Kelly third best? Poupou better than Indurain? Right...
That list is an approximation at best.

Quote
FreeBird
Kelly third best? Poupou better than Indurain? Right...
That list is an approximation at best.

Agree it's not waterproof. Joop Zoetemelk should be first.

Indurain was one of the greatest cyclist and gentlemen of this sport, but he made
the tour de france a bit boring as he won every tour by destroying the field on
the time trails and just controling and limiting losses on the mountains. Good climber for his size. Hard to believe he's not among the top 5 on that list.

Any of you guys raced?

At least the got the National Anthem correct this year.

Last year they did NOT the Spanish National Anthem after Contador won. (can't remember which country they played). It was a bit awkward.

Quote
ChefGuevara
Indurain was one of the greatest cyclist and gentlemen of this sport, but he made
the tour de france a bit boring as he won every tour by destroying the field on
the time trails and just controling and limiting losses on the mountains. Good climber for his size. Hard to believe he's not among the top 5 on that list.

Any of you guys raced?

Chef, I still remember the moment the Great Indurain lost the Tour. It was almost unbelievable to see that he couldn't follow during a relatively short mountain stage.

To answer your question: No, I've never raced in a competition setting. But as a 12 years old I was informal bike champion of my school (of course not on a racer but on a normal boys' bike).

Later, some 15 years ago, when I was 40, I raced against myself, each time trying to better my time (20 km). On a sports bike with thin tyres, but only 3 gears on it. When I couldn't better my time and almost had reached the condition level of a top sporter (according to a booklet of the Dutch Sport Federation) I stopped and never went in for sports again. Stronger, about 3 years ago I finished driving lessons, got my driver's license (at the age of 52) and since then I've only biked one, two or at most three times. There are other ways to keep your physical condition all right!

Quote
Posted by: kleermaker ()
Date: July 27, 2010 01:37

Quote
ChefGuevara
Indurain was one of the greatest cyclist and gentlemen of this sport, but he made
the tour de france a bit boring as he won every tour by destroying the field on
the time trails and just controling and limiting losses on the mountains. Good climber for his size. Hard to believe he's not among the top 5 on that list.

Any of you guys raced?

Chef, I still remember the moment the Great Indurain lost the Tour. It was almost unbelievable to see that he couldn't follow during a relatively short mountain stage.

To answer your question: No, I've never raced in a competition setting. But as a 12 years old I was informal bike champion of my school (of course not on a racer but on a normal boys' bike).

Later, some 15 years ago, when I was 40, I raced against myself, each time trying to better my time (20 km). On a sports bike with thin tyres, but only 3 gears on it. When I couldn't better my time and almost had reached the condition level of a top sporter (according to a booklet of the Dutch Sport Federation) I stopped and never went in for sports again. Stronger, about 3 years ago I finished driving lessons, got my driver's license (at the age of 52) and since then I've only biked one, two or at most three times. There are other ways to keep your physical condition all right!

You sound like you have the spirit of Graham O'Bree.

I was very involve in cycling when I was younger. Beautiful hard
sport. I hardly ride anymore and only follow the Giro, Tour and La Vuelta
and some of the classics.

Indurain when into that tour with a few extra pounds and the plan was to
lose that weight on the first week of flat stages, but a strange cold front
and rain kept him from droping the weight. Bernard Reiss won that tour...his
nickname back then was Mr. 60%, making reference to his level of Hematocritos...
so he was full doped for that tour...Young Ulrich was also in that tour...
But big Mig sure hit the wall on that first mountain stage...I think he still
finish that tour number 11 on the General C.

I enjoyed this tour a lot...good to see a race so close and coming down to the
the TT.

Hello,

Just back from a tremendous four days in Paris:usually I break your spirits (and patience) with the ropey gig-photos...oh,no...here we go...


















































Out of (marginal) interest,I recently cycled 1800 miles over 16 days from Gibraltar to Blackpool to raise funds for the Royal British Legion.
The book is still open if any (UK) IORReans would like to donate:

[www.bmycharity.com]

Cheers,

Si.

Nice pictures, Simon. Thanks

-------------------
Keep On Rolling

Quote
Amsterdamned

Quote
FreeBird
Kelly third best? Poupou better than Indurain? Right...
That list is an approximation at best.

Agree it's not waterproof. Joop Zoetemelk should be first.

de Eeuwige Tweede ?

i was in paris to see joop win the tour that year ( eindelijk ) of course he had the help of two world champions

The STONES had always known how to win the Tour de FRANCE


From François JOUFFA Book "L'agenda des STONES" 1982

HMN

Today is a sad day, as Hansie and all lovers of the great Tour de France will confirm immediately. Le Professeur est mort. Laurent Fignon, twofold winner of the Tour de France, has died of cancer today. He has struggled till the end, he was even active during the last TdF this summer. He has been honoured by his former 'enemy', the great Bernard Hinault. Fignon was only 50 years old. A phenomenon in the world of cycling has gone. It feels sad.



At the left: Laurent; at the right: Bernard.

Hi Kleermaker,

Very sad news indeed. Fifty years of age? Disgrace.

[www.bigringriding.com]

Cheers,

Si.

very sad indeed!

Rip Laurent Fignon †

Si, sad day today, Rest in peace on the greatest sportman of the 80´s!!!!

Carlitos
Tenerife

That's too bad. RIP.

Can`t believe it! I`ve been always a fan of him . Sad day. RIP.

Fignon "the rebel"
On his book



Having already upset some of his former racing peers with suggestions that dope-taking was rife when he was in his pomp in the 1980s, two-time Tour de France winner Laurent Fignon is at the centre of another storm. Once again, his recently released autobiography is the cause. In it, he alleges the team manager of 1987 Vuelta winner Luis "Lucho" Herrera bribed the Frenchman and his Renault team into not attacking the Colombian on the decisive final stage of that race.

In Laurent Fignon: Nous étions jeunes et insouciants (Laurent Fignon: We were young and unknowing), the Frenchman alleges that Renault team manager Cyrille Guimard told his riders: "The Colombians are offering us money not to attack." We didn't have any intention of attacking because they offered us 30,000 francs (approx. £3,500) per rider not to," Fignon writes.

Fignon says of the final day, when Herrera led Germany's Raimund Dietzen by just a minute: "There was a hell of a wind blowing and you could sense the fear of the Colombians. In fact, if we had wanted to we could have taken the initiative and blown them all apart without any problem."

Fignon, who finished third overall, insists his mind was more on making the flight home after the stage because he was bored and wanted to get back to France. "So we tried to speed things up. You should have seen Herrera's gestures when we were on the front. Filled with panic, he said we were playing a dirty trick. 'Why are you riding if we've paid you?' he shouted at me. I quickly told him that my intention was just to get out of Spain as fast as possible."

Not surprisingly, Herrera insists he doesn't remember the race in quite the same way. The Colombian, who alongside Federico Bahamontes is one of only two men to win the mountains title in all three major tours, tells Colombian magazine Cambio: "What he says in his book is total rubbish. We had a good team and we didn't need any outside help to win. In addition, there were three teams there with Colombian riders who could have helped me out. And if we did win with a bribe, were the Dauphiné Libéré titles I won in 1988 and 1991 also paid for?

"My victories came thanks to the efforts I made, my professionalism and the sacrifices I made for the sport. If we had gifted anything during those hard times in Europe or we had paid for something, then we would also have won the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia... If things were as Fignon says, why didn't he say so at the time?"

Herrera counters that Fignon's comments are simply a prolongation of the bad feeling the Frenchman has always had towards Colombian riders. "He always spoke badly about us and said that we were inferior to them... It was obvious he didn't like to see the Colombians winning," says Herrera. "We don't really understand, even beyond the sporting environment, why he simply didn't like us Colombians. In conclusion, our relationship was zero."

Having heard about Fignon's current treatment for cancer of the intestine, Herrera adds a conciliatory word: "It's very sad to hear what he says about his rivals, but sadder still is hearing about the delicate nature of his health at the moment. I wish him the best and hope that he recovers completely because I've been told he's ill at the moment."

The Frenchman devotes another chapter of his book to his appearance in the 1984 RCN Classic in Colombia. He admits taking cocaine there and insists its use was rife in the peloton and among those following the race. He confesses that the night before the final stage of the race he took so much of the drug he had no idea what he was doing and wandered off from the hotel the team was staying in. Guimard had to send team staff out to find him.

Fignon maintains he was so high on the drug that he couldn't sleep that night and kept roommate Greg LeMond up all night talking. The next day he won the race's final stage and then realised that he would have to undergo drug testing. "The Colombians had won a lot of stages up to that point and they'd clearly all been taking cocaine," he alleges. "I was a bit nervous when I went to the control but there were no surprises. It was as white as snow."

Carlitos
Tenerife

Sad news indeed

-------------------
Keep On Rolling

R.I.P

Really sad news .
A great champion and a man who deserved the respect.
His comments about the Tour de FRANCE always much appreciated

HMN

Sad news. One of the greatest.

I wasn't too much in the Tour de France but I couldn't help to be touched by the sad new and his infailing courage.







I am a Frenchie ,as Mick affectionately called them in the Old Grey Whistle Test in 1977 .

Quote
straycatblues73

Quote
Amsterdamned

Quote
FreeBird
Kelly third best? Poupou better than Indurain? Right...
That list is an approximation at best.

Agree it's not waterproof. Joop Zoetemelk should be first.

de Eeuwige Tweede ?

i was in paris to see joop win the tour that year ( eindelijk ) of course he had the help of two world champions

That's not true. Bernard Hinault stated: "Joop was much better..even if I didn't have a knee injury, Joop would have won anyway".


Btw Joop participated for 16 times in de Tour:

8th -1 time
5th -1 time
4th -3 times
2nd -6 times
1st -1 time

Could have won it twice; but he got a time punishment due to a false accusation
of using drugs.., at least it has never been proved.

Gold on the olympics in'68
World champion at the age of 38, etc etc

Quite impressive imo, as it all happened in the Merckx / Hinault era.

He's one of the best and most underrated cyclist ever!

I'am a Jooperite as wel.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2010-09-01 11:56 by Amsterdamned.

Quote
SwayStones
I wasn't too much in the Tour de France but I couldn't help to be touched by the sad new and his infailing courage.

Very painfull,1:16.

Wow, Jean Nelissen also passed away. He was for many years a TV commentator in the Netherlands for cycling events, especially the TdF.

Quote
kleermaker



left: Laurent; right: Bernard.

I find this picture so impressive. Look at Laurent's face. He looks happy and to me also as if he's already half way to the other side of life. Then Bernard. This tough guy has tears in his eyes. He knows it's the last time he's together with his old rival from the past. He misses him already. I have to admit that I got tears in my eyes for a moment when looking at this special pic.

Au revoir to both Laurent Fignon and Jean Nelissen.

I wonder if Greg Lemond and Laurent Fignon became good friends.
I know they where great rivals. I think the closest TDF gap
still that 8 seconds on that final TT.

I started to follow the Tour that year and became a big fan
during the Indurain years. He's still my favorite athlete
but mostly because of the respect he gained because of his
human, ethical and correctness.

I know this video is not fair cause Lance was still working his way
up as a professional and Miguel Indurain was at his best at the moment,
but still good to see.

Quote
ChefGuevara
I wonder if Greg Lemond and Laurent Fignon became good friends.

Hi C.G.,

This might help:

[www.cyclingnews.com]

Cheers,

Si.

Quote
Posted by: SimonN ()
Date: September 1, 2010 19:17

Quote
ChefGuevara
I wonder if Greg Lemond and Laurent Fignon became good friends.

Hi C.G.,

This might help:

[www.cyclingnews.com]

Cheers,

Si.

Thanks for the article. Great read, and great to hear Lemond expressing himself
so highly about Fignon.

Thanks Simon. Great, moving articles.