Sports Poets Society

Per otto anni la squadra francese della Renault ha accumulato vittorie grazie a fuoriclasse come Hinault, Fignon e LeMond Testo GILES BELBIN CYCLIST ITALIA, febbraio 2019 Con ancora poco più di 100 km da percorrere nell’edizione 1980 della Liegi-Bastogne-Liegi, il direttore sportivo della Renault,  Cyrille Guimard , affiancò con l’ammiraglia Bernard Hinault, abbassò il finestrino e disse al capitano di togliersi la mantellina. “La gara comincia adesso”, gli disse. Hinault deve aver pensato che Guimard fosse pazzo. Era metà aprile, ma la gara era stata condizionata da condizioni climatiche freddissime. La neve era caduta sin dall’inizio e le strade erano fradice di fanghiglia. Oltre cento corridori avevano abbandonato nella tormenta senza nemmeno raggiungere l’inversione di rotta a Bastogne. Il pro francese Gilbert Duclos-Lassalle dichiarò al quotidiano L’Equipe che alcuni si erano tolti il numero ed erano tornati in hotel per non dover più pedalare, tanto era pessim...

https://www.directvelo.com/actualite/63432/les-mythiques-de-la-mavic-thevenet-wiegant-aimait-ses-coureurs Par DOMINIQUE TURGIS Propos recueillis par JEAN-CHARLES DANCERELLE Le 7 janvier 2018, 19:30 Paul Wiégant a eu un bon professeur . Il a terminé sa carrière de coureur indépendant au VC Levallois, sous la coupe de Paul Ruinard , l'homme qui a formé la quasi totalité des sélectionnés olympiques jusqu'en 1948. De son passage chez les "Olympiens" comme on les appelait, le directeur sportif de l'ACBB - à droite sur la photo - a retenu plusieurs principes comme regrouper ses coureurs autour d'un service-course. APPRENDRE A ÊTRE QUELQU'UN DE BIEN Le " Père la Ruine " se déclarait déjà satisfait quand il avait réussi à apprendre à ses élèves à tenir convenablement une fourchette et un couteau. Monsieur Wiegant apprend le métier de coureur cycliste à ses apprentis-coureurs "mais aussi à se conduire en gentleman en deho...

by James Startt The Cycling Anthology – Volume Four (2014) Paris, France – The old clubhouse on Rue de Sèvres has long closed down and the team apartments reconverted into private housing. And the lustre has more than faded around the current clubhouse on Rue Yves Kermen, planted ignominiously in the shadows of a Bricorama, a low-cost home supply supermarket on the outskirts of Boulogne-Billancourt, itself a suburb of Paris. Only the sign over the archway reading Complexe Jacques Anquetilhints at a more glorious past, as does a small selection of trophies on show in the window. Once inside the current clubhouse of the Athletic Club de Boulogne-Billancourt, the discerning eye will notice other remnants of the club’s zenith. There is the white jersey with red polka dots awarded to the best climber in the Tour de France. Made of wool, it dates back to 1984, when one of the club’s protégés, a certain Robert Millar, became the first Scot to capture such a prize. And then th...

https://pelotonmagazine.com/features/c-b-b-house-mickey-built/ It’s easy to overlook the monochromatic sign of the Complexe Jacques Anquetil on Rue Yves Kermen in the southwest Paris suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt. And it’s easy to overlook the silhouette of trophies in the dusty window of the nondescript side entrance at this aging residential complex that was once considered futuristic. But somehow it’s a fitting home for the Athletic Club Boulogne-Billancourt, or the A.C.B.B. as it is commonly known, a modest amateur cycling team by today’s standards. And yet in its heyday it was the most forward-looking club team in the world. Not only was it consistently the top squad in France but, almost unwittingly, the A.C.B.B. also ushered in the sport’s first significant wave of international racers. Words/images:  James Startt Once inside the clubhouse, there are further clues to the team’s glorious past. An aging polka-dot wool jersey collects dust from its hangar on...