Road Bike Racing - Best Untold Story of 2004 TdF

Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.



PDA

View Full Version : Best Untold Story of 2004 TdF

VinMan
08-14-04, 08:08 AM
While thumbing through the post-Tour VeloNews, I noticed that there was another hero who finished the race. Remember when Matt White from Cofidis crashed out in the hours before the prologue while riding over a cable in the road? Cofidis rushed Belgian Peter Farazijn in from his home an hour away as a last second replacement. I was SURE he'd last a token 4 or 5 stages and then retire. I never followed his progress, as I'm sure almost no one else did. He finished the tour ahead of 40 other riders including sprinters Boonen, Cooke, McEwen and prologue winner Cancellara. THAT is a story worth noting. Guys train a whole year for the Tour and don't finish for a multitude of reasons, and he comes in to do that. While I'm sure he was in shape, that had to be a shock to his system. Dude, wherever you are, YOU are the man!

brent_dube
08-16-04, 12:22 PM
Must have been an interesting suprise.
"Hi, today we decided you are racing in the Tour de France. Hurry up, it starts in a couple of hours."
Huvi
08-17-04, 09:45 AM
It gets even better if you know that the night before the
prologue, Fausto (that's how we call Farazijn over here)
was attending some event near the place where he lives.
Being well loaded on Belgian beer (actuallly drunk :D ),
he found his bed somewhere early in the morning...
Saturday, being hangover, he then got a text message
from his team boss to get to Liège asap for the start of
Le Tour...

Regards,
H.

Methos
08-17-04, 01:01 PM
It would make sense that the alternates train just as hard as the guys who are going to race in the tour just for these type of cases. I will give him credit for pounding out the prologue hungover, but I'm sure he was in shape to handle the tour. Being the next alternate, he would have to be.
Guest
08-17-04, 03:50 PM
But can you imagine anyway, thinking you're in the clear since you didn't get the inevitable call, then finding out an hour before that you're on? He ain't no doctor on call... I'm sure he thought he would have been called by then!

I'm sure he's in incredible shape, but still... once my mindset is out of something, I'm mentally and physically down and out. Kudos to him for pulling it all together and riding for his team for the whole tour.

Koffee