Thursday, March 28, 2024

Le Tour de France 2016 – Rest Day 2; Berne. Interviewing Jasper Stuyven and Dan McLay

-

HomeDiariesLe Tour de France 2016 - Rest Day 2; Berne. Interviewing Jasper...

Mont-Saint-Michel‘Rest day’ – it’s a misnomer if you’re a fanatic; but you could do one interview then hang out, I guess?

But if you’re like us, confirmed saddos, then it’s a great opportunity to get a lot of talking and snapping done.

Albeit on rest days you can linger a bit longer over breakfast – which is nice in a week of always having to be somewhere/do something right now or in five minutes.

Our Suisse digs were good, if expensive, but the lassies who ran it were friendly and late night “pieces” [sandwiches, to our non-Scottish readers!] and beer were no bother to them and a godsend to us.

We’d arranged to meet the up and coming Trek sprinter, Edward Theuns on the rest day but unfortunately he crashed out.

Never letting an opportunity go past however, we asked our Trek contact if we could get an interview with Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne winner, Jasper Stuyven.

Jasper Suyven
Jasper Suyven. Photo©Callum MacGregor

Jumping clear from a day long break Stuyven was just a few hundred metres away from grabbing the maillot jaune on Stage Two but was hunted down by Kreuziger for Sagan within sight of the line.

His consolation was the climbers’ jersey but he was telling us that it still bugs he missed the mailot jaune by so little.

I was thinking he’d perhaps be a wee bit arrogant, some of the young Belgian guys can be – they’re being told they’re stars from when they’re kids.

And Stuyven was world junior road race champion and has a Grand Tour stage win and a semi-classic under his belt already.

But not a bit of it with Jasper; bang on time, polite, genial and with perfect English.

A real professional – and just 24 years-old.

Jasper Suyven
Jasper is very down-to-earth. Photo©Callum MacGregor

The hotel was hoatching with riders, management,press and hangers-on – all as it should be.

Dan McLay
Dan McLay. Photo©Callum MacGregor

Next up was a chat with sprint revelation Dan McLay; four top ten results in the frenzied finishes and a third place where he was closing Kittel and Cavendish down rapid.

Whilst Jasper isn’t in the slightest bit, ‘big heided’ he does have that aura the best boys do – self confident, walking tall. Dan’s cool, but still you can tell it’s all a bit new and bamboozling to him; “am I really on the verge of being a BIG rider?

But he has an endearing manner, self-effacing and good humoured.

Dan McLay
The Fortuneo/Vital Concept setup. Photo©Callum MacGregor

His Fortuneo (that’s a bank) Vital Concept (a business in Britanny) team may ‘only’ be pro continental but it would be hard to tell it apart from a World Tour outfit.

The vehicles – including mobile kitchen – bikes and presentation are well up there with the big boys.

Dan McLay
The Fortuneo/Vital Concept chef at work. Photo©Callum MacGregor
Dan McLay
Dan’s LOOK has it’s own style. Photo©Callum MacGregor

Their LOOK’s are a bit of an acquired taste with the head tube running up to meet the extension.

As with their track bikes there’s little doubt they’ll be rigid and aero – but for me the aero thing rather loses meaning when they install the ‘junction box’ for the electronic gears below the stem.

It’s like something a Virgin Broadband engineer would screw onto your skirting board and you’d then try to hide with the curtains.

LOOK also have their own unique chainset; carbon, one-piece and according to Look the most rigid in the peloton.

Dan McLay
American Classics. Photo©Callum MacGregor

The team race on American Classic wheelsets; the company was set up by Bill Shook and his partner Ellen Kast.

They live, sleep, eat, breath wheels – want to know why you should go tubeless?

Ask Bill.

Want to talk aerodynamics?

Ask Bill.

Dan McLay
Bill Shook and Ellen Kast. Photo©Callum MacGregor

And Bill still maintains that for road racing a pair of his aluminium rims built on to his hubs with his Sandvik spokes takes a bit of beating – cheaper, lighter, faster and with better braking than carbon.

Indeed, at Het Nieuwsblad in teh spring you’ll still see many a hand-built, aloominum-rimmed wheel.

Dan McLay
Dave Miller chats with Dan. Photo©Callum MacGregor

David Millar ‘was in the Fortuneo house’, looking cool and much more relaxed than he ever did as a rider – but that’s normal; no more cols and cross winds…

And as we jumped in the car to head off we realised how honoured we were to have chosen that spot – right next to Trickie Dickie.

Jasper Stuyven
Virenque’s still a VIP on le Tour. Photo©Callum MacGregor

Mountains today and we have the parcours to drive, tell you about it it tomorrow.

ciao, ciao.

Ed Hood
Ed Hood
Ed's been involved in cycling for over 50 years. In that time he's been a successful time triallist, a team manager and a sponsor of several teams and clubs. He's also a respected and successful coach and during the winter months was often working in the cabins at the Six Days for some of the world's top riders. Ed remains a massive fan of the sport and couples his extensive contacts with an inexhaustible enthusiasm for the minutiae and the history of our sport. In February 2023 however, our dear friend and beloved colleague Ed suffered a devastating stroke and faces an uncertain future; Ed has lost his ability to speak, to read, and has lost movement on the right side of his body. He's working with speech and physical therapists on rehabilitation, but all strokes are different and each patient responds differently, so unfortunately recovery is one day at a time. Ed ran his own business installing windows, and will probably not be able to work again. Please consider joining us to make a contribution to Ed's GoFundMe page to help stabilise and secure his future.

Related Articles

Copenhagen Six Day 2011 – Day Six, Alex and Michael 3rd win in a row

Copenhagen Six Day 2011, but first... Ricco - you have to respect his 100% commitment to being a moronic little twat. There was a piece about him on CyclingNews having a 'kidney problem,' when I checked the site in the morning, I thought it was a tad strange - how does a super fit young man have a kidney problem? But the press release I received from Vacansoleil a little later revealed the true horror of the situation...

The Girvan 2007 – Day 3: Stage 4

Ailsa Craig is lost in the low cloud, visibility isn't much beyond the breakwater. The rain is a fine, freezing, stinging mist - it's a perfect day for the last stage at The Girvan 2007. We've just agreed that the guys from Bike&Run London, with their cool all-white kit and matching Looks, opened the curtains and began packing the car for the trip home immediately.

Giro d’Italia – Day 6: Stage 17, Sondrio – Locarno

The girl in the petrol station where we just filled up was stunningly beautiful - I sent Dave back in to buy Coke, so he could see her; why don't they have girls like her in the filling station at Wester Hailes? The Gazzetta is on my lap as we head for 'partenza' in Sondrio. Even though you can't speak Italian, you can get the jist of most of what's being said; "Sorpresa Van Den Broeck, delusione Savoldelli."

Il Giro d’Italia 2014 – Stage 6; Sassano – Monte Cassino, 247 km. The Aussies Push On

Already the ‘Forum Sitters’ are telling us that it was ‘unsporting’ of Evans and Matthews to take advantage of the mayhem which again reigned on the slopes of Cassino as two simultaneous crashes brought down droves of riders when they braked into a roundabout and left a group of eight clear at the front at the very foot of the ascent to the Abbey. Evans and Matthews both had two team mates with them who rode themselves into the ground to build an advantage.

At Random

Dave Millar Scores a Deserved Win (TDF 2012 Stage 13)

Dave Millar takes a superb stage; Stage 12 was as close to a guaranteed breakaway stage as there is with it’s steeply lumpy early: flat late profile. The sprinters lose too much time to be able to catch up and contest a bunch finish, but it is far too flat to result in any time gaps between the big hitters.

The VV View – Ain’t no Smoke Without Fire?

The splendidly named ‘Bugatti and Musker’ released a disco classic in 1976; ‘Ain’t no Smoke Without Fire,’ it’s about a guy who's worrying that his girl is straying. ‘Please don’t do nothin’ to make me ashamed of you . . . when I heard the news it broke me in two... But it could just as well have been written about cycling’s problems...

James McKay Blog – Season Ended by a Car

Since the last round of the French cup, I’ve been training hard for the Tour of Moselle. The three-day stage race was my main target for the second half of the season. Unfortunately, my preparations were cut-short when I was hit by a car in training last week and that's my season ended.

World Road Championships 2012 – Day Three; U23 Time Trial World Championship

The party’s over at the U23 Time Trial World Championship, there’s no more nice wee room in Valkenburg and ambling down for breakfast, with the patron asking if you’d like a fried egg to go with your rolls, cheese and ham.