Either way, there is a kind of beautiful humanity to his weeping. But, at the same time, juxtaposed with Merckx comparatively superhuman ability to devour the course, there is a sense of pitiful defeatism or inadequacy. Reminds me of the incredible scene at the end of 'Vive Le Tour' where we see the pained close ups of the riders ascending the Pyrenees and subliminal cuts to Anquetil, Planckaert & Poulidor on the podium. Both what they strive to achieve and what they will never achieve.
Thanks for looking into it. Somewhere along the line, by looking at Frimatic team pictures and trying to match names, I figured out that it was Grelin, but I didn't know the circumstances behind it. So, as you explained it, Grelin was likely a bit out of form, and didn't have enough gas in the tank to make it through this very hard mountain stage. Still, I wonder if he was chasing someone, or, more simply if the stage was just so brutal that it could reduce a professional cyclist to tears.
What. An. Athlete. Consider that this record stood for 17 years - how much longer would it have stood if Merckx was riding a modern bike? It just goes to show how good Eddy Merckx was - he would ride the likes of Armstrong and Contador to the ground. No question.
Also according to the Wikipedia article for the 1970 tour: "A few days before the Tour started, it became known that Paul Gutty had failed a doping test when he won the French national road championship. Gutty was removed from his Frimatic team, and replaced by Rene Grelin."
In defeat Merckx had always been a fair man. But this time he remained unconvinced. After all, he had beaten Moser in every time trial in which they had met. His disgust with the purety of the Hour record was obvious, when, commenting on Moser, he said, "For the first time in the history of the Hour record a weaker man has beaten a stronger man."
The stage was definitely brutal. The ascent up the backside of Tourmalet took too much out of the young Frenchman. Plus, I think the tears are also an indication of the disappointment he must have felt in regards to his inadequacies in tackling this tough stage. He may have been chasing someone and ran out of steam.. So the possible disappointment of being so close and failing or the idea of failing in his debut Tour de France or both.
An interesting tidbit three years later: I just read something online (a municipal newsletter from the town where Grelin was born) which claimed--and I'm going from the results of Google Translate because I don't speak French--that Grelin was suffering from appendicitis during this stage. That might be completely false, and Grelin might, as we surmised, have simply not been in good enough shape to make it through the Pyrenees. But interesting nonetheless.
I'm trying to figure out who the weeping rider is. He looks a bit too old to be Agostinho, judging that the footage is from a grand tour in the late 60's or early 70's, but I could be wrong. Does anyone have any info on who it might be?
It is René Grelin. Google his name plus the words 'cyclist frimatic'. Also check out this site: cyclingarchives dot c*m. You can search by name or team or both. His name is there along with the rest of the Frimatic team. What lead me to all of this? The French Wikipedia page for Frimatic di Gribaldy team haha.. & this scene is Stage 19 of the 1970 Tour (Bagnères-de-Bigorr - Mourenx, brutal mountain stage) since Grelin did not race in 1969 with Frimatic & they ceased after 1970. Cheers.
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Eddy Merckx le coureur cycliste le plus fort de tous les temps !
Either way, there is a kind of beautiful humanity to his weeping. But, at the same time, juxtaposed with Merckx comparatively superhuman ability to devour the course, there is a sense of pitiful defeatism or inadequacy. Reminds me of the incredible scene at the end of 'Vive Le Tour' where we see the pained close ups of the riders ascending the Pyrenees and subliminal cuts to Anquetil, Planckaert & Poulidor on the podium. Both what they strive to achieve and what they will never achieve.
Thanks for looking into it. Somewhere along the line, by looking at Frimatic team pictures and trying to match names, I figured out that it was Grelin, but I didn't know the circumstances behind it.
So, as you explained it, Grelin was likely a bit out of form, and didn't have enough gas in the tank to make it through this very hard mountain stage. Still, I wonder if he was chasing someone, or, more simply if the stage was just so brutal that it could reduce a professional cyclist to tears.
What. An. Athlete. Consider that this record stood for 17 years - how much longer would it have stood if Merckx was riding a modern bike? It just goes to show how good Eddy Merckx was - he would ride the likes of Armstrong and Contador to the ground. No question.
Also according to the Wikipedia article for the 1970 tour: "A few days before the Tour started, it became known that Paul Gutty had failed a doping test when he won the French national road championship. Gutty was removed from his Frimatic team, and replaced by Rene Grelin."
In defeat Merckx had always been a fair man. But this time he remained unconvinced. After all, he had beaten Moser in every time trial in which they had met. His disgust with the purety of the Hour record was obvious, when, commenting on Moser, he said, "For the first time in the history of the Hour record a weaker man has beaten a stronger man."
Anyone have info on the music towards the end of this clip?
The stage was definitely brutal. The ascent up the backside of Tourmalet took too much out of the young Frenchman. Plus, I think the tears are also an indication of the disappointment he must have felt in regards to his inadequacies in tackling this tough stage. He may have been chasing someone and ran out of steam.. So the possible disappointment of being so close and failing or the idea of failing in his debut Tour de France or both.
An interesting tidbit three years later: I just read something online (a municipal newsletter from the town where Grelin was born) which claimed--and I'm going from the results of Google Translate because I don't speak French--that Grelin was suffering from appendicitis during this stage. That might be completely false, and Grelin might, as we surmised, have simply not been in good enough shape to make it through the Pyrenees. But interesting nonetheless.
Is that Joaquim Agostinho? What is the story behind that?
I'm trying to figure out who the weeping rider is. He looks a bit too old to be Agostinho, judging that the footage is from a grand tour in the late 60's or early 70's, but I could be wrong. Does anyone have any info on who it might be?
It is René Grelin. Google his name plus the words 'cyclist frimatic'. Also check out this site: cyclingarchives dot c*m. You can search by name or team or both. His name is there along with the rest of the Frimatic team. What lead me to all of this? The French Wikipedia page for Frimatic di Gribaldy team haha.. & this scene is Stage 19 of the 1970 Tour (Bagnères-de-Bigorr - Mourenx, brutal mountain stage) since Grelin did not race in 1969 with Frimatic & they ceased after 1970. Cheers.
I mean at part 7
Explains a lot, huh? Haha. Was most likely out of form. Didn't race again until February 1971.