Stinger Buzz

Nicolas Roche out in front

Young Irish-Franco Ag2r rider Nicolas Roche (and son of the legendary Stephen Roche) is having a great Tour so far. He finished 7th in yesterday’s stage and sits in 13th in the overall GC standings. Somehow, after each stage in the Tour, Roche also finds the time to write a diary of the day’s events for his local paper, the Irish Independent. In addition to being a world-class rider, Roche turns out to be a talented writer, providing a fascinating and often humorous look at life in the peloton.

A few days ago on Stage 6, Roche wrote this:

“Yesterday, I was eating some of the energy sweets the team use when Lance Armstrong came up alongside me for a chat. We talked for a few minutes as we rolled along and ate and he asked me how I liked the sweets. I told him they weren’t great, but were a change from the muesli bars we usually get. Today, midway through the stage, I got a tap on the back. I turned around and it was Lance with a handful of Honey Stinger organic energy sweets. “Here you go Nick, try these. They’re the best around. Let me know what you think,” he said.

Even in full flight, during a stage of the Tour, Lance is a good businessman. He recently bought into the Colorado-based company that makes the Honey Stinger sweets, energy bars and gels and who better to have as a mobile sales rep in the middle of the peloton? He was right, by the way, they were really nice.”

It’s pretty amazing that Lance is rolling around the peloton handing out Stinger chews to other riders. You can’t ask for a much better brand ambassador. Thanks boss!