Lapize... Now There Was an Ace

by Jean Bobet, Adam Berry (Translator)

Au dbut des annes cinquante, mon frre (Louison) et moi rsidions dans la banlieue est de Paris. A chacun de nos entranements, nous passions devant le Caf Lapize Villiers-sur-Marne. Ce Lapize nous poursuivait partout. Il n'y avait pas, cette poque, d'autres courroies de cale-pied que celles signes Lapize. Il y avait sur le circuit automobile de Montlhry cette sacre cte Lapize qui forait la dcision de toutes les courses qui s'y droulaient. Villiers-sur-Marne, Octave Lapize n'tait plus dans le caf. Nous savions qu'il tait mort la guerre, celle de 14-18. On disait mme qu'il tait mort en hros.Le Caf Lapize tait la proprit du pre du champion. Un jour, j'ai franchi la tonnelle qui donnait accs la grande salle du caf. J'ai vu Octave Lapize, le champion, dans un grand tableau accroch au mur, un pastel qui le reprsentait, superbe, dans son maillot de champion de France. J'avais devant moi le portrait d'un homme de classe, d'un seigneur. Sous le portrait, on pouvait lire : " Vainqueur du Tour de France, de Paris-Roubaix (3 fois), de Paris-Bruxelles (3 fois) ".Pendant cinquante ans, j'ai toujours pens Octave Lapize. Un jour, j'ai dcid de retrouver sa trace raconter sa vie. Grce lui, j'ai connu les plus riches heures du sport cycliste, celles du dbut du XXe sicle. Les annes Lapize.Jean Bobet

Genres: Cycling

Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Martin Mccann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I often rate Jean Bobet's "Tomorrow We Ride" as one of my favourite books so was interested to find this while randomly perusing a discounted books website. As a fan of Bobet's writing style and intrigued to be able to read about one of the early stars of our sport I was only too happy to purchase it. Before picking up this book I was only really aware that Lapize had been a Tour de France victor pre-World War One and like Faber had been killed during the conflict.

Due to the shortness of his life and the paucity of reliable sources, it is no surprise that this is a reasonably short book but I still emerged with a much better understanding of Lapize. The book itself has the feel of a self-published work (I'm not saying it actually is, but layout and artwork give this impression). However the actual style of the text was a bit disconcerting, almost as if a French edition had been run through Google Translate and printed. Anyone who knows Bobet (brother of Louison) will be aware that aside from his riding career, he taught at university in Edinburgh and was fluent in English, and this is still apparent when he pops up in interviews and articles today. I don't want to be doing this a disservice- perhaps Jean did choose a more "chatty" approach to this work, but at times it is almost like an oul fella at a bar trying to be a raconteur. Tone aside however, this is still a worthwhile read particularly if you want to find out more about Lapize without the fanciful elements of journalism that shaped the myths of the early roadmen more to sell papers than to provide fully accurate historical copy.

[ChristinaJL · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a very interesting read. Written by former cyclist Jean Bobet about Oscar Lapize who won the 1910 edition of the TdF. He famously called the organisers 'murderers' for sending the riders over the Pyrenees. Not only did Lapize win Paris-Roubaix but also the French championships three years in a row. A very talented cyclist sadly lost during WW1.