Sir, - The 1994 Tour de France, two stages of which took place in Southern England, provided a rare opportunity to catapult professional cycle racing into the mainstream national consciousness, albeit for only two days. The media exposure attained was massive, as were the crowds which lined the routes each day; waving at Jimmy Saville as he personally led the motorcade through each village! The local authorities along the route quickly carried out their own cost-benefit analyses of the event in purely (short-term) economic terms; how much was spent by visitors to their area, versus the considerable cost of funding the event in their region. It was judged a "commercial" success, which provided a further opportunity to stage the Rochester Classic, which was televised live on Channel 4.
But now, three years on, what long-term effect did "Le Tour en Angleterre" have on boosting the (declining) membership of the BCF (British Cycling Federation)? Was "Le Tour" properly used to publicise amateur cycle-racing in the UK since 1994, and if not, why not?
In a similar vein, the 1998 Tour de France, which starts in Ireland, will be an unprecedented opportunity to boost public awareness of professional cycle racing in Ireland, since the peak of the KellyRoche era. In 1987, Stephen Roche won the Triple Crown - Le Tour de France, the Giro d'Italia, and the World Championships in Austria - a feat only attained by one other man, Eddy Merckx. Regrettably, despite the considerable success of Stephen Roche, Sean Kelly and Martin Earley in continental cycle races throughout the 1980s and early '90s; and the Nissan Classic which took place in Ireland from 1985'92, membership of the Federation of Irish Cyclists (FIC) markedly declined from 1988 onwards, and public awareness of cycle racing is minimal.
With only eleven months to go before "Le Tour en Irlande 1998", would it now be beneficial for the management committees of the FIC to meet the BCF and exchange experiences, thereby obviating the necessity for the Irish federation to "reinvent the wheel." Amateur cycling is a great (minority) sport, but with the increased competition from mainstream televised sports in Ireland, such as Gaelic football and soccer, which have a massive following, a professional, business-like approach is needed to bring an awareness of cycling into every school and youth-club in Ireland in preparation for next year.
Out there somewhere is another Stephen Roche or Sean Kelly, who needs to be `flushed out' to provide the future life-blood of Irish cycling. July 11th-13th, 1998, is an ephemeral window of opportunity which will never happen again in our life-time. I hope it's used to maximum effect! - Yours, etc.,
Thomas Downey,
Bessbrook, Newry.