RIP The Boss

davidof

Dorset_Boy

I thought Bruce had died when I saw the thread title.

orraloon

I almost posted that but thought better of it 😉

rick_chasey

100% thought you meant Hinault

davidof

rick_chasey said:

100% thought you meant Hinault

That would be Le Patron.
So from left to right: le Patron, The Boss, Le Man





Bernard Tapie was a dabbler, 60s singer to business man, to TV presenter, to TV actor, to running a Tour de France winning Bike Team to Football manager, he did it all. But the last years of his life were marred by a bitter court case with the French state involving the sale of Adidas three decades earlier. Found not guilty, the state had appealed with a decision due to be rendered on Wednesday. Gravely ill with cancer Tapie had hoped his name would be cleared for all time. As it is, he dies an innocent man as the supreme court decision will never be known, you can't prosecute the dead.

He had bought and restructured la Vie Claire, a health food chain, for a bargain basement price. His management methods were considered brutal at the time. Sacking staff and closing loss making shops. In the autumn of '83 he launched a professional cycle team. The plan was simple, invest millions and win the Tour (again) for Bernard Hinault who'd fallen out with Renault-Gitane boss Cyrille Guimard. But there was a fly in the ointment, Hinault had a knee problem.

Hinault finished second in the '84 tour behind a brilliant Laurent Fignon but it would wait until the Chrono des Nations for him to rediscover his winning form, crushing everyone. Vengance against Guimard and Fignon. Le Patron was back winning both the '85 Giro and Tour but Hinault had a rival at la Vie Claire, Greg Lemond.



Tapie wanted to replace Guimard in the French cycling world. In '85 he hired Greg Lemond for a record salary for the era. Super domestique for Hinault in the '85 tour little by little the servant became the master. In the '86 tour they finished hand in hand at the summit of l'Alpe d'Huez. Hinault took the stage, Lemond Yellow and the tour. Tapie's plan had worked to perfection but a chance to run Olympique Marseille would turn Tapie's head just as he'd reached the top in cycling. Nearly 4 decades later Tapie is still revered as a hero in the city he took to victory in the European championships.

pblakeney

He may be revered at Olympique Marseille but things were not squeaky clean.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_football_bribery_scandal

davidof

pblakeney said:

He may be revered at Olympique Marseille but things were not squeaky clean.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_football_bribery_scandal

They certainly weren't but that maybe adds to the myth, especially in a city like Marseille. It is like Jacques Médecin down the coast, loved by the Niçois, hated by the bien pensant British ex-pats who lived in the town for his racism and corruption.

pblakeney

I think it points to a wide boy who would do whatever it takes to achieve his goals.
That was what I took from the Hinault Lemond thing anyway.
One man's hero is another man's villain. All depends on perspective.

thegreasedscotsman

It’s a bit weird that Delko Marseille changed their kit to a La Vie Claire version for Roubaix on the day he died.

davidof

I have the original of that jersey