………………..GRINTA
Vallen en sterven op de Galibier (‘Falling and dying on the Galibier’).
That is the title of a book by Willy Van Neste.
He is a relative of mine who received the yellow and green jersey, after winning a stage in the 1967 Tour de France.
He came 5th in the final results of the 1968 Giro, too, after a strong performance on the slopes of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo, a stage won by Merckx in apocalyptic conditions.
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This iconic yellow jersey hangs in the Museum of Cycle Racing in Roeselare,
which I visited last weekend with Willy Van Neste himself, a relative of mine.
………………..
This iconic yellow jersey hangs in the Museum of Cycle Racing in Roeselare, which I visited last weekend with Willy.
I have been fascinated by cycle racing since I was a boy, when I was allowed to listen, in my father’s bicycle workshop, to juicy anecdotes from the book ‘The rich life of Flemish cyclists’ (Het rijke Vlaamsche wielerleven) recounted by cyclists such as Marcel Kint (The Black Eagle), Briek Schotte (Iron Briek), Jos Hoevenaers, Guido Reybrouck and many others.
There I heard how their preparations were back then: ignorant, Spartan, intuitive, on their soigneur’s (trainer’s) orders, which were sometimes shrouded in mystery and sometimes a case of not knowing any better.
Trial and error, or rather
Falling and dying on the Galibier.
What a difference, if I compare that now to the support and guidance we received from EY and the whole entourage around it, exchanging data and monitoring schedules.
Top professionals like us rate such values highly in our everyday activities.
A big thanks for this wonderful initiative and allowing us to participate.
Because of this, I think my sporting performance, my general condition, my wellbeing have reached a level that resembles a certain GRINTA again.
Eager to succeed, eager for the team spirit, eager for a sense of pleasure, eager for mental resilience.
It will be a unique experience that we will cherish for the rest of our lives.
The former yellow jersey wearer still cherishes his experience today and his eyes twinkle when you ask him, what was it like in your day?
I hope that later on we’ll be able to tell our story with a twinkle in our eyes, too, when people ask us, what was the EY Cycling Tour in 2021 like?
Falling and dying on the Galibier.
………………..GRINTA
Looking forward to it.
See you next week,