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@clubman
The cutting above is taken from ‘Sporting Cyclist’ for November 1961. These orders come from the then honorary *directeur sportif *of the Auto-Cycle Sottevillais (Sotteville is a suburb of Rouen) Andre Boucher.
Why should we pay any attention to his views? Well it was Boucher who, in 1953, first introduced a young *normand *to the larger cycling world – Jacques Anquetil. In 1961 he had just produced another successful young rider: Jean Jourden, who had won the world amateur road championship that year.
It’s hard to know how much of Anquetil’s success was due to Boucher’s advice since he had the reputation of a man who had no time at all for rules, especially those relating to sex, drugs and alcohol. Perhaps he was more pliable as a teenager, but it’s clear that he still respected Boucher at this time, and had come back to Rouen for a training session with his old task master pacing him on a Derny three days before his record breaking win in the Grand Prix des Nations that year.
Forum readers will note the advice on gearing. I must admit I am surprised to see fixed wheel training bikes being recommended in France as late as 1961.
If you were confused by conflicting advice on food further up this column, you’re probably in a complete tizz by now. What is to be learnt here is that opinions tend to change with time, and so all ‘experts’ should only be listened to with a degree of scepticism.