We Were Young and Carefree: The Autobiography of Laurent Fignon
S**R
The Man Behind the Smirk
I'm so glad I took the time to read this account by Fignon. I started racing in 1984-85 and I couldn't stand this guy. His public persona was of this pompous, arrogant, smirking celebrity cyclist... who also had a tremendous talent that at least sometimes made up for these character flaws. The book does a good job of uncovering the roots of this perception - some of it justified; some of it magnified by the media accounts of the time. I was pleased to find that he and the Badger were actually quite good friends and seem to have remained so throughout his run in life. His taunting of Hinault during and after the 1984 TDF was one of the reasons I took to disliking the man.I even appreciated the fact that this was not an account by an accomplished author - quite the contrary. As a result, many readers may find it plodding and pedantic in places; repetitive in others. This is a small price to pay for Fignon's perspective on the last years of the Golden Age of cycling (roughly 1948 - 1986). The account brims with authenticity, soul searching, and the confessions of a man who must have known at some level that he was penning his own obituary.I get so angry when cyclists today apologize for Armstrong and other modern cyclists by claiming that professional cyclists have always used drugs and cheated. Fignon makes the case that the drugs doing the rounds in his day were known, tested for, and were never a part of the general routines and traditions of cycling. The drug of choice in his day was amphetamine and as Fignon says, it could never take an average cyclist and make them into a champion. He also chronicles the rise of the super drugs like EPO, HGH, synthetic testosterone, etc. (which could not be tested for at the time) and the ways these accelerated the decline of cycling from the sport of 'the Giants of the Road' into the cash cow it is today.The other insight that I really found fascinating was his relationship with the one time Renault Directeur Sportif, Cyrille Guimard. His relationship with Guimard began when he was still racing as an amateur in the late 70's early 80's and the Renault team enjoyed this almost cult-like status among the French. From Fignon's account it is clear that as a directeur sportif, Guimard had no equal... however when it came to running a business or even mastering the intricacies of close personal relationships, he was a singular failure. Guimard seems to have had a great reservoir of passive-aggressiveness which would show itself during times of stress. I always suspected he was just too much the authoritarian, which might help explain his falling out with Hinault who held a similar reputation for strictness at the time. However, the opposite seems to have been the case. Fignon doesn't quite put his finger on it, but I felt Guimard just didn't know how to deal with criticism - or perhaps more to the point - how to deal with people who were unhappy with him. At the same time I felt that several of Fignon's criticisms of Guimard were not fair... because who can be all things to all people at all times? Still, such a sad end to a famous collaboration.If you lived and raced in my era, you will find yourself nodding 'yes' to many of the descriptions and details recounted here. It was such a beautiful sport in its day... it's a shame, really.
J**E
Two time winner of the Tour de France ---'Nuff Said
I really enjoyed this book. Laurent won the Tour in 1983 and 1984....and.....almost.......in 1989. This is my favorite, and I think the best years of the Tour. Laurent Fignon, Bernard Hinault, Greg LeMond. All true legit Tour, and other races, champions. Laurent gets into his relationship with other riders, his own teams, team management, the press, and shares issues of his personal life. He shares some of his criticisms of other riders. He talks about the business side of the Tour and teams and getting sponsors, but the ultimately owning his own team. Most biking books I really just want to read about the specific races, the stages, the strategy. And this book does address the racing details. But the "non-race" background and personal issues and insights Laurent provides prove to be equally interesting. And yes, he does go into detail about the 1989 Tour and the famous, or infamous, 8 seconds. LeMond and Laurent going head to head on the Champs. Laurent does fully address the impact of that 1989 "loss" on him. And it was significant as he describes. Laurent was a great rider, one of the last true all-rounders and a competitor to the end. After reading this book, it was clear to me the one race, the 1989 Tour de France, does not define Laurent. He won the Tour de France in 1983 and 1984. He won the Giro in 1989, but fell a mere 8 seconds short of a Tour win in 1989. The 1989 tour second place finish does not diminish in any way his accomplishments or his standing as a true race champion. I am a huge fan of Laurent Fignon. But even if you are not, this book will be of interest to any fan of professional bike racing in the 1980s. I love the image of Laurent cranking down the Champs in the 1989 Tour de France. No aero helmet. No tri-bars on his bike. Two disc wheels. His pony tail blowing in the wind as he gives it his all to get to the finish line. Edged out by 8 seconds by an equally competitive rider rival --- Greg LeMond. Laurent Fignon -- climber, sprinter, team leader, champion.
T**.
We were young
I was lucky enough to be a competitive athlete in the 1980's...an Iron Man distance triathlete who fell in love with cycling. It was a time when MTV and the Tour de France both made their debut on television. We learned a new language; peloton, Alpe d'Huez and riding a wheel. We also learned of old heroes and fell in love with new one's; Eddy Merckx, Jacques Anquetil, The Badger, Greg Lemond and Laurent Fignon. Laurent was the man I admired and even tried to mirror in appearance. He was fast, insane in his tactics and was the cool French guy with the pony tail! He was partly why I rode. Even why my wife and I became part of a student exchange program with a French family.If you took up cycling in the 1980's you MUST read this book. His recollections bring back images we watched on TV of Paris Roubaix and the Tour. His stories will help you to understand the times and to make the men of the peloton like Sean Kelly and Bernard Hinault become real people not just powerful guys on bikes. I have to say there were times while reading I felt great melancholy at the knowledge these days are gone for them and for me. Though it took only two days to read the book I have already re-read pages as they instill such emotion, joy and sometimes sadness.Laurent is a personal hero. Many Americans at that time loved to hate Laurent as he was Lemond's nemesis. And few remember that Laurent won the Tour de France twice before Lemond beat him with skill and technology. The yellow Renault jersey and The Professor will never be forgotten. Laurent is very very sick now...which brings another level of mortality to the book and to life. I wish him well and I hope he knows he DID create a legacy and a joy for many of us...as we rode our bikes over 100 mile training rides we would take up the personas of Hinault and Lemond....and I, Laurent Fignon.
E**K
A fascinating insight into the last golden age of French cycling
I got into cycling in 1990, the year after Fignon lost the Tour by those infamous 8 seconds. This was the twilight of his career, but, as he points out in the book, he was one of that rare breeds who won the Tour at his first attempt - a remarkable achievement.He starts the book by talking about the 1989 Tour, ‘lancing the boil’, as he puts it. Yes, he should have won the Tour that year. Would he have done so using Lemond’s space age tri bar technology ? We’ll never know.I always knew that Fignon was an irascible character, but hearing how he was treated by ignorant journalists, you can understand why. He didn’t suffer fools gladly. Ultimately, I did find this book a bit depressing - such early promise unfulfilled due to, for example, injuries, and his hoped for great comeback dashed on the cobbles of the Champs Elysees. But it does tell of a simpler, less money orientated, less drug controlled style of passionate racing, and probably explains why Team Sky’s clinical based approach to cycling is so hated in France.Fignon was a hero, and I mourn his premature passing greatly. I shall raise a glass of champagne to you tonight, Laurent
A**R
Let me in Laurent!
I found this book to be a tricky read. Laurent Fignon is brutally honest with his opinions of the sport, but the book often felt like a series of small stories and I craved some more detail of the races themselves over his personal feelings towards colleagues and personalities he rode with. The book did not flow too well from my perspective and read like a journal. Each story is interesting but upon finishing I can't recall a full story of a race, rather just bits of tours and races that added up to be his career.He is clearly still wounded after finishing in 2nd place in the most exiting Tour de France in history, and rather than blaming Greg LeMond for being a wheel sucker, he should have gone into detail about how the loss occurred, and perhaps looked towards himself and his own tactics and decisions.I was hoping the book would be more French, more bonkers as Fignon was knows as a maverick, and I think the translation from French into English lets the book down. Some phrases in there are English phrases I'm sure the French do not use - example - referring to women as 'birds', I do not know what the French equivalent is, but it would have been better. This aspect kept me a little on the outside. I wanted to be in the head of Laurent Fignon.Laurent is a great sportsman, a fantastic cyclist and clearly intelligent. He has a wall which he is too proud to let the reader peak over. What I do like is the book is written from a time when professional cycling rode incredible distances in tours and one day races, on bikes not as technically advanced as now, and they delivered gutsy performances to win. The romance of grand tour cycling and classics cycling is captured well. If only there was photography to help keep you in the moment with him. He was young and carefree he said, he was definitely young, but he cared deeply about his profession and about performing to his maximum ability. He's a French hero, and a hero of mine and it makes my heart heavy that he is o longer with us. The sport needs more Fignons.
J**2
A Keeper
If I could describe this book in one word, I'd say it was 'fearless'. And when you think how Laurent Fignon rode during his pro career, it's not too far away from that...I had a few pre-conceived ideas prior to reading this book; some from what i already knew and others from general reading, chat etc. and so was intrigued to find out more about such an enigmatic character.This book is a very detailed account of Laurent Fignons pro-cycling career and the intracacies contained therein, describing his time in the peloton as 'a golden age' when pro-bike riders were 'winners' rather than the 'earners' of today. (Couldn't agree more with that sentiment, as it goes).He doesn't give much away about his private life (only found out he was married half way through the book) but for me, that in no way detracts from the books' essential content. It's written with great passion about life in the pro peloton and the tactical nous needed to succeed-describing some races as "guerilla warfare" and writing of "going into battle". This for me was the highlight of the book; to have that level of insider knowledge and insight was just great and I loved that about it.Those eight seconds; it was very very interesting to get his take on that momentous event...Another element of this book I liked is the way in which Laurent Fignon shares with the reader his take (as well as his respect)of other big players / riders of the day; Hinault, Kelly etc etc and from that, we get to know more about those riders also.Doping is discussed, but not in any great depth-I had the feeling that whatever it was Monsieur Fignon took in his day,there was a line he wouldn't cross, believably appearing horrified as to how doping seems to have progressed in more recent times.I did wonder as to why he didn't include any photos-would have liked to have seen a few-and as well, why no palmares?Over the years, I've read a lot of pro-cycling literature-this is the only one on immediately after finishing reading,I went to the front and started to re-read. Normally, i'll give away books I've read, but not this one-I'm keepin it! :)Such a shame there won't be any more-i had the feeling there's a good few other books this guy could have written, particularly on pro-cycling of today.A thoroughly absorbing and enjoyable read-R.I.P Monsieur (Twice TDF winner) Fignon...
P**K
Skirts a bit
They're a funny bunch these Tour de France winners. Here is endeavour, and he won twice, missing out on the third by that famous sliver. There is a lot in here for the cycling fan, there is a lot in here for those who want to get a taste for the (what he describes) last days of partial innocence in cycling, there's a lot in here for those who sense technology makes the link with the endeavour fragile at times and there is a bit in here for how diverse the character of a sporting great can be. He was a true great.I do have the feeling he might have engaged in some reputation management and there is just not enough in there about the man before the sporting achievement, nor a great deal about the man away from the sport, but I suspect it has a small readership and his editors did say to stick the brief - a book about a that great cyclist and those 8 seconds.
H**Y
A fabulous cycling biography
One of the best cycling biographies I have read. I liked it so much I bought another copy and gave to a friend. I particularly enjoyed when he writes about his very early years as a teenager starting to ride. Comes across as very honest, warts and all talking about drugs issues witnessed later on. Everyone remembers him losing the tour on the last day's time trial to Greg LeMond, but twice a winner of the Tour before that. The original French title describes it more colourfully - "insouciant" is the word used rather than "carefree".
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