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Wambst understands how to pace Simpson<br />
perfectly. Now the Englishman begins to<br />
hunt the victory in earnest, reeling in riders,<br />
constructing his final victory on the Côte de<br />
Dourdan, a Flemish berg dropped into the<br />
Chevreuse Valley. One of the lost mythic<br />
landscapes of cycling, wrapped in this quietly<br />
beautiful landscape that teems with forests,<br />
rivers and castles, Dourdan is the Arenberg or<br />
Alpe d’Huez of Bordeaux-Paris. In 1963, as they<br />
had been so many times before, the roads were<br />
heaving with spectators eager to see who was<br />
ready to launch themselves to victory. The 1959<br />
winner Louison Bobet can be heard shouting<br />
“Bravo Tom - il est formidable!” from the Radio<br />
Luxembourg car.<br />
So would Simpson ride the Tour if he won<br />
Bordeaux-Paris, asked Sporting Cyclist. “Almost<br />
certainly not,” Simpson responded. “I would<br />
concentrate on the world road championships.”<br />
The rainbow jersey would have to wait until<br />
1965 in San Sebastian when Simpson took an<br />
almost impossible win, beating the German<br />
powerhouse Rudi Altig in a two-up sprint. Mr<br />
Tom had never been so popular.<br />
105
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