Your first time

RichN95.

I imagine most of us first watched cycling via the Tour de France, the gateway drug, so what was the first stage you saw (a) on TV and (b) live

For me:

On TV: Stage 13 1986 - I still don't think this has been surpassed as a stage: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHYUtRKOxCU

Live: In Morzine 1988 - Fabio Parra takes the win, I persuade a 7-Eleven staff member to give me a spare jersey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Pqor4cqK5E

takethehighroad

First stage I (vaguely) remember seeing on TV is Indurain being dropped in 96, then Jan Ullrich to Andorra in 97.

Never seen a stage live, but that will all change next year, as I'm seeing two stages in two days!

LutherB

It was a stage in 2005, i'm sure it was going into Marseille but i've never found a stage from that year that finished in Marseille! Kloden was in a breakaway group, the coastline jutted in and out so they were constantly looking behind, waiting for the peloton to come into view and then hammering it when they saw them coming round the corners. Was like a chase movie! Got me hooked. Told my friends how great it was and they should watch the next stage, which was a pan-flat boring 'rest' stage :oops:

disgruntledgoat

First stage on Telly that I actually remember was an Abdou sprint. THe first I remember in any detail was Virenque, in his Polti days, trying to break Ullrich on a descent.

First, and only, live stage was the one where Voigt faceplanted and I inadvertantly raced Kenny Van Hummel

alan_a

disgruntledgoat wrote:

First stage on Telly that I actually remember was an Abdou sprint. THe first I remember in any detail was Virenque, in his Polti days, trying to break Ullrich on a descent.

First, and only, live stage was the one where Voigt faceplanted and I inadvertantly raced Kenny Van Hummel

Sounds hilarious. Details please.

Gazzetta67

1st time watching 1983 World of Sport ITV Eric Vanderaerden winning the prologue, and the next 6 stages as one week was crammed into a 20min segment over 3 weekends 8)

1st time live in the flesh 1989 Luxembourg TT - Delgado turned up 2 mins late for his TT

milton50

I'd seen bits of the Tour de France on TV during the early 2000's and thought it looked like an amazing spectacle.

But the first full stage I saw was the Floyd Landis solo breakaway on stage 17 of the 2006 Tour. I thought it was the most amazing, heroic, mesmerising piece of human courage I'd ever seen. Oh how little I knew. I've been hooked ever since though.

tailwindhome

FIrst on TV would have probably been Roche in 87.

First live (and still only) would have been the stage in Ireland which ended in Cork. We were staying with friends in Galway and took a last minute notion to go. Got up in the middle of the night to drive to New Ross in Wexford, then watched the race through Carrick on Suir and got the finish in Cork. No idea who won.

Edit - Jan Svorada apparently...

disgruntledgoat

Alan A wrote:

disgruntledgoat wrote:

First stage on Telly that I actually remember was an Abdou sprint. THe first I remember in any detail was Virenque, in his Polti days, trying to break Ullrich on a descent.

First, and only, live stage was the one where Voigt faceplanted and I inadvertantly raced Kenny Van Hummel

Sounds hilarious. Details please.

I'd been up on the Petit St. Bernard since about 8am about 3km from the summit on the side the Tour was climbing, I was about 3 hours behind the schedule for getting back to Bourg I'd given my wife and after the Cav group and a few stragglers went through, I left it 15 minutes and assumed that was it and set off to ride home.

As I got towards the top, a load of French people started screaming at me and a Gendarme shoved me off the road. About 3 minutes later Kenny came through on his solo ride through France.

I think I've said on here before, I still reckon I'd have beaten him to the top.

suspectdevice

First TV stage was Robert Millar in 1984 stage to Guzet-Neige.

First live stage was 2009 on Mt Ventoux. We drove up to Chalet Reynard and parked over night, slept in the car and sat out from first thing in the morning till the stage passed.

Shame it was an anticlimax of a stage but as a spectacle it was something else. Since been back in 2011 for the alp d'huez stage and the TT in Grenoble. Going back this year for the d'huez stage again and the Annecy stage and also the finale in Paris.

WARNING, it's addictive.....

pb21

In 1994 when it went through Sussex. I was 11 at the time and went with my parents.

First time I chose to watch it of my own volition on TV was in 2003 on the Alped'Huez stage.

gregster04

It is very addictive indeed.

The 1st stage I ever saw on TV was Stage 12 of the 2004 Tour where Lance let Basso take the win at La Mongie. I think it was the Tour where Voeckler raced round France with his tongue hanging out in the Yellow Jersey for what seemed like forever. It's a shame how riddled with doping it was really, I was way too young to think about stuff like that then and I thought the fans at the side of the road, the names painted on it etc was amazing.

First time I ever saw a live stage was in Montpellier in 2011 where Cav won, then a few days later we were not far from the top when Rolland won on Alpe D'Huez. (I don't count Le Grand Depart in London in 2007).

Can't go this year for family reasons so I'm going to very envious of all you people who are going!

inseine

First time I say it 'live' was 1982 in Lille. I remember being thrilled to see Van Impe warming up and I got Kelly's autograph, on the front of a cycling mag I bought from the local presse. I saw it later on that Tour at Nantes.
No idea when I first saw it on TV.

alihisgreat

I don't remember the first one specifically - but it involved Armstrong in the early 2000s though.

The first time I followed the tour properly was 2011 - so stage 18 sticks in the mind - Schleck's massive attack and Voeckler's battle to keep yellow for another day.

Cumulonimbus

I vaguely remember the 1986 tour and me dad telling me about two rivals on the same team but the stage which really got me hooked was the La Plagne stage in 1987 where Roche went on the attack but then got caught and dropped by Delgado for a minute and a half and it looked like Delgado was going to win the tour. Then, as Delgado came round the last corner, Roche appeared behind him, losing only a few seconds overall, and ending up on the floor with an oxygen mask.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQojh-wqL04

Got me hooked for quite a few years, but became less keen during my teenage years and early twenties. Been hooked again since 2008 though, that was the first year since about 1993 where the tour ended and had that strange feeling where it seems like there is a hole in your life.

Seen five stages in total. I think Avoriaz in 2010 was the best, was quite cool descending back down to Morzine with all the tour riders descending down to their hotel too. Weird riding along and finding Denis Menchov moving in front of you!

ddraver

Pffft, cant honestly say i can distinguish live memories from ITV highlights any more. Vague recollection of Sastre on Alpe d'huez.....

above_the_cows

First stage I remember watching would have been one of the stages of the 1986 Tour, you'll forgive me for not remembering off the top of my head which one, I was 4. This may have been my first encounter of Pedro Delgado too, didn't he win a stage that year? (Too lazy to look it up).

Who can forget "Kronenbourg Seize Soixante-Quatre" I would go around for days saying that over and over again having no idea it was a beer. People must have thought my parents were raging alcoholics with a thing for French larger.

First live stage, stage 10 of the 1993 Tour somewhere on a random alp after climbing up it I say up but I doubt we went very far. We left my poor mum in some random hypermarche car park and I cried because I kept getting overtaken by lots of adults and then I remember I really needed a wee while waiting for the race but I was too scared to go in case I missed something.

knedlicky

First time I saw the TdF ‘live’ was 1980. That was the year Hinault dropped out before the end, but at the time I saw it he was still in the race.
It was a flat stage though, however in 1984 we went on holiday to the Alps, where I got to see high-mountain stages 18 and 19.

I don’t remember the first time on TV at home, it could have been about 1980 but equally 10 years later.
But I do remember more than once standing in hypermarchés in France during the 1980s, and watching the live coverage on one of the TVs turned on in the shop.

alihisgreat

Also forgot to mention the first and only live stage I've seen was the 2007 prologue in London.

Turfle

I struggle to remember much from my childhood. The first Tour I remember watching was 1987, and I only remember that because at the start of the coverage they showed the result of the 86 Tour, and Urs Zimmermann immediately became my favourite rider. I can't really remember whether I appreciated the Roche-Delgado battle or not.

r0bh

Definitely the 89 Lemond versus Fignon Tour, I remember buying the post-Tour CycleSport mag. Possibly a bit earlier with Robert Millar, but not sure. My first vivid TV memory of cycling was from the Tour of Britain, Millar chasing down a lone breakaway and blasting past him on the right as the guy looked over his left shoulder. That was possibly 1989 as well? Not seen the Tour live yet, planned to go to London in 2007 but was ill :-(

rick_chasey

First Tour was '98. First memorable stage I sat down and watched was the ride up to Les Deux Alps.

My grandfather kept saying "pap benen" (porridge legs) every time they showed Ullrich.

First stage I watched live?

2007 prologue in London. I got there at 9am and staked out the perfect spot in front of Buckingham palace where I could see them past twice. I saw everyone ride their warm up laps. Boonen gave me a wave. Rogers stopped just 5ft away to chat to the Australian contingent. Tankink (riding for QS then) high fived me 4th warm up around.

Then finally at 3pm they set off. I remember booing contador 'cos he was Disco and remember the surprise when he got 7th (the faster specialists knocked him down later). Wiggins flew by and the crowd went mental. Millar hugged the inside line in his yellow saunier duval kit and I almost knocked him off I was leaning out so much.

Then as the long day and excitement was beginning to take its toll Cancellara, resplendent in rainbow bands, blasted by, visibly quicker.

Watching the vid later it's his most impressive prologue ever.

Pross

Live was Portsmouth in 94, still the only one I've seen live. TV was a mountain stage in the mid 80s at a friends house, I've got a vague recollection of Millar in polka dots but that could be a figment of my imagination.

IanLD

Used to watch the Tour on world of sport back in the '70's. Got me hooked on cycling and started me racing.

First 'live' stage was Hinault beating Kuiper in Lille back in 1980.

http://www.ina.fr/video/I00011330

We were right at the finish line on the right hand side. Was a grim day, but the French loved the fact that we had come from Scotland to see it, that we spoke French and that my grandmother was French. They also appreciated the fact that Hinault was my favourite. Think we probably managed to tick most of the boxes that would guarantee anyone a good response from them

knedlicky

Pross wrote:

Live was Portsmouth in 94, still the only one I've seen live. TV was a mountain stage in the mid 80s at a friends house, I've got a vague recollection of Millar in polka dots but that could be a figment of my imagination.

My first time in the Alps for the Tour (mentioned above) Millar was in the polka dot, but I was all eyes for Fignon and Hinault.

Macaloon

Was involved with the Glasgow Uni Student TV chick-magnet scam (GUST). Somehow we got this life-changing feed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04yQ2QaR8r4

Sloped off to The Aragon, Byres Rd for a couple of Salvadors. Nobody had a clue what had just happened. (Got back into serious watching due to Moore's outstanding Millar book)

yourpaceormine

Mid to late seventies, grainy images of le Tour on World of Sport. (Has Dickie Davies left the building? Must be getting on a bit if he hasn't). It was a mountain stage, they had gone around a left hairpin and were going up (valley in between hairpin - makes sense to me). Before I went to 'big' school so I'm guessing 76-78 time. Looked fantastic, the people, the riders and the cars.

When C4 took it on, I've watched every year since then. Yes I went round trying to practise 1664 in French (not my strongpoint). In the flesh - the London prologue. Which was really nice as when I was dashing for the train with my 2 eldest I said "just think the next time we see those riders they will have ridden thousands of kilometres and we will all be in paris". Went to see the final stage in Paris as it was my 40th birthday present from my mum. So good we went to the Champs the next year too.

Last year I was laid up sick so watched every minute broadcast by Eurosport. I had to lie on the settee (spinal injury), that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it.

Reminds me, must make the shopping list for le grand depart - baguettes, orangina, 1664, brie, port salut, pate, some good salad

cyclingsheep

Been watching since I got to the UK in '96 but saw first live stage in 2004. A mate talked me into buying a road bike and cycling up Alpe d'Huez to watch the TT stage. It took me twice as long as a doped to the eyeballs Armstrong but watching the speed they rode past us really was amazing.

Dorset_Boy

I'm another who remembers watching bits on World of Sport in the 1970s - seemed very romantic in an era when France wasn't quite so close to our doorstep.

First life stage was Perpignan to Andorra in 1992 (I think) - saw 2 hours of the caravan and then the peleton flew by in about 20 seconds. Did capture Big Mig in a photo though.

afx237vi

I have memories of watching Pantani, Riis and Ullrich in the mid-nineties but the earliest thing I can specifically remember was the 1999 Alpe d'Huez stage when Guerini got knocked off his bike by that guy taking a picture.

Never seen a stage in the flesh.

nic_77

I firmly recall watching LeMond TT into Paris in 1989 on TV with my dad, and distinctly remember being completely absorbed by the chase to regain time on Chiappucci in 1990. I've probably only missed a handful of stages since then!

My first live stage was on Bastille Day 2004 - Virenque winning into St Flour (a couple of days after riding my first Etape du Tour). Here he is out front alone on the Puy Mary...