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John McPherson: 1996, Bjarne Riis in the middle of Leeds

 

I know we've got Le Tour in 2014, but back in the 1990s you didn't see many Tour de France Yellow Jersey winners in the middle of Leeds, let alone get close enough for one to run over your wife's foot!

But as we walked up the Headrow on 18th August 1996 we found ourselves picking our way through some of the biggest names in the professional peloton, sitting in small groups on the kerb or leaning on their bikes chatting in the morning sunshine like club riders outside a tea shop. Biggest of all, in every sense, was Bjarne Riis - 'the Great Dane' - fresh from his unexpected overall victory in Paris a month before. He wasn't expected to figure today.

The race, called the Leeds Classic, was part of the World Cup series of one-day races and everyone expected Johan Museeuw to take the top spot and extend his lead in the series. In the melee to clear the grid of spectators and line up the riders, Riis rolled his bike over my wife's foot. In those days before e-bay we didn't think to keep the shoe.

We had a great day following the race. We saw the start in Leeds, then belted back to Otley in the car in time to see Djamolidine Abdujaparov - 'the Tashkent Terror' - go off the front just at the end of our street. We caught the race again on Ainley Top with 'Abdu' still out front in a group of five riders.

We gave the crowded slopes of Holme Moss a miss and headed back for Leeds, stopping off for fish and chips near Batley. Back in Leeds we got a good spot on the Headrow and watched the finishing circuits, with Ferrigato taking top spot on the podium and Museew's third place enough to secure the series. A Yank called Lance Armstrong was fourth.

Of course, we now know that Riis's Tour and Museeuw's career were tainted by doping, along with so many in that era. Does that spoil the memories? Not for me.

The enduring charm and thrill of bike racing is how close you can get to your heroes, even if they look less heroic with hindsight.

John McPherson

Memory added on January 22, 2013

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