P is for Peloton by Suze Clemitson

Author:Suze Clemitson
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781472912862
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2015-03-10T16:00:00+00:00

MAILLOT

YOU SAY MY – OH

WHAT IT MEANS The French word for jersey (see J)

BLUFF IT ‘Lance Armstrong used to be known as Mellow Johnny, because that’s how the Americans pronounce maillot jaune (the French for yellow jersey)’.

MARVINGT Marie

In 1908, 110 men stood on the start line of the Tour de France in Paris. Twenty-seven days later, only 36 men finished the race … and one woman – Marie Marvingt, danger’s sweetheart: aviatrix, fencer, runner, swimmer, boxer, skier, martial artist, one of the best Alpine climbers in the world (inventing and wearing culottes because she was forbidden to climb in trousers), record holder in multiple sports who, aged 86, rode the 280 kilometres from her home in Nancy to Paris to gain her helicopter pilot’s licence. In the course of her long and extraordinary life she also fought in the trenches in the First World War, became the world’s first female fighter pilot and invented the air ambulance service, becoming France’s most decorated woman with the Croix de Guerre and the Legion d’Honneur.

Of course she was refused official entry to the race – she was told in no uncertain terms that the Tour de France was an event for men only. But, undeterred, she set off shortly after the men and rode the same 14-stage 4488 km route including the climbs of the Ballon d’Alsace, the Col de Porte and the Côte de Laffrey. In 1909 a letter to l’Auto asked when there would be a women’s Tour de France? The response: when the mountains of France have been flattened. But mountains didn’t stop Marie Marvingt from becoming the first woman to ride the Tour de France.

MECHANIC

AKA ‘tech’ and ‘wrench’. Keeps riders bikes tweaked to perfection, making repairs and adjustments as necessary and wielding the magic spanner (see M) mid-race when necessary. Ernesto Colnago (see Q for Quick Release) was Merckx’s mechanic at his all-conquering Molteni team and continues to innovate bicycle mechanics in his 80s.

BLUFF IT ‘Bicycle mechanics have had a huge impact on modern technology – Henry Ford was a bike mechanic and so were the Wright Brothers who built their first plane out of lightweight bicycle components.’

MECHANICAL

When a rider ‘has a mechanical’ it means something has gone wrong with his bike – most usually a problem with the chain or the gears. Not to be confused with having a puncture. Nowadays when a rider has a mechanical he will usually grab a replacement bike or spend some time having adjustments made with the ‘magic spanner’ (see M).

BLUFF FACT In the 1963 Tour de France, before bike changes were permitted, Jacques Anquetil wanted to use a different bike on the descent of the Col de la Forclaz. Anquetil’s directeur sportif (see D) Raphaël Géminiani arranged for him to have a ‘mechanical’ by getting a mechanic to cut Anquetil’s derailleur cable. The Frenchman was able to make a legitimate bike change and by the time the commissaires got round to inspecting his original bike, the repair had been made. Anquetil went on to win his fourth Tour in a row.

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