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the Tour but did not make his US Postal's final selection and in 1999 his Vini Caldirola team had its Tour invitation withdrawn when Sergei Gontchar failed a haematocrit test at the Tour of Switzerland.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 21, 2005: Tomorrow's the day

By Matt White

Gee, Stuey was crook this morning. Must have been something we ate, the omelet or the milk. I'm a little bit crook - just stacks of wind - but Stuey has been spewing up. I can eat a box of nails and it doesn't hurt me.

But the lad is a lot better tonight and he'll need a good night's sleep 'cause tomorrow's the day. There are about 25 blokes going good and 125 just hangin on for grim death. Tomorrow will be the day we take them on.

It is no secret to Lotto and Credit that we will be trying to get Stuey into the points and make it hard enough that Robbie and Thor get dropped. Well that's the plan - we'll see what happens.

In the village I caught up with a mate of mine, Blair Stockwell, a former Kiwi who now resides in Australia. He was in deep conversation with John Trevorrow about racing against each other in the Commonwealth games in about 1900, and I reminded them of just how old they were.

"Blair," I said, "when you raced Gary Sutton in the semi final at the '74 Games, I was born that day."

Results

July 19, 2005: Thinking of Amy

By Matt White

I really don't feel much like talking about the race today. We gave it our best shot but we came up short.

It's really tough when you know all the people involved. My heart goes out to all the girls and their families. Amy was a special girl and she will be missed heaps. It's going to leave a big hole in the lives of a lot of people. My thoughts are with all the girls in hospital and I know their fighting spirit will get them through.

I know Wazza will be going through a lot of pain right now. He's a good mate of mine and along with Brian and Shayne, I wish I could be with all of them right now.

My thoughts are also with the families and loved ones of all the girls.

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