louison
12, 19 and 26 July 2021
Théâtre de l'Adresse « Diffusion », 2 avenue de la Trillade, Avignon
A name that rings out and plunges us into 1950s France.
There are the “leaders”: Jean Robic, Charly Gaul, Hugo Koblet… and Louison!
Louison Bobet, the first French rider to win three Tours de France in a row, in ’53, ’54 and ’55. Unheard of. A clock, a physique, and above all a brain. Strategy is what wins races. The modern race, Bobet’s race.
The radio crackles, and the commentator’s nasal voice strings the names of the Tour de France heroes like pearls on an unbroken thread.
We hear the beauty of the rider in full effort, the names of legendary mountain passes that send a shiver down the spine, the delirious crowd; then silence, suffering, the struggle with oneself, fear, risk, drama, the jubilation at the summit. The great adventure has begun. Cyclists are cheered like soldiers going off to war, like sailors who may never return, leaving their muses and their passions on the quay. Women make your legs go soft.
And then there are the people, those who watch, listen and wait. Those whose every July day follows the rhythm of the great loop.
— You can’t even go for a pee in peace, imagine if Darrigade attacks right then!
Play them some André Verchuren, the king of the accordion, and the people are happy.