Raymond Poulidor, cyclist, died on November 13th, aged 83
自行車手雷蒙·布里多于11月13日去世,享年83歲。
Eight times Raymond Poulidor stood on the podium at the end of the Tour de France, soaked in sweat, exhausted and smiling his big gap-toothed smile. He was just never on the top step. In 14 Tours someone else always pipped him or, to be honest, passed him by quite a lot. He came second three times, third five times (including in his last tour, not bad for a 40-year-old), but never put on the treasured yellow jersey, the greatest prize in cycling.
雷蒙·布里多曾8次站上環法自行車賽的領獎臺,渾身是汗,疲憊不堪,他咧著大嘴笑了。他只是從來沒有拿到過第一名。在參加的14次比賽中,總是有人險勝他,或者老實講,超過他很多。他三次取得第二的成績,五次取得第三的成績(包括他最后一次參賽,這對一名40歲的人來說是挺好的成績),但是從來沒有穿上那件黃色的球衣,那是自行車賽最好的獎品。
The closest he came to that was when winners offered to let him wear it at dinner parties, and he would shrug his big frame into it with no bitterness at all. Because, with or without it, "L'Eternel Second" was by far the most popular racing cyclist ever known in France. His catalogue of mishaps in the Tour was long. In 1962, when he came third, he had a broken finger. In 1964, when he came second, he lost time at Monaco and had a puncture in the Pyrenees.
他最接近這個黃色球衣的時候是當獲勝者提出讓他在晚宴上穿它的時候,他會聳聳肩,將它穿在自己寬大的身體上,一點也不感覺苦澀。因為,不管有沒有它,“永恒第二”是目前法國已知的最受歡迎的自行車手。他在這次旅行中的災難很多。1962年,他在拿到第三名的那次比賽中斷了一根手指。1964年,當雷蒙拿了第二名時,他在摩納哥耽誤了時間,并且車子在比利牛斯山脈扎了一個洞。

In 1965,Italian riders ganged up on him. In 1967 he fell badly in the Vosges, and in 1968 he was hit by a motorbike. The race in 1973 began with his nearest chance, when he was behind by a mere 0.8 seconds in the Prologue, but he later fell down a ravine. In 1975, his worst Tour, when he came 19th, he had bronchitis. Something always came between him and the glory of the maillot jaune. And all Frenchmen and women who had ever repeatedly tried, and failed, to achieve some goal took him to their hearts accordingly. He was "Pouli" and "Poupou" (a stupid name, but he put up with it), carried aloft on a sea of poupoularité. They called him unlucky. He did not agree.
1965年,意大利騎手聯合起來對付他。1967年,他在孚日山脈嚴重摔倒,1968年,他被摩托車撞了。1973年的比賽以他最接近奪冠的方式開始,開場時他僅落后0.8秒,但后來他摔下了峽谷。1975年,他在最糟糕的那次比賽中拿到了19名,當時他患有支氣管炎。總有什么東西擋在他和黃色領騎衫的榮耀之間。所有那些曾多次嘗試達到某種目的,但都以失敗告終的法國人,都把他放在心里。他曾經是“普利”和“普普”(一個愚蠢的名字,但是他忍受了),被一群歡迎他的人抬到高處。他們說他運氣不好。可是他不同意。
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