Published on January 3, 2025 in Miscellaneous
Tribute to Pierre Nardi
Pierre, the patriarch of the Nardi dynasty, passed away on the threshold of this new year.
To evoke Pierre Nardi is to infiltrate the corridors of our memory, to rediscover the glittering career of a courier from another time. With the departure of Pierrot, it is a bit of our youthful dreams, the traces of a not so distant but bygone era that disappear. Like many men of the time, he relied only on himself, which made him a notorious individualist in the cycling pelotons. He liked to say “I have never taken a coin from someone's pocket but it was certainly not okay for someone to come and get one from mine”. It is clear that he owes his many successes only to himself, he has always admitted to having never given any gift to a runner but that he has never expected or obtained one from anyone. This thoroughbred steed with a powerful and sustained pedal (his contemporaries R. Gibanel, R.Mastrotto, R.Cazala and P.Beuffeuil said of him: “when Pierrot took the lead he could knock you off the wheels like someone laughing”, with his winning temperament he could not imagine a team race, he ran for himself, which partly explains his brief stint with the pros he left the memory of a runner with big means, only one. legendary individualism isolated in the races He had started in 1948, hung up at the end of 1959, from 1951 showed his first results 2nd in Labrit beaten only by André Darrigade, 3rd in the Tour de l'Orne (1st J.Bobet), he broke out in 1952 with 16 victories including the 4th stage of the Tour du Sud Ouest (Pro), in 1953, in the Grand Prix du Midi-Libre (280 km pro race) where he won in front of all the elite consecrated him as an international runner. Following this monumental victory, the Tendil firm which team forced him to turn pro on June 21, from the year next in 1954 he was reclassified among the aspiring pros (a lower bastard category), in 1955 he participated in Paris-Tours and Paris-Brussels, great classics of the time, 1956 saw him win in the beautiful professional races such as the Boucles du Bas Limousin, the Tour de Corrèze, events which exceed 250 km, but his greatest victories remain the 2nd stage (Marseille-Avignon), in the Tour des provinces du Sud Est (the equivalent of the Dauphiné-Libéré) and the Tour du Béarn-Aragon in front of the future winner of the Vuelta Antonio Suarez, from 1957 (although he participated in Paris-Nice) he will end his career freewheeling. For fun, he took up a license in 1967 where he placed 7th at Illats, a race won by a young, long-toothed Claude Magni. During his career he was licensed in the clubs of: CABèglais 1948 to 1950, CCBordelais 1951 to 1953 and VCBarsacais 1954 to 1959 + 1967. He honored the colors of: Elvish 1949 to 1950, La Perle 1951, Tendil 1952 to 1953, Mercier BP 1954 to 1955, Thoman Alcyon la Française 1956 to 1958 and Peugeot BP in 1959. He was born on March 27, 1930 in Saint Jean de Duras (47), he just died on December 30, 2024 in Barsac,
Dear Pierre, you who so often accompanied us on our cycling outings, today following your departure, our souls have suddenly become sad, a long absence begins.
Goodbye Mr Nardi.
Gérard Descoubès
Here are the adventures caused by Pierrot to win in the 1953 Midi-Libre grand prix:
“Contacted by the management of Tendil cycles to compete in the Grand Prix of the Midi-Libre international pro race, he just had time to jump on the last train to Carcassonne, the starting point of the event. Arriving in the city of ramparts, as advised by his mentor Armand Poupard (known as Poupiche), he immediately returned to his hotel room to recover from the fatigue of the journey. He fell asleep so much that he missed the pre-race meeting which distributed everyone's roles. When his sports director (Father Bernardoni) finally sees him, it is to hear him say “you will pass your bike or your wheels to the leaders”. Pierrot, who has never looked into the “customs and customs” of a professional group, immediately replies “pass my wheels? Never ! and my bike even less! “. This threw a chill, the big boss then asked him “what did you come to do here”? Candid to the end” he replies: win, of course! Otherwise I would have stayed in Bordeaux.” The boss almost choked, then exclaimed “a stranger is launching into a 280 mile race with five passes on the program, not counting all the other bumps, here he is claiming the role of leader”. The boss, beside himself, immediately decides “Tendil it's over for you, you're fired, your bike will return directly to the factory after the race”. From this moment on, our poor Pierrot finds himself in trouble, because his train is no longer reimbursed, he no longer has the right to spare hoses and even less to refueling. As a last resort he managed to get a new hose and fill his pockets with food. On the starting line, A.Deledda, the reigning French champion, asks him, “Hey, young man, how many days do you plan to do your Midi-Libre? Given the food you're taking, you must be gone for a long time!!! » After explaining to Deledda what was happening to her, Father Adolphe, who was a good guy, told her “if you need anything during the race, you come and see me, we will make arrangements”. The race started, the first three passes were terrible for our region, he admits that if he had not been afraid of disappointing the French champion in person, he would have given up, he remained at the back of the pack for 200 km. Arriving in the last 80 km feeling better, he began to think about doing one of the many bonuses that punctuated the journey to be able to reimburse himself for the train. 20 km from the goal, Pierrot sees at the top of a very steep hill, a red flag which announces a bonus of 100,000 f, thinking only of paying for his train, he emerges, snatches the bonus and throws himself headlong into the descent, takes 1'30″ and will clinch with around thirty seconds in advance the nicest victory of his career, creating the greatest surprise of the cycling season. Behind follow S.Bianchi, J.Dupont, A.Darrigade, E. Muller (reigning world champion), after being poached in the morning he was promptly rehired in the evening, by the boss of Tendil. For the record, Pierrot won this Midi-Libre with an oval platter, made from scratch by his mentor the famous “Poupiche”. »
NB: His funeral will take place on Tuesday January 7, 10:30 a.m. in the Barsac church (33)
