to je ako tie anekdoty o Anquetilovi z Krabbeho knihy:
“Jacques Anquetil, five-time winner of the Tour de France, used to take his water bottle out
of its holder before every climb and stick it in the back pocket of his jersey. Ab Geldermans,
his Dutch lieutenant, watched him do that for years, until finally he couldn't stand it any more
and asked him why. And Anquetil explained.
A rider, said Anquetil, is made up of two parts, a person and a bike. The bike, of course,
is the instrument the person uses to go faster, but its weight also slows him down. That really
counts when the going gets tough, and in climbing the thing is to make sure the bike is as light
as possible. A good way to do that is: take the bidon out of its holder.
So, at the start of every climb, Anquetil moved his water bottle from its holder to his back pocket.
Clear enough.
Lebusque is from Normandy, just like Anquetil. He claims to have raced with him twenty-five
years ago. And to have come in before him on occasion.
I usually come in before Lebusque.
Lebusque is really only a body. In fact, he's not a good racer. People are made up of two parts:
a mind and a body. Of the two, the mind, of course, is the rider. That this mind has recourse to two
instruments, a body and a bicycle-both of which have to be as light as possible-doesn't really matter.
What Anquetil needed was faith. And nothing is better for a firm and solid faith than being in the wrong.
Jean Graczyk used to cut a potato down the middle every evening and lie down with the two halves
on his eyelids. Gabriel Poulain pounded his spokes flat. The Pelissier brothers only trained with the wind
at their backs (it sometimes took years for them to get back home). Boutonnet uses a twelve. Coppi
had himself carried up the steps of his hotel after every stage of the Tour. Riviere filled his tires with
helium. Poulain's wheels collapsed beneath him.
If they'd forbidden Anquetil to put his bidon in his back pocket, he would never have won the Tour
de France.”