AgilisMerlin
11-03-2012, 08:53 PM
http://road.cc/content/feature/69524-postcards-paris-tour-de-france-2013-presentation-pictures
http://road.cc/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-gallery-display/images/Tour%20de%20France%202013%20Presentation/02%20Palais%20des%20Congres%20100th%20TDF%202013%2 0launch%20%C2%A9%20Simon%20MacMichael.jpg
Instead the 4,000 fans, people connected with the Tour and national and cycling media crammed into the cavernous auditorium of the Palais de Congres at Porte Maillot, halfway between the Arc de Triomphe and the Grand Arch de la Defense, got treated to a spectacular presentation of the 2013 parcours, plus a speech in which race director Christian Prudhomme railing against the drug cheats.
Alberto Contador, the other man to be stripped of a Tour de France title this year - just the one, mind, he still keeps his other two - must have shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
Two years ago, a month after it was revealed he'd tested positive for clenbuterol on the way to winning the 2010 Tour, Contador stayed away and Prudhomme, unveiling the 2011 race, expressed the wish the matter would be resolved quickly. Some hope.
This time last year, his case still no nearer resolution and another Tour de France under his belt - albeit the first since 2005 he raced and didn't win - Contador was back at the presentation, the looming and much postponed Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing casting a long shadow.
The Spaniard was one of four current riders to have won the Tour seated centrally right in front of the huge cinema screen where the race route was revealed - the others being Andy Schleck, runner-up to him in 2010 but now the holder of that title, 2011 victor Cadel Evans, and defending champion Bradley Wiggins.
http://road.cc/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-gallery-display/images/Tour%20de%20France%202013%20Presentation/07%20Christian%20Prudhomme%20at%20the%20Chris%20Fr oome%20at%20the%20TDF%202013%20launch%20%C2%A9%20S imon%20MacMichael.jpg
Prudhomme himself (pictured left) insisted that while doping was the enemy of the Tour, the race would prove stronger than its foe. While he certainly didn't shirk from blasting those who have blackened the name of the race in the past and pointedly calling on team managers to step up and join the battle, this was as much a celebration of a brighter future for the race than a look back at the past.
There was plenty of that too, of course, although of the man who stood on the top step of the Champs-Elysees seven times, Lance Armstrong, there was only the briefest of glimpses in one of the beautifully assembled video montages that proved that despite everything else, road cycling, and the Tour de France in particular, can be the most breathtakingly beautiful sport.
http://road.cc/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-gallery-display/images/Tour%20de%20France%202013%20Presentation/03%20Young%20fans%20at%20the%20Chris%20Froome%20qu izzed%20at%20the%20Chris%20Froome%20at%20the%20TDF %202013%20launch%20%C2%A9%20Simon%20MacMichael.jpg
That hope for the future was encapsulated by the presence of dozens upon dozens of youngsters sporting the colours of the local cycling clubs they belong to - each was given a yellow Tour de France 100 t-shirt which most, but not all, wore, other taking pride in their club colours. Seated immediately behind the invited riders, it was an unmissable autograph opportunity for them, and a statement by ASO that the Tour is determined to look ahead, not over its shoulder.
Given the age range, pretty much all those kids must have been born during the Armstrong era, and while 'Lance' never features in the list of popular boys' name in France for the period, you couldn't help but think that there might be some poor little sod sitting there saddled with the monicker by a cycling-mad parent
http://road.cc/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-gallery-display/images/Tour%20de%20France%202013%20Presentation/04%20Bradley%20Wiggins%20at%20the%20TDF%202013%20l aunch%20%C2%A9%20Simon%20MacMichael.jpg
The presentation over, the fun and games began in earnest for the assembled press. Usually, there's a happy chaos to proceedings, and so far it had followed the script - a massive scrum of photographers and TV cameramen in front of the big names as they take their seats for the actual presentation, then pretty much everyone ambles up to the stage where groups form around individual riders, very good natured and informal and plenty of room for everyone - the stage, like the auditorium itself, is massive.
This year, it was different, however. Perhaps it was the presence of those huge raised numerals denoting '100' on the stage that made it impossible to conduct proceedings there, perhaps it was the sheer volume of press representatives, including a sizeable contingent from the UK, many drawn by Wiggins' victory of course but others no doubt by that other, more recent story intertwined with the Tour's recent history.
So instead of being conducted on the stage, the press work was all conducted in the wings to one side - fine if you were on that side of the auditorium when the announcement was made, not if you were on the other and found your way blocked by the venue's security guards due to the small mixed zone already being full to capacity.
Going round the back, we got tantalisingly close, but still no way through. Back round the front and we were still blocked. Then, spotting a gap with no official nearby - nor, it has to be said, any convenient steps - we clambered up onto the stage, through a gap in the curtain and into the chaos the other side, reminiscent of the post-stage melee round the maillot jaune's bus but with tripods rather than bikes to trip over.
http://road.cc/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-gallery-display/images/Tour%20de%20France%202013%20Presentation/05%20Chris%20Froome%20at%20the%20TDF%202013%20laun ch%20%C2%A9%20Simon%20MacMichael.jpg
Sky haven't been big ones for the Tour presentation in the past, but with the reigning champion and runner-up in their ranks, and the departing Cavendish - who is a regular attendee, irrespective of the team he'll be riding for the following year - also picking up three stages, staying away wasn't an option this year.
Finally, here were the stories that the British press in particular had come for. Wiggins on what it meant to be Tour champion - for a start, there's the media attention that momentarily seemed to leave him overwhelmed as journalists and photographers crammed round him from all directions the instant he stopped speaking to Eurosport - Froome on the prospect of leading Sky in the race next year, Brailsford on how he would reconcile the ambitions of his two star riders....cont' (http://road.cc/content/feature/69524-postcards-paris-tour-de-france-2013-presentation-pictures)
http://road.cc/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-gallery-display/images/Tour%20de%20France%202013%20Presentation/09%20Dave%20Brailsford%20at%20the%20TDF%202013%20l aunch%20%C2%A9%20Simon%20MacMichael.jpg
http://road.cc/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-gallery-display/images/Tour%20de%20France%202013%20Presentation/02%20Palais%20des%20Congres%20100th%20TDF%202013%2 0launch%20%C2%A9%20Simon%20MacMichael.jpg
Instead the 4,000 fans, people connected with the Tour and national and cycling media crammed into the cavernous auditorium of the Palais de Congres at Porte Maillot, halfway between the Arc de Triomphe and the Grand Arch de la Defense, got treated to a spectacular presentation of the 2013 parcours, plus a speech in which race director Christian Prudhomme railing against the drug cheats.
Alberto Contador, the other man to be stripped of a Tour de France title this year - just the one, mind, he still keeps his other two - must have shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
Two years ago, a month after it was revealed he'd tested positive for clenbuterol on the way to winning the 2010 Tour, Contador stayed away and Prudhomme, unveiling the 2011 race, expressed the wish the matter would be resolved quickly. Some hope.
This time last year, his case still no nearer resolution and another Tour de France under his belt - albeit the first since 2005 he raced and didn't win - Contador was back at the presentation, the looming and much postponed Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing casting a long shadow.
The Spaniard was one of four current riders to have won the Tour seated centrally right in front of the huge cinema screen where the race route was revealed - the others being Andy Schleck, runner-up to him in 2010 but now the holder of that title, 2011 victor Cadel Evans, and defending champion Bradley Wiggins.
http://road.cc/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-gallery-display/images/Tour%20de%20France%202013%20Presentation/07%20Christian%20Prudhomme%20at%20the%20Chris%20Fr oome%20at%20the%20TDF%202013%20launch%20%C2%A9%20S imon%20MacMichael.jpg
Prudhomme himself (pictured left) insisted that while doping was the enemy of the Tour, the race would prove stronger than its foe. While he certainly didn't shirk from blasting those who have blackened the name of the race in the past and pointedly calling on team managers to step up and join the battle, this was as much a celebration of a brighter future for the race than a look back at the past.
There was plenty of that too, of course, although of the man who stood on the top step of the Champs-Elysees seven times, Lance Armstrong, there was only the briefest of glimpses in one of the beautifully assembled video montages that proved that despite everything else, road cycling, and the Tour de France in particular, can be the most breathtakingly beautiful sport.
http://road.cc/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-gallery-display/images/Tour%20de%20France%202013%20Presentation/03%20Young%20fans%20at%20the%20Chris%20Froome%20qu izzed%20at%20the%20Chris%20Froome%20at%20the%20TDF %202013%20launch%20%C2%A9%20Simon%20MacMichael.jpg
That hope for the future was encapsulated by the presence of dozens upon dozens of youngsters sporting the colours of the local cycling clubs they belong to - each was given a yellow Tour de France 100 t-shirt which most, but not all, wore, other taking pride in their club colours. Seated immediately behind the invited riders, it was an unmissable autograph opportunity for them, and a statement by ASO that the Tour is determined to look ahead, not over its shoulder.
Given the age range, pretty much all those kids must have been born during the Armstrong era, and while 'Lance' never features in the list of popular boys' name in France for the period, you couldn't help but think that there might be some poor little sod sitting there saddled with the monicker by a cycling-mad parent
http://road.cc/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-gallery-display/images/Tour%20de%20France%202013%20Presentation/04%20Bradley%20Wiggins%20at%20the%20TDF%202013%20l aunch%20%C2%A9%20Simon%20MacMichael.jpg
The presentation over, the fun and games began in earnest for the assembled press. Usually, there's a happy chaos to proceedings, and so far it had followed the script - a massive scrum of photographers and TV cameramen in front of the big names as they take their seats for the actual presentation, then pretty much everyone ambles up to the stage where groups form around individual riders, very good natured and informal and plenty of room for everyone - the stage, like the auditorium itself, is massive.
This year, it was different, however. Perhaps it was the presence of those huge raised numerals denoting '100' on the stage that made it impossible to conduct proceedings there, perhaps it was the sheer volume of press representatives, including a sizeable contingent from the UK, many drawn by Wiggins' victory of course but others no doubt by that other, more recent story intertwined with the Tour's recent history.
So instead of being conducted on the stage, the press work was all conducted in the wings to one side - fine if you were on that side of the auditorium when the announcement was made, not if you were on the other and found your way blocked by the venue's security guards due to the small mixed zone already being full to capacity.
Going round the back, we got tantalisingly close, but still no way through. Back round the front and we were still blocked. Then, spotting a gap with no official nearby - nor, it has to be said, any convenient steps - we clambered up onto the stage, through a gap in the curtain and into the chaos the other side, reminiscent of the post-stage melee round the maillot jaune's bus but with tripods rather than bikes to trip over.
http://road.cc/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-gallery-display/images/Tour%20de%20France%202013%20Presentation/05%20Chris%20Froome%20at%20the%20TDF%202013%20laun ch%20%C2%A9%20Simon%20MacMichael.jpg
Sky haven't been big ones for the Tour presentation in the past, but with the reigning champion and runner-up in their ranks, and the departing Cavendish - who is a regular attendee, irrespective of the team he'll be riding for the following year - also picking up three stages, staying away wasn't an option this year.
Finally, here were the stories that the British press in particular had come for. Wiggins on what it meant to be Tour champion - for a start, there's the media attention that momentarily seemed to leave him overwhelmed as journalists and photographers crammed round him from all directions the instant he stopped speaking to Eurosport - Froome on the prospect of leading Sky in the race next year, Brailsford on how he would reconcile the ambitions of his two star riders....cont' (http://road.cc/content/feature/69524-postcards-paris-tour-de-france-2013-presentation-pictures)
http://road.cc/sites/default/files/imagecache/node-gallery-display/images/Tour%20de%20France%202013%20Presentation/09%20Dave%20Brailsford%20at%20the%20TDF%202013%20l aunch%20%C2%A9%20Simon%20MacMichael.jpg