S&M - The Stuart O'Grady & Matt White diary

During the Tour de France Cofidis team-mates Stuart O'Grady and Matt White will be taking turns to give us an inside look at the daily goings-on in the peloton and the team hotel. An Olympic gold medalist on the track, O'Grady is a rider to watch in the sprints and long breakaways, while White is an experienced grand tour rider who has been kept out of the Tour de France by a run of lousy luck that's finally ended this year.

O'Grady has had a rollercoaster ride at the last few Tours, wearing the yellow jersey in 2001 and green in 2002, but never quite managing to hang on to green all the way to Paris. In the last couple of years he's shifted his emphasis away from sprint speed and remodelled himself as a Classics and long breakaway expert.

White is finally riding the Tour after breaking his collarbone just before the start of last year's Tour. In 2001 he was expected to ride the Tour but did not make his US Postal's final selection and in 1999 his Vini Caldirola team had its Tour invitation withdrawn when Sergei Gontchar failed a haematocrit test at the Tour of Switzerland. After that, he's due some good luck in 2005!

Index to all entries

July 8, 2005: Another hectic finish

By Stuart O'Grady

Another fast day today and another hectic finish. With the straight run in I thought that it would be more straight forward, but that wasn't the case.

The boys did a good job especially Matty White, who seems to be getting faster in his old age. Matty, as always, has been a strong man and a good lead out in the last 5 km. But now he has stepped up to be a fast man in the finale.

I was surprised to see Robbie up the road this morning, but I guess, like most of us, he was expecting a breakaway. A pretty good ride by Wegmann because we were going pretty quick all day and he managed to stay away for quite a while.

Once we got into Germany the whole feeling of the race changed with the enormous crowds. They were the biggest that I have ever seen. They say that about 800,000 watch the Tour each day on average. Well if that is accurate then there were 1,500,000 out today.

July 7, 2005: Russian roulette

By Matt White

It was fast and furious out there today. We had a strong tail wind for most of the day, and the combination of speed, rain and general nervousness in the bunch, created a dangerous day in the peloton.

"...as soon as one went down it was a domino effect..."

The finish as always going to be a bit of Russian roulette and Stuey was right in the mix until the proverbial hit the fan. The three guys up front were weaving all over the road and that caused the fall. You cannot change your positions in these conditions. I was just behind Stuart and Robbie, about fifth into the corner, and as soon as one went down it was a domino effect, and riders were just going down like nine pins.

You don't get too many chances to win a stage in the Tour de France and I really thought that Stuey would go close today. But he is in great form and I am sure he will snare one soon.

Tomorrow we head into Germany and the crowds will be huge. It reckon it will be another day for the sprinters because they will be dark about missing out on a victory today.

I will be looking after Stuey again and, I guess, it will be another dramatic finale. Hopefully everyone can stay upright.

Matt White after a hard day at the Giro

Stuart O'Grady at the Dauphine
Photo ©: Luc Claessen

2005 entries - the Tour de France

July 24 - Switch off, switch on
July 21 - Tomorrow's the day
July 19 - Thinking of Amy
July 17-18 - Busting a gut & A well deserved break
July 15-16 - So close... & Hot, hard, and fast
July 13-14 - A great day & You can count on Vino
July 12 - It's all about conservation
July 10-11 - Rest day at last & Can't complain
July 9 - I felt like Moses
July 7-8 - Another hectic finish & Russian roulette
July 6 - An impressive victory
July 5 - A fantastic château
July 4 - An action packed day
July 3 - Not a bad start
July 2 - Hoping to avoid the carnage
July 1 - The calm before the storm

Previous Cyclingnews interviews with Stuart O'Grady & Matt White

Stuart O'Grady, January 2005: Every second counts
Stuart O'Grady, October 2004 : The Year of Living Dangerously
Stuart O'Grady, July 2004: Life goes on like a song
Stuart O'Grady, April 2004: Cobbles and broken ribs don't mix
Stuart O'Grady, July 2003: Scratching the seven year itch
Stuart O'Grady, July 2002 - "Ready to do everything I can to keep the green jersey"
Stuart O'Grady, May 2002 - Like having new legs
An Evening with Stuart O'Grady, January 2002 - Answering questions from the fans
Matthew White, May 2003 - White knight boards the blue train