The
movie
Taking place as it does early in March, Paris-Nice is the first
really important race on the professional cycling calendar. This
week-long stage race has been the showcase for many champions in the
past, with its list of winners including the Irish legend Sean Kelly
(with a mind-boggling seven consecutive victories), Tour de France
champion Miguel Indurain (with two wins), and popular favorite
Laurent Jalabert (with three wins). Known as "The Race to the
Sun," Paris-Nice starts out in chilly northern France and wends
its way through mountain passes that often threaten the riders with
snow (and in fact 2004's Stage 4 ends up being canceled
due to inclement weather), finishing up on the sunny Mediterranean
coast of Nice. It's a prestigious race in its own right, but it's
also a great snapshot of the state of the pro peloton at the
beginning of the season.
As always, commentators Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen have all the
details about the riders and what they've been up to over the winter
training and trading season, and offer some interesting and informed
thoughts on what we might see in the days ahead. Most notable among
the riders who switched teams is Tyler Hamilton, who shifted from CSC
to Phonak; cycling's eternal "bad boy," the talented but
very flaky Frank Vandenbrooke, also returns to ride for Fassa Bortolo
in what's undoubtedly his very last chance to make good on his
potential.
Two-time winner Alexandre Vinokourov is the clear favorite going into
the 2004 edition of Paris-Nice, but he's not the only one with
victory on his mind. Phonak has Tyler Hamilton as well as Alex Zulle,
who may be in the tail end of his career but who still has the
ability to pull off some nice moves. US Postal fields Floyd Landis in
the leader's spot, along with George Hincapie as a possible
contender, while Gerolsteiner's Davide Rebellin is a man to watch as
well. But it's CSC who turns up with the strongest challengers, with
a team that includes Ivan Basso, Michele Bartoli, Jens Voight, Bobby
Julich (looking better than he has in quite a while), and Jorg
Jaksche.
In any race that runs more than one day, there are always two
challenges on every stage: the race for the leader's jersey, and the
race for the stage win. The closer the two challenges coincide, the
more interesting the race will be overall, since what really turns up
the heat is seeing the top contenders battle it out day after day.
Since Paris-Nice runs only one week, the action is a lot more intense
than in a more drawn-out stage race like the Tour de France. Take the
same stage in the Tour de France, and you'd likely see a small group
of riders from far down in the overall standings take off, leaving
the big names to cruise along in the peloton merely eyeing each other
and conserving their energies for another day. In a shorter race,
though, there aren't very many "other days," meaning that
each stage is sure to see some good action. That's certainly the case
here.
In the end, Jaksche's CSC team (directed by experienced Tour de
France winner Bjarne Riis) keeps a tight rein on the overall
leadership of the race, which of course was great news for CSC but
makes for a less exciting viewing experience for fans. Even so, the
fact that the time gaps are in seconds, not minutes,means that
Jaksche had to be constantly on the alert for any challenges to his
lead, since even a short breakaway could make the yellow jersey
switch to the shoulders of a challenger like Davide Rebellin or
Alexandre Vinokourov.
Fortunately, the individual stages of Paris-Nice are prime showcases
for exciting riding. Here, the major teams and top stars of the race
don't pull their punches: we get plenty of attacks, counter-attacks,
and daring, aggressive moves as riders fight for stage wins as well
as better spots in the overall classification. Stage 7 is the
unexpected highlight of the race: all by itself, it's as exciting as
a Classic, with great moves by Euskatel-Euskadi's Sammy Sanchez and
T-Mobile's Alexandre Vinokourov, with a brilliant downhill chase and
a nail-biting finish.
World Cycling Productions provides three and a half hours of coverage
of Paris-Nice. It's nicely divided between the two DVDs, with the
break conveniently placed between stages rather than in the middle of
a stage. Overall, it's a good amount of coverage for the week-long
race, but that amount of time is rather badly distributed among the
stages. Nearly an hour is spent on Stage 6, for instance, with a
considerable amount of "dead time" included, while several
of the earlier stages would have benefited from having more time
devoted to them. Apart from that, though, the coverage is handled
well, with all the major breaks being given proper attention. I was
particularly pleased that we're shown a profile of each stage,
letting us know what the course is going to be like and what major
climbs the riders will face. And of course Phil Liggett and Paul
Sherwen provide their usual interesting commentary for all the
action.
The
DVD
WCP continues to improve its overall packaging each year, with this
two-disc set appearing in a sleek clear plastic keepcase, with
attractive disc art and an overall stylish design. The DVDs are
Region 0 (all region) in NTSC format.
Video
The 2004 Paris-Nice race looks quite respectable here on DVD. As with
any DVD of a live sports event, there are some flaws in the picture
such as interference or the occasional increase in graininess, but
these come from the source material rather than the transfer.
Overall, the image quality is quite solid, with few instances of
picture break-up considering that some of the recording circumstances
were far from ideal, as the stages often finished late in the
afternoon with reduced light levels (the team cars even had to put
their headlights on). Colors are perhaps very slightly muted in some
shots, but on the whole they look natural and bright, especially the
eye-popping orange Euskatel-Euskadi jerseys. All in all, it's a solid
transfer. The race appears in its original television broadcast ratio
of 1.33:1.
Audio
The Dolby 2.0 soundtrack provides a clean and clear listening
experience for the entire race. The volume levels are handled well,
with the ambient race noises balanced well with Liggett and Sherwen's
commentary. They're always completely understandable, and overall the
DVD provides an enjoyable soundtrack that makes you feel like you're
watching the race live.
Extras
WCP has made good use of its switch to clear plastic cases: printed
on the inside of the cover is a full start list for the 2004, with
each team and all its riders listed. I'd have been more interested in
a list of the race stages and profiles, but the start list is still
quite handy, and it's very nice to see some supplemental information
like this being included with the DVD.
The DVD menus are nicely user-friendly and easy to navigate. Each
stage is its own chapter, and I'm pleased to see that the chapter
menu lists the stages by number and route without including any
spoilers about who won.
On the second disc of the set, we get two minor special features. One
is a four-minute clip promoting Cycle Sport Magazine, with short
interviews from Cycle Sport reporters. There's also a section listing
other 2004 Spring Classics on DVD: there are no trailers, but it's a
handy reminder that there are more great races to pick up.
Final
thoughts
I'm
delighted to find the 2004 Paris-Nice race on DVD, as this is the
first time that the great "Race to the Sun" has been
available for cycling enthusiasts to add to their collection. While
the race for the overall win isn't as exciting as we could have
wished for, the individual stages are extremely compelling, with
several stages as hard-fought and aggressively ridden as a Classic
race. Overall, I'll give the 2004 Paris-Nice a strong "recommended":
cycling fans will certainly want to pick this one up.
Buy: