“A woman on a bike is ugly”: Jeannie Longo, facing the macho men of the Tour de France
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In 1996, Jeannie Longo won the gold medal at the Atlanta Olympics. ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
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Story: The macho men thought she looked "ugly" on her bike. The multiple world champion shut them up.
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On the other end of the line, Jeannie Longo says it bluntly: "That TV sequence had such an impact on so many people that I still hear about it frequently. People remember that I fought against an environment that didn't want women." That day in 1987, Jacques Chancel welcomed the 28-year-old cycling champion to the traveling set of Antenne 2, at the finish of a stage of the Tour de France, invited to the middle of a group of male riders. Marc Madiot was one of them and he had just declared to "France Soir" : "If my sisters rode bikes, I would disown them."
Facing Jeannie Longo, he boldly assumes: "There are sports that are masculine, there are some that are feminine. Seeing a woman dance is very pretty, seeing a woman play football is ugly, seeing a woman on a bike is ugly. […] Cycling is an extremely difficult sport, and I love women too much to see them suffer." And the same Madiot blurted out, the discussion having drifted to Evelyn Ashford, Olympic champion...
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