“I am a sportsman; I even used to be a professional basketball player. But I’m definitely not a cyclist. Standing testimony to this are the fact that I shaved my legs for the first time only a week before the race and the mere one thousand kilometres I’ve cycled this year. I even bought my road bike only three months before the race. Despite all that, my colleagues egged me on and I picked up the gauntlet. I’ve been involved in L’Étape for four years because of my job, but this time it was a whole different story... It was devastating. I couldn’t breathe, I was dizzy and sick, my back was hurting like hell, and every single second I once again begged my legs to keep pushing the pedals.”