23 Days in July - 1983 Tour de France

[Music] Paris is closed for the day few events can bring this city to a standstill the start and end of wars the jackboot to the conqueror revolutions every year in the heat of July a bike race in continental Europe the views of an Australian wrestling with the language are in demand here he's sought-after widely known often quoted Phil Anderson in Europe is a superstar of cycling he's the first non-european to win a stage at the Tour de France the first Australian to wear a yellow jersey in the tour the first Australian to lead a French team lauded and fated abroad yet curiously a stranger in his homeland Anderson's credentials are impressive in 1983 he won Holland's most important classic the Amstel Gold Race is won the turd allowed twice one of france's top 5 tours he was second in the inaugural tour of America and second in the Swiss Tour de Romandie [Music] in this continent cycling is less a sport more way of life and the Tour de France is the life force the biggest annual sporting event in the world an event to live with and through whatever sport you follow you all have your sport which you say is the tops but when you come to the Tour de France it does supersede them all I mean to ride round France twenty-two days to cover 2,400 miles to project people who can ride four or five marathon athletics distances in a day they are superstars in his first tour Phil Anderson finished tenth and more yellow for one day in his second he came fifth and more yellow for ten days his aggression and courage combined with experience serves notice on the Europeans that here as a rider with the credentials to win this most sought after of all crowds the tour de force a nomads from Down Under beating the locals at their own game Oh [Music] Anderson sets out on his third tour de France a pre-race favorite on the other side of the world few of his fellow comfortable not aware of this event and fewer still with significance at his ranking the land of long-distance tools don't take you very far Anderson a foreigner doing battle with 139 others fighting heat mountains exhaustion and the clock a leading player in the world's longest piece of theater [Music] the last act to be played here 23 days later under the Arc de Triomphe [Music] in much of the world the bicycle is a child's toy although the oil crisis of the 70s certainly expanded its clientele it remains essentially a leisure machine but not in Europe here everybody owns a bike [Music] [Music] the bicycle is a machine which move the father of the Tour de France or read egg wash to describe it as the first successful effort of intelligent life to triumph over the laws of weight and age is apparently no barrier to its use this social sporting club is on today's ride through southern France kitted up like the best pros in France however they have their priorities a day-long bike tour is fine but where are we stopping for lunch after all the bikes will still be there later but a fine French pastry [Music] [Applause] there's not much time for French pastry here this is part of fallenness ins daily grind a warm-up that begins on rollers and ends after hours on tracks and roads in the Belgian countryside fail is good commentators class him among the top 10 bike riders in the world feel like all Australians is a nomad when they come into Europe they wander the world and they do so well at it I mean he's going to be a very successful professional because he's got the aggressive temperament you expect he's a particularly nice man and and he's got a nice wife Phil and n Anderson live a pleasant life in the small town of Waregem in Belgium [Music] living here suits them it's central to much of the continents racing [Music] when I first moved up here financially I wasn't in such a really good situation and I found a lot cheaper to live up here and in France was to faster patient life it's too expensive I visited the Belgium a number of times and I found it a lot more comfortable up here another reason why we live up here is because there's a lot more racing in France I could only race once a week with the team but it means a lot of traveling but here in Belgium it's lot smaller country there are races every day we're talking right I don't need a team if it's raining I don't have to ride it's just like through dance racing you can look in the newspaper in the morning there'll be a list of of races and I can pick out the race which is close by and that race [Music] Anderson is perhaps best remembered in Australia for his very gutsy and someone unexpected gold medal win in the 1978 Edmonton Commonwealth Games [Music] well as a turning point in one way because I always heard of in Europe I heard that there was a position vacant in a French club if I wanted to take it and so I took up the challenge through question of the winner about what suitcase and came over Amazon spins five to six hours a day on his bike pushing up to 150 kilometers without this effort and of course his talent it'd be just an obscure member of the large professional contingent which races in Europe many of them eking out a living but obscure Anderson isn't [Music] it's difficult to be obscure when you're wearing yellow the jersey traditionally worn by an overall race leader [Applause] this is the tour de load one of France's top five to us it's a race over four days through the South in territory which he'll cross again soon in the Tour de France in 1981 this tour was Anderson's first major win and he's leading today in the run home Phil has written a long way in five years 79 and had quite a good year you know one quite a number of races and in that time attracted quite a bit of interest from professional teams but all the time I saying well I want to turn I want to stay a murder ride the Olympics you know faithful country anything like that [Applause] changes that I'll do well in the Moscow Olympics were pretty slim it's like a lottery really erased like that's one day race and I mean all you have to do is flat you know have a punter or four so you know I was considering turning professional which I did [Applause] Anderson serves notice of his form as he romps in the winner with a substantial overall lead Phil likes yellow it's his color for Anderson this tour has several purposes it's a tune up for the grueling Tour de France and by doing well he establishes solidly his claim as per shows number one Rider it's good for my morale it's good for my team's morale because play my team now have some confidence for me because they can see that I'm on good form also I got a lot of publicity for it too which is good for my team so i under the team in good [Applause] in cycling it's the mountains which aroused passions at the turn of the century writers were unable to pedal all the way up these steep climbs today super fit professionals ride up as a matter of course Andersen's never been strong in this region it's a weakness he's working hard to overcome the difference between training and racing is when you're racing you have to think training can be a form of relaxation as well because you know you're physically exerting yourself but you don't have to be 200% concentration or what you're doing your life isn't on the line I go what it is racing it can be very monotonous just riding five years you know wake up the morning and say uh dreaded [Music] another five years at the meet works but superbly fit and mentally prepared anderson leads yet one other ingredient if he is to win the Tour de France he must have the support of his largely French teammates now phil has the drawbacks in as much that he isn't French he isn't Belgian he is actually a foreigner no more foreign in fact and I am here because if you speak the English language you are a foreigner but phil has come to yours at the time when the English language is making great progress in European cycling I think if I was a Frenchman though I get true a little better you know it get better support from the team but I mean that's always improving like the first year I didn't get much support at all then last year came along and I got the yellow jersey early in the tour in the second day then they could see that I was quite strong and I could defend it by the end of the tour I really going strongly for me so Amazon's are natural I suspect that he'll finish in the top four in the Tour de France I don't think he'll ever win but he's one of the best riders in the world but he's not French and if you're not French you'll never get the 100% backing that if you were French the team will give you nevertheless his per Joe's number one the announced team leader whom the other riders will protect and help Anderson with their backing has the best chance ever for a non-european to win the Tour I'm on the lam stable device so david says owned and operated [Applause] thank God day one the Tour de France prologue a short time trial to establish who wears what Jersey the following day the start of the tour proper the media machine to bars the action especially the Colombian Cinco Cinco cuatro tres dos the Colombians have a lot to be excited about their team all Anytus is the first from another continent to contest the tour Amazon is one of five riders listed as pre-race favourites today this short five and a half kilometer individual time trial on the outskirts of Paris is a short step on the long road to the Arc de Triomphe and the finish twenty three days from now this year's tour covers 3700 kilometres around France with 140 competitors and perhaps 20 able to win up there with a bacillus favorites a Europe South America Dutchman beginning his 13th tour he won at the 1980 and has finished second and incredible six times and Lucien venom 36 from Belgium he's finished a record 13 to us even so a little help from a friend are still welcome [Applause] it's only Anderson's third tour in three years he's emerged from obscurity to one of the hottest chances ever for a win [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] at the finish Amazon comes in six seconds behind the day's fastest the Belgium Eric van der I at 21 the tour's youngest black so now the tour has a leader Anderson staking the claim is within striking distance in fourth place so France is a sports event I think anyone will agree is the the biggest annual sporting event in the whole world and because it goes on for so long because there are so many people watching it probably an average of a million people every day for three weeks in the flesh plus another 20 million or more watching it on television every day stage one begins in Paris and today the thoughts of France if not all its eyes with a snaking column of two wheelers and the gods who ride them Paris doesn't exactly stop but there is no other event which influences the city quite as much for the French today there is nothing else there is a philosophy in France they say that you can do everything in July the only point would care for French people is who is wearing the yellow coat you know you can change the government you can change of free public you can you can put some taxes more you can increase the price of train or electricity they just don't care they just look for the Tour de France on the thing about other things after you within the event the riders are almost incidental porns and a huge organization everything about it is big it's back up the sheer scale of the race this is one of the world's giant sports services [Applause] race entourage there's some 2,000 people following the race around 3 or 400 journalists writing about it every day nothing can really compares [Applause] ironically the world's biggest event is reported by people who don't actually see the world's media are either ahead or behind the writers so reporters rely heavily on interviews after each stage to get their story remorselessly they extract small bits of information distill them likely into stories the people is watching not only because it's a race or it sport because there are sometimes crossing place where they are where they come from you know in France in Paris there is nearly ten millions people but they are all coming from the part of France and every day they watch because maybe this is their house this is a town let you know everybody has done cycling in France when you are young buy a bike and everybody knows it's very difficult to do it so that's why it's very [Applause] Stage two is a team time trial like the prologue a race against the clock but in this stage working as a team each rider taking turns up front to slice through the wind keeping up the pace [Applause] the tour is now heading north towards the Belgian border through undulating capped aside it's a grueling 100 kilometers and there's no room for passengers the strong pulled a weak the weak hang on the rest of France well it's still stopped [Music] the tool is a complex event in effect a series of races within a race each day's stage is a complete race in itself and has its own prize money as well each riders daily times are added together and the rider with the shortest time is the overall leader in the yellow jersey [Music] this 100 kilometer team time trial was won in brilliant style by the coupe Mercier team and just under two hours and 19 minutes that's an average of 43 kilometres an hour Peugeot had a great day pushing hard they finished second just 17 seconds slower [Applause] but not everybody then Phil Anderson's opinion have been working as hard as he might and there was a strong hint of displeasure stealing what he was you know everybody's gone through they get my daddy strongest right strong as the weakest water you know you kind of pull away from ya despite the large number of riders in this 23 day war of attrition most tours are dominated by one rider in recent years these leaders have included eddy merckx the greatest of all time nicknamed the cannibal for his insatiable appetite for victories this man now retired has most days in the yellow jersey 96 most stage victories 34 and is also the only man to win in a single tour the Sprint Mountain and overall leader jerseys and there's better not he no missing this year because of tendinitis has already won the two of four times worn yellow on 55 days and 122 stages and he's still writing men like those could control packs this size they stopped pointless attacks which wore down riders of ability with some real chance this tour has no such leader [Music] [Applause] [Music] the velodrome in Roubaix the finish of the third stage Rudy mattes of Belgium crosses first with Phil Anderson nowhere in sight he eventually walked his back across the line looking worse for the fall hadn't cost Anderson any time as it occurred within the velodrome but Anderson felt Vander Arden should pay some price for the manoeuvre which brought him and the others down a wayward maneuver which cost the French champion Gomez the rest of the tour the tracker 70 vanished from the line you know you don't swing up like that just wake up did he know he didn't go measurement in time yeah Gomez was just over it when he and he went down what with him me and then meanwhile Anderson did Don yellow but it was killed the day not fill the Australia [Music] a day in the life of the Tour de France circus starts early and everybody's in the act [Music] in the nearby hotels the riders who have a minimum sleep requirement of between 8 and 12 hours are barely stirring nevertheless there's a blood pressure check part of the daily routine commercialism is an integral part of the tour it sells everything from newspapers to mineral water everything that is except cigarettes this mobile commercial proceeds the riders each day for the whole 3,700 kilometers [Music] at the hotels the riders begin fueling up for the day literally because of their huge energy requirements the riders eat as if it's their last meal a good rider is one could force food down even when he doesn't feel like it because not to eat can result in a lack of strength sometime later in the day this force feeding in the morning results in riders literally eating two meals at breakfast there's the usual breakfast fare followed almost immediately with a good lunch usually steak rice and anything else loaded with energy supply on carbohydrates stomach capacity appears to be a vital factor in a rider's performance if you don't eat you can't perform breakfast and lunch over the formalities of the race begin to dominate the day but even then and with two meals slowly settling obviously you have to have a little extra to see you through the first leg of the day stage [Music] then of course there's the media core waiting for its daily fix of fact and rumor and always there's a reminder that in this event time is your enemy [Music] [Applause] [Music] it would be a mistake to think that all day every day is hard competitive racing it's simply not possible before the day gets too serious the nicely insulated pack develops a sort of social life of its own [Music] dotted throught most stages a rush Sprint's by winning these a rider can get up to 12 seconds locked off his overall time [Music] for a leading rider these are valuable bonuses these Sprint's are wearing and they become pointless if they tire the rider to the extent that he falls after days pass [Music] and always of course you have to keep eating [Music] [Applause] each team the tour has 10 members and they work much the same as a small military unit the leader is protected when he patches one of the team will pass him his own wheel or even bike wait for him if necessary and Shepherd him back through the pack [Music] the whole team keeps a sharp eye on any breakaways some Metta some don't [Applause] today Swiss champions says dem EA had dropped everybody off but he started the day nearly 23 minutes behind the overall leader a stage win of a few minutes was no cause for concern for the leaders the day have been a long debilitating test of endurance nearly 300 kilometers with eight rush Sprint's today followed 150 kilometres yesterday and will be another 250 tomorrow the racing cycles are marvelous precision machines and a small army of assistants work long into the night cleaning and repairing and changing gears to accommodate the requirements of the next stage keeping these wheels turning is straightforward enough a new tire and adjustment a new part here earlier but coaxing back to life the machine that pushes those wheels is a different proposition the masseur is a linchpin in the pro riders ability to survive the magician who conjures up willing flesh for the following day had a very sensible intelligent first week last year when he had the yellow jersey after two days he expended a lot of energy in defending sprinting for every intermediate sprint this year phil has kept his place up at the top of the lead of all by just going for one or two of these sprints not everyone and because of that and his consistently good form he's up in third place which is an ideal position to be in Wilcox ins assessment of Anderson is echoed by other veterans but there's another 2300 kilometers yet to go and for Anderson to emerge from this bunch as a clear leader will require endurance sheer guts a lot of support and some not much pressure he's got a great ambition and I think Paris topo nine stages 1600 kilometres 42 hours six minutes 38 seconds in the saddle but so far hardly a mountain [Applause] the outlook at this stage was bright for the tour's english-speaking riders as the daily ritual of Jersey presentation showed clearly apart from the state winner Frenchman Philippe Chevalier Shawn Kelly already in the green leading sprinters Jersey took the all-important yellow by one second from the day Kim Anderson [Music] top junior rider in the flight was Steven Roach another Irishman [Applause] only the distinctive red polka dot king of the mountain jersey was held by a Frenchman she'll bear DUPLO La Salle Anderson was in third place just four seconds off the lead 130 riders were still in it but the fluid nature of this tour de force and the onset of the mountains was about to inject the dose of unpredictability for which this race has become legend the Pyrenees the formidable barrier between France and Spain even more so when viewed from the saddle of a bike [Music] the roads our main killers they're tortuous thin slivers of sun-baked tarmac climbing ever climbing into thinner air and here from all over France they come hundreds of thousands of fans perched precariously on hillsides and spilling into roads not designed for them this obsession with mountain climbing sees the hordes camp overnight and then wait hours to see a few minutes at most of the agony which in years gone by prompted riders to shout assassin at tour organizers the fans as if to distract fear the suffering scream encouragement this territory in cycling terms represents True Grit this is where tours are won or lost the Pyrenees section is a 198 kilometres south of or steep climbs the steepest of which the tour male involves climbing 1,400 meters or a distance of 18 kilometers for the best climbers the suffering is said to approach the last rounds of a boxing match for the others it's worse Anderson is traditionally not strong in the mountains and they again proved his nemesis fulfil it started very badly because on the first climb he crashed and his shoe came off which was a bit of a disaster because he was left sitting in the road trying to run do a double knocks on his shoe none of his teammates waited for him and it took him a long time to get back up to the front and he didn't finally make it until the approach to the second big climb the tourmaline but phil was quite happy because he was with guys like van impe and suits milk bernardo who was climbed that the next climb with them while Kelly and Anderson that the day were both dropped and this made Phil the actual race leader if he'd stayed in that position to the end of the stage even at the LA Jersey which would have been fantastic and just at this point one of Phil's teammates Pascal seen one who's 26-year old Frenchman he suddenly attacked without telling Phil without telling Steven Roach was with them and took them completely by surprise [Applause] because he was a French when he got away with it and the end of that type scene one was in the yellow jersey yes because on mine point seemed always better than understand pesco Simone acknowledges his yellow jersey teammate Robert Miller on the dais for winning the stage Lucien venom claimed the coveted polkadot climber's Jersey all this while Anderson was still struggling home now nearly nine and a half minutes behind the leader in tenth place the last pot and they tell these group quarters and they're going to do fast noise it's pretty hard on me really because I'm leader of the team and then somebody does that to me you know when I'm having a bad day it's like stabbing somebody in the back and I was stepping on him you know another director wouldn't be very happy and the press certainly wouldn't be very happy if I attack the French for my own team and stuff like that the next day the French public oblivious to Anderson was hailing Pascal Simone is turning on French Revolution the French commentators saw Anderson's plight philosophical consider as a individual man little it's not always they say that understand is not always playing the team spirit and cycling it's an individual sport but you can win only by team if you have a good team you can win it to the France if you are alone you cannot win an Anderson was not you know you know team where everybody was working for you [Applause] so Peugeot had a new team leader pascal sumo [Applause] [Music] Anderson was now required to ride and protect Simone he was saddled with housekeeping chores picking up refreshments chasing breakaways protecting saman maintaining and withholding pace as the need arose [Music] but today fate struck another blow this time directly at Simone and so indirectly at Anderson y'all feel often buddy - all right sorry to push him all the way go damn it at the end of stage 11 the media had a field day sue mom had a hairline fracture of the left shoulder blade zoo - milk lying fifth failed a dope tester was penalized ten minutes and assemblers languishing in ninth place the 12th stage best custom on fronted to the start despite his injury but he couldn't love if I have been a team manager I would have gone and looked at what we have behind C Mon to back him up knowing that in two or three or four days semen must retired [Music] the procession continued simone wincing at every pothole managed to stay in the race dragged along by his team for anderson saman was an anchor yeah you say it has coke along the route Phil's wife Anne was there to do what she could but as so often in this race the best laid plans come to zero [Applause] [Music] and as a reminder to Phil Kim Anderson the day pulled off a twelfth stage win underlining the absence of the Australians name from the daily placings it was frustrating stuff fit enough to attack but unable to through having to look after an unfit leader [Applause] what idea watch the vulva started chasing and as Anderson watched summers struggle painfully into the yellow for the third successive day how much longer [Music] the excellent of Pascal saman change a lot of things because nobody wants to attack Pascal's you know because if you attack Simo when he was hurt you know you are going to be unpopular so you cannot beat a man which is at the ground and everybody wet for Pascal's you want to to go out of the rest drama has always been an ingredient of the tour in the very first tour in 1903 there were 60 starters 20 finished to prove that mere humans could ride for 20 days without inevitable death early tours were also much more bitterly contested some competitors had allies who scattered nails along the route to give them a bit of an edge cheating was rife riders even hop trains or were towed along by orbit invisible steel wires today much has changed and yet some parts of those early days remain the tour continues to be a sort of monastic two-wheeled procession as women are frowned upon the origin of this chastity can be traced to the tour's founder or reader garage who believe that riders had to eat sleep and breathe cycling particularly sleep he was called the Trappist of the sport and his attitude to women is still reflected to some extent today to replace the women there is now money honor and glory so you keep climbing and finishing for as long as you can while you hold off age and tendinitis and injury [Applause] so another stage finishers Simo still in yellow just Anderson still there in the first ten but even Simone's teammates can now see the writing on the wall Stephen Roche what's going to happen now I was very confident before but now when I'm honest a.m. today on you know well okay but Sunday I don't know Simone's ordeal has captured the imagination of the French eager for a sporting hero in this hot summer and each night there's a special cheer as he finishes yet again the puy-de-dôme an extinct volcano in central France and it's today's destination an apparently short 16 kilometer individual time trial but a grueling climb all the way a sort of uphill sprint [Music] Anderson for the first time in a week it's not settled by the need to protect Simone here on the edge of a sun-baked road that leads to the top an estimated half a million people [Music] at a point two thirds along the route and after climbing about 400 meters anderson was well up but as the incline got steeper he weakened this was territory for the climbing specialist and no place for Anderson to begin the combat Phil dropped nearly four minutes Simone clung to the yellow by the skin of his teeth after not being able to make a real effort out of the saddle this was tough enough for a fit man but for a man with a cracked shoulder blade they stay we seen one they decided that when he's gone the tour is finished for them they didn't look back and say well look Anderson can take over let's at least let him attack I let suffer the publicity that he's attacking his own team leader but let's take all the publicity good or bad he said they wrote themselves into C Mon and in the same time they wrote they wrote amis now to this toilet [Music] [Applause] after a week of dancing - Pascal Simmons tune the race today developed a new character as the Alps finally persuaded the Frenchman to abandon the tour [Music] [Applause] today's 223 kilometer stage would finish at outdoors a ski station 1800 metres above sea level the final 13 kilometers rising 1,100 meters the spectators do their best but it's small comfort Anderson finally free of any responsibility to Simone was doing okay today he paced it well and despite the mountains held his overall position the finish today saw the emergence of a slightly built young Paris iam in his first tour take the overall lead LaRon fini on 22 was getting do reward for consistency and to an extent cunning rather than strength the French found the revolutions had discovered yet another conqueror and he would lead his troops all the way to the sean's Elysees [Music] for 23 days Paris has waited [Music] not with bated breath perhaps but with an air of expectancy as lady always reserves for the copper here [Music] crowds trickle in from early morning to line the major routes tucked in behind what appears to be the entire French Jean gallery well three thousand of them anyway while Paris prepares the writers do a final 195 kilometers a day and also he say and the Arc de Triomphe this granblade university with patriotism and abundance reserves the world's most glorious finishing straight exclusively for these men the show's Elysees didn't become the final ceremonial altar until the mid-70s the number of spectator suit turned out then was so large the two Tweel pageant has finished here ever since felt they could win this Tour de France 20 winners and now you can never predict that situation ever happening for maybe a quarter of a century so they all thought this is it a chance to make a fortune to go home popular I'm gonna win the tour what's happened you've had six different leaders you've had something like 12 nations win stages in the Tour de France and you've seen riders who should have won this Tour normally drop out because they're exhausted trying to contend with all the attacks it's a fabulous Tour de France probably the best I've ever seen I've seen 12 and so after 23 days the tour arrives the pack of riders sealed the chance of successful breakaways remote the entry into Paris is too prestigious theme yon has started the day with a lead of more than four minutes on his nearest rival he only needs to finish to become the youngest writer for 19 years to win a new French hero after 105 hours 7 minutes and 52 seconds in the saddle a tour which despite the absence of one single dominant rider would be the most talked-about for many years Anderson crossed the line in 6th place for the stage 9th overall but Anderson's experience during this tour led quickly to speculation about his future with the Peugeot team another job or another team another job he eventually did ending a four-year association with per show he's now leader of the Dutch rally team sponsored by the Japanese Panasonic company and what about his performance well if his ninth overall appears disappointing it's worth making some points true he did not once stand on a dais but he still came home his team's leading rider and what happened to the yellow jersey winners eric van der aden in yellow for two days didn't finish the coupe Mercier's team Jean Louise Gautier in yellow for one day finished 76th Kim Anderson the Danes so much in the spotlight wearing yellow for six days managed only 28 pascal Suman the teammate who attacked Anderson and wore yellow for seven days did not finish apart from Feeny on only Shawn Kelly in yellow for one day did better and he finished just two places ahead of Anderson LaRon Fenian wore yellow for the last six days of the 140 riders who originally started only 87 were there to see this final presentation I'm gonna be here to win the 201 day I don't know if it's gonna be next year or the following year but I'm gonna win it someday [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: Classic Cycling

Views: 146,881

Rating: 4.8921909 out of 5

Keywords: Phil Anderson, cycling, bicycle racing, classic cycling

Id: 93Cb5tfD_PY

Length: 50min 5sec (3005 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 24 2018