With the 2014 edition of Le Tour having spent some time in Great Britain, the peloton is now back on French soil with somewhat predicable results.
Thomas Voeckler certainly seemed thrilled to be “home”, so much so that he attacking effectively from the gun on stage four, providing the viewers with his usual theatrical display of facial expressions, unorthodox cornering techniques and panache. Ah, those French; brings back memories of the equally irrepressible Thierry Marie, whose lone exploits netted him several days in yellow back in 1991. Needless to say that the partisan crowds must have been going wild for the diminutive Voeckler, who hails from the far-flung overseas department of France known as Martinique. The term “character” could sum up the Frenchman quite well, one of dying breed of riders for whom feel and intuition dictate how they train and race. The Team Europcar rider trains according to his mood and the daily wind direction: high spirits call for lengthy sessions in the headwinds; tiredness and apathy lend gentle spins in the shelter of the French hedges.
Speaking of this French outfit, it is perhaps telling that a hirsute and nomadic African is its latest signing. Dan Craven is not your usual bike rider. Grandson of the late rugby icon Danie Craven, the well-travelled and articulate Namibian has come a long way since his days of leading the Maties Cycling Team on the local Western Cape road circuit. A self-proclaimed vagabond and citizen of the world, the interesting fellow that is Craven has plied his trade in the nether regions of professional cycling for nearly a decade. This is a world far removed from the glamorous UCI World Tour circuit that the more mainstream cycling fan follows with glee. Belgian kermesses one week and Asian stage racing the next, acquiring short term contracts on small squads combined with making up composite teams and intermittent national program call ups are part and parcel of many a Commonwealth rider. A cobbled and eclectic racing program is better than no racing program at all, where the stability of a two year contract is a dream that many aspire to yet never achieve. That Craven has secured a place in Jean-Rene Bernadeau’s stable is a notable achievement for the man from Otjiwarongo, with a start in this year’s Vuelta highly possible.
It is fascinating how the various teams of the World Tour each forge their own respective identities, which more often than not are directly related to nationality. In Team Europcar’s case, their almost exclusively French-centric ethos conjures images of panache and romance, where the idiosyncrasies of the lead riders are intertwined with old-school methodology. Teams like SKY and BMC Racing bring a more formulated and measured approach, where each rider is part of a seemingly greater scientific template. That said, I’m pretty sure that a few riders are part of squads that do not necessarily suit their strengths and personalities.
It is not that long ago that Cadel Evans, riding for the then behemoth T-Mobile, was left out of the Teutonic squad’s Tour de France lineup, spending the greater part of that particular July riding the lesser Tour of Austria. That he later found a more functional home in Belgian and American squads later in his career is reflected in his results and testament to the support structure of those organisations. Different directors understand different riders and, like any sport, there are those who literally get lost in the system, which is a pity.
A more recent example of this phenomenon would be that of Jonathan Tiernan-Locke, whose much-heralded move to Team SKY has effectively set his own career back somewhat. Irregular blood-values aside, what if Jonathan had stayed with his former team, Le Tour first-timers NetApp-Endura? Would he have been allowed the freedom to prepare in his own unique way and build on his impressive results of 2012?
Pure conjecture of course.
*Disclaimer: Image borrowed from www.dailymail.co.uk
