Unexpected News
FlashNano 2019, Day 6
“The Tour de France 1975 is remembered mainly for two things: the French spectator who punched Belgian Eddy Merckx, some say that thus keeping him from winning his sixth Tour in a row, and the death of Soviet rider Vasiliy Gregorovitch Fomenkov that same day.
Remarkably, everything started with the Apollo-Soyuz program. The historic orbital rendezvous was programmed to take place on July 17th, when the Tour was underway. The cycling organization thought it would be a good idea, in the spirit of the American-Soviet détente, to open the Tour to a Russian cycling team.
The 1975 Tour started in Charleroi, Belgium, on June 26th. After seven stages where young Italian rider Francesco Moser took the lead, Belgian Eddy Merckx climbed to the first place, and it looked like he would keep it. The Soviet team, lead by Fomenkov, hadn’t fared really well, as was expected due to their inexperience, and their riders were spread throughout the results table, with Fomenkov at the twenty-fifth place.
The fourteenth stage started from Aurillac on July 11th, and would finish at the top of the Puy de Dôme. At the head of the race Merckx had almost reached escaped Dutch Joop Zoetemelk, an spectator punched him in the kidney.
But kilometers behind, the car of French team Peugeot slid, taking Fomenkov with it, and fell 150 meters down the mountain. Miraculously, the driver survived and was rescued from the car, but Fomenkov didn’t.
After the unfortunate accident, the Russian team abandoned the race.”
Charlotte put the magazine aside and looked up at his father. She poured herself a coffee and added more to his father’s cup.
“And here I always thought the Tour was boring, dad.”
“There’s more, Charlotte.”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re old enough for this. It was called Opération Alizé.
Everything started when the SDECE, was discreetly contacted by a Yugoslavian man, purportedly a friend of Vasiliy Gregorovitch Fomenkov, claiming Fomenkov wanted to defect. The French asked why them. Fomenkov, besides being the son of an accomplished Soviet nuclear physicist and a nuclear engineer himself, was a sportsman. A cyclist.
With the Tour invitation to the Russians, Fomenkov had of course been included in the Soviet team. And that had sparkled his wish to defect.”
Charlotte left her cup on the table.
“The SDECE were… the spy agency then?”
“Yes, the Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage. It lasted until… 1982, if I recall correctly.”
“Wait, dad. Are you telling me… that this man… Forensicov…?”
“Fomenkov…”
“Fomenkov, yes. That his death…? The accident…? Was faked or something?”
“Exactly, yes.”
Charlotte stared at his father. He was dead serious. She laughed.
“Oh, dad, that’s a good one. And what, you were one of those spies working to help this Russian defect? That’s funny.”
“No, Charlotte. I’m not one of the men who helped Vasiliy Gregorovitch Fomenkov defect. I am Vasiliy Gregorovitch Fomenkov.”
This is my flash for Day 6 of FlashNano 2019, (idea by Nancy Stohlman). The prompt for today was “Write a story that takes place on a bicycle.” This prompt has had me stumped for two days, until I found an idea I liked. So now I’m two stories late! By the way, some things in my story are real, some are false, and some I have changed to suit my needs. So if you’re a real cycling fan, sorry!
