News

Whatever happened to Ludovic Capelle?

Not up to his best
Photo: © Tom Balks/CN

By Karen Forman in Adelaide

One minute the blonde giant with the huge legs was smiling on the stage at the official 2002 Jacob's Creek Tour Down Under welcome function, telling the crowd he was in Australia "to look at beautiful women".

The next, he was off the back of the bunch - well, actually, two bunches - and then he was gone.

Gone completely. Not only from the Tour. But from Adelaide. And, in fact, as of today, Australia.

So what happened to the rider who wears the jersey of the Belgium road champion? Was he not relaxing in the sauna of the Adelaide Hilton, which is the headquarters for riders and officials involved in the race, on Sunday night, boasting about his fitness?

Did he not tell a couple of Cyclingnews reporters that he was a great sprinter - with all the usual attributes (?) of a sprinter - such as being hot headed and fast on his feet?

Did he not give the impression that he was going out, to borrow an American expression, "to kick ass"?

Seeing him in action around the pool, our intrepid reporters were not surprised at all when, on the stage at the official function, he joked about the pretty girls he wanted to meet in Australia. All the other riders interviewed talked about the race, how important it was to them and how much they were looking forward to it and the coming road season.

How serious was this guy? Or was something else going on?

The questions continued to form when he finished last on the first day in the Glenelg criterium - and rather than showing upset about it, continued to smile as he rode around the circuit. Then the next day, he withdraw from stage two about 12km in, with no explanations given.

Last night back at the hotel, the AG2r Prevoyance rider was in a more sombre frame of mind. He told Cyclingnews reporters he had withdrawn because he was not racing well due to pain from a foot injury sustained in December.

The team wasn't offering official explanations. But today, he was on his way to the airport. And he didn't seem to be limping at all.

Capelle seemed to be caught short by the ferocity of the racing this early in the season, as most his counterparts are flying. This was confirmed by UniSA rider (and with BigMat Auber93 in Europe) Patrick Jonker, who told Cyclingnews that he was surprised at the condition most of the European riders had brought to the Tour Down Under in Australia.

"They've been training in South Africa and the southern parts of Europe. Before we (Australian riders) could really control the race, but not any more," he said. "I thought we would drop more of them on Willunga Hill, but this year they really hung in there."