• The Cycling News forum is looking to add some volunteer moderators with Red Rick's recent retirement. If you're interested in helping keep our discussions on track, send a direct message to @SHaines here on the forum, or use the Contact Us form to message the Community Team.

    In the meanwhile, please use the Report option if you see a post that doesn't fit within the forum rules.

    Thanks!

everyone hate the french (apparently)

Where the hell does this pathetic behaviour come from?

I just read the article on CN.com where Madiot responds on the possible investigation on Demare's win and I'm just baffled at how pathetic and sorry his behaviour is.

It's all because Demare is french and riding in a french team. Where does this conspiracytheory against the french come from?

I think it's hilarious, but also a bloody shame. I personally like FDJ , but if this is how they feel and behave then they certainly lost a big chunk of respect from me.
 
Mar 14, 2016
3,092
7
0
Visit site
Kwibus said:
Where the hell does this pathetic behaviour come from?

I just read the article on CN.com where Madiot responds on the possible investigation on Demare's win and I'm just baffled at how pathetic and sorry his behaviour is.

It's all because Demare is french and riding in a french team. Where does this conspiracytheory against the french come from?

I think it's hilarious, but also a bloody shame. I personally like FDJ , but if this is how they feel and behave then they certainly lost a big chunk of respect from me.
For me, it only increases the level of suspicion around Démare's win. If you have rational arguments on your side, you don't need to play the nationality card.
 
CheckMyPecs said:
Kwibus said:
Where the hell does this pathetic behaviour come from?

I just read the article on CN.com where Madiot responds on the possible investigation on Demare's win and I'm just baffled at how pathetic and sorry his behaviour is.

It's all because Demare is french and riding in a french team. Where does this conspiracytheory against the french come from?

I think it's hilarious, but also a bloody shame. I personally like FDJ , but if this is how they feel and behave then they certainly lost a big chunk of respect from me.
For me, it only increases the level of suspicion around Démare's win. If you have rational arguments on your side, you don't need to play the nationality card.

True, but it's not about if Demare is guilty or not. This is about why the french feel like everyone is against them.
Where does this come from and does he have a point?

I have no clue where it comes from and I'm 99% sure it's bs as well.
 
Growing up in French-speaking Belgium and with Flemish roõts, Francophobia was natural for me. Always thinking that French are so chauvinists. While this could have been true, 40 years ago, I now realised that modern-day French are perhaps the most self-hating people in the world. Besides, I came to the conclusion that loving one's country is by no means detestable, on the contrary, it's just very healthy.

But now I realised that when we get to know other peoples we discover that they are different then we thought they were. There are still unpleasant French people, if only the commentators and a few riders too but many of them are very good guys. I'm now a fan of Cyril Gautier's, Julien Absalon's, Jérémy Roy's or the Turgis brothers'.

I also like the provincial French better than the city-dwellers (I hate Paris!). Madiot is a farm boy. That's why he's always been anti-EU (he used to cut the European flag on his dossard at the Tour of the EEC, I think). I've always had respect for him, even as a rider. First, he's a guy who can speak, his vocabulary is very rich. He loves Belgian cycling, has always said that Belgium is where you can learn how cycling is raced, the races where you get tough. He's still especially bound to Paris-Roubaix and its history where he made a name for himself. Besides, he's got very strong opinions about many things, like race radios, e.g. He can be provocative, he can be fun but I gotta love his outspokenness.

I hesitated to buy his book, looked it up at my book shop but it was a bit too expensive for my budget and when I read that he said Bernard Tapie was a man of honour, I chose not to. I regret it now but well I guess I can hardly afford it.


By the way, the reason the French are hated is that they start to like classics better than before while Anglos neglect and despise them, period!
 
EU subsidies are French subsidies. France is one of the net contributor countries to the EU. They give about €21bi and get 14 back. So what the farmers get is French funds painted in blue with golden stars, with 7 billion € that are taken away from them.
 
The whole issue would die down if he had just kept his mouth shut. But unfortunately it is not possible for him. He is simply trying to make it a national issue so the French would have some sympathy but the case actually is simply between 2 riders as even Demare's teammates weren't involved. Similar case of Bouhanni vs Geschke died off after internal resolution.
 

TRENDING THREADS