Photo of the day: Merckx and company, 1976.

What happened after "A Sunday in Hell?"

Another day, another race. This one might be Fleche Wallonne, or Liege Bastonge Liege.  Not sure.  Some climb in the Ardennes.   It's a race scenario we've all lived.  The guy at the front pushes it on a steep hill, and the rest are forced to lift the tempo.

Merckx, Maertens, Zoetemelk, Dierickx, Thurau, Verbeeck. Godefroot.  Each a star with plenty of references to justify his place at the front of this particular pecking order.  None of those references count in this particular moment, in this particular race.  A simple still photo that captures the essence of cycle racing.

The best part of this photo is the faces.  Each a different study in intense effort and withdrawn-into-self concentration.

Comments

  1. ...and of those 7 stars, 3 were former Flandria team mates:
    Maertens (in 2nd place) 1972 - 1979
    Zoetemelk (in 3rd place) 1970,71,72
    Dierickx (in 4th place) 1970,72,73

    and Godefroot (in 7th place) was a former Flandria rider in 1967,68,69 who would return to the fold in 1973,74,75

    ReplyDelete

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