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PUNCTURE-PROOF

Patinated bronze and nickel-plated metal. (Diameter 0.5m and 0.75m, 1.25m on the cross)

From a handful of earth came man
From a twisted tube, a god.

One rarely comes across amusing depictions of Jesus on the cross and that’s a shame.
A twisted tyre tube, absent-mindedly pinched, and suddenly a form that emerges, that of a body, with its head inclined, arms outstretched and feet crossed. Heavenly one-legged figure ready for an eternal sack race, Bibendieu is an ecumenical figure evoking the suffering of the god of the Christians but also his vigour.
Two thousand years old in the classic version and one hundred in the pneumatic version.
A simple knot and hey presto, the room takes on airs, valve is in the air. The disjointed bladder irresistibly evokes the crucifixion on Calvary.
The indestructible one deserves the bronze of immortal notoriety, but with this iron rim he has entered the pantheon of cycling greats.