Sometimes, when there’s a job to be done, you just don’t care what you look like. As with gardening, changing the oil or building that new pergola, the best gear for the job is usually the most practical, not the most stylish. In this Cor Vos image from the 1985 Liége-Bastogne-Liége, keeping warm is clearly the main objective of this hard working trio.
De Wolf (L) has gone for the classic beanie with pom-pom, a look usually favoured more by Saturday morning rugby dads than pro cyclists. He also raided the cupboard under the kitchen sink for his gloves, which as anyone who has ever done the dishes knows, do a better job of letting water in than keeping it out. Contini (R) has tried to keep the style points accumulating by jamming a cap over the tuque that his grandmother knitted him, and almost pulls it off, if not for the slightly sheepish look on his face hinting at a modicum of embarassment. Winnen (C) has tried the opposite approach, going for the wooly hat over the cap, which looks like it’s had its visor modified crudely with a pair of scissors. He’s thrown all style and three-point-system pointers right out of the window, and doesn’t give a fuck. Both Contini and Winnen possess guns which are impervious to water and cold.
Looking closer, it seems all three may well be wearing hairnets, making the combining of multiple layers of headwear a challenge that each has met in his own unique way, and somehow manage to still look hard as nails.
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View Comments
@Ron
Don't worry, Eddy's taking aim at the hat! "Not on my watch!"
Rule violations aside, their dirt covered bodies & the look on their faces gives them a free pass for the day. It would be nice to know if these boys were constant violators or if this truly was a weather condition exemption.
So, what size Marigolds would be needed to match this headgear? http://thebrowser.com/videos/bicycle-car-collision
wooly hats and sleeves? - don't be so childish!
@sthilzy
Brilliant!
@G'phant
Ok. What the fuck is a Marigold? You lot have been talking about that shit for two days now.
@torrefie
YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!! That's a proper hardman right there! Fuckin' spot on. If I hadn't just given the +1 badge away yesterday, you'd have got it there.
@frank
I'm guessing it's a UK brand of dishwashing glove?
@Oli, @frank
Correct. Generally yellow.
@frank
Guess I'm not the only one who didn't know. I'm just too dumb to ask.
@Simon
I've never seen any of those LVC winter hats, Simon...?
I do own 4 of the knitted wool La Vie Claire 'beanies'/ski hats (full Mondrian graphics upon them, 3 have LOOK branding upon each side & the other one bears TOSHIBA) that I saw Hinault, Lemond, Hampsten & Bauer each wear after the higher alpine finishes at the Tour...
The same 'beanie' that Lemond wore when he was absolutely gutted at the top of Luz-Ardiden back in '85, after their DS Koechli & rogue owner Tapis had lied to him about just how far "Le Blaire" was lagging behind upon the climb...I'll always remember Greg, shattered at the top of the ski station after the stage had ended, sorta crouched upon a step behind a grand-stand & a certain journalist was bothering him, driving the typically personable Lemond to lean forward & snarl the classic "Do you want me to punch you in the face?" line!! LOVED IT!!
But while mine are all genuine, made in Italy 'vintage' LVC hats, mine are more so of the rectangular shape that gradually pulls in at the very top, whereas his one in this scene looked like the kind of hat that a gnome would wear, & it also included the WONDER logo.
Enjoy your "passive searching", my friend & if you do ever find one, I would love to see the type of hat to which you are referring.
Cheers & best wishes from (still sunny but for how much longer?!) "Down Under"...Matt.