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'raincoats are for tourists' the racing secrets of raphael geminiani. isabel best. rapha editions/bluetrain publishing hardback. 225pp. illus. £25

"The Tours they do now - I could have done eight in a year."

raincoats are for tourists - isabel best

in my previous life on the scottish mainland, i was employed by a firm headed by a thoroughly unpleasant manager. it was more or less a standing joke that, if he greeted you with a "morning, b**stard", then he was in a good mood. much of that was pretty much down to an inflated sense of his own self-importance, frequently expressed as arrogance. however, rather this being borne of reputed managerial experience, the latter seemed more a case of finding scapegoats for his own poor decisions.

drummer and bandleader, buddy rich, suffered from a (probably well-deserved) reputation for soundly berating band members for unsubstantiated misdemeanours. however, his overstated arrogance was fully backed up by an enviable ability both as drummer and bandleader. the only way was his way. i'm sure similar aspersions could be cast in the direction of famed cyclists from cycling's rich heritage, aspersions that could also be extended to several directeurs sportifs.

but midst some or all of the above, there are those who are invariably right, even if the delivery of this 'rightness' sometimes leaves a bit to be desired from the point of view of the recipients. just such a fellow might well be raphael geminiani.

born in 1925 and racing professionally from 1946 to 1960, he won the polka dot jersey at the tour in 1951 along with six podium finishes across all three grand tours. he won seven tour stages in his career, wearing the yellow jersey for four days, was french national champion in 1953, took the mountains jersey in the 1951 giro d'italia and landed third place overall in the 1955 vuelta. he was also the rider who gave rapha ceo, simon mottram, persistent nightmares when launching the clothing company in 2004 as expressed in his foreword to isabel best's latest book.

"...when I was launching Rapha, it took me a while to secure a trademark for my new brand. [Raphael Geminiani used] his first name as a proxy for the drinks brand St. Raphael. Surely he would be outraged if he discovered what I was doing with the shortened version of his name?"

'raincoats are for tourists' is not, however, simply an appraisal of an outstanding cycling career by an enthusiastic third party, superb writer though isabel best is. for in this book, she had some help: raphael geminiani. "Cycling is something I know a little bit about." in her introduction, isabel enlightens the reader that the contents of this compact, bijou and compulsory book was compiled over the course of many conversations with the great man.

"...you will find Gem's own fireside tales, his wealth of wisdom accumulated over the decades, his essential tenets on what it takes to be a champion and above all, his passion for this, most romantic of all sports."

and, as if the above were scarcely enough, the narrative is superbly illustrated by the redoubtable, steven johnson, last viewed as illustrator of rapha editions, ef procycling annual.

the book's title, 'raincoats are for tourists' emanates from geminiani's opinion of suitable apparel to wear during inclement weather. "Riders wear too many jerseys in the rain. What's the point of too many wet jerseys? None at all - you're carrying around three extra kilos and you're still going to get cold." it seems a tad trite to point out that geminiani's career ended long before simon mottram contributed to solving the latter problem in 2004. it would be something of an understatement to state that geminiani was a highly opinionated rider and subsequently, directeur sportif, but it's hard to argue against many of his observations. and while many contemporary cyclists would consider themselves more advanced than their antecedents, geminiani holds a contrary and controversial position, opinions which are apportioned their own chapter, entitled "everything that's wrong with modern racing."

the basis for this, is his concern that modern-day racers have become too specialised, targetting specific events and racing over far fewer days than their predecessors. "If you think about the palmarès of Merckx, Coppi, Bobet, Anquetil or Hinault, you will notice that today's riders win just one race a year." however, he does seem willing to make exceptions for peter sagan, current world champion, julian alaphilippe and new kid on the block, matthieu van der poel.

isabel best shows an admirable ability to thread geminiani's conversations together in a transparently orderly fashion, allowing the man to speak for himself without undue critical comment. it would likely have been all too easy to express an opinion, thus colouring the reader's own approach to raphael geminiani. ste johnson's pencil-drawn illustrations fulfil a similar function, bringing to life many of the incidents and anecdotes without uneccessary interjection. this collaborative approach is highly enagaging and compulsive.

brownie points are also due to bluetrain and rapha. as isabel told me, "The great thing about Bluetrain (and Rapha by extension) is that they're willing to take on projects other publishers might be wary of, and then bring on lots of brilliant collaborators to make their books really lovely objects as well. I love all the details that have gone into the design of this book, from Ste's quirky illustrations that really picked up on Geminiani's sense of humour, to the page layout and paper stock and cover. It just feels like everyone really got into the spirit of it." she's absolutely right.

i'm quite happy to admit that, though i was peripherally aware of geminiani's career as both cyclist and d.s., i knew very little about its specifics. but i do now.

and thanks to the generosity of rapha editions and bluetrain publishing, i have one sealed copy of 'raincoats are for tourists' to give away to the sender of the first correct answer to the question, 'in what year did raphael geminiani retire from cycle racing? e-mail your answers to brian@twmp.net along with a postal address to which the book might be sent if you win. closing date is monday 7 december

raincoats are for tourists - isabel best

thursday 3 december 2020

twmp ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................