I think the point is we create our own mythologies about sportsmen to enable us to invest emotionally. Without this emotional investment sport isnt so much fun. Just look at the mythologising and emotional investment of football club fans. It becomes part of their identity.
So in cycling we adorn certain riders with attributes like 'panache', but we still need villains. The British intruders fulfilled the requirements perfectly. Even their kit, bikes and bus were black. The bald-headed and bulgy-eyed Brailsford is reminiscent of Donald Pleasance's Bond villain, Blofeld.
You only have to look at the narratives weaved here about Sky, and the peer pressure to adopt them to realise this is pretty primitive stuff.
So in cycling we adorn certain riders with attributes like 'panache', but we still need villains. The British intruders fulfilled the requirements perfectly. Even their kit, bikes and bus were black. The bald-headed and bulgy-eyed Brailsford is reminiscent of Donald Pleasance's Bond villain, Blofeld.
You only have to look at the narratives weaved here about Sky, and the peer pressure to adopt them to realise this is pretty primitive stuff.