Despite being a bald, visually challenged Velominatus, I envy only one other man from the peloton past. The only man who could pull off the historically near-impossible chrome-dome/ponytail combination, and couple it with a pair of wire-rimmed reading glasses yet still manage to exude a lethal concoction of Gallic style, hardness and pure V that could defeat opponents with its very presence.
Even the cobbles here in the 89 Paris-Roubaix are being blown dry by the force of The Professor’s big ring whirlpool, floating millimeters above the surface and forcing the rider he’s just passed into a muddy pit of broken stones while he continues his assault down the middle, on the crown.
Though he rode for teams with some of the most unflattering kits ever, The Professor always managed to look immaculate. This is just another example. He was a template for The Rules long before any notion of them was ever dreamed of. Except of course Rule #36, which he naturally transcends and earns him an automatic pass on account of his sheer badassness.
I’m tempted to dig out my very first pair of prescription specs, similar to these and which I would’ve acquired around that time, and rock them in honour of Le Prof on our Roubaix ride on Keepers Tour 13 next April. The ponytail, well I’d be wise to not attempt that one…
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@MrLowell
LeMond had a raw power about him, but I agree with you - I always preferred Figgles for his Magnificent Stroke. Impossible to find a bad picture of him.
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I loved his 83/84 attitude. If you read his autobiography, those were his golden years - he was just so strong. He spent the rest of his career trying to rediscover that form. '89 was the year he did it again.
@frank
I debated for hours whether to use the Fignon pic or this one... I could see that coming a mile off.
@Nate
These cobble shots are great, because in his book he talks about riding the stones in his first Tour. He rode them fine, but gripped his bars like every other first-timer does and destroyed his hands. Fantastic book.
@unversio You might be on the wrong thread, matey.
@Leroy
Whats funny is how history is written. Figgles was all over the aero bars before the '89 Tour but the UCI said he couldn't ride them. Then 7-Eleven rocked them Stateside for a bit. LeMond had Scott bend out a set for the Tour and he was allowed to ride and credited with the aero revolution. Funny how that works.
@frank
On the well-rounded (no pun intended) point I really liked the story of how Fignon decided he had a shot at Milan Sanremo, trained up for it, and went out and won a race no one seemed to think suited him. Then did it again the next year even though everyone now knew he could.
@frank Intersting!! I had no idea... I always thought credit went to LeMond.
@brett
Uh-huh. Right.
@Beers
There's a great shot of Boonen cornering in Roubaix this year in the little ring. It brings together something I've wondered about for ages - why do all the Roubaix guys use such a monster small ring (46T or bigger sometimes). The question is, there are no climbs that would ever justify any small ring at all, so why bother with it at all?
My theory is that there is so much chain slap going on that you can't keep your chain on either ring if you tried - I had my chain drop down several times for no reason at all - its whipping around so much it just will drop from time to time. When you have 46 or 48, the drop doesn't matter so much and you can just drop a few cogs in the back and go on your merry way. with the 39, it was so bad you had to either stop because you thought you'd dropped your chain completely, or spend time trying to rattle you chain back onto the big ring while riding a jackhammer.
OK. While on the subject of Boonen (your fault, Bretto) - I hadn't seen this one before.
@frank You could be onto something. Remember the 2003 TdF prologue? Cofidis mechanics thought it would be a good idea to set Millar off with just a 53 (or 54) chainring? Dropped the chain on those pissy parisian roads (hardly cobbles) cost him a yellow jersey (McGee won - woohoo!).
But without this pivotal experience, who knows, maybe the Millarcopter would never have been invented.