Cyclopedia. Part 13

and how

the photographers hounded

your lady in white

as she waited

for her lean brown prince to race

to her embrace

And when that dread disease

did for you as

for any mortal

I thought again of the pain

that might have been

behind the goggles

and the tight grin

behind the private smile

for the waiting lady

the quiet lady in white

who waited at the line

to give the greatest prize of all

But it's long gone now

Fausto

the flash pop picture press

the gossip column glare

has switched to another scene

you can relax

it's time to sit up in the saddle

ride on the tops

freewheel a little

you're out in front

and they'll never catch you

now

POLITICS Cycling and cycle racing have always been closely linked to political developments in the wider world. For example, the newspaper circulation war that led to the Tour de France's foundation was born of the political controversy involving Alfred Dreyfus, while the invention of the bike was important in women's rights. In Ireland, the national tour caused political controversy in its early years (see RaS).

Both the GIRO D'ITALIA and TOUR DE FRANCE have had political undertones, the Giro more so than its French counterpart. In 1911 the race celebrated 50 years of Italian unification, while the 1946 event was seen as an expression of the nation rising from the ashes of war. That race visited disputed territories such as the city of Trieste and the newly integrated Alto Adige, where the freshly elected president of the reborn republic, Alcide de Gasperi, made a point of visiting the race.

Politicians have always loved to get involved with cycling. It was a similar story in n.a.z.i Germany, where cycle rallies were run, bike accessories bore swastikas, and tires were marketed with swastika imprints. In fascist Italy, Benito Mussolini was not a ma.s.sive cycling fan-he preferred motor racing because of its modernity-but he still made overtures to the young GINO BARTALI. The 1938 Tour de France winner was unwilling to be used for propaganda purposes but still succ.u.mbed to pressure from the sport's minister to ride the 1937 Tour as well as the Giro; unfortunately he crashed. After the war, Bartali was close to Italy's new prime minister Alcide de Gasperi, who represented the pro-Catholic Christian Democrats; he campaigned on their behalf and responded to De Gasperi's call to win the 1948 Tour as Italy came close to a communist revolution. (See Bartali's entry for whether or not he actually saved the nation.) The first VUELTA A ESPAnA was explicitly political. It was an incarnation of the country's sense of patriotism, according to an editorial in the promoting paper: as Spain's Civil War loomed, such words were a call to arms for the fascists. Before the start of the 1941 Vuelta, the peloton lined up at Madrid's Puerta del Sol, considered the spiritual center of the Spanish state, put out their right arms, and sang "Cara al Sol," the Falange anthem. Later, the race was sponsored partly by the Spanish Ministry of Education, and politically aware stage winners often saluted the military from the podium.

After FEDERICO BAHAMONTES won his Tour de France on July 18, 1959-the anniversary of the military uprising that sp.a.w.ned the 40-year dictators.h.i.+p of General Franco-he was greeted by el caudillo upon his return as 14 military bra.s.s bands played in his honor. When the pair met, Bahamontes recalled that Franco wanted to discuss soccer, but the dictator was a Real Madrid fan, while the cyclist supported Barcelona. "I couldn't really help him," recalled the "Eagle of Toledo."

The Franco legacy lingers on in the fact that even today, the Vuelta never visits the heart of the Basque Country. During the dictators.h.i.+p, the race often started and finished there, to make the point that the fiercely independent nation was part of the mother country. This tradition was poorly received as Basque nationalism gained pace. In 1968 a bomb was exploded on the race route, while 10 years later the separatists scattered tin tacks and timber beams on the road before the two final stages, both of which were thus canceled.

The nationalists bombed that year's Tour de France as well and were in action again when the Tour started in San Sebastian, setting fire to two cars, one of which contained a month's worth of clothes belonging to the TV commentator PHIL LIGGETT. Whenever the Tour visits the Pyrenees, the Basques are prominent, brandis.h.i.+ng banners calling for the release of political prisoners; when the race enters the Basque country, the signs are in Basque as well as French to appease the locals.

There have also been specifically political cycling movements. In the early 20th century the German Workers Cycling Federation boasted 150,000 members while socialists across Great Britain formed an entire network of Clarion cycle clubs in the 1890s. At one time the Clarion clubs numbered over 100, running houses where the members could socialize in between holding rallies and distributing Socialist literature from their bikes. There are still 24 Clarion cycle clubs in Britain, but they are not politically affiliated.

Politicians still like to be seen with successful cyclists. Various French presidents, including Nicolas Sarkozy, have visited the Tour de France. Greg LeMond and Lance Armstrong were both invited to the White House after their respective Tour de France victories. George Bush senior was photographed with his wife Barbara on bikes in China in the 1970s. After the British Olympic cycling team's success in Beijing in 2008, Prime Minister Gordon Brown invited the team head, Dave Brailsford, to speak at the Labour party conference. But jumping onto the bike bandwagon doesn't always work out. Brailsford made a point of telling Labour about the virtues of a team sticking together, at a time when the government was riven by infighting.

On the other side of the spectrum, the current British prime minister David Cameron will always remain the politician who rode his bike to work-with a car following behind him carrying his bag and his shoes. George W. Bush fell off his bike, funnily enough, but perhaps the ultimate letdown came when former French president Jacques Chirac invited the Tour de France to his fiefdom in the Dordogne in 1998 only for one of the biggest drugs scandals in the race's history to ruin the party.