"Tomorrow we ride. that's what my brother Louison and
I used to say as we arranged to meet: every day while we
were racing cyclists, and then just on Sundays when we
weren't competing any more. We kept on riding until the
end of his life, because even then - especially then,
perhaps - we always understood each other best on bikes.
We had always needed a bike beneath us. In the words of
the song, we took the high road and the low road: in
cycling, the glory days always have less glorious ones
on their tail. Thanks to Louison, I had the good fortune
to ride with him through the golden years, the 50s: the
years of post-war reconstruction, of Coppi and Bartali,
of Kubler and Koblet, of Gaul and Van Steenbergen,
Anquetil and Darrigade. These are names that speak of
the aristocracy of cycling, and the fierceness of the
competition. Every day, Louison and I took pleasure in
cycling together, whether on our intimate journeys
through Brittany or the Alps, or in the frenzy of the
Tour de France or Giro d'Italia." Jean Bobet. Jean
Bobet's book is not so much a biography of his superstar
brother Louison, nor his own autobiography, but rather
an account of the intermingling of their two lives.And
what lives - Louison, triple Tour de France winner and
World Champion and Jean (no mean rider himself) who gave
up an academic career to ride in the service of his
brother in pursuit of sporting glory. Set in the period
after the war, this story brings alive the romance of
the great races and the star riders of the day whose
exploits lifted the public spirit after years of
conflict and economic hardship. |
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