The Invisible Man

[Chuffy]

Hmmm....
Having spent quite a while reading up on the TdF it occurred to me that of all the modern era winners (Merckx onwards) one man seems strangely absent. Bernard Thevenet seems to have almost been written out. It's odd but in the books I've read the other winners have a life and a character beyond the bare historical record. Fignon as Oscar the Grouch, Hinault as the Incredible Hulk ('you wouldn't like me when I'm angry') and Lemond as Little Lord Fauntleroy. Even Zootemelk, patient and dull, stalking the ultimate prize by waiting for his opponents to grow old and retire and just still being there once they'd faded into glory. But Thevenet, twice winner, the man who beat Merckx. Nothing. Why is that? Is it because the tifosi resent him for daring to beat the Cannibal? Is it perhaps because he confessed, almost before the petals had dropped on his winner's bouquet, that he had been on the sauce the whole time?
As a newcomer to the history of the Tour, can anyone enlighten me?

 

[Noodley]

Is it perhaps because he confessed, almost before the petals had dropped on his winner's bouquet, that he had been on the sauce the whole time?

Got it in one!

 

[Chuffy]

Got it in one!

Because no other Tour winner had ever done the naughty...
Omerta strikes again, strange though, coming from journos.

 

[Noodley]

...strange though, coming from journos.

Not at all. Journos have a vested interest in reporting what others want reported and silencing what is wanted to be kept quiet...hence my reply t'other night about how I thought Kimmage's book was good - I don;t agree with his style all the time, damning every rider who has doped (after all he doped!) but I am sure he is right.

Just look what happened to all the other riders who 'fessed....and how they are derided by riders and fans as 'not that good, bitter, wannabes'..

 

[Chuffy]

Hmmm, most of the books I've been reading have dealt pretty frankly with the issue of doping (and let's face it we know full well that pretty much everyone was at it in the sixties, from Anquetil down) and still Thevenet is this shadowy figure. I've only seen one photo of him, ever, and that was today when I looked him up on t'interweb. If I hadn't read the histories then I would never even have heard of him, so perhaps it's not the authors who are to blame but the general culture, where someone like him is airbrushed out for daring to open his mouth. Rather depressing really....

 

[Abitrary]

Even Zootemelk, patient and dull, stalking the ultimate prize by waiting for his opponents to grow old and retire and just still being there once?

On his native planet, Zootemelk's 'patience and dullness' as you so winningly describe it, are seen as vital qualities, especially with their advanced potential to live for centuries more than humons.

 

[Noodley]

....perhaps it's not the authors who are to blame but the general culture....

It is by the authors that we here of riders...the culture ensures those who do not keep silent are not viewed in a positive light.

 

[Chuffy]

Cadel Evans - the Zootemelk of our day....

 

[Keith Oates]

Most of these expose writers are just people who can't achieve anything themselves and are jealous of those who are winners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[John the Monkey]

Cadel Evans - the Zootemelk of our day....

Have you got this month's Cyle Sport yet chuffy?

A whole 5 page article on Mr Evans in their tour review...including a charming photo of Cuddles giving the tour photographers the finger.

 

[Chuffy]

Have you got this month's Cyle Sport yet chuffy?

A whole 5 page article on Mr Evans in their tour review...including a charming photo of Cuddles giving the tour photographers the finger.

Does he work as a Customs Officer out of season then?

 

[Noodley]

Most of these expose writers are just people who can't achieve anything themselves and are jealous of those who are winners!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And by such views the dopers continue to thrive.
Everyone who speaks out can be cast as not good enough and a whinger.

Yet those who have spoken out have got to where they are as pro cyclists on merit. Not drugs.

There's a big difference between being an average pro cyclist with morals who tries to expose the cheats, and an average pro cyclist with no morals who becomes a winner due to doping. I know which I prefer.

Would anyone like to start a list of average pro cyclists who became winners due to doping? We could be here a while....

 

[Chuffy]

And by such views the dopers continue to thrive.
Everyone who speaks out can be cast as not good enough and a whinger.

Exactly.

 

[Keith Oates]

And by such views the dopers continue to thrive.
Everyone who speaks out can be cast as not good enough and a whinger.

Yet those who have spoken out have got to where they are as pro cyclists on merit. Not drugs.

There's a big difference between being an average pro cyclist with morals who tries to expose the cheats, and an average pro cyclist with no morals who becomes a winner due to doping. I know which I prefer.

Would anyone like to start a list of average pro cyclists who became winners due to doping? We could be here a while....

I don't mind the likes of Millar and any other riders who now openly condemn doping, in fact I applaud them for the stand they are taking. However the one from the Times (I think, can't remember his name) is just trying to make money out of other peoples weaknesses. I get the impression that his interest in cycling itself is not so high!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[rustychisel]

Thevenet was represented (factually or otherwise) as being a man with a personality bypass, hardly worth the column inches, and not only in France. Perhaps there's a lesson in that...