Whenever you see one of those yellow cars or motorcycles laden with spare wheels and manned by efficiently deliberate young professionals with no allegiance or favour to any one rider, take a moment to reflect on the oft-overlooked pioneer of the neutral service as we know it today, M. Jacques Mavic.
Usually only sighted once a year in July, Jacques would appear out of the thin air of the Alps, armed with his trusty Silca and a set of nail clippers, offering assistance to any rider that needed it. Most of the time, they didn’t, but they knew when that mad glint lit up in his eyes, there was no course of action beyond waiting for the police to arrive while Jacques manically pumped an already inflated tyre while yelling “Mes têtards émigrent”.
The last known sighting of M. Mavic (which translates literally as “replace me”) was around 1957 around Grenoble. The only remaining evidence of Jacques’ and his innovative service work is his oil-stained raincoat and a matchbox containing a 3/16 ball bearing tangled in hair, now housed in the Plumbers Museum in Oudenaarde. With only patchy anecdotal history to go by, the life of Jacques is still one of mystery, violence and paté.
*What do you know of Jacques’ history?
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Love that photo and very funny write-up. Tres jolie.
Famous for dispensing pot Belge prepared according to his own recipe, in addition to the mechanical assist.
Holy bicycle clips it's my great uncle Gonfleur the mad inflateur of Tornais. Over consumption of anis by his mother when he was breastfeeding caused permanent delusions of adequacy and he ran away at the age of 46 to join a travelling group of trombonists. Unable to come to terms with reality he descended in to terminal madness needlessly inflating tyres in the Pyrenees in summer and impersonating a French civil servant in the winter months. Eventually he was awarded a pension for his services and retired to Surrey.
I think Cuddles might take issue with this statement of yours:
"Whenever you see one of those yellow cars or motorcycles laden with spare wheels and manned by efficiently deliberate young professionals with no allegiance or favour to any one rider."
Although the commentary is PAINFUL to listen to:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vl_eqDVRnJc
Sadly I cannot add further detail to this curious & innovative gentleman's obit. Hopefully someone can. Great photo, almost maniacal in his glee.
Buck - I agree, Cadel had a tough time in that Vuelta. Third by the same margin as the time taken for "parochial service" to arrive. Nevermind, anyone who follows racing knows what happened.
@Buck Rogers
That was a blue car though... Jacques would be turning in his grave.
@the Engine
I knew I could count on your historical knowledge!
@Nate
I'd like to get that recipe...
@brett
Wonder how much of that issue was that it was Shimano service & Cuddles was rocking a Grouppo?
Best AOP for several years, ever since Marko's Roulin' Dirty bit from fucking 2010. Strong work, @Bretto.
@Buck Rogers, @PT
Fucking Cadel was a master of having a tough time and getting shafted by luck. He's a modern Steve Bauer; always getting jacked out of races for reasons "beyond" their control. Personally, I buy into the "you make your own luck" sort of philosophy but nevertheless both have made my heart bleed on more than one occasion.