"Callistus Valerius" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
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> >
>> Charly Gaul died today in a Paris hospital.
>> He was 72.
>
> Gaul admitted taking amphetamines when he won the tdf.
So what? It wasn't prohibited. Yes, he toook amphetamines, and yes, he took
more than most other riders. Jean Kirchen, the best Luxemburg rider in
Gaul's early years, told me that Charly once said to him: "Jean, I'm
worried". "But why?" "Because I'm taking amphetamines". "But you dont have
too worry about it, we're all do". "Yes, I know, but I take too much". But
did he owe his victories to it? Hardly. On the contrary, it was more often
counterproductive. He lost the Tour of '55 because he took too many
amphitamine in the stage to Avignon, he almost lost the Tour of '58 because,
having taken too much in the TT on the Mont-Ventoux, he had a breakdown next
day. What's more, it influenced his character. It made him troublesome, too
self-assured and convinced of his own invicibility. He lost the Tour of '56
because he thought he didn't need his teammates. He lost the Giro of '57
because when he stopped to have a pee, Bobet and Geminiani attacked him. Of
course, it was against all the unwritten rules of cycling, but nobody cared:
it served the cocky ******* right. But that wasn't the only prize he had to
pay, It shortened his career and when he stopped he was hooked and
everything he did - running a bar, marrying twice - went wrong. But, and
that's the only thing that really counts, he redeemed himself. He broke with
his past, lived more or less as a hermit and didn't want anything to do with
cycling anymorel. It took him several years, but he recoverd completely and
came back to the world. In the 1980's he allowed his first interviews since
several years and when the Tour started in Luxemburg in 1989, he assited the
ceremonies. He even went to the annual reunions of bicycle racers in the
Beaujolais and Gemenos. And all the riders noticed that he had changed
thouroughly. There were few traces of his self-centredness anymore, and he
was genuinly interested in his ex-collegues and in cycling in general. He
appeared frequently on Luxemburg TV, making comments on the Giro and the
Tour. His favorite rider by far was Marco Pantani, whom he saw as his worthy
successor. Pantani was honoured and went a couple of times to Luxemburg to
see his predecessor. And when Pantani died, in spite of his poor health - he
was hardly able to walk - Gaul flew to Italy to pay his respect to poor
Marco. When the people at the sidewalk recognized him, they applauded and
cheered him. So would I have done, if I had been there. He had been a great
rider, one of the greatest climbers ever, but later in his life he also
showed he was a great human being. May he rest in peace.
Benjo Maso