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Panache: An Open Letter

By Simon Mottram • 3rd March 2011 06:22pm • Posted in Misc

Every year, Paris-Nice marks the true start of the season for me, when proper racing finally hits the roads of Europe and arm warmers are symbolically discarded over a week of racing to the sunny Med. No doubt there will be lots of great racing this season and I will be gripped until the Tour of Lombardy. But, as I do every year, I’ll also be looking for more from road racing than amazing feats of endurance and power, more than great teamwork or cagey duels in the mountains. I'll also be looking for the quality that elevates road racing from just a sport to something more profound, more meaningful and more uplifting. That quality is panache.

Dictionaries define panache as a grand or flamboyant manner. Someone who acts with panache shows verve, style or flair. The word was first used in Edmond Rostand's play Cyrano de Bergerac and originates from the French term for a plume of feathers. Not much to do with bike racing, you might think. And yet, the history of road racing is littered with moments of panache and it is precisely those moments that touch us most and give us not just a human but an almost spiritual connection to the greatest bike racers. You know panache when you see it: Marco Pantani throwing down his diamond stud before attacking Indurain on the Montecampione; Jalabert, a sprinter, riding off the front in the mountains on an all-day escape to become an unlikely winner of the King of the Mountains; and David Millar attacking into Barcelona, the screams of thousands of his adopted home crowd ringing in his ears. These are exploits that surprise us with their courage, skill and daring. And the riders with panache are often dashing, charismatic individuals who embrace risk and enjoy pushing the boundaries of what's possible. For me, Apple’s famous ad campaign of the 1990s sums them up:

"Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do."

More often than not, riders with panache are winners. After all, lone crazy attacks (échappées bidon) quickly lose their appeal if they are always doomed to failure. And yet panache also involves a high degree of risk. Exceptional demonstrations of power on the bike are certainly impressive but they rarely touch us. True panache walks a fine line between success and failure, and it's precisely that uncertainty and tension that touches us and connects the racer's exploits with our own experience.

Sadly, panache has been in short supply in recent years. Road racing today is increasingly professional, with bigger budgets, more scientific training and expert coaching. It is the era of marginal gains, where riders hide behind helmets and sunglasses, coaches and media advisors, watching their watts and lactate thresholds and rarely taking matters into their own hands. The pro peloton and biggest races seem suffocating and it takes ever more self-confidence and spirit for a rider to stamp his will on important races. It makes for less interesting racing and puts the sport in danger of losing its connection with its fans. I suppose it's the price of progress. In the so-called 'glory days' of road racing there was less to gain but also less to lose.

Yet there are flickers of hope, rare moments of panache that occasionally break through. My highlights of last year's racing? Cancellera riding away from Boonen at Flanders without once looking back, Nibali braking on a descent in the Giro to wait for team leader Basso as he struggled to keep pace. Or rain-soaked Gilbert, taking on all comers in Lombardy.

You can call me unrealistic or an old romantic if you like but this is my call to all pro riders this season: Show some panache. Think for yourself. Assert your own personality on a race, or a moment. Surprise us and give us something to cheer. Stand up for yourself and stand out from the crowd. Honour yourself and honour the sport. Ultimately, you'll gain more from chancing your arm than from grinding out yet another respectable result. And we will love you all the more for it.

To paraphrase Apple, let's celebrate the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels and the troublemakers. Let’s celebrate the riders with panache who make us love the sport of road racing.

Comments

Simon Hanington

3rd March 2011 06:46pm

Simon, your letter finds me in full and elated agreement. To the spectator there is nothing more attractive than the underdog, little more thrilling than a rebel vindicated, nothing more exhilarating than a race won with STYLE. In fact, such appeal seems central to the Rapha brand and those that gravitate to it.

Bravo, good sir. I second the motion.

Simon Hanington

Clay Callaway

3rd March 2011 06:49pm

In total agreement with Simon H's comment. So Simon M, what's your take on the radio ban?

Simon Mottram

3rd March 2011 06:55pm

It will come as no surprise to hear that I am 100% against race radios. Give me blackboard, chalk, instincts, courage and a racing brain any day.

Mark Adams

3rd March 2011 07:45pm

Wonderful Mr. Mottram.

This sums up the reasons that I ride.

Stefan Rohner

3rd March 2011 08:42pm

Miguel, enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhEKRjhLuds

philip deeker

3rd March 2011 08:59pm

i humbly stand and applaud and totally agree with simon hanington's comment about the appeal for panache being central to the Rapha brand. the essence of the personal inspiration i find in all-things-Rapha is beautifully illustrated in this eloquent portrait of what the guys at the top of our sport occasionally achieve. thank you simon, and thank you philippe gilbert!

Thori Wolfe

4th March 2011 01:27am

Excellent words and thoughts. Honour yourself and your sport. Don't be a spectator, be a participant.

Slate Olson

4th March 2011 03:42am

VDB has a posse.

Clay Callaway

4th March 2011 03:48am

As Offredo said after his 4th place at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad:

“We’re in a period where races are boring, stereotypical, even on television, with breaks being systematically brought back four kilometres from the line, so I don’t want earpieces to kill cycling. The organisers need to ensure good conditions in terms of security and information, and give cycling back its uncertainty and give it back to the opportunists, like Gilbert, and like me.”

Alex Rose-Innes

4th March 2011 03:52am

Nostalgia is no substitute for history. The "glory days" - come on! Rapha, older is not always better. This kind of atavistic thinking is the reason why doping won't go away. When the same ex-riders and directors from the "glory days" are still around, cycling can't renew itself.

Simon, I know your brand image is steeped in tradition, but make it the true history of cycling and not one seen through the skewed perspective of nostalgia.

I think it is grossly unfair to imply that cycling is boring these days. Just in 2010 the Spring classics, the Giro, and the end of the season all produced some great riding from Cancellara, Hushovd, Gilbert, and a host of newcomers like Sagan and Porte.

For all the great races that you might reminisce about in the "glory days", there are hundreds that were rain-soaked Sisyphean bores. Riders were doped up on amphetamines and who-knows what else.

Simon Mottram

4th March 2011 06:52am

Alex, I agree that rose tinted spectacles are dangerous things. I'm definitely not saying that all races in the past were glorious or exciting. But I am pretty sure that there was more uncertainty, more flamboyance and there were more individuals in the peloton showing their faces and chancing their arms.

Robin Browning

4th March 2011 07:26am

Gilbert at Lombardy was the definitive act of "showing some panache" last year.

Ian Winfield

4th March 2011 10:07am

Struggling for panache after some F%&$ing A@£%hole stole the back wheel from my "leave anywhere tourer".
Daughters bike still chained to the rest of mine.
Why oh why get the bolt cutters out for an old 7 speed back wheel.
If I catch the culprit, there will be a distinct lack of panache as I morph into the Badger.
LIVID!!!!!!!

Michael Robertson

4th March 2011 10:49am

Cancellara's move at Flander's lost Boonen and the helicopter cam into the bargain it was so shattering. Definitely my moment of panache from 2010. 2009 Nicolas Roche recovering his chain while riding uphill at Paris Nice… to your point Simon, it's not always the victories that register in our memories.

Gerald Moser

4th March 2011 10:59am

Simon,

I wish every pro teams get to read your letter.

Panache is what defined cycling. Legends are built around panache. The Badger in Liege-Bastogne-Liege in 1980 is a great example. Thierry Marie winnig the 6th stage of the Tour de France 1991 after a 234km lonely breakaway and resisting to the peloton is another one.

There are plenty of examples from the past, and hopefully, to emulate Alex, there will be a few to remember in 2011.

Sean Parr

4th March 2011 02:38pm

Panache, important ? Could not agree more Simon. Well said.

I think the problem is that cycling (in particular the Tour) has become so formulaic you can write the script yourself….doomed break, reeled in before the final climb/sprint (delete as applicable), watch the whippets/sprinters do their thing and win, rinse and repeat.

Highlights for me for 2010, yep, Fab leaving Tom for dead, Cadel and Vino (like or hate him) on the Strade Bianche on the Giro and Gilbert just about everywhere else. Oh, and for panache with style and class (on the bike, but still a little lacking off) Cav, especially on the Champs where he was like some kind of Scouse Bullet. Just work on the class off the bike Cav, watch a few Coppi videos.

Its not just about Nostalgia in my opinion as suggested by Alex, its more about looking for the eccentric, the slightly unusual, the guy who does something outstanding and gets away with it. The reality is that with more and more riders more and more equal due to great training, great kit and great rides, cycling is CLOSE these days, that has to be something good in itself, but I would just love to see more of them making their own decisions and relying less on the car, but then there will always be guys like Hincapie and Voigt and O'Grady et al who have style in buckets and race brains the size of houses.

Unfortunately, in the last few years, its been imbeciles like Ricco that have played the panache card, they were able to, because for one reason or another, they were simply so much better than the rest. Sad, but true.

Neil Fitton

4th March 2011 03:09pm

Panache has changed, I think that the Panache we saw of old had a lot to do with the way the peleton was structured and great rides came from the great riders (the last great escape for me was Eros Poli).

We look at a break today and the control that is put in place by the use of race radio and team dogma doesn't allow for a rider to truly 'escape' so it must be soul destroying for a rider to head off the front and do 'his bit for the sponsor !' knowing that he will be eaten up 10-20k out.

Please pro peleton listen to Simon and show why you are the greatest riders, not by seconds in the TT but by putting the hammer down and showing Panache and some of that Apple spirit in all racing situations, yes the mountains create some spectacular moments but I want to see someone win by being tenacious and brave, better to win in style that thump the handlebars in frustration at being beaten in the last 5k by the sprinters trains.

Neil Fitton

Andrew Fleming

4th March 2011 04:53pm

Totally agree - more panache required - and not just french shandy.

However I think it has to be intelligent modern panache. Summed up wonderfully in the form of Mr Jens Voigt. Who, on the subject of race radios, is pretty clear.

http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/jens-voigt-speaks-out-against-uci-race-radio-ban

I'm all for necessary debate, but also willing to accept a well reasoned argument from someone who knows more than most of us and isn't lacking intelligence.

Keep the radios, less debate, more riding, more panache.

Rob McMichael

4th March 2011 06:18pm

Gentleman all, thank you for the inspirational and the aspirational. I cannot wait to hit the road on my bike this weekend after a brutal winter.

And may the best man win!

Gary Smith

5th March 2011 12:35am

Simply brilliant Simon. Here's to an exciting season full of panache, cheers!

Sean Parr

5th March 2011 02:17pm

Panache, important ? Could not agree more Simon. Well said.

I think the problem is that cycling (in particular the Tour) has become so formulaic you can write the script yourself….doomed break, reeled in before the final climb/sprint (delete as applicable), watch the whippets/sprinters do their thing and win, rinse and repeat.

Highlights for me for 2010, yep, Fab leaving Tom for dead, Cadel and Vino (like or hate him) on the Strade Bianche on the Giro and Gilbert just about everywhere else. Oh, and for panache with style and class (on the bike, but still a little lacking off) Cav, especially on the Champs where he was like some kind of Scouse Bullet. Just work on the class off the bike Cav, watch a few Coppi videos.

Its not just about Nostalgia in my opinion as suggested by Alex, its more about looking for the eccentric, the slightly unusual, the guy who does something outstanding and gets away with it. The reality is that with more and more riders more and more equal due to great training, great kit and great rides, cycling is CLOSE these days, that has to be something good in itself, but I would just love to see more of them making their own decisions and relying less on the car, but then there will always be guys like Hincapie and Voigt and O'Grady et al who have style in buckets and race brains the size of houses.

Unfortunately, in the last few years, its been imbeciles like Ricco that have played the panache card, they were able to, because for one reason or another, they were simply so much better than the rest. Sad, but true.

Gem Atkinson

5th March 2011 05:36pm

An elegant explanation of that certain je ne sais quoi of the concept of 'panache' and 'style'. Something that is important to all of us that ride, above is a series of fine examples of this. I believe the radio ban will ignite certain races and create some very exciting and savvy racing, something already seen at Omloop and today the strada bianche….
Enjoy the weekend all…

Ian Winfield

7th March 2011 10:45am

Panache is alive and well, with Thomas De Gent holding off a flying peloton to win the first stage of Paris-Nice. Chapeaux!!!!
http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/latest/518304/de-gendt-spoils-sprinters-party-to-win-paris-nice-stage-one.html

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