Me and Andy Schleck

I have a lot in common with Andy Schleck.

Yes, it’s true I’m not currently racing the Tour de France (or rather resting from racing the Tour de France as this is Wednesday and a rest day). I’m not from Luxembourg, although if anyone wants an interview after my effort today on this blog I will give it in reasonable English, like Mr Schleck. I also do not have an arch rival in the form of a mountain climbing Spaniard with a propensity for trying to shoot people with his fingers.

However I do have a slight problem with my chain occasionally jumping on the chainring of my mountain bike. This is annoying and sometimes hurts my knee as it slams into the handlebar, as well as being a bit inconvenient as I have to stop on what is invariably a sharp climb. In this way I completely and utterly understand the frustration that the Saxobank rider felt as he lost time on the biggest bike race in the world in front of a worldwide audience, losing potentially thousands of Euros in prize money as his chain slipped on a chainring and was dropped.

I feel like I have shared his pain and the anger he felt as he raced back into the groups and therefore we are on a level when it comes to cycling. He and I have both been put behind in big races, him in the Pyrenees, and me at Lordship Rec BMX track, him risking his huge sponsorship deals, me thinking about getting on the internet to buy new bits. I too have felt what I like to think is the pain and frustration of the Tour de France. There’s no need for me to go and show that I can do it too. I think he probably knows how close we are. He might not be scared of Contador but I’m sure he’s worried about me. We’ve been through the same hell and both kept going…

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