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Old 05-29-17, 06:18 AM
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Thunder Horse
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Here is a story I often think about before a race. It is about Rik Van Steenbergen and Fausto Coppi during the 1952 Paris-Roubaix.

'...Van Steenbergen had won Paris-Roubaix in 1948, and Coppi two years later. Both knew each other well by this time, both had beaten the other, and this time each intended to win.

On entering the cobbled section, Coppi attacked with Ferdi Kubler. Van Steenbergen, farther back in the group, didn't even see the move. Once he found out he had little time to rectify matters. The Italian's reputation for never being caught was well known to the Belgian. Rik seized a chance and exploded off the front, hurtling over the cobbles while weaving from one side of the road to the other in search of the best line. He could see Coppi and Kubler from the dust they picked up. How could Rik hope to bring back two of the best time trialists in the world?

Rik recounted, "It took everything I had, and then some, to get up to them. When I finally caught them Coppi gave me the blackest look and attacked. I hadn't recuperated from the chase and I honestly don't know how I held onto him. I thought my heart was going to burst. Coppi accelerated again and again and Kubler was dropped. One more attack and I couldn't have held him either, but then I realized that even the championissimo was beginning to tire. At the moment when I was about to let him go, he eased up. Once on the track in Roubaix he didn't really contest the sprint." '
- Owen Mulholland (2006). Cycling's Golden Age: heroes of the postwar era, 1946-1967. Velo Press Books (pp.40-42)

Rik van Steenbergen won the race.
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