A thirty-two years old Ottawa, Ontario Canadian, Mike Woods, once ran a 3:57.48 mile when he was 18 years old and attending the University of Michigan. He was a teammate of Nick Willis during their Ann Arbor days. Unfortunately Woods ran into some chronic stress fractures in his foot and had to abandon the sport. While he was making that decision he would cycle to maintain some of his fitness and found later that he could compete with the good amateurs in that sport. Now fourteen years later Woods finds himself a pro riding in his first Tour de France. At his age, he is pushing the age limits for that level of the sport. He gained experience in the grand tours last year in the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta d'Espanga.
As a 70 years plus former runner and a hobby road cyclist, I've often wondered what it would be like for a really good runner to compete in one of the grand tours where strength and endurance are only half the prerequisites. Technical ability on the bike is equally as important, and courage in the face of fear and horrendous crashes are the other aspects that a track or road runner seldom if ever faces. The main critical injuries in running come from people wearing ear buds listening to music or motivational talks who get hit by cars, trains and buses, deservedly, I might add. But descending at 50-60 mph on a twisting downhill in a pack of riders and then climbing 6000 feet backup a mountain, before another descent and climb, make cycling a very different sport.
Mike Woods has done extremely well as an older rookie, despite two major crashes, one of which broke a couple of ribs and left patches of his DNA smeared on the asphalt. Two days ago he was in the top ten of the climber category although he is no longer there. The tour credits participants in a number of ways including the overall leader, but it also rewards, the best climber, most aggressive, best young (under 25) and best general classification for finishing high in a lot of stages. This year the youngest rider Egan Bernal of Columbia is wearing the yellow jersey signifying leader in total time on the Tour. Woods is currently 32nd of 155 riders still in the race with one day to go. The experts pretty much have conceded the win to Bernal.
You can read an in depth interview with Woods from Runner's World which goes into more specific detail on how having been a sub 4 minute miler aids his becoming a very good cyclist. Thanks to Bruce Kritzler for bringing this story to our attention.
Runner's World Interview with Mike Woods
George Roy Steve
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