There will be “an 18th” Tour de France for Stuart O’Grady
Stuart O’Grady is all set to mark his 17th consecutive Tour de France appearance which will equal the record of 17 maximum participations by George Hincapie.
The cyclist is in line to become part of history if he manages to make it through the 2013 and the 2014 Tour de France events.
The 39-year-old started riding professionally with Team GAN in 1995 and stayed with the side by the end of 2003 season.
He then joined Team Cofidis for a period of two-years, 2004-05 and represented team CSC through 2006-10.
The Australian represented Team Leopard Trek for 2011 season and joined Shayne Bannan’s World Tour debutant side, Team GreenEdge to begin his 2012 season.
O’Grady rode his first Tour de France in 1997 and finished them all except the 2000 version of the race where a crash forced him out of the three week race.
While commenting on his plan on becoming part of history by marking the maximum number of participations at the French Grand Tour, he told Adelaide Now, “There's a bit of pressure that there's going to be an 18th [Tour]".
"It's going to be pretty hard to repeat what we've achieved this year,” he said. "The next step will be to win a stage on the Tour de France. That would be awesome".
The cyclist crashed during the Vattenfall Cyclassic right after the 2012 Olympic Games, which concluded his 2012 season after he reported a broken collarbone and six broken ribs.
However, he has now recovered and is currently training for the season ahead where he is expected to ride the Jayco Herald Sun Tour in his hometown, Australia.
“I'm all recovered now but the healing process seems to take longer as you get older,” he said.
“"I'm looking forward to starting next season here in Australia before heading back to Europe. We'll hopefully build up for the Classics and the Tour de France – it will be number 17 this year. Obviously, time flies".
Only time will tell, if the Australian manages to break the record and enters the history books by becoming the first ever cyclist with 18 Tour de France participations under his belt.
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