Magnificent 7 (2005 Tour de France 12-Hour DVD; 6 pc.)
from World Cycling
That force of nature called Lance Armstrong concluded his unique reign as the King of the Tour de France in a manner that in hindsight seems inevitable, though there were moments when the ending of this tale of fortitude and determination could not be foretold with certainty. The Tour itself, of course, will continue in all its glory. As Lance put it on the podium in Paris, "Vive le Tour. Forever!" But the cyclist who set a new standard of six consecutive wins last year and topped it with number seven in 2005 has retired from the world's most popular sport. What a way to go! Featuring extended coverage of the critical mountain stages, World Cycling Production's two DVD editions - four hours and 12 hours in length - are truly artifacts of history, to be watched intently many times, shared with friends, and treasured for all time. Talk about drama! There's the emergence of CSC's David Zabriskie, Lance's former teammate, edging Armstrong by nine seconds to win the prologue and wear the yellow jersey for three stages before crashing just before the finish in the team time trial and withdrawing from the Tour the next day. There's Lance's friend Ivan Basso, also a CSC rider, trailing him by less than three minutes for most of the race, and finishing second overall. There's the amazing, and then astounding, performance of Rabobank's Michael Rasmussen, who won the climber's jersey but plummeted from third overall to seventh after two crashes and three changes of bicycle in the final time trial. And, of course, ever threatening and supplying suspense, there's Jan Ullrich, who seemed to have the individual time trial in his pocket, until Armstrong, determined to win a stage as well as his seventh tour, pulled out all the stops and bested Ullrich's seemingly unbeatable time by 23 seconds. It was a feat that left the race commentators totally depleted of superlatives and thrilled viewers throughout the world.
Big Six- Lance Armstrong's Greatest Moments of the Tour De France
from Front Row
2003 Tour de France 12-hour DVD
by Tim Grady
The 2003 Tour de France was the Centenary version, and it lived up to its title, producing the most exciting and dramatic Tour in over a decade, perhaps ever. Lance Armstrong sought to join four other cycling immortals in the five-time TDF winner's club, but the obstacles emerged from the start. The blistering heat melted tires, Armstrong was not on his usual form, and his opponents attacked from the start rather than waiting for Armstrong's usual soul-crushing attacks in the Alps and Pyrenees. The race featured numerous heroes, courageous and tragic. Tyler Hamilton broke his collarbone in a Stage 1 crash but soldiered on through unimaginable pain not only to win a stage in dramatic fashion but to just miss a place on the podium. Joseba Beloki, looking as strong as he ever had, was not so fortunate. A horrific crash on a high-speed descent in stage 9 knocked him out of the race with a fractured elbow and wrist and broken femur. Richard Virenque pleased his French fans by capturing another polka-dot jersey as the best climber, though Iban Mayo showed signs of emerging as the world's top pure climber, winning the race up the historic switchbacks of Alpe D'Huez. Alessandro Petacchi dominated the first week of the Tour and in the process announced himself as the premier sprinter in the world, only to abandon in stage 7, and the competition for the green jersey came down to the final sprint down the cobblestone streets of Paris.
But the focus, again, was on Armstrong, and for the first time since his comeback from cancer he provided images of mortality and vulnerability in the race he had dominated for four years. He failed to capture a single time trial and didn't win an individual stage until stage 15. In stage 9, Armstrong, right behind Beloki when the Spaniard crashed, swerved and bounced down a hayfield, only to hop over a ditch at the bottom and rejoin the race on the road below. In stage 12, Ullrich put a minute and 36 seconds into the Texan who crossed the finish line dehydrated, his lips white, caked with salt. And on stage 15, when Armstrong's handlebars caught on a spectator's musette, dumping Armstrong to the pavement on the final climb of the day, it appeared he would finally lose. But the man who had survived cancer would not stop battling, and he climbed back on his bike to not only catch but pass all his competitors to win atop Luz Ardiden. It set him up for a final dramatic showdown with his chief nemesis Jan Ullrich in rain-swept Nantes in the final time trial.
The race footage, as usual, comes from all angles (motorcycles, helicopters, automobiles, fixed cameras) and has the immediacy of a guerilla documentary. As usual, the video is accompanied by the dulcet tones and florid metaphors of Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, one of the finest announcing duos in sports. Unlike some of World Cycling Productions early videos of Armstrong's Tour victories, the footage is provided free of a musical soundtrack. It's fitting; this was a Tour that needed no artificial drama to amaze and captivate. --Eugene Wei
NOTE: The 12-hour version of the DVD provides more historical context and race coverage than the 4-hour DVD. For example, on stage 8, the 12-hour DVD has a featurette on the history of the Tour at Alpe D'Huez and a retrospective on the career of Richard Virenque before beginning race coverage with the Col du Galibier, the second-to-last stage of the day. The 4-hour DVD cuts right to the heart of every stage, showing just the highlights or final climbs and cutting out a lot of the contextual features. On stage eight, the 4-hour DVD jumps straight to the base of Alpe D'Huez, the final climb of the day.
Armstrong Takes Five! It is certain that the 2003 Tour de France will go down in history as one of the most exciting and dramatic Tours ever. This centenary edition of the world's most popular sporting event warrants exceptional video coverage, and WCP will be pulling out all the stops to bring you the spine-tingling moments of this remarkable contest - from Tyler Hamilton's heroic struggles and astounding stage victory to the tense confrontations featuring Lance Armstrong and his relentless and resurgent nemesis, Jan Ullrich. This is WCP's fifteenth year of producing the official video release of the Tour de France and we have dipped into the archive and you'll see some exclusive historical footage, interviews and special stories on the world's greatest bike race.
Don't miss WCP's two collector's edition DVDs - we're now editing our 4-hour stage-by-stage highlight program and our 5 pack DVD with special extended coverage of the mountain stages, time-trials and interviews.
Bike-O-Vision Cycling DVD #3 California Wine Country
from Rockstone Productions
Rockstone Productions, has produced video professionally for network television, marketing, travel and education since 1994. Finding a niche unfilled for a large health, fitness and travel demographic, we now offer this unique, high quality product as an alternative to the usual travel or "work-out" videos currently available. Virtual reality travel is here! Physical fitness, health and travel is important at any age and contributes to the well-being of each individual, society and ultimately our planet. "Good journeying with Bike-O-Vision!" Rockstone Productions
Includes color enhanced digital video and digital music.
Road To Paris Nike Cycling DVD
from Nike
The groundbreaking documentary that covers Lance Armstrong and the 2001 U.S. Postal Team over the course of twenty-seven days in April as they prepared to win a third consecutive Tour de France. Never-before-seen footage takes you inside team meetings and along for the ride in the team car during some of cycling's greatest races, including a down-to-the-wire Amstel Gold Race and the most hellish Paris-Roubaix in years. Unprecedented access to Lance allows us to follow him on reconnaissance rides in the Alps, on the very stages that would come to mark his dominating performance in July. Road to Paris also explores the strategic thinking of one of cycling's top directeurs, Johan Bruyneel. For both the avid cyclist and the casual fan, this DVD provides a rare look into the world of professional cycling like few before it. The DVD also includes an extra forty-seven minutes of never-seen bonus footage and profiles of the 2001 U.S. Postal Team riders
2004 Tour de France 12-hour DVD
by Tim Grady
THE AUDIO ISSUES HAVE BEEN RESOLVED AND UPDATED ON THIS TITLE. REMIXED AND FIXED.
2003 Tour de France 4-hour DVD
by Tim Grady
The 2003 Tour de France was the Centenary version, and it lived up to its title, producing the most exciting and dramatic Tour in over a decade, perhaps ever. Lance Armstrong sought to join four other cycling immortals in the five-time TDF winner's club, but the obstacles emerged from the start. The blistering heat melted tires, Armstrong was not on his usual form, and his opponents attacked from the start rather than waiting for Armstrong's usual soul-crushing attacks in the Alps and Pyrenees. The race featured numerous heroes, courageous and tragic. Tyler Hamilton broke his collarbone in a Stage 1 crash but soldiered on through unimaginable pain not only to win a stage in dramatic fashion but to just miss a place on the podium. Joseba Beloki, looking as strong as he ever had, was not so fortunate. A horrific crash on a high-speed descent in stage 9 knocked him out of the race with a fractured elbow and wrist and broken femur. Richard Virenque pleased his French fans by capturing another polka-dot jersey as the best climber, though Iban Mayo showed signs of emerging as the world's top pure climber, winning the race up the historic switchbacks of Alpe D'Huez. Alessandro Petacchi dominated the first week of the Tour and in the process announced himself as the premier sprinter in the world, only to abandon in stage 7, and the competition for the green jersey came down to the final sprint down the cobblestone streets of Paris.
But the focus, again, was on Armstrong, and for the first time since his comeback from cancer he provided images of mortality and vulnerability in the race he had dominated for four years. He failed to capture a single time trial and didn't win an individual stage until stage 15. In stage 9, Armstrong, right behind Beloki when the Spaniard crashed, swerved and bounced down a hayfield, only to hop over a ditch at the bottom and rejoin the race on the road below. In stage 12, Ullrich put a minute and 36 seconds into the Texan who crossed the finish line dehydrated, his lips white, caked with salt. And on stage 15, when Armstrong's handlebars caught on a spectator's musette, dumping Armstrong to the pavement on the final climb of the day, it appeared he would finally lose. But the man who had survived cancer would not stop battling, and he climbed back on his bike to not only catch but pass all his competitors to win atop Luz Ardiden. It set him up for a final dramatic showdown with his chief nemesis Jan Ullrich in rain-swept Nantes in the final time trial.
The race footage, as usual, comes from all angles (motorcycles, helicopters, automobiles, fixed cameras) and has the immediacy of a guerilla documentary. As usual, the video is accompanied by the dulcet tones and florid metaphors of Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen, one of the finest announcing duos in sports. Unlike some of World Cycling Productions early videos of Armstrong's Tour victories, the footage is provided free of a musical soundtrack. It's fitting; this was a Tour that needed no artificial drama to amaze and captivate. --Eugene Wei
NOTE: The 12-hour version of the DVD provides more historical context and race coverage than the 4-hour DVD. For example, on stage 8, the 12-hour DVD has a featurette on the history of the Tour at Alpe D'Huez and a retrospective on the career of Richard Virenque before beginning race coverage with the Col du Galibier, the second-to-last stage of the day. The 4-hour DVD cuts right to the heart of every stage, showing just the highlights or final climbs and cutting out a lot of the contextual features. On stage eight, the 4-hour DVD jumps straight to the base of Alpe D'Huez, the final climb of the day.
Armstrong Takes Five! It is certain that the 2003 Tour de France will go down in history as one of the most exciting and dramatic Tours ever. This centenary edition of the world's most popular sporting event warrants exceptional video coverage, and WCP will be pulling out all the stops to bring you the spine-tingling moments of this remarkable contest - from Tyler Hamilton's heroic struggles and astounding stage victory to the tense confrontations featuring Lance Armstrong and his relentless and resurgent nemesis, Jan Ullrich. This is WCP's fifteenth year of producing the official video release of the Tour de France and we have dipped into the archive and you'll see some exclusive historical footage, interviews and special stories on the world's greatest bike race.
Don't miss WCP's two collector's edition DVDs - we're now editing our 4-hour stage-by-stage highlight program and our 5 pack DVD with special extended coverage of the mountain stages, time-trials and interviews.
Bike-O-Vision Cycling DVD #1 European Sampler
from Rockstone Productions
The very first Bike-O-Vision cycling journey DVD was video taped while in Europe. And though a little bumpy in spots, you will definitely experience a sampling of the essence of Europe's diverse beauty from the Austrian Alps to the banks of the Rhine River, through the vineyards of Alsace, France, along the Italian Riviera, through the Cottswald English countryside, and finally through the rugged pastures of Wales. The very first Bike-O-Vision journey produced! Gyms and health clubs see Bike-O-Vision.com
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