USCemper
The bicycle thief
buckem:
You are a living cycling encyclopedia! I don't know if I can compete with you on this subject.
In the 50s and 60s I used to live in Florence and Turin, Italy. My dad was a cycling fanatic and used to drag me to France, where one of my uncles lived near Lyon, to follow some of the stages of the tour. I remember distinctly Coppi, Nencini and Gimondi, the guys that my dad followed more closely, winning flat stages not by 35 seconds but more than 2 minutes over the pelleton on several occasions. I will have to assume that if these three Italian guys did it, some others must have done it as well. But, in all sincerity, I don't recall if these great athletes were considered the "tour favorites" during those years when they accomplished those feats, other than they won many important races in Europe during their competitive years, so I suppose they should have been considered at least "great cyclists". Coppi, Nencini and Gimondi each won one tour (Coppi perhaps two), if I recall correctly.
My earlier experience with the tour is based on actual events that I have seen personally and from the coverage of Italian TV which in those days was nothing but horrendous. The more recent history of the event I have followed here on television as I would suspect the most of us. I don't doubt for a second that what you are saying with respect to the statistics of the most recent tours corresponds to the truth and I wouldn't dare trying to prove you wrong.
In fact, I will make sure to read your posts more attentively as you have demonstrated you know a lot more than I do with regards to this event.
You are a living cycling encyclopedia! I don't know if I can compete with you on this subject.
In the 50s and 60s I used to live in Florence and Turin, Italy. My dad was a cycling fanatic and used to drag me to France, where one of my uncles lived near Lyon, to follow some of the stages of the tour. I remember distinctly Coppi, Nencini and Gimondi, the guys that my dad followed more closely, winning flat stages not by 35 seconds but more than 2 minutes over the pelleton on several occasions. I will have to assume that if these three Italian guys did it, some others must have done it as well. But, in all sincerity, I don't recall if these great athletes were considered the "tour favorites" during those years when they accomplished those feats, other than they won many important races in Europe during their competitive years, so I suppose they should have been considered at least "great cyclists". Coppi, Nencini and Gimondi each won one tour (Coppi perhaps two), if I recall correctly.
My earlier experience with the tour is based on actual events that I have seen personally and from the coverage of Italian TV which in those days was nothing but horrendous. The more recent history of the event I have followed here on television as I would suspect the most of us. I don't doubt for a second that what you are saying with respect to the statistics of the most recent tours corresponds to the truth and I wouldn't dare trying to prove you wrong.
In fact, I will make sure to read your posts more attentively as you have demonstrated you know a lot more than I do with regards to this event.
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