Major Taylor 1878 - 1932

February being Black History Month, I wanted to remind everyone of this remarkable athlete.

Marshall Walter ("Major") Taylor born in Indianapolis, Indiana was an African American cyclist who won the World One-mile Track Cycling Championship in 1899, 1900, and 1901.

Major Taylor was the second black world champion in any sport, after Canadian boxer George Dixon. 

The Major Taylor Velodrome in Indianapolis, Indiana and a bicycle trail in Chicago are named in his honor.

On July 24, 2006 the city of Worcester, MA changed the name of part of Worcester Center Boulevard to Major Taylor Boulevard.

Memorial outside the Worcester Public Library in his adopted hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts

Major Taylor suffered as a result of racial prejudice throughout his career, banned from racing by some promoters, or treated roughly or unfairly by other competitors. The League of American Wheelmen banned black cyclists form membership in 1894.

(Left.) A caricature published in the edition of February 23, 1894 of The Bearings cycling magazine, illustrating the ban from membership of the League of American Wheelmen

However, by competing in an integrated sport, and even being part of an integrated team, Major Taylor paved the way for other black athletes in other sports.

Taylor shakes the hand of competitor Edmond Jacquelin at Paris' Parc des Princes Velodrome in 1901

Taylor and Léon Hourlier at a standstill during a race at Paris' Vélodrome Buffalo in 1909

Taylor with the Boston pursuit team of 1897; one of the first known photographs of an integrated American professional sports team.

Here are some links to more on Major Taylor:

MajorTaylor.com

The Major Taylor Association

Wikipedia

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Reflecting on the life and death of Raymond Poulidor

This past week brought the news that former French professional cyclist Raymond Poulidor had died. I had written about Poulidor’s life and his many achievements back in 2007, so to simply re-post the article at this time would be to repeat the many tributes already posted in the days immediately following his passing.

Instead I thought I would like to write about some of my own feelings after hearing the news. Raymond Poulidor was born in April 1936, I was born in February 1936, we were almost the same age. I have followed Poulidor’s career since the early years in the 1960s.

I think back to my childhood during WWII and wonder what it was like for Poulidor in German occupied France. So much harder and a lot more dangerous. I think about my teenage years in the 1950s when I first got into cycling and started racing. At that time, Raymond Poulidor would have been doing the same.

His passing brought up thoughts of my own mortality. Something I came to terms with many years ago, but I could not help but wonder, why his life ends at this moment, while mine continues? One of the reasons why Poulidor was such a loved personality was because he made himself available to his many fans.

After he rode his last Tour de France he attended the event every year, driving the entire route, meeting fans and signing autographs. In more recent years he became an official ambassador for the Tour. His presence will be missed in future events, that is for sure. I read where he attended this year’s TDF even though he knew his health was failing.

One of my boyhood heroes was Ferdi Kubler, a Swiss cyclist who won the Tour de France in 1950. He died just three years ago in 2016, at the age of 97. For many years he was the oldest living TDF winner. I wrote to the Tour organizers on several occasions asking if Kubler could be honored at one of the events. Maybe when a stage went into Switzerland.

Ferdi Kubler right age 35, left age 95,

I never got a response or saw Ferdi Kubler appear at the race. Maybe he was invited but declined, possibly the stress of attending would have been too much for someone so elderly? Kubler was a life-long fitness fanatic and looked good up until the end. I wonder if living the quiet life out of the spotlight also contributed to his longevity? His death did not attract near the attention Poulidor’s passing did.

As one becomes older life becomes a balancing act. One must have a purpose in life, or life will end. Poulidor had a great purpose, the mutual love of his fans. However, did the stress of that need to attend the TDF at all cost, prove to be too much?

Fitness and health have to be the priority, everything else depends on it. As one gets older you must know your limitations, I exercise but never to extremes, and never to exhaustion. I get plenty of rest. One must also prioritize who and what are the most important, my wife, and my daughters come first, everyone and everything else must follow.

I will miss Raymond Poulidor, as will his fans everywhere, those who knew him personally will miss him more. His immediate family, his daughter, his wife, will miss him most of all, and for a lot longer.

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Louison Bobet: First three time TDF winner

When French cyclist Louison Bobet won the Tour de France in 1953, 1954, and 1955 he became the first rider to win the event three consecutive times. His victories came through sheer hard work and determination.

For example, his first Tour de France was in 1947 at the tender age of 22 he was forced to quit when the race reached the mountain stages. He found the going too tough, and it was a lesson the young Bobet would not forget. He trained even harder and became one of the greatest climbers of his era.

The following year 1948 he was the darling of the French press when he took the Yellow Jersey early in the race. However, that was the year when Italian Gino Bartali was unstoppable and came out a clear winner. (Picture below: Bobet leads Bartali.)

Bobet failed to finish the Tour in 1949, but in 1950 had his best showing to date, finishing 3rd. overall, and taking the King of the Mountains Trophy. However, this showing was somewhat tainted because the entire Italian team quit due to hostility and interference from French spectators. This was when Italian rider Fiorenzo Magni was leading the race. Swiss rider Ferdi Kubler won that year.

Naturally the French Nation expected great things of Louison Bobet the following year 1951. His year began well, Bobet won the Mountains Jersey in the Giro d’Italia. He also won two of the Classic races that year, the Milan – San Remo, and the Tour of Lombardy.

However, his showing in the Tour de France was disappointing when he placed 20th. The French press were writing him off as being a good single day rider, but not having the right stuff to win the Tour. Bobet would miss the 1952 Tour due to injury.

In 1953 TDF Louison Bobet finally silenced his critics, and for the years that followed he became the favorite of the French Nation. 1947 winner Jean Robic took an early lead, but a crash and an all out attack by the French National Team put Robic out of the race. Louison Bobet, took the yellow jersey on the famed stage over the Izoard Pass and kept it.

In the 1954 Tour, the Swiss team led by Ferdi Kubler, Hugo Koblet and Fritz Schaer kept up constant pressure. However, as in 1953, Bobet slaughtered his rivals on the Izoard climb and cemented his second consecutive Tour victory.

For some the famed Izoard climb is synonymous with Louison Bobet. The mythic Alpine climb was crucial to his first two Tour victories. So convincing was he in 1954, he left his Swiss rival Ferdi Kubler trailing by twelve minutes.

In 1955, suffering from a saddle sore, many were pessimistic about the chances of Louison Bobet winning his third consecutive Tour de France. Young Luxembourg climber Charly Gaul (Pictured above with Bobet.) grabbed plenty of headlines by winning Bobet's sacred stage to Briançon. But Bobet bounced back by destroying his competition on the feared Mount Ventoux after a long solo victory. It proved to be the key to his third Tour victory.

Bobet's victory on the Mount Ventoux was of the stuff that becomes legendary in Tour history. At the start of the stage, Bobet is still more than 11 minutes down to the unheralded Antonin Rolland. At the foot of the 21-kilometer climb, the Swiss champ attacked with Raphäel Geminiani and no one could follow. (Bobet and Geminiani picture below.)

However, the Swiss misjudged the difficulty of the climb and faded badly. Bobet, who understood the true menace of the famed mountain, bided his time. In the final six kilometers, above the tree line in under the blazing sun, Bobet caught and passed the leaders. No one could match his driving pace. At the summit Kubler was already 20 minutes down and by the finish in Avignon, Bobet was alone.

By his own admission Bobet was never the same after the 1955 Tour. However, he did win the Paris-Roubaix Classic in 1956. He had placed 3rd in 1955, and had previously placed 2nd in 1951. Louison Bobet won the World Championship Road Race in 1954, was 2nd in 1957 and 1958. 

Bobet’s career was effectively ended in December 1961 when his car skidded off the road and hit a boulder. Bobet broke his femur and his recovery was long and difficult. He eventually raced again, but retired the next year at the end of 1962.

Born 1925, Louison Bobet died of cancer in 1983 at the young age of 58. After his death, there was speculation that the saddle sore that had plagued him in his last Tour win, was much more than a simple boil, and may have been cancer. In the 1950s cancer was a taboo subject and no one talked of it. If that was the case, his win showed the sheer guts and determination of the man.

Bobet’s Tour victories came between Fausto Coppi (Above leading Bobet.) and Jacques Anquetil, both men spoke highly of him. Coppi once said of Bobet. “He knows like nobody else how to suffer and his powers of recovery are unmatched. The bike means everything to him. It is truly his life blood and his application to his chosen way of life is an example to every aspiring champion.”

Anquetil (Above 3rd from left, with Bobet leading.) stated “In Bobet’s eyes there were no little races or unimportant victories. Every race mattered and he wanted to give his everything to his public. Bobet knew only one way of racing and that was to race to win, whatever the sacrifices demanded.”

These quotes reflect the respect and admiration of fellow riders and the public. He was certainly one of the heroes of my youth.

First posted March 2009 

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Raymond Poulidor: A Working Class Hero

Raymond Poulidor never won the Tour de France, or for that matter never wore the race leader's Yellow Jersey during any of the Tours.

He did place second in 1964, 1965, and 1974, and placed third in 1962, 1966, 1969, 1972, and 1976. He entered the Tour de France 14 times and finished 12 times, he was consistently in the top ten. 

He had a longer career than is usual for a professional cyclist. His first major victory was in the classic Milan-San Remo in 1961. His third place in the Tour in 1976, came at age 40.

His inability to win the Tour de France won him the nick-name in the press as the "Eternal Second." However in spite of this he was immensely popular with the French public, and was more often than not known affectionately as "Pou Pou." 

During the first part of his career, Poulidor had to race against Jacques Anquetil, and although the former could get the better of Anquetil on the bigger climbs, he lacked Anquetil's tactical ability, especially in the discipline of the time-trial. Poulidor’s riding style was aggressive and attacking, whereas Anquetil would control the race in the climbing stages, then win in the time trial. 

There was always intense rivalry between these two riders. (Pictured together, left.) Anquetil was the top French rider of his day, and it always irked him that Poulidor was in many ways more popular with the French public, and was often given more favorable coverage in the French press.

For example in 1965, when Poulidor was perceived to have received more credit for dropping Anquetil the previous year on the Puy-de-Dôme than Anquetil had received for winning the whole Tour. 

Long after their retirement, Jacques Anquetil and Raymond Poulidor would finally become friends. Anquetil died of stomach cancer in 1987, and the day before he died, he told Poulidor, “Once again my friend you will be second to me.” 

When Anquetil retired, Poulidor faced a second nemesis in a young Eddy Merckx. The “Eternal Second” label continued. In 1974 at the age of 38, he was second to Merckx, not only in the TDF, but 2^nd also in the World Road Championship that year.

Incidentally, Poulidor also placed 3^rd in the World Championships in 1961, 1964, and 1966. He does hold one record, in that he finished in the top three in the Tour de France no fewer than eight times. No one has done that before or since. 

Today Raymond Poulidor is still immensely popular with the French people, making regular appearances at the Tour de France and other races. Seen above singing autographs in recent years.

A national survey in 1991 asked the question, which celebrity they would like to invite for a Christmas dinner, a French audience overwhelmingly answered Raymond Poulidor, beating out famous movie stars. 

What could be the reason for such popularity? He came from peasant stock, from the farming midlands of France. He speaks with a regional accent. In other words, he is a "Working Class Hero."

There is something about a person who attains success in life, but they retain their "down-to-earth" qualities that the ordinary man on the street can relate to. Think of the continuing popularity of rock stars like Bruce Springsteen or Neil Young, they have that same working class persona.

Or maybe Raymond Poulidor’s popularity was in the fact that he never did win the big one, but at the same time never gave up trying. The world will always admire such spirit, that of the underdog.

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How a single ride changed the face of British Time Trialing

In England, in 1953, the top British time trialist was a man named Ken Joy. (Left.)

The previous year he had ridden a 100 miles in 4 hours and 6 minutes, which at that time was phenomenal.

In the early 1950s, British riders racing against the clock invariably rode on a single fixed wheel.

48 x 15, or 48 x 16 (86.4 inch or 81 inch.) would be a typical gear ratio used for 100 miles. Courses would be selected over the flattest possible terrain.

At the end of 1952 Ken Joy turned professional and was sponsored by Hercules, a large manufacturer of roadster bikes, located in Birmingham, England. As British time trialing did not have a professional category, the only thing open for Ken Joy, was to ride solo and attack the many place to place records and distance records under the auspices of the Road Records Association.

So when Ken Joy was invited to ride in the Grand Prix des Nations in 1953 it created tremendous excitement for the average British Club Rider. This famous French event was after all considered to be the unofficial World Time Trial Championship of Professional Cycling.

Britain was somewhat cut off and isolated from the rest of Europe as far as cycling was concerned. We were in our own little world of time trialing, and the time trials held on the continent of Europe were odd distances, and held on courses that were not always flat, so how did you compare.

There was much speculation in the weeks leading up to the event as to how well Ken Joy would do. After all he had to be in with a chance, 100 miles in 4 hours 6 minutes is not exactly hanging around, by any standard.

I was 17 years old at the time and in my second year of racing, mostly time trialing; I was definitely caught up in all the excitement. The Grand Prix des Nations was to be run over a distance of 142 kilometers, which was just over 88 miles, a distance that would suit Joy.

The event was held on a weekend, and a few of the major British newspapers had the results in Monday’s morning edition. However we had to wait until the following Wednesday when the “Cycling” magazine came out to get the full impact of what had transpired.

The event was won by a then unknown 19 year old French rider named Jacques Anquetil. Not only did he beat Ken Joy, he started 16 minutes behind the British rider and caught and passed him. A nineteen year old kid, just two years older than me, had trounced the best that Britain had to offer.

There were two British professional riders in the 1953 event; the other was Bob Maitland whose previous riding was mostly in NCU Mass Start Circuit Races. I seem to remember Maitland finished with a better time than Joy, but both were well down the field. Later in 1955, Bob Maintland did become part of the first British team to ride the Tour de France.

I remember well the above picture of Anquetil, low, aerodynamic, with his hands curled around the slim Mafac brake hoods. His mechanic standing on the running board of the following car with a spare bike on his shoulder. This was a whole different world, a whole different level of bike racing.

This one ride changed the face of British time trialing. Anquetil used a five speed free-wheel, with 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 cogs. With a single 53 tooth chainwheel; it gave him a top gear of 102 inches. This was the highest ratio mechanically possible at that time. Soon after British time trialists would abandon fixed wheel and use five speed straight up 14 to 18, and later 13 to 17 free wheels.

Jacques Anquetil of course went on to become one of the great cyclists of all time. Winning the Grand Prix des Nations 9 times, and going on to become the first man to win the Tour de France five times.

The Grand Prix des Nations which started in 1932, and became one of the professional classics, was held annually until 2005 when it was abandoned after the UCI inaugurated an official World Time Trial Championship.

Footnote: If you haven't already done so, read this 3 part series: The History of British Cycle Racing. It tells of the ban on road racing in Britain that lasted 50 years, and how a handful of cyclists fought to get this ban lifted. Britain's current success in cycling is due in part to those who went before and dragged the sport out of the dark ages

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