French football player William Gallas impressed by crowds at Tour de France

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This article was published 08/07/2008 (6670 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CHOLET, France – France national football team defender William Gallas is used to big crowds. Still, even he was surprised by the amount of fans packing the roadside in Tuesday’s Tour de France time trial.

Gallas rode in a team car as he followed French rider Sylvain Chavanel of the Cofidis team along the 29.5-kilometre route around Cholet, which was won by German rider Stefan Schumacher.

“It is impressive, because how many people are here? There are loads of people,” said Gallas, who plays in the Premier League for Arsenal. “I was told that there were 100,000 people. It’s spectacular. It is the first time I could come and watch a cycling race, and it was fantastic for me.”

Gallas has been a fan of the Tour since watching it on television a small child during the’80s, the era which saw five-time champion Bernard Hinault battle with Laurent Fignon and Greg Lemond.

“I followed cycling because my father was a big fan,” Gallas said. “We watched races together. As soon as the Tour de France was on, we sat in front of the television. That’s why some of the names have stayed with me.”

Chavanel, who finished the fourth stage in-th place, only had time for more than a handshake with Gallas before climbing onto his bike.

“We said hello to each other and shook hands as sportsmen, but we didn’t really have the time to chat,” Chavanel said. “A stage like today takes a lot of concentration. My mind was elsewhere.”

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BAD LUCK FOR GOMEZ: Spanish rider Angel Gomez was kept overnight for observation in a hospital after injuring his right hip in a crash during Monday’s third stage.

Gomez was led away on a stretcher and taken to Hotel-Dieu Hospital in Nantes. Although X-rays showed there are no breaks, the Saunier Duval rider is having trouble standing up.

“He can’t step on his right leg because of the pain,” his team said on its Web site. “Gomez had just come back to elite cycling after his serious crash in the Tour of Flanders, where he had his right radius broken – an injury that kept him off his bike for two months.”

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BETTER LUCK: French cyclist Samuel Dumoulin feels his luck has finally changed.

A week after crashing in the French national championships, and a month after finishing 102nd out of 108 riders at the Dauphine Libere race, the 27-year-old French rider finally got his first ever Tour stage win Monday.

“I told myself that, one day, all these mishaps will bring success on the Tour de France,” Dumoulin said. “That is what happened.”

Dumoulin is remembered for a bizarre incident in the 2004 Tour, where he had to pull out after riding into a dog.

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50 YEARS LATER?: The last rider from Luxembourg to win the Tour de France was Charly Gaul in’58. This year, a pair of brothers want to change that.

At just 22, Andy Schleck has already stood on the podium of a major stage race – he came in second behind Danilo di Luca at the Giro d’Italia in 2007. Many have picked him as a future winner of the Tour.

His 27-year-old brother, Frank, may have less outstanding overall results, but he has known glory on the Tour – he won the famed stage to the top of the Alpe d’Huez in 2006.

The two come from a cycling family. Their father, Johnny, raced the Tour seven times in the’60s and’70s and made the top 20 in’67.

There was a further boost for Luxembourg cycling on Tuesday, with Kim Kirchen finishing second in the time trial.

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HANGING ON: Mountain specialist Juan Mauricio Soler is still defending his King of the Mountains jersey.

Soler, last year’s best climber on the Tour, has been riding in pain since hurting both his wrists when he crashed three days ago.

The Barloworld rider has not given up hope of retaining his polka-dot jersey, and finished Tuesday’s time trial in 161st place. The tall Colombian rider hopes his injuries heal in time for the Pyrenees and Alps.