One-day races and Classics Raphaël Géminiani (12 June 1925 – 5 July 2024) was a French road bicycle racer.

[4] His strong personality earned him the nickname of Le Grand Fusil,[5] which translates roughly as "Top Gun".

[6][7] Géminiani's father, Giovanni, brought his family to France in 1920, being prosecuted in Italy by the rising fascist movement.

René de Latour wrote in Sporting Cyclist that Géminiani's father said: "Look at yourself in the mirror, son, and tell me if you ever saw a coureur with legs as skinny as yours.

At 16, in 1943, he won the first round of the Premier Pas Dunlop, which had the status of a youth championship, came third in the next heat and qualified for the final, held on 3 June 1943.

He received a professional contract in 1946 for the Métropole team from its manager, Romain Bellenger, and in 1947 rode his first Tour de France.

[12] It was strongest in his own area, the Auvergne, where rumours had spread that Géminiani had ridden the 1947 race only because his father had bribed the selectors.

He was insulted when he beat a local favourite, Jean Blanc, in a race near Clermont-Ferrand three days before the start.

He lost ground over the mountains but stayed with stronger riders such as Jean Robic, Louison Bobet and Gino Bartali.

He lost time through a succession of flat tyres on the stage to Briançon but still finished 15th, having supported Guy Lapébie, his team-mate, to third place.

The tone in Clermont changed: fans met him at the station and drove him through the city in an open car, behind a man walking with a French flag.

The battling went on all day and ended with a sprint on the cinder track at Sauclière where Nello Lauredi won and Géminiani came second, denying Bobet the time bonus which would have helped him win the stage.

Géminiani was leading the race when Charly Gaul of Luxembourg, the most talented climber of his generation[citation needed], attacked in a rainstorm on the 21st stage.

Géminiani rounded on the national French team generally and on Bobet in particular in accusing them of being "Judas", a Biblical reference to being betrayed.

The president, Maurice Yaméogo invited Fausto Coppi, Géminiani, Anquetil, Bobet, Roger Hassenforder and Henry Anglade to ride against local riders and then go hunting.

"[8]Fausto Coppi won the 1950 Paris–Roubaix and two years later gave the bicycle that he had ridden in that race, the Bianchi 231560, to his new team-mate, Géminiani.

[20] Géminiani's management career reached its height in the St-Raphaël and Ford-France teams with Jacques Anquetil.

His home town of Rouen organises commemorations but, me, I haven't forgotten that it was in Antwerp that he made his farewell appearance.

[11]Anquetil was upset, said Géminiani, that his rival, Raymond Poulidor was always more warmly regarded even though he had never won the Tour de France.

[22] There are rumours that the jet laid on to get Anquetil to Bordeaux was provided through state funds on the orders of President Charles de Gaulle.

Géminiani mentions the belief in his biography, without denying it, saying the truth will come out when French state records are opened to scrutiny.

Nothing happened even when Fiorenzo Magni secured sponsorship in Italy from the company that made Nivea face cream.

An outside sponsor in the land of the Tour de France, where organisers Jacques Goddet and Félix Lévitan had great political strength, was different.

"[citation needed] Joinard saw commercial sponsorship as the future but also had a history of disagreements with Lévitan in particular over who carried the most weight in cycling.

After St-Raphaël withdrew from sponsorship at the end of 1964, Géminiani sold his team to the French division of Ford, the car-maker and then in 1969 to the cigarette lighter and ballpoint pen company, Bic.

When Raphaël Géminiani announced that his team was stopping, Christian Darras, head of publicity at Bic, went straight away to my father.

"[citation needed]In 1967 the riders included Anquetil, Lucien Aimar, Julio Jiménez, Jean Stablinski, Rolf Wolfshohl Joaquim Agostinho and, a little later, Luis Ocaña.

In 1985, Géminiani became directeur sportif of the La Redoute team and was behind Stephen Roche's third place in the 1985 Tour de France.

[11][25] Today, riders don't care if they're found positive in a dope control when they're riding in a jersey with the name of a washing powder on their shoulders.

If they were in national jersey it would be quite different (ce ne serait pas la même limonade) The press and public opinion would be after them.