Ghost Donkey
Guest
Saw the tribute at the start of the Vuelta highlights on eurosport too. Truly sad news. A great cyclist and a man who wasn't afraid to speak his mind.
Fignon
- Thread starter raindog
- Start date
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StuAff
Silencing his legs regularly
- Location
- Portsmouth
RIP. Great champion, great man.
mickle
innit
- Location
- 53.933606, -1.076131
Very sad indeed.
Some great anecdotes here from Robert Millar which prove, if proof were needed, what a powerful rider LF was.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/robert-millar-remembers-laurent-fignon
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/robert-millar-remembers-laurent-fignon
e-rider
Banned member
- Location
- South West
sad news - a truely great cyclist
A good read.
And also nice to know that Robert Millar is around/contactable/still interested in cycling. For him to say anything at all carries great weight as a tribute to Fignon.
the_mikey
Legendary Member
- Location
- South Gloucestershire
Very sad news. He was commentating on the France2 coverage of the tour de France this year, and taking part in end of race interviews with some of the riders.
Crankarm
Guru
- Location
- Nr Cambridge
Any idea what he died of as 50 is very young to be dying?
Foghat
Freight-train-groove-rider
Indeed. Such praise from his peers carries much weight - in the same way contemporaries of Merckx and Hinault marvelled at their enormous strength.
And he executed many of his rides with extraordinary panache. Witness this outstanding performance - a long breakaway in yellow, riding away from the other Tour contenders who couldn't catch him despite working together:
Fignon solos away to Villard de Lans
What's the last long breakaway in yellow you can remember by someone on target for the overall win.....?
The '89 loss seemed an immense injustice at the time - Lemond's wheelsucking throughout much of the race (and notably, in the stage above, his expectations on Delgado and Theunisse to do his work for him as Fignon's only real rival) was appalling to see, notwithstanding the impressive time-trial stage efforts. However, Lemond's strong stance on the drug-taking culture has since elevated him in my eyes; nevertheless, Fignon unnecessarily lost that Tour more than Lemond won it, and his palmares and performances stay in the mind more as he was such a trier - never afraid to risk everything in do-or-die attacks (and winning at the La Plagne mountain finish in 1987 despite crashing spectacularly at speed on the descent of the Telegraphe), and always ready to do more than his share - whereas Lemond usually just followed wheels and did it in the time-trials.
I recall a memorable photo of Fignon sitting on the ground in the 1982 Blois-Chaville Classic (from Miroir du Cyclisme - remember that?) - his early Campagnolo Super Record titanium bottom bracket axle having broken and dumped him on the road while leading and almost certain for the win:
Blois-Chaville 1982
Ever since then I followed his career with interest - from reluctant admiration of his defeat of a recovering-from-injury Hinault in the 1984 Tour and disapproval of his rather distasteful mocking of the great man, to tremendous pleasure at his stuffing one up Lemond in the various mountain stages of the '89 Tour. He was also one of the few Tour-winning types who put some serious effort in at Paris-Roubaix - almost unheard of now.
Here's another good often-reproduced photo of him - cooling his feet with Perrier in 1984.........
Truly a great rider who represented outstanding value for money for any follower of cycle racing, and the world is a poorer place for his passing.
No, the book is actually a very good read, articulate, moving and really well written. At least in French. It is actually up there in terms of style and prose with Paul Fournel's books.
benjamin