Conference tallis::celt

    Rene,
    
    I reckon the British TV is the best at this confusion over nationality.
    In the boxing particularly, if we have a lad from Belfast or Derry
    the commentary runs something like this
    
    When he is doing well it is the 'British boy lands a good solid
    right etc etc' but when he starts to be beaten into a pulp it is
    ' the Irish boy is taking a lot of punishment etc etc'.
    
    - Joe    
    

    Re .0: Well Rene, you have every reason to cheer up, today Stephen
    Roche has taken the first place, 41 seconds before the next competitor.
    		Denis.

Well yesterdays stage saw Roche finish 2nd, 3 seconds behind the Spanish
rider Delgado.

Up to the last 17 km there were 17 in the leading pack with a lead of 6
minutes. Jean Fran�ois Bernard the previous days leader had a puncture and
restarted. Delgado made a break from the leading bunch and only Roche was
strong enough to follow. Roche now leads the Tour with 41 seconds lead over
Charly Motte of France with Delgado in 3 rd place a minute behind.

French commentry was a bit dull last night as they only showed Roche for
3 seconds unlike previous nights when Jean Fran�ois Bernard was interviewed
or shown for 10 minutes during a 30 minute program.

Jeannie Longro the women rider said that Roche was her favourite to cross
the line at Paris winner, she did say she hoped it would be Charly Motte,
naturally enough as he is French.

Another French rider with the name Delgado said what many a Swiss commentator
said yesterday, "Going all out on a stage like yesterdays (The one Jean
Fran�ois Bernard won) is a bit fool-hardy as the Tour winner will not be
the one that wins a stage like yesterdays but someone that is up there
everyday among the bunch". Then the French commentator said "Today is Bernards
yesterday and he is paying the price"

Well hopefully today Stephen will widen the gap a little but he is not one
of the best climbers as today they go into the Alps where cyclists like
Luis Herrera, and the rest of the Columbians, and a few Spaniards like Delgado,
should be among the top 10 places.


Ren�

    Re. .1
    
    I noticed that when John Watson was in Formula 1 before Mansell
    or any other British driver that when he was doing well he was British
    and when he was not doing so well he was Irish. John Watson whom
    I have met on a few occasions in Belfast considers himself Irish
    not British.
    
    Re. .2 
    
    Denis,
    
    You will notice the bias in the French commentary as I am sure you
    follow the Tour on television. Well I am as happy as Larry today
    and I am hoping that Roche will give the French commentators and
    critics a good kick in the teeth by winning the Tour. I get pretty
    annoyed by blatant bias and I can see the French commentators waiting
    for something to happen to Roche. It doesn't help that he races
    with an Italian team and recently he has been getting a rough time
    during the Tour of Italy but he seems to have forgotten that and
    going a good way to prove the "Fighting Spirit"
    
    
    Regards
    
    Ren�

Yesterday saw another gruelling stage in the French Alps. The Spanish and
Columbian riders dominated yesterdays stage.

A Spaniard (cannot remember his name) won the stage in comfortable style
and did not seem to be tired after such a gruelling stage followed by a
Dutch rider and Columbian and Spanish riders.

Delgado who was previously in 2nd place finished before Roche and took the
Yellow Jersey or overall lead, he is now leading Roche by 25 seconds.

Roche and many of the other riders including Jean Fran�ois Bernard did not
seem to enjoy this stage and it showed on their faces. There were quite
a few abandoned yeaterday notablly Arneux.

Roche did what he had to do yesterday by finishing with a reasonable time
and only allowing the Spaniard a 25 second lead.

Today sees another mountain stage and so I see Roche possibly lose another
25 to 50 seconds on Delgado, presuming Delgado does as well as yesterday.
The 3rd placed man Jean Fran�ois Bernard is 2 minutes behind Roche and 2
minutes and 21 seconds behind Delgado.

Thursday sees the Tour back on the flat with some time trials so Roche will
be up there again on Thursday.

Luis Herrera, the Columbian rider who races with the Cafe De Columbia team
said that they have to make the most of the mountains as Roche is too strong 
on the flat to be able to catch. 

More commentary tomorrow.

Ren� El Gringo (who will be at St Julien on Friday to cheer on Stephen Roche)

    Re .4: Sorry to disappoint you, Rene, but I don't follow the tour
    on TV. First, I don't own a TV set and sure don't want to, and second,
    I'm not usually very interested in sports events. I just happened
    to hear a flash about the tour on a radio set yesterday. BTW, I
    also heard another one last night, and Roche is again second, but
    only 21 seconds after the first, which means he's likely to get
    back to the first place. The first one was a Spanish yesterday night,
    not the French who led during the previous days.
    			Denis.

Yesterday saw the last gruelling stage (L'Alpe-D'Huez to La Plagne) in the 
French Alps. Laurent Fignon finished first with a Spanish rider (I cannot 
remember his name) second.

Roche reached the first summit in the lead with 48 seconds advantage but
from then on a Spanish and French rider (Laurent Fignon) began to take the
lead. Roche had to stay up to ensure that his time was good.

The real battle was between Roche and Delgado (The overnight leader in the
Tour). Delgado finished 4 second ahead of Roche to get 4th place and good
old Stephen in 5th place.

Roche had to be given oxygen after the race but don't worry he was smiling
and laughing afterwards with supporters and signing autographs. I saw a
little boy on the television crying when he saw Roche in the ambulance getting
oxygen but the little boy smiled once Roche got out of the ambulance. This
was also the image of the day for French viewers. 

Roche was penalised by 10 seconds after the race for getting food at an
unofficial food station (The French will do anything to stop Roche winning,
but he will show them).

Laurent Fignon fancies Roche as the eventual winner and I think he has good
reason. Roche and Delgado have opened a 3 minute lead on Frenchmen Charly
Motte, and Jean Fran�ois Bernard, the 3rd placed man.

Today stage is between La Plagne - Morzine (not too far from here) which
is relatively flat and good for Roche. There are only 4 stages left and
still a time trial at Dijon (also not far from here) and Roche is very strong
in this domain.

As a result of the Tour now being more or less on the flat if you compare
it to the Alps, Roche is my favourite and boy are my nerve ends a bit frayed.
If a Spaniard wins my wife will be happy, being Spanish, which I know will
not happen but I will be a very proud and happy man to see Roche at the
young age of 23 stand on the winners podium in Paris.

I far as I am aware he will be the 1st Irishman to win the Tour De France.

More commentary tomorrow.

Ren� El Gringo 

(who will be at St Julien or there abouts on Friday to cheer on Stephen Roche
to victory and of course Martin Early, and Kimmage, a young Dublin lad whom we 
all may neglect to finish)

    Leaprechauns have been watching hard.
    
    Wednesday's stage will always live in my memory as the day that
    the 1987 Tour De France was won and lost. Roche started with a 25
    second deficit on Pedro Delgado in the overall classification.
    The Spaniard needed to extend his lead to consolidate his position
    in the yellow jersey (race leader). He needed to do on the road
    to La Plagne as he needs to do it again today (thursday), as this
    is the last stage in the mountains. With 14 kilometers left on the
    sided of the sttep climb to the finish Delgado struck out and left
    Roche and a group of others in his wake with a tremendous uphill
    attack. Roche did not respond and we all felt that this was the
    end of his Tour. At one stage the time gap on the road was 1min
    and 20 secs., which had Delgado a total of 1 min. and 45 secs. in
    front of Roche. With 4 kilometers left Roche responded, and at the
    two kilometer mark he was I min and 10 secs. down. Then with a
    superhuman effort he hauled Delgado into sight and was 5 secs down
    going over the line. It was "magnifique", and it must have been
    excrutiating, as Roche went into oxygen debt at the high altitudes.
        Roche rode his heart out to contain Delgado (a noted mountain
    climber), and he succeeded, and if he has the energy left today
    to keep the leaders advantage within 1 min. and 15 secs. at the
    end of today, then Roche is a great bet to wear the yellow jersey
    in Paris.
         Incidentally the Tour De France is the greatest sporting event
    in the world in terms of live audience with over 1 million people seeing
    this race from the roadsides each week. No Irishman has ever won
    the Tour, indeed it has been the French, the Belgians, the Dutch,
    the Italians, and the Spanish that have dominated this event and
    last year was the first time that someone from the english speaking
    world won the event when Greg LeMonde of the USA took the yellow
    jersey in Paris.
    
    Snake will be glued to the box at 6 p.m.
    

    Just to let you know the result of todays stage, LA PLAGNE to MORZINE.
    Stephen ROCHE has gained 18/19 secs on the race leader DELGRADO.
    There are conflicting news reports about whether it is 18 or 19.
    The main thing is that he had to keep the gap less than 1min and
    he has gained time. He is now 20/21 secs behind Delgrado. And as
    the race is out of the mountains and with a time trial on Saturday
    this could be our year. I will be joining Rene tomorrow to cheer
    on Stephen and the other IRISH lads. 
    
    Roche showed the ITALIANS the way to go home in the tour of Italy,
    now it will soon be the turn of the French to receive the same
    treatment.
    
    Fergal.

Yesterday saw the a fantastic stage between La Plagne - Morzine. Roche cut
Delgado lead to 21 seconds, he was cycling at 90 km/h on the downhill part.

What can I say after a performance like Roche's yesterday. I am waiting
with baited breath for todays stage and within the next hour I will be out
on the road cheering Roche and the other Irish boys on.

I find Roche very interesting when he is interviewed, he has a lively spirit
and a good sense of humour and very polite and level headed.

Last night French television had no choice but to interview Roche and Delgado
and they asked Delgado for his prognostics for the Tour and he said, Delgado,
Roche and Bernard. Roche said Roche, Delgado and Bernard. The got the 3rd
place right. I had a good laugh last night when they were both interviewed
as they both have a good sense of humour. 


More commentary tomorrow.

Ren� El Gringo 

                              -(^)                Come on   -(^)  
                                |                 Roche.      |   
                          /__ --|                 Pedal     --|   
                         /--  --|                 Faster.   --|   
                        |       |                             |   
                       /-------/ \-----\                     / \  
                      |      _/ _/      |                  _/  _\ 
                   ---+---    (-+-)  ---+---                      
                      |                 |

Well folks I have just come back from the Tour De France and I am very happy
and proud that I had a chance to see it and especially Roche. Fergal Golding
and his parents were with me.

It was only the 15th kilometer so the group were all together. Roche was
at the very back talking to another rider, I think it was either Kimmage
or Early as I am not too familar with their faces, but he saw my Irish flag
and he waved and smiled. I ran for about 200 meters shouting him on and
he waved his hand again. He looked in good spirits and relaxed. It's a pity
I cannot get to tomorrows stage but I am thinking about it. It's only 2
hours drive away.

Well I am happy now and I hope Stephen will be happy tonight when he captures
the race leaders jersey (Yellow Jersey). I could not pick out Pedro Delgado
as the group were bunched like sardines, I think I was lucky to see Roche.


More news tonight.

Ren�

23th Stage (St Julien-En-Genevois)
    
    Stephen Roche was content to leave the gap at 21 seconds yeaterday
    so it would seem. French television had only commentary on the last
    15 kms as there was some dispute between the press and the organisers
    of the Tour over the photographers travelling too close to the riders
    during the race and upsetting some of them.
    
    Well Roche and Delgado are still separated by 21 seconds. I haven't
    bought the sports newspaper yet to see the commentary but I have
    some good news from todays time trial in Dijon.
    
    
24th Stage    Time Trial (Dijon)

    I have just finished watching a marvelous event today and I am even
    happier than I was yesterday. I didn't get to Dijon but I watched
    it on television. I was anxious all the time, the French television
    commentators especially Bernard Hinault didn't help as they kept
    saying that Roche would win provided he didn't have a puncture or
    he didn't fall  every minute.
    
    Roche started off at a steady pace and open a 5 second gap at the
    5 km stage and from there on he put on the turbo. He was cautious
    on the bends as it started to rain and the roads were very slippy
    especially on the bends. The French commentators kept talking about
    his gracefull style, I don't know as I don't know what to look out
    for but apparently he is a perfectionist when it comes to rhythm
    and consistancy.
    
    Roche finished 1 minute and 1 second ahead of Delgado to take the
    lead (Yellow Jersey) by 40 seconds and regained his Green Jersey. The
    Green Jersey is awarded to the leader on points. The fastest rider of 
    the afternoon was Jean Fran�ois Bernard almost 1 minute and 34 seconds 
    ahead of Roche. An amusing comment by French commentators was that
    Bernard could have won it (Tour) and they base it on his performance
    today.
    
    Roche has only to follow Delgado tomorrow to win the Tour. Provided
    he has no mishaps he will be only the second English speaking (he
    does speak very good French) rider to have ever won the Tour.
    
    He will enter history books tomorrow also for being 1 of only 4
    or 5 riders to have won both the Tour of Italy and the Tour of France.
    I would imagine that there will be an national holiday in Ireland
    on Monday if he wins tomorrow. Kitty O' Sheas, Johnnie Jamieson,
    Stephen Roche, an Irish pub in Paris would be a good place to be
    tomorrow for the crack and I am sure that many a pint of Guinness
    will be drunk tomorrow.
    
    Come on Stephen, we are all waiting for victory and especially me
    as my nerves will return to normal once he has crossed the line
    tomorrow victorious.
    
    Ren�
    has already added the name Stephen Roche to it 
   
    Roche

25th Stage (Cr�teil - Paris, Champs-Elys�es)

	Today is the final day of the Tour De France and Stephen has been
already acclaimed the winner by the media and the public but I heard Roche
say that until he passes the line today he is not the winner and he is right
to say this. Some years back the leader of the Tour lost on this final stage.

Roche will win today if nothing happens to him, after all he only has to
follow Delgado across the line. I was just out to buy the newspaper and
have a coffee and I bumped into a Spanish and French friend OF MINE AND
of course the topic of conversation was cycling, well so much for a bit
of useless information. 

QOUTE FROM L'EQUIPE (A SPORTS MAGAZINE) USED WITHOUT PERMISSION
===============================================================

All of Ireland is ready to celebrate the best exploit of all times of an
Irish person, the victory of Stephen Roche.

The hero of Dublin will surpass the athletes Ronnie Delanay, Eamonn Coghlan
and John Tracy, and the boxer Barry Mc Guigan, not forgetting the unfortunate
S�an Kelly.

For the 1st time, R.T.E., Irish television broadcast the Tour live on Thursday.
In all the pubs and houses of Dublin, the marvelous descent of Roche to
La Plagne was followed with great passion.

Today (This is yesterday paper), sure, the hearts of all the inhabitants
of Dublin will be at Dijon for the race against the clock. If Roche carries
(wears) the leaders jersey (Yellow Jersey) in Paris, even the intelectual
newspaper the Irish Times will publish his photo in colour on the front
page. 

As for the future, it can be seen for many years to come that the Tour will 
become an event attaended by Irish people to honour Roche and also because
cycling will become a popular sport in the cities and villages of the Green
Island. (This piece was difficult to translate directly into English).

In passing, Stephen Roche's mother and sister are already in Paris with
Lydia and his children as well as his brother Lawrence, a very promising
cyclist, will also be at the finish line.


END OF QOUTE FROM L'EQUIPE (A SPORTS MAGAZINE) USED WITHOUT PERMISSION
======================================================================


It is now 13:19 and I am in jubilant mood and a little excited about todays
final stage. My house will have the Tricolour hanging outside it today and
I pity the poor neighbours, they won't know whats happening.

The other day when I went to the see the Tour, a few people saw my flag
and asked me what it was, I could not believe the ignorance of some people
not knowing at least the major flags of Europe, I replied it was for Stephen
Roche and of course I didn't have to tell them what country he's from.


Well I hope you will all be cheering in your own little corners of the world
for Roche even if he cannot hear you, I am sure he would be happy to know
that the hearts of millions of people in Ireland and elsewhere around the
world are with him in his final day.

Sl�n agus beannacht liobh go lear.

Ren� (Who was fortunate to have been at the Tour to see the man)

    Leaprechauns are not named FERRIE.
    
    I am submitting this entry by courtesy of Liam Ferrie's account
    as my system is out for maintainence.
    
    Rene must have gone on the piss in a big way. Yes my friends, Stephen
    Roche pulled it off. The scenes from Paris were quiet delightful.
    An Irishman taking the yellow jersey for life. 
       Stephen, his wife, and his family arrived in Dublin to the most
    amazing scenes ever seen in the Irish capital. The crowds blocked
    the roads everywhere to give this man a hero's welcome. It was a
    joyous occasion and everybody wanted to be part of it. Dublin
    Corporation in conjunction with the Department of Foreign Affairs
    and the French Embassy are approaching the Tour De France authorities
    with the object of starting next years Tour from Dublin, to mark
    Dublin's millenium, and Stephen's victory.
    
    Snakes are proud of this man.