LAURENS TEN DAM
Laurens asks why riders still haven’t united in one voice, after 100 years
The book written about the 1924 Tour de France is called The Convicts of the Road. One of the big stars of that time, Henri Pélissier, stood up against the boss of the Tour, who was already the biggest boss in cycling - just like nowadays, where ASO’s will is law - regarding the conditions the riders raced under. Somehow there was a rule in the rulebook of that time, stating that riders had to finish with all the clothing they started with.
Back then, Henri Desgrange, the founder of the Tour, lifted Pélissier’s jersey with his walking stick to check how many jerseys he was going to start the stage wearing. Pélissier was angry and became furious as the stage continued. He actually dismounted his bike halfway through the stage and went to a café promising to quit the race. They didn’t need to swallow all this bullshit from an organiser, and together with his two brothers (also riders in the race) he started to binge drink wine and stronger stuff. Albert Londres, a famous journalist following the race, was the luckiest man alive. He had just had lunch there and stumbled upon the interview of his life. The Convicts of the Road was born.
Cyclists were seen as big labourers at that time. But actually there was a giant difference with the guys working in the factories. The ‘normal’ labourers already understood that there was no such thing as an industrial revolution without their hands. Therefore they united in the late 19th century through trade unions to strive for better conditions. Cyclists, on the other hand, still stood alone in their rebellion against the establishment. Whereas back in 1924 the labourers in the factories had a minimum wage and reduced their work shifts from 16 to 12 hours a day, cyclists, for example, still had to encounter three stages a day as late as the 1977 Tour. I kid you not, THREE stages a day, just because you could fit more paying villages for a start or finish in one Tour de France.
And here lies the big problem cyclists are still facing to this day. They are not able to unite themselves against the bigger forces in the sport. They have to understand that without them racing their bikes, there is no such thing as cycling. They actually have a strong voice when speaking together.
It saddens me when I hear Matteo Trentin say that only 16 out of 800 riders opened the attachment concerning new safety measures from the UCI. According to him, the riders were more busy updating their social media accounts. It gives me grounds to give advice to both the union and the riders.
The people of the riders’ union or CPA should make sure it is really easy to read and understand all their emails. My advice: just act as if the riders are illiterate. It is possible to unite people who don’t like to read. Just like the frontmen of the trade unions back in the day when they had to unite millions of working class people who could barely read.
And riders. Just make the effort to read all this stuff your union sends you, and let your bosses from now on know what you think of those emails. It is very important to make sure the working space for you and your colleagues is as safe as possible. You’ve got the monopoly on racing bikes.
Laurens ten Dam is an ex pro cyclist. He lives by his motto, ‘live slow, ride fast’, while doing podcasts, organising gravel events and running a coffee brand and clothing label. 2021 goals? Back to gravel racing!
And here lies the big problem cyclists are still facing to this day. They are not able to unite themselves against the bigger forces in the sport. They have to understand that without them racing their bikes, there is no cycling