The Curse of the Rainbow Jersey: Cycling's Most Infamous Superstition

by Graham Healy

Overview

The Curse of the Rainbow Jersey is a peculiar lens on the history of professional cycling. It examines the infamous curse associated with wearers of the tunic awarded to the winner of the World Cycling Championships.

The opening chapters look at how the curse originated with the death of Stan Ockers in 1955, other famous sports curses (including Curse of the Bambino, the US Masters Par 3 curse, and the curse placed on the Australian soccer team by a witch doctor), and also the history of the world cycling championships.

The main body of the book is comprised of chapters dedicated to particular wearers of the rainbow jersey who were struck by misfortune, personal tragedy, or death. Examples include Paolo Bettini, whose brother died in a car crash on the way to a party to celebrate Paolo's win; Jean-Pierre Monseré, who died in a race while wearing the jersey; and Tommy Simpson, who died while racing two years after being crowned champion.

The ill fortune visited upon wearers of the rainbow jersey is bizarre and tragic; but is it anything more than random chance? The final chapter of the book evaluates whether this level of bad luck is higher than for any other sample of humanity.

A chilling look at the history of cycling, sure to fascinate any fan of the sport.

Graham Healy is a cyclist and journalist living in Dublin, Ireland.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781621240013
Publisher:	Breakaway Books
Publication date:	05/21/2013
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Graham Healy is a keen cyclist, having raced and taken part in various cyclosportives including Maratone dles Dolomiti and Etape du Tour. He also writes for the Sticky Bottle website, and is the author of "Shay Elliott: The Life and Death of Ireland's First Yellow Jersey." He has had an interest in cycling since he was ten years old. He got the autograph of Eddy Merckx at the very first race he saw, without having a clue as to who Merckx was. He lives in Dublin, Ireland.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments 7

Prologue 9

1 The Worlds 13

2 The First Victim 23

3 The Treason of Ronse 31

4 Mr. Tom 41

5 The Eagle of Hoogerheide 53

6 Jempi 62

7 Drugs, Beer, and Big Gears 72

8 Stephen Roche 83

9 Big in Japan 93

10 Luc Leblanc 102

11 The Festina Affair 113

12 Another Drug Scandal 123

13 Double Tragedy 133

14 Death of a Brother 143

15 The Other Victims 153

16 Spilled Salt and Other Irrational Fears 161

17 It's Not Just Cycling 168

18 Cursed or Not? 176

Appendix: World Championship Results 184

Bibliography 188