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

Oli says:

Feb 16 2012 at 4:13 am

One last pedantic thrust at this before I give it up:

To develop a magnificent pedal stroke one needs to be able to spin the gears at high rpm for long periods of time (learn on easy gears then slowly translate to harder), as Anquetil was famous for. To do this it helps to do some stretching and/or be generally flexible, as well as having a strong core. If you are supple of leg and stable in the saddle you will be in good condition to be able to work on, smooth out and refine your pedalling style, and you will probably be able to touch your toes too.

Souplesse is simply the physical condition that allows you to pedal with a magnificent stroke, not the name of the magnificent stroke itself.

It might seem a subtle distinction, but to me it's like saying 'en danseuese' is the same as climbing out of the saddle, and we all know that's not true. To me the exact definition of the word is important, otherwise it loses the meaning that is does have!

The description Frank gives in the article is a poetic and vivid description of a Magnificent Stroke that could have been a great bit of writing if the context of the word it was built around wasn't wrong...
marko says:

Feb 16 2012 at 5:09 am

@Oli

To develop a magnificent pedal stroke one needs to be able to spin the gears at high rpm for long periods of time (learn on easy gears then slowly translate to harder), as Anquetil was famous for. To do this it helps to do some stretching and/or be generally flexible, as well as having a strong core. If you are supple of leg and stable in the saddle you will be in good condition to be able to work on, smooth out and refine your pedalling style, and you will probably be able to touch your toes too.
Souplesse is simply the physical condition that allows you to pedal with a Magnificent Stroke, not the name of the Magnificent Stroke itself.

Yup, that's pretty much what I got from it here:
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'm reading fast cadence, core strength, Anquetil, magnificent stroke is more that just legs moving fluidly, etc. With all due respect Oli, and I mean it, I'm not sure what you're reading other an into something.
Harminator says:

Feb 16 2012 at 5:35 am
wiscot says:

Feb 16 2012 at 5:53 am

@Louutah

I am currently reading "Sex, Lies and Handlebar Tape" Here is a quick little paragraph from the book.
Not that Anquetil helped himself; he couldnt resist provoking his assailants: "Here's the routine I'd advise for the evening before a race: a pheasant with chestnuts, a bottle of champagne and a woman"
Jacques = V

Just finished S,L &HT. Your description was the least of it. JA regularly stayed up until 3am before races eating, drinking and playing cards, and was at times, close to being an alcoholic judging by the amount of whisky he was said to consume.
The Oracle says:

Feb 16 2012 at 6:28 am

This is the kind of article and discussion that makes me love this site.
seemunkee says:

Feb 16 2012 at 6:42 am

Since this is the hot discussion right now I'm going to put this here. Android app for the Flanders Classics. Mostly in some gutteral language that Frank would understand but the maps showing hills and cobbles is pretty cool.
https://market.android.com/details?id=be.appstrakt.flandersclassics
razmaspaz says:

Feb 16 2012 at 6:48 am

@frank Given the more recent appearance of the word Contra in English speaking lands, (if the Reagan era is recent) and the borrowing of it for a beloved video game, I read that phrase more as a "war on time". Lovely phrase for a grueling task.
Mikel Pearce says:

Feb 16 2012 at 6:56 am

@frank
OMG! At work, listened and then had to immediately mute. Tears coming out of my eyes I'm laughing so hard!!!!!
frank says:

Feb 16 2012 at 6:57 am

@Oli

It might seem a subtle distinction, but to me it's like saying 'en danseuese' is the same as climbing out of the saddle, and we all know that's not true. To me the exact definition of the word is important, otherwise it loses the meaning that is does have!
The description Frank gives in the article is a poetic and vivid description of a Magnificent Stroke that could have been a great bit of writing if the context of the word it was built around wasn't wrong...

What's funny about your latest rant here is that in this analogy, what I'm doing is describing what "en danseuese" means and you're coming back and saying "it just means climbing out of the saddle" (over and over and over and over again).
frank says:

Feb 16 2012 at 6:58 am

@sthilzy

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)

That's fantastic stuff! Man, I miss Winning...