Categories: EtiquetteLook ProNostalgiaTradition

Look Pro: Souplesse

Master Jacques, master of souplesse.

Souplesse. Only the French would have such a word; one you can sink your teeth into, chew on. It begs to be spoken over a plate of assorted cheeses and a bottle of vin rouge. Its exact definition is unimportant; such things conjure up an image in our minds that is cheapened by words. Souplesse is the ideal, sought by all and obtained only by The Few.

Souplesse is the perfect storm of Looking Pro; harmony between grace and power, casual and deliberate. It speaks of the entire organism, the perfectly manicured machine together with the perfectly refined position and technique of its rider. It is the combination of Magnificent Stroke, gentle sway of the shoulders and head, the rhythmic breath, and of knees, elbows, and chest converging on the V-Locus.

Jacques Anquetil is man of whom we have spoken surprisingly little in these archives. Perhaps it is because he is a man who inspires us in death as little as he did his fans in life. A calculating man, he pursued Cycling not for the love and passion of it, but for the business of it; for him, the bicycle provided a path from peasantry to aristocracy. That was all.

Be that as it may, he was a gifted cyclist whose fluidity on the bike exemplified Souplesse:

A Magnificent Stroke is more than pushing or pulling on the pedals. The stroke flows from the core and hips, driving the pedals round and belying the effort to do so.
Feet sweep the pedals around in perfect revolutions, one leg cannot be distinguished from the other – they work as one to counter and balance the forces to drive the machine ever faster forward.
The legs can not do their work without the arms, the lungs, the chest, the heart, the mind. Each unit functions independently to do its work, yet feeds seamlessly into the other. In a phrase: Fluidly Harmonic Articulation.
Move to the V-Locus; the body is folded such that legs, arms, and chest overlap but do not intersect. Knees tucked in, shoulders hunched, wrists rolled inwards, elbows angled such that the knees only just slip inside them with each revolution of the cranks.
Face calm, eyes cooly focussed up the road; a grimace is energy that is better spent on turning the pedals.

I give you Master Jacques.

More: Jacques Anquetil Part II & Part III

frank

The founder of Velominati and curator of The Rules, Frank was born in the Dutch colonies of Minnesota. His boundless physical talents are carefully canceled out by his equally boundless enthusiasm for drinking. Coffee, beer, wine, if it’s in a container, he will enjoy it, a lot of it. He currently lives in Seattle. He loves riding in the rain and scheduling visits with the Man with the Hammer just to be reminded of the privilege it is to feel completely depleted. He holds down a technology job the description of which no-one really understands and his interests outside of Cycling and drinking are Cycling and drinking. As devoted aesthete, the only thing more important to him than riding a bike well is looking good doing it. Frank is co-author along with the other Keepers of the Cog of the popular book, The Rules, The Way of the Cycling Disciple and also writes a monthly column for the magazine, Cyclist. He is also currently working on the first follow-up to The Rules, tentatively entitled The Hardmen. Email him directly at rouleur@velominati.com.

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View Comments

D-Man says:

Feb 15 2012 at 9:05 pm

Jacques was also known to partake in a little menage-a-trois arrangement with his wife and his wife's daughter from her prior marriage. Oui! Oui!

Smooth both on and off the bike.
frank says:

Feb 15 2012 at 9:38 pm

@minion
Hey Minion. I found your fucking home video, you perv.

(via @Scaler911)
frank says:

Feb 15 2012 at 9:39 pm

@scaler911
HA!!!! I didn't think you had the woolies to post that!
Gianni says:

Feb 15 2012 at 11:07 pm

@MarcL

Other riders of lesser palmares that nevertheless demonstrated remarkable souplesse: Gianni Bugno and Bobby Julich

As evidence: I can't imagine why Bugno raced in the USA years ago in the Tour Dupont/Trump but he did. My friend and LBS owner knew of one of the riders on the Saturn team asked him about Gianni and was told. "It's like he was riding on rails" Said with reverence and awe.
Chris says:

Feb 15 2012 at 11:49 pm

@frank

Another study of souplesse, from my favorite Cycling-scene ever: Ole Ritter prepares for a Contra la Montra during the '73 Giro.

There's another phrase you could go on about: Contra la Montra. Time Trial doesn't say it nearly as well as that. Though this time, the translation - "Against the Clock" embodies what you go through: a race against time.

Just like in a dream,
Fluid Gliding Thrust,
the Revolutions equating to Time and Distance,
Exertion released from the force of Gravity,
Energy as a Classic Symbol,
Pain as an Icon
Pure fucking poetry. JÃ¸rgen Leth's words are so well considered and crafted at the best of times, you could manage without the film, but but this is sublime. Surely this was lifted from the ancient texts.
SimonH says:

Feb 16 2012 at 1:44 am

@D-Man

Jacques was also known to partake in a little menage-a-trois arrangement with his wife and his wife's daughter from her prior marriage. Oui! Oui!
Smooth both on and off the bike.

Man alive !!! Just reading about Jaques on Wikipedia :-0 unbelievable.

In a nutshell he can't knock up his wife, so he gets his (non-biological) step daughter in as a surrogate. Once she bears his sprog she moves out (falls out with her mother, Jaques' wife). The step son plus wife Dominique move in and he then starts shagging her too !!!

After being asked to take a piss test after wininng the 1961 LBL says to the man charged to collect his urine "If you can collect it from the soapy water there, go ahead. I'm a human being, not a fountain." Two days later the Belgian cycling federation disqualified Anquetil and fined him. Anquetil responded by calling urine tests "a threat to individual liberty" and engaged a lawyer. The case was never heard, the Belgians backed down and Anquetil became the winner. I bet Bertie was wishing he's been born half a century ago.

I'm not sure if you call that panache but he had some nuts on him that's for sure.
sthilzy says:

Feb 16 2012 at 3:12 am

A Magnificent Stroke is more than pushing or pulling on the pedals. The stroke flows from the core and hips, driving the pedals round and belying the effort to do so.

Since being a kid, I've tried to master this pedal stroke;
(Great read on the right hand side!)
(Page from Winning mag ~198*'s)
Phase 3 in Hinault's style wrecks my ankles!
Now I'm trying to avoid square pedaling!

Hinault's style as shown above, it looks so elegant! (to me)
James says:

Feb 16 2012 at 3:20 am

Drfinitional mishmash aside, I'm interested in people's thoughts on developing souplesse. I don't believe its mythologically confined to those who ride the croix de fer at the end of a daily 6hr ride. It can be developed in less miles w effort- what helps?
Calmante says:

Feb 16 2012 at 3:37 am

@James

If I may give you the time-honored recipe handed down to me by the ancient ones...

1. Ride a fixie.
2. Ride on rollers.
3. No riding Sur la Plaque in the off-season.

I know I'm going to get heat for that last one, especially. LeMond specifically wrote against that tradition in his book, but then again, he didn't exactly have the best stroke, did he?
Oli says:

Feb 16 2012 at 3:59 am

@Calmante
This.