PERFECTLY HOPELESS!

NZ Truth, Issue 1193, 11 October 1928, Page 16

PERFECTLY HOPELESS!

Tour de France Manager Guided Team Into Queer Street

(From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Wellington Representative.)

Prom all accounts and Harry Watson, who slithered down a spray-swept .gang-way of the "Maunganui" on Monday afternoon, the Victorian Cycling Union slipped a variety of cogs when it came to nursing the four cyclists who ploughed their tortuous, tortured ways through the quags and pitfalls of the Tour de France.

TVIANAGEMBNT? There doesn't ap--IVI pear to have been any, and when

the Opperman-Osborn-Bainbridge-Watson quartet had pulled up its socks on French soil, the boys had to fend for themselves, and ignore the ridiculous suggestions of the man who. was assigned to train and manage them.

Fact -was, said Watson, the Frenchman knew little or nothing about cycling, training, requisite methods and the rest, and even had the stupidity to suggest there was no need for them to have a masseur.

' Had it not been for the sporting 'instincts of the Alcyon manager, whose team hauled the major prizes from their, shelves, the Austral-Enzed combination would have been floundering about m a

'state of complete bewilderment,

Alcyon's nursemaid showed them a few useful things, including some advice on gears that meant a slice .more than half the battle to fellows who were worse than strangers m the country. ;

"My principal grievance," said Harry Watson, "Is that we didn't get a fair 'go.' When we left Australia they told us that when we arrived m France we would Join up with the French, but when we did get over there, the Frenchmen didn't know anything about it— hadn't heard about it, even.

"France, our manager, told us we didn't really need a masseur; he told us all sorts of things about cycling racing which a fellow usually learns when first he commences to ride a bike, and he seemed to know so little about our requirements .f or a three-thousand-odd miles road race that we were left to our own devices. \

"The consequence was, that two .days before the Tour started we four had to hustle around and get things for ourselves as best we could.

"He even wanted us to buy our own gear for the race — equip ourselves with everything, and out of our own pockets. There were all sorts of things like that —things which never should have happened — and I think the Tour de France committee m Melbourne is largely to blame for the shocking way m which the whole thing was arranged for us.

"When we assembled m Australia, the implied suggestion , was that when we got to France our chief concern would' be to train, but when we did arrive there, only to find that our 'manager' was the laughing-stock of the whole tour, we simply had to ignore him, and do as best we could.

"We had no baths m our training quarters, which were located m a wee hamlet called Loges en Josas, and when we wanted to have a bath we had to shoot across to Versailles, about three miles away.

"For the sake of future riders, I would warn, them to make certain that if they do go away pn a similar project they should make sure that their conditions of training, and everything else, are a good deal different from those under which we were called upon to prepare ourselves — they should refuse to travel unless they are quite certain that things will be different.

"The French Press helped us m everyway, encouraged us, and helped us to keep up our spirits.

"It was necessary, 1 can tell you, as we were all upset by the French diet and the French climate. "All m all, I shouldn't care to race under the same conditions again."

Not very inspiring, is it? It makes one think that the Tour de France committee m Australia, which arranged for these four chaps. to go away, must have shoved its corporate head into a large bag, pulled the string tightly, and run* round m hectic circles until it banged its head against the firist sort of arrangement which seemed good to it.