Sightings...

So if youre in the right place at the right time, you can bump into just about anyone at the tour. It certainly helps to have backstage passes. Here's some random shots to enjoy....if you dont know who these folks are....then let me know....

Matxin!

The lead Sports Manager for the team is Matxin. His real name is Joxean Fernandez, but everyone calls him Matxin - pronounced "Ma Cheen". Maxtin is the man. He is often seen driving a car behind all the lead riders coaching them on, and keeping their spritis high. Matxin was driving the car on the TT stage when David Millar blew out the 2 wheels. I was sitting next to him during all the chaos, but he kept his cool. He's a super pro. Congrats Matxin on a great tour. By the way, Matxin is one of those guys that can quadruplemultitask while driving. That means he can talk on a radio with one hand, on a cell phone with the other, watch the in car tv, drive in mass traffic with motorcycles all around, shout directions at the rider, drink, eat, and downshift all at once....Oh yeah...he can drive real well too.

Download matxijn_noisemaker.mov

Tapas at the Tour

So last night, after the finish, we met up with Mauro and the whole team and the sponsors at a cool little Tapas bar for a congratulations dinner. It was a great chance to shake everyones hands in a relaxed non pressure environment. We also got to meet all the big wigs at the corporate offices of Saunier Duval. The best line though goes to Dirk - who was spotted by Mayo and he said, "Hey - SRAM - (your stuff rocks smile), and he gave a big thumbs up!".

The final ceremony

After the final, all the riders parade 1 last lap together team by team. Here's the final 7 rampin up the CHAMPS ELYSEES. Its a really cool ceremony to see live. You get to see all the riders slowly in front of you. That is, if you can get a close enough spot to watch. Most of the time there's 10 people deep crowds!

The arch!

Paris is a great place to watch a bike race. Dirk and I just had to ham it up in front of the arch.
But leap was the biggest ham - posing on top of the arch. Leap made it to the tour! Finally.

The riders...

Here's some quick snaps of all the riders from SD that finished the race. There were 6 of them in total, Millar, Mayo, Rinero, Canada, De la Fuente, Camano, and Cobo. Unfortunately Ventoso did not finish due to a crash. So pictured here are the 7. Congratulations to you all!!!!!