roche did us proud, ireland was on a high, happy days, now niocolas roche flies the flag for us!

[radagastbirdtamer]

Did fuerte start celebrating too early?

[wigwanwo]

That was absolutely intense. Amazing to see someone put their body on the line like that because they want something so much

[jambbie]

The best moment in irish sporting history.... bar none. The hardest men in world sport... them muppett millionaires like ronaldo and drogba that just played in the crappest world cup ever should take a look at this and see what real sportsmen are like. great post...

[chelseacharger]

@jambbie Yep, remember this well. What a effort and a great Irish victory. But you could probably have used a better example of an overated and spoilt footballer than Drogba given that he played in this World Cup with a broken arm not to mention the immense amount of humanitarian work he has done for his home country.

[jambbie]

@chelseacharger a justifiable reference given that he falls around like someone who's been shot every time an opponent rubs off him. please note i am a chelsea supporter too and the point i made was in reference to the amount of guts and determination these cyclists put in compared too overhyped and well overpaid footballers. If i had drogbas money i'd find it very easy to give some of it to charity as i am sure the likes of roche & armstrong etc do

[chelseacharger]

@jambbie Point taken in the comparison with many footballers . Drogba is certainly gulty of overelaborating fouls on him but he has not gone down the boring old "sponsor a footballing academy" route but actually funded the building and fitting out of an entire new hospital in the Ivory Coast to the tune of £3m. A drama queen but with a conscious duty too. The cyclists indeed are a tough breed (plenty in this years tour carrying on with broken bones) and nice to see Roche jnr doing so well too.

[jambbie]

@chelseacharger fair play to him. . hope ancelotti bloods the likes of kakuta bruma and hutchinson this year, wa\y overdue for some youth to come thru at the bridge

[biggeordie1970]

this was the 1st tour i watched and got me into cycling, these were the best years i reckon, i spent many hours cycling in a luminous yellow ADR lemond top ... and was fortunate enought to get a Team Fagor photo when they used to do the city centre races, Roche,Yates,Elliott, Millar. Earley all in the pic and Roche had his world champions jersey on.

[kasualbeatz]

watchin this stage of the tour aged 13 is what cemented my relationship with cycling for the rest of my life.............. infamous words from Liggett..........supreme effort from roche.........absolutely brilliant now get some miles in !!!!!

[samsunghy]

"It's Roche It's Stephen Roche" - One of the best commetary moments.

[Darrenov]

Great commentary

[lebowski114]

I wanted minutes, but i only got seconds...

I think that was Delgado's reply to Roche's performace.

[sampaap]

Fantastisch voorbeeld hoe diep een sporter kan gaan, onwaarschijnlijk!

[EMC2Scotia]

Thats the way you do it, thats the way you commentate. Brilliant moment all round in the history of the Tour de France.

[Chachy71]

Iconic moment , Iconic commentary. I have watched this many times over the years and It still gives me goose bumps.

[KenfromDublin]

Phil Ligget, he is to cycle racing what Murray Walker was to Formula 1.

Actually, I'd love to have listened to him commentate on an F1 race.

He has that X Factor that very few sports commentators have, John Motson and Barry Davies had this elusive magic for the BBC.

[tonyomagic]

well said ken

[tfp2007]

that commentary by phil ligget still gives me goosebumps even now. great mamories.

[chipper30uk]

Well said davidoffon and emirgue................ according to that prick(kimmage) every successful sportsperson is on drugs not hard work,that he was afraid of...........

[chipper30uk]

What is wrong with you people,why do you comment on something you know nothing about or can't spell.Stephen Roche and Sean Kelly are proper Irish Sportsmen not Charlton,Houghton,McAteer,Aldr­idge ie. England C Team

[davidoffon]

Roach pulled along by cars, ridiculous, he was tossed off a cliff once by a whore but dash a difrent story.

As for ermique below me, well said senor.

It takes a strange kind of obsession to do what Kimmage does, also an awful lot of bottle, chappeu to yo.

Cycling takes a very strange kind of comittment to succeed , it is a form of madness and I'm happy tp be included.

[ermigue]

(2/3)You can read this and more in The Guardian's article in the 20 anniversary of that Roche´s "annus mirabilis year (web address banned).

Is sad that when among noble competitors everything is solved in a sportive way another people see things that do not exist.

As the Spaniard kid I was, I supported Delgado, but Roche deserved that tour. There was no car helping.

And either in the tv or in the Spanish press nobody questioned the tremendous effort of Roche

[ermigue]

(3/3)By the way, in the 1985 Vuelta, Delgado won attacking downhill in the fog, taking a big risk (in 1983 they called him in France le fou de les Pyrinees for the risks he took downhill) and Millar didn´t ralized that he was going ahead. There was no conspiracy. The problem for Millar was worst because his own coach advised him 10 minutes later when it was impossible to catch Delgado.

That´s all

Thanks for the video

[ermigue]

(1/3)As sjl62 says, the day after, Roche makes another demonstration on the mountains, taking 18 seconds on Delgado. After that stage, both went to the France Television set to be interviewed. When they coincided at the door of the set, Delgado hugged Roche and said to him "you are the best, you deserve this tour". The French journalists were surprised, since they were accustomed to bad manners among rivals. Roche always has said that Delgado always was a gentleman on the bicycle...

[johnpleto]

I'd say he did that from his good Irish diet of spuds and cabbage, not EPO or other drugs. The Irish never cheat!!!!!!

[spatroler]

roche come back,amazing,i went to time trail next day.wow.

[Chachy71]

I do not believe Roach cheated he buried himself to get back on that stage. He won the 87 tour with guts and determination.

[BelfastYid]

Did Rochce cheat? Read this - Rough Ride by Paul Kimmage. I loved Rochce as a kid, not anymore. Thank you Paul Kimmage for being so brave.

[theterrible1]

Rooks just confessed today so it wouldn't surprise me if the bulk of the peloton were doping in the 80's/90's.

[chipper30uk]

Paul Kimmage is a jealous failed prick!With every drug he can invent he will never get out of the slum of being a gutter press wannabe asshole.Stephen Roche,Sean Kelly,Tommy Evans,Joe Barr PROPER IRISH SPORTSMEN!!!

[Matteomjb]

If Roche was a client of Conconi that was in 1992 and 1993, during his second spell with Carrera at the end of his career. No cyclists were on EPO in 1987.

[WELLBRAN]

BUT they were probably all on something else?

[davidoffon]

@WELLBRAN bicyles.

[HabloIrlandes]

SAM1989allen, EPO was not around in cycling in 87, at least do some basic research before slandering a persons character. Just look at the state of Roche after the stage, compare that to known cheaters of later TdF's, no comparison, Roche broke his balls that day, EPO didn't arrive until the 90's.

[huskerdo97]

bitter kimmage, he couldn't cut it never made the top because he simply didn't have the tallent or drive that is needed. we should applaud roche he was tested, he passed, he won. applaud him on a great tour biggest shame is that sean kelly never won le tour

[Bladman99]

First Tour I ever saw on TV. The Joux Plagne was, and possibly remains, the most bouncing-on-the-sofa moment I've ever watched. Commentary was contributory - C4 coverage was excellently put together.

Only thing that had me shouting louder was Cipo's 5 in a row - now that WAS a noisy afternoon!

[sjl62]

Actually, La Plagne and the Col de Joux-Plane are different places -- although in 1987 they did them in succession. The day after Roche saved his own butt at La Plagne, he saw Delgado hesitating on the way down the Joux-Plane and took off, putting another 20 or so seconds into him by the finish in Morzine. The stage over the Joux-Plane into Morzine has always produced surprising moments: Armstrong bonking in 2000 (I was there!), Landis' suspicious-looking win in 2006 . . .

[sdyson12]

Without any doubt one of the greatest moments in cycling, regardless of who you were supporting

[Steelgar]

I'm Spanish and I can't help but feel amazed by the greatness of Roche in this Tour. Great year for him (Giro, Tour and World Championships). He was a true champion. Perico Delgado could have won, he lost his chance in 1987 but had a great comeback in 1988, which made him an even bigger legend. Roche won this Tour fairly and I congrat him and the Irish people. Cheers!

PS: Great victory by Fignon also in this stage. One of the biggest ones ever.

[nepychu798465132]

la plagne is the best ski station ever

[KreatorTheGreat]

Delgado was better than Roche,without drugs.The following year he demonstrated it!

Perico Delgado el mejor!!!

[aldit1966]

Delgado broke away from a group in which Roche was in. Roche appeared to have cracked and lost ground on Delgado. The cameras lost track of Roche, instead concentrating on Fignon and Delgado. Just as he seemed "dead and buried" way back, we saw Delgado crossing the line with Roche in hot pursuit. Tour winning spirit in which Roche showed immense determination in not giving up the chase. Truly remarkable comeback with which he used to underline his superiority over all in the Tour that year!

[viladrau123]

amazing joseavila. The Spanish are never beaten fair and square; always the victims of conspiracy.And now apparently they're totally clean whilst the rest of the world is doping!!

[Rechtschreibfehler]

Lovely satire.

[smithmarke]

Love Roche but also shows Fignon at his best

[ihateparsnips]

were did this 'roche pulled by the cars' rubbish come from? thats complete rubbish, roche pulled of the ride of his life, a bit of respect, PLEASE!

[killiokerry]

stephen roche produced the cycle of his life

pulled along by a car...your a disgrace...i think someone would have seen it OBVIOUSLY SOMEONE WOULD HAVE SEEN IT....he is an irish and cycling legend and keep your bullshit for other matters....

[joseavila1988]

this day is a shit for ciclism.everyone knows that roche used the cars to climb.perico should have won this tour. roche you are a lie in the ciclism.delgado had more than a minute and in the last moment roche appears 4 second later with oxigen, nobody believed this and many people denounce irregularities that day

[realneilcoates]

Nonsense, joseavila1988, nonsense.

[ah4fecksake]

sure mate sure....he on fair and square.

[stevenstiffler78]

Wot a load of crap. There's hundreds if not thousands of people lining the route at the end of stages and if one of the top riders was pulled along with the aid of a car it would have been noticed big time.

[killiokerry]

stephen roche produced the cycle of his life

pulled along by a car...your a disgrace...i think someone would have seen it OBVIOUSLY SOMEONE WOULD HAVE SEEN IT....he is an irish and cycling legend and keep your bullshit for other matters....

[back2back75]

No, they wouldn't. Roche took benefit from not being followed by any cameras and riding alone. It seems to be a FACT that he was pulled along by a car, which is why so many people don't think that was a fair victory. This being said, Roche had a wonderful season in 1987. Only he shouldn't have won the Tour, that's all.

[davidoffon]

@back2back75  There would be pictures, where are they?

[shouter040269]

Its absolute nonsense. delgado is the dodgy one with +ve drug results. If anything, it should be the other way around...Delgado would've won by Drug boost

[vitobalboa]

roche hizo trampas. Se agarró al coche. Una vergüenza

[bansheewhiskey]

@vitobalboa que dices? mierdero. roche gano con cojones. gilipollas.

[welkstar]

I remembe this when I was 11 years old and as a young lad, it was powerful stuff and it got on my bike.

[martingats]

'That looks like Roche - it is -it's Stephen Roche'. Surely the cycling commnetary equivalent of 'they think its all over'. Absolute class, and all the excitement in Liggett's voice afterwards is still powerful twenty years later

[zenmachinefilms]

It's Stephen Roche!

Would love to see the entire last half-hour of this stage. The real drama is from when Delgado attacks near the bottom of the climb and Roche looks completely finished and his Tour over.

[1958vintage]

One of the best ever moments in cycling history- what a recovery, and what a year Roche had! Phenomenal

[bigphil38]

Legendary, the best ever. Still makes the hairs stand on end.

[hfer]

my fellow countryman parra on third.. amazing!!!!

[pockquence]

Wow, that would be so great :)

18 years since i saw it last..!

[pockquence]

This brings back memories of when I got into cycling. Does anyone by chance still own a recording of the last Channel 4 coverage of this 1987 year. It had an inspiring musical video/montage with Harold Faltermeyer's - Top Gun theme over a clips of how Stephen Roche won that year. I wore parts that 5 mins of video out i watched it that much but in the end a friend borrowed it and I havent seen him again since :( What I would do to see that again!!

[Matteomjb]

I've got it on video somewhere. I'll try and upload it soon.

[biggeordie1970]

@pockquence i have a video somewhere called "A Tale Of Two Tours '' , its a channel 4 special about the 87 tour and the 87 tour of Britain, won by Joey McGloughlin, ill have to dig it out see if its watchable

[Chachy71]

@pockquence i have it but will have to work out how to post it.

[willhilsman]

i just road this climb in august 2007. It has 21 switchbacks. and it was snowing at the top. It is not overly steep, just very long. on the way to the top you pass the bobsled/luge track used in the 1992 winter olympic games. Very cool climb.

[owenpetard]

The classic Liggett commentary - "just who is that rider...it's Roche...". Superb.

[Pudsey007]

What an amazing sporting moment. I was watching this live every day when I was a kid & this was the climax. During the live race the final climb was too steep to be filmed so the cameras cut out for the final kms. The drama of this almost seemed to be on purpose as the Liggott commentary at the finish line was the exact moment I realised the scale of what happened. You needed the previous stages to appreciate it fully but the athletic effort & drama was incredible. Long live SR!

[corpo99]

this was a big moment in my life.

[davyroo1875]

yeah me too.

I never became a cyclist or anything but I remember it so clearly as i was rooting for roche big time.

I was 13 and hooked on Channel 4 coverage.

All I wanted from my wee hoose year after yearwas a Robert Millar win .

[strummerino]

Ou est le devil?

[eamonnca1]

El Diablo wasn't around in those days.

[WhiteyRFC]

always luv the commentary by Ligget when he see's roche.

[zuffle87]

>>Hinault?

Don't you mean Greg Sjl61?

[sjl62]

I was being snarky: I knew what zanderbear meant. I guess I was a bit pissed off by a lot of the anti-Hinault trash talk on these youtube comments.

[MadJohnEscapes]

probably because of 1985

[zanderbear]

this tour should have an asterisk, because you know who was not there....

[sjl62]

Yeah, Hinault.

[davidoffon]

@zanderbear Asterix is a Gaul , they are still in the "one stage".

[swamigal]

in the video I don't see nothing, that guy roche comes as 4th ? what so special about it, can somebody explain ?

[Matteomjb]

The Tour de France lasts 3 weeks, there were 4 days remaining and only 2 riders were still in contention for the overall victory; Delgado and Roche. Delgado is in the yellow jersey with Roche just a few seconds behind. The rest are minutes several behind.

[ghd60]

Roche's accomplishment was to close the gap between himself and Delgado. So much, that it was here that he really won the 87 Tour with his performance.

[sjl62]

Delgado, a climber, is leading the race by a slim margin over Roche, who is more of a time-trialist. Everyone knows that if Delgado doesn't put a couple of minutes into Roche on this stage, then Roche will overtake him in the final time trial. Delgado attacks at the bottom of the climb, gains about 90 seconds, and everyone thinnks the Tour is over; but, amazingly, Roche makes it all up in the last couple of miles.

[Walthamstow19]

To this day, one of my favourite sporting moments.  And what a hair-raising piece of commentary from Phil Ligget. Brilliant.

[sprintbass]

i was 14 when this all happend ill never forget it..and im so greatful i grew up in the golden age of cycling..when i compare today to then, it leaves me empty some how

[truebrit38]

you're being just a little bit too sensitive don't you think? the guy's native language as far as I know is English.

[penyacuriel]

yes, roche going up taken to the cars hmmmmm. Fantastic race yes, the big irish cheater.

SIEMPRE PERICO!!

[Matteomjb]

Ha ha, just like Delgado used the cars to win the Vuelta in 1985 then!

[xavier712]

Was that Robert Millar that year? If memory serves, he really got jobbed by a combo of Spanish riders, organizers and broadcasters.

[Matteomjb]

That was the 1985 Tour of Spain.

[sjl62]

General question: the old '80s live play-by-play with Ligget and Sherwen -- was this on the BBC? I know that Eurosport took over British cycling coverage some time in the '90s, and that after then Ligget worked mostly for American TV.

[Matteomjb]

It was on Channel 4. They covered the Tour from 1985 until 2000ish? with Ligget & Sherwen commentating.

[duncr]

No it was always on Channel 4. Ligget and Sherwin do TdF commentary for ITV3 now.

[truebrit38]

My second tour de france on tv and the second year running for an English speaking winner!

[eamonnca1]

"English-speaking?" Nice going. You're like the British press claiming Roche as one of their own, in those days they couldn't bring themselves to give Roche the credit for being Irish either.

[boelyns]

I was 16 at the time of watching this tour de france, and was inspired by stephen roche's comeback. I bought a Raleigh Road Ace bike for £570 and pushed my legs to the limit every time i rode. a couple of years later i started smoking. The END

[TrailerBob]

I love Phil's breaking voice: "It's Stephen Roche!" It truly captures the gutsy ride Roche made that incredible day.

[JACM10]

My favourite Tour moment ever!

[lurvebutter]

One of the greatest sporting moments ever. And can you recall what Roach said to the doctors on the way to hospital?

"I don't think I'll be going out dancing tonight"

Well that was the polite version...

[davidoffon]

@lurvebutter He actually said,"I don't think I'm ready for a woman".

[mossy199]

one of my proudest moments as an irishman, is when stephen won the world championship after the tour de france,then way he broke away from the pack on the inside with sean kelly trying to hold the pack back. if anyone has it,please put it on youtube!!!!

[Matteomjb]

I have it, the last km anyway. I will try and post it soon!

[sjl62]

i second that motion.

[nailug20]

You can find it in emule, look for nailug20 and 1987. Incredible to see Roche crying in the podium.

I´m an Spanish with an Irish heart

[davidoffon]

@nailug20 I'm Irish with a Spanish omolote.!!

[davidoffon]

@mossy199 Its up there already .I' ve seen it or maybe the video of either the SK story or the SR story, both of which I have.

[TheGobyHut]

Ligget's screams are imprinted on every cycling fan's brain!

[sheppezz]

fantastic stage.

[sjl62]

One of the best stages ever! Delgado says he needs to gain two minutes on Roche at La Plagne in order to keep the jersey in the upcoming time trial. Halfway up the climb, he has those two minutes. He crosses the line in a blaze; and then, all of a sudden, there's Roche, right on his back wheel. No one knows where the hell he came from and Phil Ligget can't believe it. Game over.

[hm7]

Fabulous! Thanks for sharing this rare video.