Uncomfortable admission...

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I am terribly excited that there might be a British winner of the TdF.

But...

There is a part of me that thinks this is not right. It is not our race. We should only peep into France and watch it through their letterbox or while hiding unseen behind the trees in their beautiful, straight RN avenues.

In my heart I know that just having a French, Italian, Spanish, Belgian or Basque name makes you a faster, better rider and more deserving of success and accolades.

I recall my uncomfortable feeling when Lemond won with his tricksy TT bike. A yank? not even a proper Yank... A Texican! Winning a European race!! It was wrong.

I thought of him as I'd thought of King Kenny, Steady Eddie and Fast Freddy when they came over with their brilliant, winning style.

I'm even quite uncomfortable with north Europeans like Riiiiis or Ullrich doing well. I allow the Dutch their successes, but only if the rider has a comedy name, like Joop Zoetemelk (however he spells it).

I now realise that Lemond was always a legend, as were Roberts et al... Riiiiis and Ullrich too.

But there is something in me that always wants this TdF thing to be unattainable to English-speaking cultures. I don't mind the odd maverick jersey-winner who can spend a day or two in yellow or win a plucky stage... I even quite like that.

But win the Tour? Win the Tour? Win the Tour?

I love this cycling thing, but they need to have a new rule:

To win, you need to have too many letters X in your name, like some Belgians and most Basques.

Or you need to look like one of Garibaldi's conquering heroes.... and sound like one. Or you need to be aloof and Gallic and weird.

Or you need to be a bizarrely named Kazakh goombah who feels no pain and sees no rivals - or a sprinter who looks like a raiding Tartar and rides like one.

I am overjoyed that 'we' have so many top riders... and that joy is somehow leaving me feeling emptier than all those decades of hopeless wishing for a British success.

Am I alone in this? Am I suffering from some sort of inverse xenophobia?

Do I need help?
 
I recall my uncomfortable feeling when Lemond won with his tricksy TT bike. A yank? not even a proper Yank... A Texican! Winning a European race!! It was wrong.

Lemond is from California...the other guy is from Texas...
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
You are in serious need of help, my friend; you have clearly caught a nasty dose of Frenchness.

My prescription: a pint of Pernod, a few hundred grammes of foie gras, a couple of caffeine suppositories up your bum and then sit down with a pack of Gauloises and a copy of L'Equipe and listen to La Marseillaise on repeat until you barf up.

That will cure you.
 

PaulB

Legendary Member
Location
Colne
Do I need help?

Yes.

Lemond has a French-sounding name so became the thin end of what's becoming a very large wedge to the French. We English were once the unchallenged masters of football while Johnny Foreigner looked on enviously. Then, the cheeky blighter decided not to accept the crumbs from our table anymore but demanded a seat at the feast. And then he made overtures to our wives who swooned with desire at his attentions and denied us of our evenings of delight and offered up the main prize to him so now it's us hoping for the crumbs off the table. So NEVER accept second best. We've shown our mastery of the bicycle-thingy, firstly on the track and now, increasingly, on the Queen's Highway so the crown is rightly becoming ours. Celebrate this my friend. It's our destiny too long denied.
 

derrick

The Glue that binds us together.
Yes.

Lemond has a French-sounding name so became the thin end of what's becoming a very large wedge to the French. We English were once the unchallenged masters of football while Johnny Foreigner looked on enviously. Then, the cheeky blighter decided not to accept the crumbs from our table anymore but demanded a seat at the feast. And then he made overtures to our wives who swooned with desire at his attentions and denied us of our evenings of delight and offered up the main prize to him so now it's us hoping for the crumbs off the table. So NEVER accept second best. We've shown our mastery of the bicycle-thingy, firstly on the track and now, increasingly, on the Queen's Highway so the crown is rightly becoming ours. Celebrate this my friend. It's our destiny too long denied.
When was this then.:whistle:
 

PaulB

Legendary Member
Location
Colne
When was this then.:whistle:
1950s-1960s. Did you know that the FA didn't want to pay the England team that won the World Cup too much money as they assumed it was going to happen in perpetuity and the payments would bankrupt them? Oh yes, there was such a time.
 

Globalti

Legendary Member
Merde! I've just choked on my cafe au lait at the very mention of the F word.
 

VamP

Banned
Location
Cambs
I am terribly excited that there might be a British winner of the TdF.

But...

There is a part of me that thinks this is not right. It is not our race. We should only peep into France and watch it through their letterbox or while hiding unseen behind the trees in their beautiful, straight RN avenues.

In my heart I know that just having a French, Italian, Spanish, Belgian or Basque name makes you a faster, better rider and more deserving of success and accolades.

I recall my uncomfortable feeling when Lemond won with his tricksy TT bike. A yank? not even a proper Yank... A Texican! Winning a European race!! It was wrong.

I thought of him as I'd thought of King Kenny, Steady Eddie and Fast Freddy when they came over with their brilliant, winning style.

I'm even quite uncomfortable with north Europeans like Riiiiis or Ullrich doing well. I allow the Dutch their successes, but only if the rider has a comedy name, like Joop Zoetemelk (however he spells it).

I now realise that Lemond was always a legend, as were Roberts et al... Riiiiis and Ullrich too.

But there is something in me that always wants this TdF thing to be unattainable to English-speaking cultures. I don't mind the odd maverick jersey-winner who can spend a day or two in yellow or win a plucky stage... I even quite like that.

But win the Tour? Win the Tour? Win the Tour?

I love this cycling thing, but they need to have a new rule:

To win, you need to have too many letters X in your name, like some Belgians and most Basques.

Or you need to look like one of Garibaldi's conquering heroes.... and sound like one. Or you need to be aloof and Gallic and weird.

Or you need to be a bizarrely named Kazakh goombah who feels no pain and sees no rivals - or a sprinter who looks like a raiding Tartar and rides like one.

I am overjoyed that 'we' have so many top riders... and that joy is somehow leaving me feeling emptier than all those decades of hopeless wishing for a British success.

Am I alone in this? Am I suffering from some sort of inverse xenophobia?

Do I need help?


Just imagine the kind of mass emotional meltdown that might have befallen this nation had Andy Murray won the Wimbledon Final.
 
Fancy me forgetting that. Thanks for reminding me, granddad.
It's nothing to do with age son. I've always found football a little too...plebian for my liking. It has it's place for sure. Usually as a means for the mob to vicariously satisfy their tribal insticts, a bit like gladitorial games, but football really has no place on such a refined forum as CC. Thanks again.
 

PaulB

Legendary Member
Location
Colne
It's nothing to do with age son. I've always found football a little too...plebian for my liking. It has it's place for sure. Usually as a means for the mob to vicariously satisfy their tribal insticts, a bit like gladitorial games, but football really has no place on such a refined forum as CC. Thanks again.
Stay away from it then, there's a good lad.
 
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