Velotology Educational Series

Hello, Velotologists

Today, I have prepared a list of cyclists who achieved greatness despite smoking cigarettes (or cigars). Of course, don’t take this piece as a tobacco promo (lol). It’s just meant to reveal that you don’t need an ultra-perfect regime to be a winner.

1. Gastone Nencini – The Lion of Mugello

Gastone Nencini (1 March 1930 – 1 February 1980) was an Italian road racing cyclist who won the 1960 Tour de France and the 1957 Giro d’Italia. He was nicknamed The Lion of Mugello (a region in Tuscany, Italy, known for its beautiful landscapes for his ferocious riding style.

Nencini was a scary descender. He was so good that other cyclists feared for their life when following him. 

Roger Rivière (a talented French cyclist) crashed while trying to keep up with Nencini during Stage 14 of the 1960 Tour and suffered a career-ending injury.

Nencini was also a decent painter and heavy chain smoker. 

2.  Gino Bartali – The Iron Man

Gino Bartali (18 July 1914 – 5 May 2000) was among the “Top G’s” of cycling. 

He was the greatest Italian cyclist before World War II, winning the Giro d’Italia twice (1936 and 1937) and the Tour de France in 1938. 

After WW2, he won the Giro d’Italia again in 1946 and the Tour de France in 1948.

But Bartali isn’t known just for winning cycling events. He used his position as a famous cyclist to help the Jews during WW2. In September 2013, he was posthumously honored as a “Righteous Among the Nations” by Yad Vashem.

Bartali was a smoker too. Like other cyclists, he used it as a way to reduce stress.  According to some, he’d be chain smoking 3 to 4 cigarettes in combination with fairly strong espressos before a race. 

There are photos of him smoking during his competitive career and after. There is also a picture of him with Fausto Coppi smoking a small cigar. 

3. Eddy Merckx – The Cannibal

Eddy Merckx needs no introduction as he is widely regarded as the greatest athlete in competitive cycling history. He holds eleven Grand Tour victories, including five Tours de France and five Giros d’Italia, along with numerous other prestigious races and records.

Over his 18-year career, he totaled 525 victories and set the hour record in 1972 too.

What many people don’t know, however, is that he smoked cigarettes and even advertised them. 

 “I liked to smoke a cigarette, even during the Tour de France. It calmed my nerves,” Merckx said.

4. Fausto Coppi – The Champion of Champions

Angelo Fausto Coppi (15 September 1919 – 2 January 1960) is one of the most famous Italian cyclists on the planet. His performance earned him the nickname the Champion of Champions.

His strongest weapon was….everything. He was good at sprinting, climbing, time trials, and descending. 

Coppi won the Giro d’Italia five times (1940, 1947, 1949, 1952, 1953) and the Tour de France twice (1949 and 1952). 

He was also a cigar smoker. As I mentioned earlier, there are photos of him smoking a cigar in the company of Bartali. That said, he was an “occasional” rather than a consistent smoker. 

5. Julien Vervaecke – The Fighter

Julien Vervaecke (3 November 1899 – May 1940) was a Belgian professional road cyclist. He is also seen in one of the most iconic photos depicting the use of cigarettes in cycling. 

Vervaecke had a pretty decent career despite never winning the Tour de France. 

He won Paris–Roubaix, Paris–Brussels, and two stages of the 1927 Tour de France edition that earned him the 3rd place. 

During World War II, he was murdered upon refusing to allow the British army to capture his house. 

6. Maurice Garin – The Little Chimney-sweep

Maurice Garin (3 March 1871 – 19 February 1957) was an Italian-French road cyclist who won the very first Tour de France in 1903. 

However, he was stripped of his title in the 1904 Tour, along with eight other cyclists, due to cheating. 

As a kid, Garin was a chimney sweeper. His job gave him the nickname Le petit Ramoneur (The Little Chimney-sweep). 

Garin was an “avid smoker” too throughout his entire career. Those around him would often see him with a cigarette out of his mouth. There is a photo of him together with his son indicating the same. 

Smoking Doesn’t Help But…

During the 1920s and prior cigarettes were not seen as harmful as shown by the “cute” retro ads of tobacco products. It was even believed that smoking can open up your lungs before a climb as it encourages rhythmic and slow inhalations. 

Well, it doesn’t take a man with 190 IQ to figure out that you don’t need cigarettes to open up your lungs and that the body isn’t meant to smoke anything…really. But such were the times. And each era has its weird peculiarities that appear ridiculous a few decades later. 

The moral of the story, in my humble opinion, is depicted in the good old saying – “Perfect is the enemy of good.”

What does this mean? 

At the end of the day, you first have to take care of the essentials which in this case are/were hard training. Only then do details matter…to an extent.

And don’t forget that professional cycling in and of itself is more dangerous to one’s life than a few cigars here and there. At the time, the conditions were a lot harsher than they are today (hence the complaints of Henri Pélissier). 

One small mistake can cause a nasty crash resulting in serious injuries or even death. When you account for that undeniable fact and the use of stimulants/doping, the harmful habits of cyclists non-related to the sport appear significantly smaller. 

See you later, Velotologists

– Ru

Sources:

Brisson, Jean-Pascal (2014). Les 100 plus grands cyclistes de l’histoire. Paris: Editions Clément. p. 77. ISBN 979-1092547-65-8.

McGann, Bill; McGann, Carol (2006). The Story of the Tour de France: How a Newspaper Promotion Became the Greatest Sporting Event in the World. Vol. 1: 1903-1964. Indianapolis: Dog Ear Publishing. p. 244. ISBN 1-59858-180-5.

“I liked to smoke a cigarette during the Tour de France; it calmed my nerves: Cycling nutrition before bread and water.” Cycling Weekly. Accessed September, 2024. https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/racing/i-liked-to-smoke-a-cigarette-during-the-tour-de-france-it-calmed-my-nerves-cycling-nutrition-before-bread-and-water-456071.

“Cycling Cheating Stories: Tour de France Motors, Itching Power, and Gang Attacks.” SB Nation. Accessed October 5, 2023. https://www.sbnation.com/lookit/2017/8/1/16069440/cycling-cheating-stories-tour-de-france-motors-itching-power-gang-attacks.