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STAGE 2: FRENCH KIDS AND DANNY PATE
Brad Roe
July 6, 2008
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Sylvain Chavanel of Cofidis and Thomas Voeckler of Bouygues-Telecom are off the front today during Stage Two to the delight of all the young French fans lining the courses, riding their bikes before the stage and especially the group of Cadet-Junior cyclists. Every day eight, young French cyclists get to visit the Village where the athletes prepare to race, ride twenty-two kilometers together then at the end of the day, jump back on their bikes and get to cross the finish line like the pros.
Maybe it’s because I miss my son and daughter who are at home in California, going on bike rides and watching the Tour on Versus hoping to see exactly what it is I’m doing in France. Maybe I’ve been hijacked by a French culture that holds cyclists and bicycles in the highest regard, or maybe it’s just Tour fever. All I know is that when I see a group of kids wearing club kits, getting ready to go for a ride or being a part of the single greatest athletic even in the world, it’s encouraging.
I had the chance to watch the start of Stage Two in the television studio of France 2-3 and got to watch 28-year old American, Danny Pate on the Garmin-Chipotle team attack one minute after the start. The producers were yelling, “Le American, Le American.” That got my attention. Danny Pate can ride and his sixth place finish in the Stage 21 Time Trial at the 2008 Giro d’Italia is proof. I watched and watched and hoped he would take a flyer and stay out front for as long as possible in his first Tour de France.
The attack was short-lived. He got swallowed up by a group of eight riders, but I hope some American kid, somewhere, was watching Danny Pate today and riding around his neighborhood with a little extra enthusiasm as a result.
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