Lessons from the Tour de France
The Tour de France represents what is both great and disappointing about sports. It is arguably the world’s most demanding athletic attempt, requiring cyclists to ride nearly 2,200 miles over an entire month across famous mountains and ancient cities. Yet, it is unquestionably the world’s most corrupt sport, marred by doping scandals, suspensions, investigations and embarrassment.
This year’s broadcast of the Tour features a rather amazing promotional spot. To spotlight its coverage of the race, the Versus network is airing commercials that show tainted Tour cyclists. But the footage plays backwards, giving the illusion, for example, of a race official removing the revered yellow jersey from Floyd Landis (whose final appeal of a doping allegation recently was denied, permanently stripping him of his 2006 Tour de France crown). Beneath the images are the strains of a singer: “I know it’s never too late to make a brand new start.”
A brilliant choice by Versus, I think. There is no sand in which to hide heads on the Tour de France. Everything has been exposed. Why make any effort to ignore the past problems? The network has acknowledged its broadcast challenges, accepting the fact it is better to talk about them than to bury them. Doing this in a creative, subtle fashion helps to preserve the excitement of the event while still making an important point, which is this: Everyone is watching. Don’t screw up again.