Well the subject of French spectators attacking foreign riders is a classic one. Not only the incident with Eddy Merckx on the Puy de Dome, but in the late thirties, in the midst of international tensions leading up to WWI I, Gino Bartali and the Italian team were forced to withdraw from the Tour de France due to repeated attacks by French spectators, although evidently none of the Italians was seriously injured. Bartali had been one of the favorites that year. I've alway considered Bartali one of the greatest c hampion, the equal of Coppi IMHO. Had he not been foced out that year an d subsequently lost several of his prime years to WWII, it might have been his record for TdF victories that Lance broke.
Now I'm not sure the history of spectators attacking foreign riders is uniq ue to France, perhaps the French incidents are more famous only because the y occurred in the TdF. I kind of question Lance's judgment in discussing this matter in the press. It is true he has been unfairly maligned by l arge segments of the French public and press, but to some extent his has br ought some of this upon himself with his In Your Face attitude, which evide ntly does not sit well with the French. By contrast, Lemonde was reporte d well liked in France, by some reports more popular there than Fignon, who much of the public thought aloof and arrogant. Lemonde was certainly no t lacking in self-confidence either, but he seemed to know where to draw th e line between confidence and arrogance, at least in dealing with the publi c and press.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, Texas, USA
--- On Wed, 11/19/08, lemansgtman@aol.com <lemansgtman@aol.com>
From: lemansgtman@aol.com <lemansgtman@aol.com> Subject: [CR]Re: Lance Armstrong (off topic) & UK Cycle Lights (On topic - veering to off topic) Ian Briggs To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org Date: Wednesday, November 19, 2008, 4:22 AM
RE: Lance Armstrong - I'm just wondering what the Classic Cycling element is in this?
RE: UK Cycle lights - Just a personal observation here... when I was UK clu
b
riding in the 1970s and '80s the single most
unreliable component we used was the battery-powered cycle lamp. Ever Ready
and
Pifco were the so-called "Market Leaders"
and without exception everything they produced was horrible, unreliable and
sure to fail you in the middle of Dartmoor at 2 am
in the morning (and they did in fact - that was dodgy ride home to Plymouth
!).
That is why I'll never get misty eyed about the
things and wouldn't go near them now, not even in the name of originality.
Forget carbon fibre, spds, index gears, lightweight
in-moulded helmets - the greatest advance in cycling technology in the last
40
years is LED cycle lamps.
Off topic now - and topic closed!