Memorial to Tom Simpson blown over by strong winds on Mont Ventoux

This is a monument to a man, not to a "clean" cyclist.
To those posting cheap references to drug use / abuse, please let's have some respect for the memory of the man and for his family.

Simpson was a complex man in a time when there were not the black and white simplistic certainties that many here seem to have so much faith in. The past is a foreign country and all that. He was a pioneer of british cycling and he gave everything for his sport so a memorial is fitting and right and I hope it can be fixed. Still, despite the facile moral outrage expressed in this comment thread by people who have never had to make such choices I suppose we should be at least grateful that nobody has yet claimed he would still be alive if he had been wearing a helmet.

For those that are unaware of the history of our sport, the UCI banned performance enhancing drugs following what happened to Tommy. He was looking for "marginal gains" to perform at the top level of cycling. I feel it's wrong for him to be labelled a 'drug cheat' when he didn't brake any rules of the sport. Mark Cavendish likes his caffeine, if that's one day banned by the UCI does it retrospectively make him a cheat? I take energy gels when I ride, if they are banned one day does that make me a drugs cheat today? I'm sure you get my point.
Good luck to the TSA getting everything fixed. I live close to Harworth, Toms home village, and would love to ride from the memorial here in Yorkshire to the memorial on Mont Ventoux.

Shocking French workmanship is the real scandal here. Metal? Concrete? T bracing? No. Keep it simple and stick a boulder behind it. Should have had that in the first place.

Loving the bickering. A genuine cure for cancer would start a fight on this forum between those in favour and those opposed...

Brandy and some wiz doesnt really constitute 'doping' in my opinion.
Sounds like a good night out in Manchester in the early 90s to me.
I think we should put up a 100ft statue to anyone who can ride a bike up Mt Ventoux a bit pissed and buzzing his tits off.
Chapeau!

I'm generally none too keen on revisionism in historical events.

Simpson needs to be judged by the values of his time, and perhaps the influence he had on cycling regarding his doping. To judge the dopers of the 60s with today's values, well, who'd be left unsullied by suspicion?

I think as the 90s came about and some of the farcical events surrounding doping in pro cycling from then on did immeasurable damage to the credibility of the sport (and still damages it to this day) then I'd agree that we should see the legacy of dopers like Pantani and Ullrich, Riis etc with scepticism and ambivalence.

Tom Simpson absolutely should be respected as a man, as should the wishes of him, his family and friends. Equally everyone has the right to remember him as they wish.

The question - Is drug use in the 60's comparable to the 90's onwards?. Well, each race is run with a set of rules stating what is or is not allowed. If someone sets out to deliberately do something to gain an advantage that is not permitted under the rules which were current at the time, and it is not done for the sake of their own wellbeing such as drinking water when required, then I would argue that the act could well be regarded as cheating. As such I think a comparison can be drawn when considering attitudes to cheating.

If we choose to gloss over the cheating of the past , and continue to revere the legends that went down this route then we implicitly accept their practices and therefore risk them remaining an integral part of the culture of the sport.

They actually managed to get their fags lit though!

At this years tour Sky went used up 3000 Gatorade water bottles, which will have, on various occasions, contained water or fluids to speed up replacing whatever the riders had lost.

In Tom's day they were allowed around 2 litres of water a day.

There wasn't the science there is now, to equate the drug use back then to today's doping practices is like comparing your patio to my staircase.

Would you class this as cheating today?

http://www.sportpursuit.com/wp_blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/tour-de-f...

Trite comment about drug usage is irrelevant, as is the balance of opinion over the validity of his athletic achievement.
I didn't personally know Mr Simpson, I'm not old enough to have had even the outside opportunity. From reading about his life it seems he touched the hearts and minds of a great many people, and left his friends and family too early.
Behind every dead cycling persona was a human being, with human failings and a network of people living with the grief of their loss. This transcends the sporting arena, and applies to us all. We should all respect the wishes of a great many people who want to continue to remember this Gentleman who happened to be a cyclist.

I should imagine a few steel strengthening bars into the base and then cement up would do the trick. Hope to see it back up soon.

I dont think the name calling is necessary, It's a forum, people post opinions. We may not agree, but hey that's life.
For what it's worth, I am sorry a talented Rider died in pursuit of glory. It is also a shame that a monument to him has been damaged. However as he is known to have had amphetamine in his system at the time of his demise, I feel it is fair comment to question the thought processes of people in the general public who now hold him in such high regard whilst at the same time vilifying modern day cheats. To take a point from an earlier post, are not some of the current crop of dopers also imperfect and charismatic?.
I think most would agree that the man was talented, and had grit, but should we condone drug use?. Probably not.
Should we applaud someone who literally rides themself to death?, and more to the point what does that say about us?.

I don't understand, it's not that big, why can't it just be picked up and concreted down?

The cycling gods are angry!

It could indeed be argued that as well as commemorating Simpson, the memorial shows the folly of doping.

Hear hear DaddyElvis.
To "the doctor" ....appropriately you are a monumental cock!

Let's hope it's repaired soon, god bless you Mr Simson.

Hear hear DaddyElvis.
To "the doctor" ....appropriately you are a monumental cock!

Let's hope it's repaired soon, god bless you Mr Simson.

Millar (have you read his book ?) had the chance to make amends and redeem himself - an opportunity Simpson never had.

Among riders to have paid their tributes to the Shamed Simpson as they passed the memorial over the years have been two British riders to follow him into the yellow jersey, Utterly Disgraced David Millar...

(Journalistic integrity redressed)

Shocking, the disrespect the French wind has for a true British sporting hero. Shocking the sycophancy for just another cheat. Take your pick; as usual life falls somewhere in between internet chatter.
Just needs a bit of cross bracing, plenty of room behind for a T-stone.

A monument to an imperfect but charismatic and courageous man who pushed himself beyond the limit of endurance in a bid for glory.

Ok, the doping thing - different era and attitudes but then what decade of pro cycling hasn't seen doping, with similarly unconvincing excuses.

On Friday July 13th 2007 (the 40th anniversary of the death of Tom Simpson on Mont Ventoux) a group from his first cycling club, the Harworth and District, climbed Mont Ventoux for a re-dedication ceremony . This was to unveil the steps and general refurbishment. They were joined by other riders from south Yorkshire plus Simpson’s ex-tem mates Barry Hoban, Vin Denson, his widow Helen (now Helen Hoban) as well as his daughter Joanne.

I was there along with film maker Ray Pascoe and dozens of club riders, on what turned out to be a very sunny (but not too hot) day. The flags of France, Belgium, Flanders and Brittany flew - in memory of Simpsons regions of cycling achievement - with a Union Jack over the stone centre piece.

The refurbishment was a big improvement on the state of the memorial previously. Hopefully the recent damage will be easy to repair.

Bob Davis

Maybe Wiggo and Millar could cough up.

It does not look too bad - hopefully be able to do something with that