Bardet and Pinot PHOTO / LIONEL BONAVENTURE
That is my question. Both want to be considered great cyclists, not great French cyclists. It is a cruel and heavy burden to be an excellent French cyclist. When are you going to win the Tour de France? Bernard Hinaults don’t come around very often, maybe never again. Hinault was the French Merckx; winning was everything. If he was not a cyclist he should have been a professional fighter. Fignon was called the professor because he was from Paris and wore glasses, not because he was an intellectual. He managed to win some Tours and not be a badger. He was not out happily slugging protesters. If Hinault had lost to Lemond by eight seconds…one, it wouldn’t have happened. Hinault would have burst his own heart to finish nine seconds faster. Two, if he had lost by eight seconds, he would have slugged Lemond so damn hard it would have put him back in the hospital.
I hope the French are happy they have any prospective Tour winners. The Americans have none. Most countries do not because it takes a special genetic freak in a sport of genetic freaks to be one. The English had to sweep their post-colonial, high altitude Kenyan supply system to come up with one. Of this French pair I have a bias toward Romain Bardet partially because he rides for AG2R and on Keepers Tour 2012 we met directeur Vincent Lavenu. VL seemed a good sort and for inexplicable, Rule ignoring reasons, I sort of like their kit, but I digress.
Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet: both 24 years old, both stage winners in the 2015 Tour, both prodigious climbers, both saddled with the “next French hope” mantle.
Judging from this edition’s Alpe d’Huez stage, Pinot actually may be be the stronger climber. If you can ride everyone off your wheel on Alpe d’Huez, you are a badass. For climbing style points, Romain wins. He is solid and smooth to Pinot’s lack of. Going downhill, if you try to pedal through a corner and catch your inside pedal (and crash) doing so, points off. Bardet descends like Philippe Gilbert, that is to say, avec grande vitesse et les grand testicules.
Being the best climber or best descender does not make a grand tour winner. A grand tour winner does not have to be the best at anything, just very capable at everything. And not sucking at anything, like descending or time trialing and not having a jour sans.
Can either of these guys time trial? If Pinot can he should, by all rights, be one podium step closer in Paris than Andy Schleck* ever got. There is a large leap between a top ten Tour finish and a podium finish. It might be a larger leap from the third podium step to the top. Pinot and Bardet are in this mix.
Neither of these guys seem like punch throwing firebrands like Hinault, which may be good. Then who can better handle the pressure of being the next Fignon?
*I can still make fun of Andy Schleck even though he retired, yes?
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@wiscot
I'm with you; his temper tantrum on the cobbles looked the end of his Tour, but he kept at it.
@Gianni
It is ballsy of Pinot to race in white shorts; if either of them should wear brown shorts its him, if you take my meaning.
@nobby
I was not saying he was French. I was saying he was a shit descender and time trialist and still either won the Tour or got second place. Mostly, he bugs me as a rider who squandered his natural talent and was too lazy to work on his weaknesses. At least Pinot worked hard and is somewhat successful at fixing his descending problem.
And in the middle of the night I worried I was too hard on TeeJay.
@frank
Ouch... Touché, though. Sadly.
I think I have a problem with any pro cyclist who descends like a pussy (Pinot), possibly because most pro cyclists I admire descended like complete crazy-arses (Kelly, Yates, Merckx, LeMond, Hinault), so I think for that reason I'd have to go for Bardet.
Funny you mention Hinault and Fignon too, I've been contemplating the Badger a lot. I found an old article where someone had posted a video of Hinault winning Paris Roubaix by riding to the front at the Velodrome and tearing everyone's legs off. In the bands. Fucking legend.
@wilburrox
At least AG2R matches their beautiful Focus bikes to their kit. That Dutch yellow kit and celeste is fucked up. What is wrong with them? The Dutch, fuggetaboutit.
Yeah, the brown shorts of AG2R are wrong on a few levels. I'm in psychotherapy right now trying to get to the bottom of why I don't find it more offensive.
@RobSandy
Watching Bardet in both the Criterium du Dauphine and stage 18 of the Tour, mofo is fearless descendeur. Sagan has nothing on him for ass hauling on descents. Did you see Pinot catching his pedal? As Bob Roll pointed out, it's something one does when one is 14, crashes, and never does it again.
The Badger was a real piece of work. He became the the patron of the peloton in his first Tour!? Holy Alpha Male, batman.
Doesn't someone from the UK want to call me out for implying Froome is not a British rider? What does it take to get an argument going these days.
OK, truth be told, my heart is not really in that issue. OK, here are a few other topics.
Schleck brothers, both dopers, yes or no.
Fucking Tom Danielson, he is heading into Floyd Landis territory, where even on the windswept steppes of Mongolia, where now, when Danielson's name comes up around the fire. They all shake their heads and quietly agree, "what a tool."
@Gianni
You may have been too hard on TeeJay, but to be fair his name is "TeeJay". Also, Andy and Fränk both proudly proclaimed to work on their strengths, not their weaknesses. Which is exactly opposite of what any strategically-minded individual would say, unless they were trying to fool their competition. In which case it would be genius, but obviously it wasn't.
Pinot worked hard, but still sucks. I love the way that English dude crushed those two Frenchmen in the descent into the speedway, saying, "I knew Pinot would be cautious in the corners, so I just went for it."
Stud.
@Gianni
Easy, cowboy. It's Bianchi that has lost their way, not Lotto-Yumbo. That is a class kit, the Bianchi's today are curvy fucking abominations.
This is good Bianchi, complete with Yellow.
(*pssst* I kind of like that kit too. Don't tell anyone, OK?)
@frank
I also admire the AG2R kit. Very classy in a peloton with so many unmemorable kits. FDJ would have a great kit if they'd just switch the white shorts for blue ones. Or black even. Anything but white. Both teams ride very nice bikes. Jens gave them a nice wrap at some point in Stage 20 when P/P hung some shit on them - possibly about their kit. Jens admitted to liking the kit and referred to the team as "a band of brothers". Seeing them get both Bardet and Peraud up there last year and seeing Peraud ride for Bardet this year, I agree.
Which brings me to Bianchi - I differ, Frank. I like the Oltre and modern Bianchi's. I like that they (like Pinarello) don't have an overtly aero model. Although they have just released a climbing model I think.
Possibly the only reason they didn't win this year is that I cursed them with my VSP selection. This definitely resulted in the schooling in how to win races which Steve Cummins handed to them.