Matthieu Sprick’s Best Day Ever
There’s almost nothing I love more than watching some young rider who has worked hard at his sport get that first big win of his career. That’s why I was thrilled to hear that 26-year old French rider Matthieu Sprick (Bouygues Télécom) had won Stage One of the Tour of Langkawi this weekend.The young rider got himself into a 19-man break early on in the stage and with three kms to go he escaped off the front of the pack; a move that none of the other riders saw coming and which left them scrambling to catch up. They were unable to pull him back before the line and he gained a three second lead over them all.
Many of us may not have heard of Sprick before this week, and his Wikipedia entry may be about as detailed as a matchbook cover, but the kid’s got some skills on the bike. He’s been a pro since 2004 when he first joined the Bouygues Télécom team. While he hasn’t taken home any big wins since beginning his career he has ridden in two Tours de France and took third place in the Best Young Rider classification in his very first Tour in 2006 - no small feat.
Sunday at Langkawi was a day for the sprinters and Crédit Agricole’s Jeremy Hunt took the stage win, but Sprick held onto his overall lead and he did it again today holding onto that three second lead and staying in the yellow jersey for a third straight day.
Of course we all love the big boys in the peloton - the rock stars - but the David and Goliath story never gets old and it does my heart good to see a young, little-known rider, put it all on the line and take a win like that. I hope he wins the whole damn thing.
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