Anatomy of a Photo: Laurent Fignon, 1989 Tour de France

I know the feeling, Laurent. Sometimes I just want to give the cross winds a big, “Fuck You”, too.

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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minion says:

Aug 9 2011 at 7:10 pm

@Oli

Good to see you're riding after such a horrific accident, and don't listen to the anti-spacer fascists - whatever it takes to ride is what you gots to do.

What'd you call me? (And, what is that exactly?)

@michael
What you may not yet have picked up on yet is that Marcus is Australian. As such he is currently displaying impeccible manners for someone from the wide brown land.
G'phant says:

Aug 9 2011 at 7:12 pm

@minion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law
frank says:

Aug 9 2011 at 7:18 pm

@brett

Look at the man's shorts and socks length... you can't argue with that.

My VMH is furious with my choice of sock length. I'll have to find a pic and post it for judgement.
Marcus says:

Aug 9 2011 at 7:21 pm

@minion
And you should also know that Australians will go a long way to prove a point. here is an article on a quality countryman of mine who let a taipan bite his 10 year old daughter to prove that the snake had been de-venomed.

Thanks Dad!
frank says:

Aug 9 2011 at 7:23 pm

@Oli, @michael, @brett, @Steampunk
I'm with BrettOK on this one; Michaels' just making a joke using a term we made up here (first loser) that come across as awkward because sarcasm doesn't always translate well on the interwebs. He's been around a long time and obviously gets it. It's just a misunderstanding.

Besides, he said himself in his book that he felt he was remembered more for that than his wins. Sad bit of human nature, that. It's best we leave this one unsolved.

RIP, Laurent.
frank says:

Aug 9 2011 at 7:26 pm

@Velo Kitty

I wonder what would have happened had Le Prof embraced the aeros instead of fighting them....

That's actually a misconception. He and Guimard had been using the bars earlier in the season, but the UCI told them to stop, that they broke the regulations. But when LeMond used them, no one said a word. To this day, it's unclear to me what the situation was with that. Oli?
frank says:

Aug 9 2011 at 7:29 pm

@G'phant

@Steampunk
He's reported as saying this:
"My biggest goal is still to win Paris-Roubaix. The BMC Racing Team has good riders to support me or for me to help someone else on the team win."
The part about "someone else" looks like something the marketers and/or lawyers made him say ...

I just happen to be reading, "Slaying the Badger". Methinks I smell a sequel.
Xponti says:

Aug 9 2011 at 7:30 pm

@G'phant

@minion
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin's_law

Touche
redranger says:

Aug 9 2011 at 7:33 pm

@frank

@G'phant

@Steampunk
He's reported as saying this:
"My biggest goal is still to win Paris-Roubaix. The BMC Racing Team has good riders to support me or for me to help someone else on the team win."
The part about "someone else" looks like something the marketers and/or lawyers made him say ...

I just happen to be reading, "Slaying the Badger". Methinks I smell a sequel.

you mean Thor is crying again? didnt he "help" a teammate win a classic this year? It always seems to be the team that is holding him back. me thinks he doth protest to much.
michael says:

Aug 9 2011 at 7:35 pm

Thanks frank.

I'm old enough to have been racing more than a few years before that performance and remember it very very well.

Shame on y'all for getting offended about a term invented here, maybe you don't like your own terms used on riders you rate.

I totally respect the memory of Fignon as a person and fellow human especially because he died of cancer. However, I never rated him as a rider just as many don't rate Hincapie. I just happen to have enough respect for him to wait until he couldn't read my posts to berate him.