Louison Bobet Personality
What was his personality like?
What was  Louison Bobet's personality like?
The most striking feature of Bobet the man rather than rider was his ambition to behave like a Hollywood matinee idol, a sort of David Niven character in a dinner suit tuxedo. It brought him much ribbing from other French riders. Geminiani says Bobet's diffident and elegant manner made him less popular even in his own Brittany than the more rustic, forthright manners of other Breton people such as Jean Robic. The British professional Brian Robinson called Bobet "a private man and a little moody" and said he would sulk if things went wrong. The French journalist Rene de Latour said of Bobet in Sporting Cyclist that "he didn't look good on a bike" and that he had "the legs of a football [soccer] player".  Bobet spoke out against French involvement in a war against communists in Indo-China. He said he wasn't a Marxist but a pacifist. Geminiani said Bobet lacked humility. "He really thought that, after him, there'd be no more cycling in France", he said. Bobet occasionally talked of himself in the third person.  Bobet was driven by personal hygiene and refused to accept his first yellow jersey because it had not been made with the pure wool he believed the only healthy material for a sweating and dusty rider. Synthetic thread or blends were added in 1947 following the arrival of Sofil as a sponsor. Sofil made artificial yarn. The race organiser, Jacques Goddet wrote:  It produced a real drama. Our contract with Sofil was crumbling away. If the news had got out, the commercial effect would have been disastrous for the manufacturer. I remember debating it with him a good part of the night. Louison was always exquisitely courteous but his principles were as hard as the granite blocks of his native Brittany coast.  Goddet had to get Sofil to produce another jersey overnight, its logo still visible but artificial fabric absent. Bobet's concern with hygiene and clothing was accentuated by frequent problems with saddle sores. CANNOTANSWER
The British professional Brian Robinson called Bobet "a private man and a little moody"
Louis "Louison" Bobet (; 12 March 1925 - 13 March 1983) was a French professional road racing cyclist. He was the first great French rider of the post-war period and the first rider to win the Tour de France in three successive years, from 1953 to 1955. His career included the national road championship (1950 and 1951), Milan–San Remo (1951), Giro di Lombardia (1951), Critérium International (1951 & 52), Paris–Nice (1952), Grand Prix des Nations (1952), world road championship (1954), Tour of Flanders (1955), Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (1955), Tour de Luxembourg (1955), Paris–Roubaix (1956) and Bordeaux–Paris (1959).

Origins
Louis Bobet was born one of three children above his father's baker's shop in the rue de Montfort, Saint-Méen-le-Grand, near Rennes. His father gave him a bicycle when he was two and after six months he could ride it 6 km. Bobet's father was also called Louis and the son was called Louison - little Louis - to avoid confusion The ending -on is a diminutive in French but outside Brittany Louison refers more usually to a girl. He was known as Louis in his early years as a rider, even as a professional, until the diminutive Louison gained in popularity.

His sister played table tennis, his brother Jean football, although he also became a professional cyclist. Louison played both table tennis and football and became Brittany champion at table tennis. It was his uncle, Raymond, who was president of a cycling club in Paris who persuaded him to concentrate on cycling.

Bobet's first race was a 30 km event when he was 13. He came second in a sprint finish. He raced in his local area and won four events for unlicensed riders in 1941. He qualified for the final of the unofficial youth championship, the Premier Pas Dunlop in 1943 at Montluçon and came sixth. The winner was Raphaël Géminiani, who would become a professional team-mate and rival.

Bobet is said to have carried messages for the Resistance during the second world war. After D-Day he joined the army and served in eastern France. He was demobilised in December 1945.

Racing career

Bobet applied for racing licence on leaving the army and by error was sent one for an independent, or semi-professional. He benefited from the right to compete against professionals as well as amateurs. He came second in the Brittany championship and rode the national championship in Paris. There he came up against a veteran professional, Marcel Bidot, who on retirement became Bobet's manager in the national team. Bobet left the field to catch two riders who had broken clear. He dropped one and outsprinted the other to become national champion. He turned fully professional for Stella, a bicycle factory in Nantes.

Tour de France 1947

Stella was a small team that rode mainly in Brittany. In May 1947, however, two from the team rode the Boucles de la Seine race in Paris. He won alone by six minutes. It brought him an invitation to ride the Tour de France, at that time disputed by national and regional teams. The unexpected toughness of the race forced him to go home on the ninth day, in the Alps and to cry when the going got hard. It brought him the nickname "cry-baby" in the bunch and René Vietto referred to him as La Bobette, a mock feminisation of his name, for his tears and complaining. The historian Dick Yates wrote:

He brought down the scorn of the press and everyone quickly wrote off this 'cry-baby'. René Vietto was in the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification and he looked like he was going to win - he was a real man. As France forgot about him, Bobet went home to lick his wounds and listen to words of advice from his father.

Tour de France 1948
The former rider, Maurice Archambaud, took over management of the team from Léo Véron and took a chance on Bobet. Much had changed since the previous summer and he took the lead after the third stage, which finished near Stella's factory in Nantes. Bobet lost the yellow jersey the following day but regained it by winning the sixth stage, to Biarritz. He had 20 minutes' lead over the veteran Italian, Gino Bartali as the race entered the Alps. And then happened one of the most outstanding periods in the history of the Tour.

(See Gino Bartali for full story.)

A political crisis in Italy threatened to overthrow the government and bring the country to anarchy. The prime minister asked Bartali to distract Italians by dominating the Tour. Bartali won three stages in a row and the Tour by 14 minutes. Bobet's 20 minutes on Bartali was cut to a 32-minute deficit by the time the race finished in Paris. Bobet had twice worn the yellow jersey and won two stages, however, and with the money he won he moved to Paris and bought a drapery shop for his wife.

Tour de France 1950
Bobet did not finish in 1949, struggling from the start. He dropped out on the first day in the mountains, along with four other members of the national team. In 1950 he won the national championship at Montlhéry south of Paris the week before the Tour and rode in the national team with Géminiani, the rider who had beaten him as a boy in the Premier Pas Dunlop. He and Bobet developed a rocky friendship, Géminiani's rough, instinctive character a contrast to the more thoughtful, quieter Bobet. The two argued frequently but remained friends. Géminiani, following the French habit of creating nicknames by doubling a syllable of a name referred to Bobet as Zonzon, a name that Bobet hated but tolerated. Géminiani had the confidence that Bobet lacked.

Bobet and Géminiani were second and third early in the race. Both hoped to profit from the absence of Fausto Coppi, who was injured, but found themselves instead up against an unbeatable Ferdinand Kübler. Bobet finished third, winning the mountain competition.

Tour de France 1953
 
Bobet rode the 1951 Tour in the blue-white-red of national champion again but cracked in the mountains. Jean Bidot, the manager, sent riders to help him but in the end abandoned him to concentrate on Géminiani, the best placed. Bobet came 20th, although with a stage win. He lost 40 minutes on the last day in the mountains even though the race was taking it easy, Hugo Koblet already being unbeatable. Dick Yates said:

It was a terrible performance for a man of his class, but although he had suffered and suffered he had not given up the struggle. While this showed character, nobody was prepared to make allowances for it. 'He is just not a stage rider,' they said. 'He'll never win the Tour. No matter how brilliant you may be, if you're not consistent you haven't got a chance.' The sensitive Bobet was stung by this criticism. He had given his all for the Tour but everyone had turned against him. Even Jean Robic, who was not really in Bobet's class, was now more popular and it really hurt.

And then in 1953, after a year without the Tour, Bobet left the field behind on a stage that crossed the Vars. He climbed the Col d'Izoard alone on roads still rutted and strewn with stones and when the gearing on his bicycle forced him to fight to keep it moving.  The historian Bill McGann wrote:
Stage 18 is etched in the history of the Tour. It was 165km from Gap to Briançon... Bobet knew this was the time to strike. One of Bobet's team-mates, Adolphe Deledda, went clear on the Vars with two other riders. Bobet stayed with the other leading climbers as they ascended the Vars. Spanish rider Jesus Lorono attacked. The alert and very capable Bobet jumped on his wheel and the pair disappeared up the mountain. Bobet was a good descender and dropped Lorono on the way down the Vars. Meanwhile, Deledda, upon being told that Bobet was on his way, eased up and waited for his captain. The two hooked up and took off across the 20km valley floor leading to the Izoard. In doing so they caught and then dispatched Deledda's two original breakaway companions. Bobet and Deledda, knowing the importance of the moment, were men on a mission. Deledda, fulfilling the team contract in both letter and especially in spirit, buried himself towing Bobet to the great mountain. Bobet flew up the Izoard as if he had wings. Bobet had finally arrived as the premier stage racer in the world. As he crested the Izoard there was a very well known cycling fan by the side of the road. Fausto Coppi with his mistress, Giulia Locatelli (the "woman in white"), was watching the race. As he rode past the great man, Bobet shouted thanks to Coppi for coming.

He won that day by more than five minutes in Briançon, took the yellow jersey as leader of the general classification, then won the time trial and finished the Tour with 14 minutes' lead. He was greeted in Paris by Maurice Garin, winner of the first Tour in 1903, celebrating the Tour's 50th anniversary. He had, however, won a Tour without stars. Kübler was not riding and nor was Coppi, who was standing on the Izoard to watch Bobet pass. Koblet was riding badly and dropped out after a crash. Bartali was too old. Yates' assessment is that "Bobet had won the Tour and won it well but the opposition was hardly top drawer.

Tour de France 1954

The 1954 race was different, without Italians but with a strong team from Belgium. The race started fast and didn't ease up. Bobet took the lead after four days, then lost it on day  eight. The jersey changed hands until Bobet again dominated on the Izoard. Winning the time-trial cemented his lead and he got to Paris 15 minutes before Kübler A few weeks later he became world champion in Germany. He left Stella after eight years to ride for Mercier, the team riding bicycles carrying Bobet's name and sold by him but made in the Mercier factory in St-Étienne.

Tour de France 1955
Bobet completed his hat-trick of successive wins in 1955, having that year won the Tour of Flanders and Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. The strongest French rider at first was Antonin Rolland and the manager, Marcel Bidot, asked the team to ride for him. Rolland, however, grew weaker as the race approached the Pyrenees. Bobet won the Tour but with a saddle boil that needed surgery. "His flesh was full of holes", said a report. "Dead tissue had to be removed to within several millimetres of vital organs. Nobody dared speak the word 'cancer'" Bobet believed that enduring the sores during the Tour made him a lesser rider for the rest of his life.

He learned to fly a plane while forced not to ride.

Tour de France 1958
The 1958 was the last that Bobet finished. One account said:

He has 400,000 kilometres in his legs. He has conquered glory and fortune but he is badly ill. Despite the formal advice of his doctor, he has decided to ride the 1958 Tour de France. He will suffer. He knows that. In the heart of the gigantic rocks of the Cassé Déserte, Bob is arced on his bicycle, his kidneys crushed by the effort and his head, like a heavy, painful balance, oscillates above his handlebars. The sun beats down on him. Around him, the whole mountain smokes like a giant witch's cauldron. As he breathes, what burns his throat and his lungs is the dust that rises around him... Abandoned, alone, without help, streaming with sweat, he has no other weapon against his adversaries but the mountain, the bad weather and his crazy willpower.

He came seventh.

Personality
The most striking feature of Bobet the man rather than rider was his ambition to behave like a Hollywood matinée idol, a sort of David Niven character in a dinner suit tuxedo. It brought him much ribbing from other French riders. Géminiani says Bobet's diffident and elegant manner made him less popular even in his own Brittany than the more rustic, forthright manners of other Breton people such as Jean Robic. The British professional Brian Robinson called Bobet "a private man and a little moody" and said he would sulk if things went wrong. The French journalist René de Latour said of Bobet in Sporting Cyclist that "he didn't look good on a bike" and that he had "the legs of a football [soccer] player".

Bobet spoke out against French involvement in a war against communists in Indo-China. He said he wasn't a Marxist but a pacifist. Géminiani said Bobet lacked humility. "He really thought that, after him, there'd be no more cycling in France", he said. Bobet occasionally talked of himself in the third person.

Bobet was driven by personal hygiene and refused to accept his first yellow jersey because it had not been made with the pure wool he believed the only healthy material for a sweating and dusty rider. Synthetic thread or blends were added in 1947 following the arrival of Sofil as a sponsor. Sofil made artificial yarn. The race organiser, Jacques Goddet wrote:
It produced a real drama. Our contract with Sofil was crumbling away. If the news had got out, the commercial effect would have been disastrous for the manufacturer. I remember debating it with him a good part of the night. Louison was always exquisitely courteous but his principles were as hard as the granite blocks of his native Brittany coast.

Goddet had to get Sofil to produce another jersey overnight, its logo still visible but artificial fabric absent. 
Bobet's concern with hygiene and clothing was accentuated by frequent problems with saddle sores.

Raymond Le Bert
Bobet was one of the first riders to employ a personal soigneur, taking his lead from Coppi. He took on Raymond Le Bert, a physiotherapist from St-Brieuc, as well as a secretary and a driver. Le Bert booked him hotel rooms between half-stages of the Tour, against the Tour's rules. Riders were supposed to use a dormitory provided for them. When the Tour insisted riders carry spare tyres, usually round their shoulders, Le Bert gave Bobet tubulars with the inner tubes taken out, useless to ride on but lighter to carry if that's what the rules insisted.

Le Bert said he had met Coppi, whom Bobet admired for his "modern" techniques but refused to have anything to do with the Italian's suitcase of drugs. Bobet insisted he never took drugs. But the journalist and race organiser, Jean Leulliot, remembered a dinner organised by Jacques Goddet and Félix Lévitan, the organisers of the Tour de France, for the race's former winners. Leulliot wrote:

One table attracted particular attention. Around it were Anquetil, Merckx and Bobet, 13 victories in the Tour between them. The conversation at the table was particularly lively and Louison Bobet was being challenged for saying that he had never taken the slightest drug or stimulant. He was obliged to admit that he had drunk the small bottles prepared for him by his soigneur at the time without knowing exactly what they contained. Which produced laughter from Jacques Anquetil and Eddy Merckx.

Bobet and Britain
Bobet presented prizes at the annual presentation of the British Best All-Rounder time-trial competition at the Royal Albert Hall, London, in 1954. He gave a yellow jersey to a veteran competitor, Vic Gibbons. Bobet flew from Paris to London in a de Havilland Dove chartered by a London timber-merchant and cycling enthusiast, Vic Jenner. Jock Wadley, the editor of Sporting Cyclist was with Jenner. He remember that the two Britons arrived at Le Bourget airport without having brought passports - but that immigration staff gave them no attention because they were too busy trying to get an autograph from Bobet.

Retirement and death

Bobet's career effectively ended when the car carrying him and his brother Jean crashed outside Paris in the autumn of 1960.

Louison Bobet had a succession of businesses after he stopped racing, including a clothes shop, but he became best known for investing in and developing the seawater health treatment of thalassotherapy. He had used it when recovering from his car crash. He opened the Louison Bobet centre beside the sea at Port du Crouesty at Quiberon. The Quiberon centre was purchased by Accor in 1984 and became the flagship of its Thalassa Sea & Spa brand. He fell ill, however, and died of cancer the day after his 58th birthday. Cancer had been speculated during the operation for his saddle boils. Bobet is interred in the cemetery of Saint-Méen-le-Grand, and there is a museum to his memory in the town, the idea of village postmaster Raymond Quérat.

Career achievements

Major results

 Tour de France
 4th overall and 2 stage wins (1948)
 3rd overall, 1 stage win and Winner mountains classification (1950)
 20th overall and 1 stage win (1951)
 1st overall and 2 stage wins (1953)
 1st overall and 3 stage wins (1954)
 1st overall and 2 stage wins (1955)
 7th overall (1958)
 Giro d'Italia
 2nd overall, 1 stage win and leading the general classification for 9 stages (1957)
 7th overall, 1 stage win and winner Mountains classification (1951)
Other races
 World Road Race Championship (1954)
  National Road Championship (1950, 1951)
 Milan–San Remo (1951)
 Giro di Lombardia (1951)
 Critérium International (1951, 1952)
 Desgrange-Colombo Trophy (1951)
 Paris–Nice (1952)
 Grand Prix des Nations (1952)
 Tour of Flanders (1955)
 Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré (1955)
 Tour de Luxembourg (1955)
 Paris–Roubaix (1956)
 Bordeaux–Paris (1959)
 Critérium des As (1949, 1950, 1953, 1954)

Grand Tour results timeline

See also
Jean Bobet

References

External links

Complete Palmarès
Cycling Hall of Fame Profile

1925 births
1983 deaths
Deaths from cancer in France
French male cyclists
French Tour de France stage winners
French Giro d'Italia stage winners
Sportspeople from Ille-et-Vilaine
Tour de France winners
UCI Road World Champions (elite men)
Challenge Desgrange-Colombo winners
Si-cology 1 is an autobiography by American television personality Silas Robertson, co-written by Mark Schlabach.  It was first published on September 3, 2013  and has already become a bestseller. In this book Si talks about his life. He talks about what life was like for him as a young boy living in Louisiana, how he went overseas to Vietnam as a soldier during the war, to what his life is like being Uncle Si on A&E show Duck Dynasty.

References

Robertson, Si
2013 non-fiction books "Cult of Personality" is a song by American rock band Living Colour, featured as the opening track and second single from their debut studio album Vivid (1988). The song was released on July 14, 1988, and reached  13 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and No. 9 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. It won the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance at the 32nd Annual Grammy Awards. Its music video won the MTV Video Music Award for Best Group Video and MTV Video Music Award for Best New Artist.

The band's guitarist and founder, Vernon Reid, described the song as very special for the band not just for its commercial success but because it was essentially written in just one rehearsal session. The riff was stumbled upon while practicing something else and by the end of the session they had written what was to become their best known song. The title comes from a psychological phenomenon called  cult of personality, and the lyrics contain many political references.

The song was ranked No. 69 on VH1's 100 Greatest Hard Rock Songs. The solo was ranked No. 87 in Guitar Worlds "100 Greatest Guitar Solos" list. It was selected for inclusion in the musical reference book, 1001 Songs You Must Hear Before You Die: And 10,001 You Must Download.

Background and composition
The title comes from Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev's 1956 anti-Stalin report, "On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences". During rehearsals at the band's loft in Brooklyn in 1987, lead singer Corey Glover was humming some notes. Guitarist Vernon Reid opened his small notebook of quotes and phrases for lyrical inspiration, and turned to a page where he had scribbled, "Look in my eyes, what do you see? The cult of personality."

In 2018, Reid said, "The whole idea was to move past the duality of: That's a good person and that's a bad person. What do the good and the bad have in common? Is there something that unites Gandhi and Mussolini? Why are they who they are? And part of it is charisma." In 2016, he also said, "'Cult of Personality' was about celebrity, but on a political level. It asked what made us follow these individuals who were larger than life yet still human beings. Aside from their social importance, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King both looked like matinee idols. That was a strong part of why their messages connected. Even now it’s why Barack Obama has that certain something."

The signature riff was improvised at the same rehearsal. Reid said, "That cool riff had a Zeppelin-ish vibe, but also a Mahavishnu Orchestra thing going on. It was based on a series of notes that Corey had sung – my attempt to repeat that [on guitar]. I already had the lyrics, but with the music in place it very quickly took on a life of its own."

Political figures referenced
"Cult of Personality" prominently includes several audio samples of speeches from 20th-century political leaders.

The song begins with an edited quote from the beginning of "Message to the Grass Roots", a speech by Malcolm X: "... And during the few moments that we have left, ... We want to talk right down to earth in a language that everybody here can easily understand."

During a rest in the music at 4:35, John F. Kennedy's inaugural address is heard ("Ask not what your country can do for you ...").

The song ends with Franklin D. Roosevelt saying "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself", from his first inaugural address.

The lyrics mention Kennedy, Benito Mussolini, Joseph Stalin, and Mahatma Gandhi. According to Vernon Reid, Adolf Hitler was originally also in the lyrics but was pulled due to fear that referring to him would be misconstrued and too controversial.

Track listings

US and Canadian 7-inch single, US cassette single
 "Cult of Personality" – 4:53
 "Funny Vibe" – 4:19

UK 7-inch single
A. "Cult of Personality" – 4:54
B. "What's Your Favorite Color? (Theme Song)" – 3:56

UK CD single (1988)
 "Cult of Personality" – 4:53
 "Open Letter (To a Landlord)" (live) – 5:39
 "Middle Man" (live) – 3:43

UK CD single (1989)
 "Cult of Personality" – 4:54
 "Should I Stay or Should I Go" – 2:27
 "What's Your Favorite Color? (Theme Song)" – 3:56

European 7-inch single
A. "Cult of Personality" – 4:53
B. "Open Letter (To a Landlord)" – 5:30

Australian 7-inch single
A. "Cult of Personality" – 4:53
B. "Desperate People" – 5:35

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

In popular culture
Professional wrestler and mixed martial artist CM Punk has used the song as his entrance music in WWE, Ring of Honor, Ultimate Fighting Championship, and All Elite Wrestling. Living Colour performed the song live at WrestleMania 29 as part of Punk's entrance.

The song appears on the radio station Radio X in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

A re-recording of the song appears as a playable track in Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and Guitar Hero Smash Hits.
The song appears in the soundtrack of the video game NBA 2K16.
The song is also faintly heard in the 2009 romantic comedy film, The Proposal, when Ryan Reynolds' character is listening to his iPod while carving a canoe.
The song is featured in the video games Rock Band Blitz and DLC for Rock Band 3 and Rock Band 4. (also appears in WWE '12, WWE '13, WWE 2K14 and WWE 2K15 as CM Punk's entrance)

References

External links

Songs about politicians
Songs about John F. Kennedy
Songs about Joseph Stalin
Cultural depictions of Benito Mussolini
Cultural depictions of Franklin D. Roosevelt
Songs based on speech samples
Living Colour songs
1988 debut singles
1988 songs
CBS Records singles
Epic Records singles
Funk metal songs
Glam metal songs
Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance
Political songs
Songs written by Vernon Reid
Songs written by Will Calhoun
Songs written by Corey Glover
Song recordings produced by Ed Stasium
Sony Music singles