There is classic content here....
With the Tour de France starting tomorrow, I thought I would talk a bit about tour history. While watching OLN's TdF preview the other night, Bob Roll, who is prone to making odd statements, made another one which was unchallenged and passed off as "fact" to the viewing audience. As a staunch defender of history, I had to set the record straight.
His statement was that win or lose, the USPS team would go down as the "greatest Tour team in the history of cycling." First, we will have to assume that he is taking USPS and Discovery as the same team. After all, it is comprised of essentially the same riders, same bike brand, and same director sportif (it is the same team, even though the title sponsor changed). Here are the numbers, even assuming that Lance wins the Tour de France this year:
Tour de France: 7 wins(1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, [2005]) Giro d'Italia: 1 win (2005) Vuelta a Espana: 1 win (2003)
A great team, no doubt...but not the "best". Cyrille Guimard led the Gitane/Campagnolo and then the Renault-Elf-Gitane (again essentially the same riders, same bike brand, and same director) team to the following:
Tour de France: 7 wins (1976, 1978, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984) Giro d'Italia: 2 wins (1980, 1981) Vuelta a Espana: 1 win (1983)
Ok...so best tour team ever? I don't think so. Seems to me that the Gitane team of the 70's/80's were at least even, if not "one tour better". And when you include the amount of classics wins and "minor tours" as well, there really is no comparison.
I just hope that some credit is given where credit is due: Lance and USPS/Discovery are great, but let's not start calling them the "best ever."
Stephan Andranian
Costa Mesa, CA