Pierrick Fédrigo

I think the French are making a mistake. The don't portray their cyclists apart from their bikes and their gear.



After you've lived in a cycling mad culture for a while, you know that there are some exceptional athletes involved, but if you never see them off a bike, they tend to seem boyish. Not to say that being boyish is a bad thing, but it appeals to a quite narrow slice of womanhood. So when the career in cycling is over, what then?

This French cycling champion was born in Marmande, France in 1978. I have shoes older than Fédrigo. The town is in Southwest France, while I was expecting Brittany because of his coloring and Celtic appearance.

He is steadily rising in the ranks, and was French national champion in 2005. That is all the French think we need to know of him. He cycles. He's good. He's hardy and fast. I think they should take a leaf from the Italian book and show a broader portrait of their athletes, because good, hardy and fast is just not enough.

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