Who is your favorite rider who never got a break?
And why? Bonus points for footage!
Who is your favorite rider who never got a break?
And why? Bonus points for footage!
Originally Posted by Christopher Hitchens
Rene Vietto.
Can't say he never got a break, but enough bad luck, including a World War.
More days in yellow than any other rider to never win the TDF. And 35 was his save for having to give his bike to his team leader.
Under current rules he almost surely have womn teh 1935 Tour. He rode back (uphill no less) to give his bike to the team leader. That is now prohibited.
Hey Diablo Scott (or anyone else) do you know when the rule was changed? (I don't, so I'm wondering how many years he missed by).
Perish any man who suspects that these men either did or suffered anything unseemly.
Don't know the answer, but shouldn't be surprised if it was Vietto's action that prompted the change. Riding back up a mountain through a descending peloton must have struck the organisers as potential carnage, even in those less safety-conscious days.
"I'm not crazy; I've just been in a very bad mood for forty years."
Thanks Keith.
Interesting story.
Where did you first learn of Vietto? Can you recommend any good books on Tour & Classics history?
Peace & safe riding!
Not sure where I first saw the story. I've picked up a lot online. www.memoire-du-cyclisme.net which you have already found is a very useful resource. If you google it and then use the translate option most of it is very readable. Years ago on thsi site I started a tread on riders who won the TDF in their first attempt. Several early riders were proposed, apparently the official TDF site at the least implied they had won on their first attemt. Memorie put the lie to that, many won on their first finish, only memorie seemed to list DNFs.Thanks Keith.
Interesting story.
Where did you first learn of Vietto? Can you recommend any good books on Tour & Classics history?
Peace & safe riding!
I strongly suggest getting a list of riders names. Yuo can find all kinds of stuff by just putting Anquetil Merckx Hinalut Coppi in a search engine, where searching be race often gets few decent hits in a sea of vacation advertisemsnts.
BTW the times given in the article you posted are very misleading. Time gaps were often huge in the early years. Also it looks like some of the 'wait times' They give for Vietto are after he got Magne off and riding. Saying a rider only lost 5 minutes because that was the final gap is a bit off it they were 15 minutes up hte road before things started. I thnik both the myth and the 'debunking' are exagerated.
Perish any man who suspects that these men either did or suffered anything unseemly.
George Hincapie, super domestique. Other than his multiple national titles, his proudest moment was a stage win in the Tour. Never managed to win Paris-Roubaix. Saw him win the first San Francisco Grand Prix.
Colnago, Olmo, Austro-Daimler, custom Ti fixed - road;
Colnago, Bianchi, John Waite tandem - track;
Colnago, Fontana, Merlin, Fisher tandem - MTB.
Another vote for George Hincapie. Consummate professional.
Team Skys Matt Hayman.... He's really the next generation Jens Voight
Blogging all things interesting about cycling at www.theworkingclasscyclist.com
wilfried peeters, Sean Yates, Johan Bruyneel but he did win a few good ones like beating Induran on a mt stage in the Tour, and the Tour de l'Avenir. IMO, he was a damn fine domestique.
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