Joop Zoetemelk was a hard man, a tough nut to crack. He specialized in getting second place, a talent he developed under the doctrine of Eddy Merckx and mastered via the harsh tutelage of Bernard Hinault. It’s very seductive to lean back in our armchairs and draw the conclusion that our sport’s Eternal Seconds, as they’re called, are the weaker men than their rivals. The sport is filled with this familiar story; a rider comes up and is hailed as perhaps the next great rider, only to have synchronized their career with a more dominant rider.
Poulidor, who started with Anquetil and finished with Merckx. Zoetemelk, who started with Merckx and finished with Hinault. Then EPO entered the peloton and the balances were set off for a bit as riders who shouldn’t have been at the top were popping in for table scraps before Ullrich took the helm by getting on the podium in the Tour more often than any champion before him had won the Tour. Like Chimera and Bellerophon, every great hero needs a villain and it seems these riders are always there to stand up and fight year after year, against all odds.
In keeping with the Chimera and Bellerophon metaphor, I’m not so sure it is the victor who is the hero and the loser the villain. In my ski racing days, I was at the top of my game – I even had one season where I was undefeated throughout. That season was, without hesitation, my least rewarding season; winning became a question of margin – I even won one time trial where I started last and caught up to each of my teammates in serial and paced them to the next teammate such that we all finished in a big line of eight skiers.
The most rewarding season was the year where I struggled to fight back after losing motivation (due to the previous season’s excess) and still managed to win the key events. But the real fun wasn’t so much in the winning or losing, but in the bond it built between me and my principal rival; we both fought to the point of blacking out and neither of us ever – even for a minute – relented.
Extrapolating from that small-world experience to what it takes to become a Pro Cyclist capable of wining the Tour de France, it gives some insight into the mentality of the athletes who play out these battles that figure so prominently in our interpretation of our sport. To that end, I wonder if the champions don’t have the psychologically easier side of the coin. After all, they suffer almost the same amount, endure almost the same pressures and endure almost the same amount of discipline and sacrifice in pursuit of their goals. But one has the reward of victory and one the indignity of loss.
To come back year after year as victor seems almost like a picnic in comparison to the brutality of coming back year after year only to lose once again – then to resolve to return undeterred. In this sense, the loser who refused to quit endurs the suffering and sacrifice without the glory that comes with winning. Without them and their unrelenting optimism, the story would be less bright, less colorful. Which is the hero in our story?
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@ErikdR
Yes, that's right. He mentions Riviere because Riviere fell on one of the descents in the Tour de Mont Aigoual, then starts talking about Hinault falling, Wim van Est, etc.
@ChrisO
@ChrisO
Which number be that?
@Marcus
I remember the moment well; he looked back and was almost surprised to see the gap and he just kept going. The moment that changed his style for ever (hopefully).
Frank: your Dirty Schleck Love is showing. I will grant that that one day Andy actually rode like a tough cyclist but it is sooo overshadowed by all the whinging he and his brother did about the decents that year.
Switch subject: You read Hamilton's new book? I have not yet. Any review coming?
Lastly, another fitting classic mythology dueling duo that would have fit would have been Darmok and Jalad.
@Nate
Great; thanks, Nate! (Note to self: buy new copy of 'De Renner')
On a completely different note: the sun is way over the yard-arm here in autumny Denmark (almost 6.30 p.m.), and it's getting dark - but life is good:
Am planning to do some work tomorrow on the thirty year old steel Moser that my father gave me a few months ago (his own old bike), and if the weather on Sunday turns out as good as the forecast promises, take it for a spin. Will let you know how it went. Have a nice weekend, all.
@frank
Half Man, Half Machine is a great place to start. Took me no time to finish, but it puts being so dominate into prespective. And you get why The Prophet's cycling career was relatively short.
@Marcus
Unfortunately, what made Tyler great - his ability to suffer under great pain, was his undoing. His massive depression would have been abaited by the physical suffering of great challenges, but his metal state could not deal with the small stuff and drove him back into the darkness. As is public, I can atest, the small stuff is what can be the toughest challenges. hehehe, although a few explosions around me ain't gonna help either. Or my mother-in-law.
@ChrisO
Yes to Rouleur. Its a wonderful publication, however, without a local stockist its a little cost prohibitive for me to subscribe in the US and some of the issues don't appeal to me all that much so I'd love to be able to peruse it first. If you haven't checked out the Rouleur podcast that they put out with the release of each new issue, they are worth downloading.
@Nate
It would be number 33... or if you're Sean Kelly, tirty tree.
Illustration by Jo Burt on the cover.
@VeloVita I know what you mean. I love it but sometimes want to burn it when they think they are a fashion mag. For example there's a nice article about the Polish Peace Race winner Stanislaw Krolak, let down by a total lack of captions on the photos. Some shots are of 70 year old Polish guys... it's not him because he died three years ago so how am I supposed to work out who the f*ck they are and what relevance they have to the story ? And some fantastic historical shots but you have no idea if they show the riders the story is about, whether it is the same year, or even the same race. Bit too artsy for their own good sometimes. And some of the stuff is just too wordy - Herbie Sykes needs a good sub-editor.
@ErikdR
The translation into English is a masterpiece; it truly is exceptionally well done - the best example of Dutch/English translation I've ever seen. That said, I'd love to read it in Dutch and get a look at his prose in its natural state - must be incredible!
@Dan_R
Yeah, you can only live life with the throttle wide-open for so long before you burn out the engine!