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the last few hundred yards but it was really won by Cav descending the
Poggio fast while Hincapie eased, letting the field pass him, looking back for
Cav, all at 60kph+, until they linked up and Hincapie towed him into position
for that incredible sprint..!
There are some entertaining personal anecdotes too, particularly about his
wife Melanie, a French model who he met on the 2003 Tour de France, where
she was a podium girl on the Credit Lyonnais roster. (Apparently
competition for these slots There are some entertaining personal anecdotes
too, particularly about his wife Melanie, a French model who he met on the
2003 Tour de France, where she was a podium girl on the Credit Lyonnais
roster. (Apparently competition for these slots is fierce – 80 initial
interviewees are whittled down to 4.) His initial note to her asking to meet
was returned with “Not Interested” scrawled on it but also her phone number
– it turned out her boss, a real cycling fan had added it. Bizarrely as the
relationship developed the same guy blew his top after seeing them exchange
a kiss when they bumped into each other in the lobby of the hotel where
they were, co-incidentally due to stay and fired her from the Tour. (But
George invited her to the team’s Tour “after-party” and the rest is history.)
Later, Melanie relates an incident at a T-Mobile bonding session in Cologne
for the 2008 squad. She’d been feeling rough before their flight out from
Atlanta, slept through the whole flight and spent most of her time in the
hotel room sleeping, having to be forced out of bed to join the others for
lunch. She then told him she was going to the room to get a jacket before
walking around the town but went back to bed until dinner – George was
furious. They later found out that she was pregnant – to quote George
“Chalk one up to male insensitivity”.
So, a rider autobiography with something even for the romantic!
Get yourself a copy to read this Christmas (sorry copy arrived to late for
the last issue, Ed) – and if you don’t want to buy a copy, you may find it
in your local library – I did.
11
Poggio fast while Hincapie eased, letting the field pass him, looking back for
Cav, all at 60kph+, until they linked up and Hincapie towed him into position
for that incredible sprint..!
There are some entertaining personal anecdotes too, particularly about his
wife Melanie, a French model who he met on the 2003 Tour de France, where
she was a podium girl on the Credit Lyonnais roster. (Apparently
competition for these slots There are some entertaining personal anecdotes
too, particularly about his wife Melanie, a French model who he met on the
2003 Tour de France, where she was a podium girl on the Credit Lyonnais
roster. (Apparently competition for these slots is fierce – 80 initial
interviewees are whittled down to 4.) His initial note to her asking to meet
was returned with “Not Interested” scrawled on it but also her phone number
– it turned out her boss, a real cycling fan had added it. Bizarrely as the
relationship developed the same guy blew his top after seeing them exchange
a kiss when they bumped into each other in the lobby of the hotel where
they were, co-incidentally due to stay and fired her from the Tour. (But
George invited her to the team’s Tour “after-party” and the rest is history.)
Later, Melanie relates an incident at a T-Mobile bonding session in Cologne
for the 2008 squad. She’d been feeling rough before their flight out from
Atlanta, slept through the whole flight and spent most of her time in the
hotel room sleeping, having to be forced out of bed to join the others for
lunch. She then told him she was going to the room to get a jacket before
walking around the town but went back to bed until dinner – George was
furious. They later found out that she was pregnant – to quote George
“Chalk one up to male insensitivity”.
So, a rider autobiography with something even for the romantic!
Get yourself a copy to read this Christmas (sorry copy arrived to late for
the last issue, Ed) – and if you don’t want to buy a copy, you may find it
in your local library – I did.
11
