A former Tour de France winner in the Mother City?
Entirely possible in the South Africa of today, yet almost unthinkable some two decades ago.
The header image was taken in December 1992. It shows the late Laurent Fignon on a training ride around a windy Cape Peninsula in the company of some local elite riders of the day. Distinctive in appearance (trademark spectacles and ponytail) and European trade team kit, "Larry" is putting in some winter training miles in the sun ahead of his final season in the professional peloton.
International athletes spending time in South Africa were still a novelty at the time. Sure, the years of sporting isolation did see many a "Rebel Tour" grace our shores but more often than not involving second-stringers, B-teams or those simply brave or curious enough to compete here under false names, aliases and/or pseudonyms. The great Sean Kelly's own South African soujourn in the mid-seventies was exposed by a journalist who recognized the soon-to-be prolific Irishman only by a chance hotel passing. Yes, the Republic was "no go" right up until the early nineties when democracy was around the corner and the term "rainbow" was about to describe a nation.
So it was almost with disbelief that the Cape Town cycling fraternity learned of Fignon's presence in the city, pretty much by word of mouth. Sightings of the allegedly temperamental Parisian were aplenty, either in the company of the Team AWH-Motors riders (Schemeisser, Welgemoed, Green, Parsons, Dale, Ryder) pictured above or alone, cutting a solitary figure in the southern corners of Cape Town windswept roads, exuding the aloofness and effortless pedalling technique and body language like only a pro cyclist can.
There are a few quirks about the Laurent Fignon of this period, many of which were brilliantly encapsulated in his autobiography "We Were Young and Carefree."
Well into the autumn of his cycling career, the Frenchman is resplendent in Gatorade colours, ironic given that the American sports drink giant is sponsoring an Italian team. Led by the equally enigmatic and versatile Gianni Bugno, Fignon was one of the few Frenchmen to ride for a foreign team, much less an Italian one. His role was to act as an experienced lieutenant to the consistent Italian, although he had really wanted to ride for the Dutch Panasonic squad.
Look closely at his steed and one might notice a classic Celeste-coloured Bianchi. Look closer and down tube shifters are evident; no brake-mounted gear changing for Laurent there as he reaches down to change gear, still entrenched in the old school much like the aforementioned Kelly at the time. The vintage shifting-system also encouraged the old-style of riding, where bigger gears and lower cadences were de rigueur among the sport's elite, along with headbands and no helmets. Interestingly, Fignon credits his inability to comfortably pedal his preferred gear ratio as the signal to end his career cold turkey, only a few months after the header image was taken.
Laurent Fignon's Cape Town soujourn was almost a prelude to the plethora visiting athletes setting up camp in the Rainbow Nation for extended periods. Along with fellow cyclist Moreno Argentin and German track and fielder Katrin Krabbe, the late Fignon brought much excitement and interest to local sporting fans, thus making South Africa a legitimate and sought after training venue for international athletes across the sporting spectrum.
Chapeu Laurent.
Header image courtesy of Shawn Benjamin and Ark Images.
