My French girlfriend says that Monsieur Lance will win

[Marcello Do Guz]

I just spoke with my French girlfriend and I finally got her
to admit that France has absolutely no one worthy of winning
the Yellow Jersey or she would say the maillot jaune. I
totally agree.

 

[Richard Adams]

Marcello do Guzman wrote:
> I just spoke with my French girlfriend and I finally got
> her to admit that France has absolutely no one worthy of
> winning the Yellow Jersey or she would say the maillot
> jaune. I totally agree.
>

Oh, I wouldn't say that. There's probably a dozen guys
around France who could have kicked Lance, Jan, Iban or
anyone else off the top step of the podium, but they
probably are in a different line of work. Every now and then
the right body with the right head meets the right sport and
sparks fly. I'd love to see France produce another winner.

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
Richard Adams <[email protected]> wrote:

> Marcello do Guzman wrote:
> > I just spoke with my French girlfriend and I finally got
> > her to admit that France has absolutely no one worthy of
> > winning the Yellow Jersey or she would say the maillot
> > jaune. I totally agree.
> >
>
>
> Oh, I wouldn't say that. There's probably a dozen guys
> around France who could have kicked Lance, Jan, Iban or
> anyone else off the top step of the podium, but they
> probably are in a different line of work. Every now and
> then the right body with the right head meets the right
> sport and sparks fly. I'd love to see France produce
> another winner.

You're kidding, right? If there's one country where any kid
with even a chance of becoming a pro racer would be
discovered, it's France (well, and Benelux, too).

The right head is probably more common than the right body,
but I don't think it makes sense to talk about a mind-body
duality (heck, in my religion, that's heresy . There's
lots of people who think Jan has more body than Lance, only
less mind. More body plus less mind equals less cyclist. Or,
more to the point, it doesn't matter how you allocate
it.

To be a cyclist, you have to choose your parents well, as
the old joke goes, and then you have to have the discipline
to do the training, and a little luck along the way.

Have video games and television so reduced France that the
kids no longer ride their bicycles? "France, what a future!"

Not that there's anything wrong with video games and
television, they're just for the recovery days.
--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.wiredcola.com
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

[Robert Chung]

Ryan Cousineau wrote:
> If there's one country where any kid with even a chance of
> becoming a pro racer would be discovered, it's France

Hmmm. Why would you say that?

 

[Trg]

Ryan Cousineau wrote:
> In article <[email protected]>,
> Richard Adams <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Marcello do Guzman wrote:
>>> I just spoke with my French girlfriend and I finally got
>>> her to admit that France has absolutely no one worthy of
>>> winning the Yellow Jersey or she would say the maillot
>>> jaune. I totally agree.
>>>
>>
>>
>> Oh, I wouldn't say that. There's probably a dozen guys
>> around France who could have kicked Lance, Jan, Iban or
>> anyone else off the top step of the podium, but they
>> probably are in a different line of work. Every now and
>> then the right body with the right head meets the right
>> sport and sparks fly. I'd love to see France produce
>> another winner.
>
> You're kidding, right? If there's one country where any
> kid with even a chance of becoming a pro racer would be
> discovered, it's France (well, and Benelux, too).

That's questionable (I'd give the nod to some place where
people bike a lot, like Denmark or Holland). But his
statement is true even for the US. Most likely, The World's
Greatest Bicyclist doesn't know that he is and is a second
rate football player.

 

[David Off]

Ryan Cousineau wrote:
>
> Have video games and television so reduced France that the
> kids no longer ride their bicycles?

to a certain extent, yes. I think the drugs issues have
discouraged parents too. France was never a great sporting
nation, bike racing was a way for working class kids to
progress (ok Fignon was an exception). Now everyone is more
affluent bike racing is less popular. Mountain biking has
also captured a big part of the yoof market...

 

[Roger Hughes]

On Tue, 06 Jul 2004 11:46:17 +0200, David Off
<[email protected]> wrote:

>Ryan Cousineau wrote:
>>
>> Have video games and television so reduced France that
>> the kids no longer ride their bicycles?
>
>to a certain extent, yes. I think the drugs issues have
>discouraged parents too. France was never a great sporting
>nation, bike racing was a way for working class kids to
>progress (ok Fignon was an exception). Now everyone is more
>affluent bike racing is less popular. Mountain biking has
>also captured a big part of the yoof market...

Not so much working class, except in the north, but more the
rural poor and peasant demographic. Nobody much seems to
come into cycling from the banlieux of Paris or the slums of
Marseilles (they go into football or basketball). Hence the,
ahem, colour difference between the French football team and
the national cycling team.

Roger

 

[David Off]

Roger Hughes wrote:
> more the rural poor and peasant demographic. Nobody much
> seems to come into cycling from the banlieux of Paris or
> the slums of Marseilles (they go into football or
> basketball). Hence the, ahem, colour difference between
> the French football team and the national cycling team.

Good point, and maybe it is these fashionable sports that
attract youngsters (les djeunz) rather than cycling due to
their associations with 'cool' anglo-saxon nations.

 

[Steven]

David Off <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> Ryan Cousineau wrote:
> >
> > Have video games and television so reduced France that
> > the kids no longer ride their bicycles?
>
> to a certain extent, yes. I think the drugs issues have
> discouraged parents too. France was never a great sporting
> nation, bike racing was a way for working class kids to
> progress (ok Fignon was an exception). Now everyone is
> more affluent bike racing is less popular. Mountain biking
> has also captured a big part of the yoof market...

And everyone knows you can't jump from Mt. Biking and be
succesful on the road....

 

[Erik Lusseault]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Ryan Cousineau" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.racing
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 7:13 AM
Subject: Re: My French girlfriend says that Monsieur Lance will win

> You're kidding, right? If there's one country where any
> kid with even a chance of becoming a pro racer would be
> discovered, it's France (well, and Benelux, too).
>

Actually, it's no longer true mainly due to numerous doping
scandals which occured over the years and the fact that it
gets huge media coverage around here. To the French
audience, cycling ( not only pro cycling but also
competitive amateur cycling) equals doping. Therefore there
are less and less young riders registered in clubs. Parents
are less enclined to see their kids choosing that sport wich
deals with drugs. And even if actually doping doesn't seem
to affect that much the business of the sponsors (Cf
.Festina and Cofidis), it does scare off potential sponsors.
We can safely say that pro cycling is almost dead in France,
at least for a decade. It doesnt mean that there won't be
crowds along the roads of the Tour de France. There will
still be passionnate the riders wherever they come from (
and whatever they use to entertain that crowd) because the
Tour de France is to the French is what Wimbledon is to the
Brits, a very old tradition.

 

[Robert Chung]

Erik Lusseault wrote:
> To the French audience, cycling ( not only pro cycling but
> also competitive amateur cycling) equals doping.

That's why I got into cycling. I was hoping I'd be able to
score some pot Belge.

 

[Erik Lusseault]

"David Off" <[email protected]> a écrit dans le message de
news:[email protected]...
> Ryan Cousineau wrote:
> >
> > Have video games and television so reduced France that
> > the kids no longer ride their bicycles?
>
> to a certain extent, yes. I think the drugs issues have
> discouraged parents too. France was never a great sporting
> nation, bike racing was a way for working class kids to
> progress (ok Fignon was an exception). Now everyone is
> more affluent bike racing is less popular. Mountain biking
> has also captured a big part of the yoof market...

Actually the paradox is that France is much more a sport
nation that it used to be and at the time French pro cycling
never been so disastrous. It used to be the number one sport
of the rural areas and then of the working class. There are
less and less farmers and the working class is and
endangered species. Yet it does not explain everything rugby
and handball are still very popular and successful in the
rural areas and on the international stage, and the same for
football (soccer), fights sports, basketball with the
working class. The fact is Festina and then all the other
doping scandals killed the image of cycling both with
parents and sponsors. The media coverage in France does show
cycling as totally corrupted by drug-enhancing massive
consumption. For instance, there is not a week without a
joke about Richard Virenque and the Tour de France on the
very popular satiric show Les Guignols. Then which parent
would let his kid practice Cycling at a competitive level?

 

[Erik Lusseault]

Stick with pot, you won't race as fast but it could be fun and you might
even live past 50.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Robert Chung" <[email protected]>
Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.racing
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 10:35 PM
Subject: Re: My French girlfriend says that Monsieur Lance will win

> Erik Lusseault wrote:
> > To the French audience, cycling ( not only pro cycling
> > but also competitive amateur cycling) equals doping.
>
> That's why I got into cycling. I was hoping I'd be able to
> score some pot Belge.

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <[email protected]>,
"Robert Chung" <[email protected]> wrote:

> Ryan Cousineau wrote:
> > If there's one country where any kid with even a chance
> > of becoming a pro racer would be discovered, it's France
>
> Hmmm. Why would you say that?

Well, further messages have disabused me of my notion that
France was still a cycling nation.

But there's enough PE in most first-world countries that I
think there's precious few kids who are little cardio
machines with undiscovered potential. But they don't all
become cyclists.

Part of the problem is there's several sports that high-
cardio athletes will excel in. Many waste their talent and
become marathoners. Fortunately, triathlons act as a gateway
sport to get some of these glorified joggers to overcome
their early mistake.

It worked for that guy from Texas,

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.wiredcola.com
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club

 

[Dan Connelly]

Ryan Cousineau wrote:
> Part of the problem is there's several sports that high-
> cardio athletes will excel in. Many waste their talent and
> become marathoners. Fortunately, triathlons act as a
> gateway sport to get some of these glorified joggers to
> overcome their early mistake.
>
> It worked for that guy from Texas,
>

That was, what, late '80's? Look at the participation in
Junior racing in the US from then compared to now. Armstrong
is too old to provide a good example.

The "capture cross-section" of potential junior cyclists in
the US is extremely small, I suggest.

Dan

 

[Ryan Cousineau]

In article <%[email protected]>,
Dan Connelly <d_j_c_o_n_n_e_l@i_e_e_e.o_r_g> wrote:

> Ryan Cousineau wrote:
> > Part of the problem is there's several sports that high-
> > cardio athletes will excel in. Many waste their talent
> > and become marathoners. Fortunately, triathlons act as a
> > gateway sport to get some of these glorified joggers to
> > overcome their early mistake.
> >
> > It worked for that guy from Texas,
> >
>
> That was, what, late '80's? Look at the participation in
> Junior racing in the US from then compared to now.
> Armstrong is too old to provide a good example.
>
> The "capture cross-section" of potential junior cyclists
> in the US is extremely small, I suggest.
>
> Dan

Well, as I said, there are lots of high-cardio athletes who
go into other sports. You can claim they've missed out on
their chance to become great cyclists, but that's a bit like
saying that Bo Jackson should have concentrated more on his
hockey skills. Sadly, some triathletes and marathoners like
what they do .

If we haven't seen more crossover triathletes, I think it
speaks to how extraordinary Lance was, and perhaps how
lousy most triathletes are on the bike . While a Euro-pro
salary might not lure most NFL kick returners into becoming
the next Petacchi, it should look pretty good to the
average tri-geek.

The real North American feeder series for new cyclists tend
to be youth cycling sports, which means BMX and mountain
biking. Locally, we have a healthy high-school MTB racing
program, and lots of BMXers supporting three local tracks
(one indoors). What happens is the kids who are good in
these sports start cross-training on the road as they get
better, and that leads them to road racing.

--
Ryan Cousineau, [email protected] http://www.wiredcola.com
President, Fabrizio Mazzoleni Fan Club