Opinion: Odysseus’s Trick Echoes in Cycling Race

Josep Pedrals explores the literary device of assuming the name “Nobody”, or “Nadie” in Spanish and Catalan, tracing it from Homer’s Odyssey to modern culture. He cites a study by Jelle Koopmans which identifies this “neminic” tradition in works like Tonino Valerii’s film Il mio nome è Nessuno and The Beatles’ song “Nowhere Man.” Pedrals further connects the trope to Jules Verne’s Captain Nemo and the Disney film Finding Nemo.

The author then recounts a story from over 50 years ago during the Tour de France. A Madrid-based newspaper reported the retirement of a cyclist named “Neant”, meaning “nobody” in French, believing it was a real competitor.

The newspaper continued reporting on subsequent “retirements” of “Neant’s” brothers over three consecutive days, unaware it was a running joke created by a creative journalist named García. Pedrals learned this anecdote from journalist Eduardo Álvarez Puga in 1992.