Need for the Bike by Paul Fournel

Author:Paul Fournel
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nebraska
Published: 2020-12-16T00:00:00+00:00

Flags

I’ve gone up unbelievable passes but gotten no credit for it because a champion hadn’t marked them.

Back from vacation, if I say to a friend: ‘I climbed the Finestre pass,’ he might reply: ‘Well, I took it easy in the Caribbean.’ On the other hand, if I tell him: ‘Hey, I went up the Izoard,’ his face lights up.

It’s the same if I mention the Puy de Dôme, Alpe-d’Huez, Tourmalet, Vars, or Pra-Loup.

Whether they know it or not, whether they want it or not, the French have had an excellent cycling education. They know the champions and the locales of their exploits. The great champions superimpose their own geography on official geography. They’re like little flags stuck on the map, or landmarks.

You can even tell the age and orientation of the person you’re talking to. If his face lights up on hearing ‘Pra-Loup,’ he’s a Théveno-Merckxian; ‘Puy de Dôme,’ he’s an Anquetilo-Poulidorian; and if it’s ‘Alpe-d’Huez,’ he’s an Induraino-Züllian.

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