Bardet and Pinot PHOTO / LIONEL BONAVENTURE
That is my question. Both want to be considered great cyclists, not great French cyclists. It is a cruel and heavy burden to be an excellent French cyclist. When are you going to win the Tour de France? Bernard Hinaults don’t come around very often, maybe never again. Hinault was the French Merckx; winning was everything. If he was not a cyclist he should have been a professional fighter. Fignon was called the professor because he was from Paris and wore glasses, not because he was an intellectual. He managed to win some Tours and not be a badger. He was not out happily slugging protesters. If Hinault had lost to Lemond by eight seconds…one, it wouldn’t have happened. Hinault would have burst his own heart to finish nine seconds faster. Two, if he had lost by eight seconds, he would have slugged Lemond so damn hard it would have put him back in the hospital.
I hope the French are happy they have any prospective Tour winners. The Americans have none. Most countries do not because it takes a special genetic freak in a sport of genetic freaks to be one. The English had to sweep their post-colonial, high altitude Kenyan supply system to come up with one. Of this French pair I have a bias toward Romain Bardet partially because he rides for AG2R and on Keepers Tour 2012 we met directeur Vincent Lavenu. VL seemed a good sort and for inexplicable, Rule ignoring reasons, I sort of like their kit, but I digress.
Thibaut Pinot and Romain Bardet: both 24 years old, both stage winners in the 2015 Tour, both prodigious climbers, both saddled with the “next French hope” mantle.
Judging from this edition’s Alpe d’Huez stage, Pinot actually may be be the stronger climber. If you can ride everyone off your wheel on Alpe d’Huez, you are a badass. For climbing style points, Romain wins. He is solid and smooth to Pinot’s lack of. Going downhill, if you try to pedal through a corner and catch your inside pedal (and crash) doing so, points off. Bardet descends like Philippe Gilbert, that is to say, avec grande vitesse et les grand testicules.
Being the best climber or best descender does not make a grand tour winner. A grand tour winner does not have to be the best at anything, just very capable at everything. And not sucking at anything, like descending or time trialing and not having a jour sans.
Can either of these guys time trial? If Pinot can he should, by all rights, be one podium step closer in Paris than Andy Schleck* ever got. There is a large leap between a top ten Tour finish and a podium finish. It might be a larger leap from the third podium step to the top. Pinot and Bardet are in this mix.
Neither of these guys seem like punch throwing firebrands like Hinault, which may be good. Then who can better handle the pressure of being the next Fignon?
*I can still make fun of Andy Schleck even though he retired, yes?
I know as well as any of you that I've been checked out lately, kind…
Peter Sagan has undergone quite the transformation over the years; starting as a brash and…
The Women's road race has to be my favorite one-day road race after Paris-Roubaix and…
Holy fuckballs. I've never been this late ever on a VSP. I mean, I've missed…
This week we are currently in is the most boring week of the year. After…
I have memories of my life before Cycling, but as the years wear slowly on…
View Comments
@Teocalli
Total cluster fuck going on there. Must be a strangely-laid corner, and boy oh boy was he ever going too fast.
@frank
He was going way, way too fast. Did his brakes fail? And what was up with the riders taking such a bad line into the corner? It's a left-hander. Doesn't that mean you hug the right side of the road going in to give you the best line? Most of those guys were in the left lane. As for the motorbike, yet another bad example of motos being clueless in US races. To stop in the middle of the lane/corner was insane. (And yes, I'm aware of what happened to GvA in San Sebastian) but I'm thinking about Phinney. Kudos to the spectators who started yelling at the riders to slow down.
@Ron
I'd swear that I've heard celeste referred to as Bianchi green (?). Anyways, how's this for a good use of celeste (called Seafoam Green by Fender)
Looks like Bianchi's latest "version" of celeste on the Specialissima runs more to the sky blue kinda shade.
@wiscot
I've ridden up that road before and I think I know what turn that is. It's hard to tell from this angle but the inside of the turn is murderously steep so hitting it at speed could be a huge problem. Not surprised the lines look bad.
@ChrisO
Back in 2012 David Ferehty described the golf swing of Jim Furyk as an octopus falling out of a tree. I can't help but recall that when I watch Froome race a bike.
Ferehty also had a good quote along the lines of: I haven't done a fact check on these so if they're not right they should be... That in some instances could be a perfect thought for use around these parts of the inter webs.
Cheers
@frank
yeah I'd steered clear of embedding it, that's not footage I particularly want to see again.
@chris
It's when they add the celeste bar tape I vom in my mouth a little bit..
@Beers
tyres, saddles, bar tape, bidons, bottle cages. Enough to fill your mouth.
Fuck off, heathens.
@Owen
That poor bike *shudder*