The Stuart O'Grady diary

During the Tour de France CSC speedster Stuart O'Grady will be giving us a regular 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, and one of CSC's best hopes for a stage win or even the green points jersey.

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.

Index to all entries

July 14: Shotgun start

A happy Stuey O'Grady
Photo ©: Hedwig Kröner

Absolute shotgun start. That was incredible especially after yesterday. Jens was on a mission and he looked dangerous, but Discovery brought it back. At the 100 km mark four guys got away and then Phonak rode tempo and it settled down a bit. It was just another incredibly fast and hard day in the Tour de France.

It was a surprise just how fast we started. It was eyeballs out early on and the race kept blowing apart. At one point it had blown to bits but luckily it came back together.

I am feeling OK and my back is fine. I just kept up front and out of trouble towards the end. I reckon half of Australia was out on the road today. On one hill I thought I was at the Tour Down Under with all the Aussie flags and inflatable kangaroos, It was incredible. Now I’ll just kick back and look forward to quiet little 230 kms tomorrow.

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