A Not-So-Golden Parachute

Published May 2, 2004 12:00AM


Dispatches, July 1997 A Not-So-Golden Parachute Your humble tour guides: former cycling greats By Andrew Tilin Whither the retired professional cyclist? Times were tough enough while carving out a spot in the peloton, but now it must really be hard to make ends meet: No 401(k), few front-office jobs, and you don’t even get to keep the team-issue bike. Thankfully, the solution may be as close as the race sidelines, where several old hands have found new careers as … tour guides. With races like the Tour de France attracting scads of “cycling vacationers,” who best to horn in on the action than cycling’s own? “I’ve got a family now, and the job is good dollars,” explains Alex Stieda, the 36-year-old former Canadian national champion. “I’m not too proud to pick up someone’s bag or fix a tire.” Much to his employer’s delight, it seems such pride is in short supply. “As time goes on,” says Chris Gutowsky, president of Indiana-based Two Wheel Tours, “I’m sure we’ll see more and more of them needing to do work like this.” This month, as Stieda is den-mothering at the Tour de France for Gutowsky, former American rivals Andy Hampsten (1988 Giro d’Italia winner) and Ron Kiefel (11 years racing for the likes of 7-Eleven and Motorola) will be leading the troops for California’s Breaking Away Bicycle Tours. Amazingly, even last year’s Tour winner, Bjarne Riis, seems to already be prepping for his postracing career by hosting preseason training camps for the general public. Not to say that many tears need be shed for yesteryear’s spandex warriors. Apparently, some actually prefer the life of a tour leader over that of a Tour leader. “I watch the guys race and I feel like a shell-shocked war veteran,” says Kiefel. “Now I get to see the sights, plus have a lot of good food and wine. Illustration by Gordon Studer

Dispatches, July 1997 A Not-So-Golden Parachute Your humble tour guides: former cycling greats
By Andrew Tilin Whither the retired professional cyclist? Times were tough enough while carving out a spot in the peloton, but now it must really be hard to make ends meet: No 401(k), few front-office jobs, and you don’t even get to keep the team-issue bike. Thankfully, the solution may be as close as the race sidelines, where several old hands have found new
careers as … tour guides. With races like the Tour de France attracting scads of “cycling vacationers,” who best to horn in on the action than cycling’s own? “I’ve got a family now, and the job is good dollars,” explains Alex Stieda, the 36-year-old former Canadian national champion. “I’m not too proud to pick up someone’s bag or fix a tire.” Much to his employer’s delight, it seems such pride is in short supply. “As time goes on,” says Chris Gutowsky, president of Indiana-based Two Wheel Tours, “I’m sure we’ll
see more and more of them needing to do work like this.” This month, as Stieda is den-mothering at the Tour de France for Gutowsky, former American rivals Andy Hampsten (1988 Giro d’Italia winner) and Ron Kiefel (11 years racing for the likes of
7-Eleven and Motorola) will be leading the troops for California’s Breaking Away Bicycle Tours. Amazingly, even last year’s Tour winner, Bjarne Riis, seems to already be prepping for his postracing career by hosting preseason training camps for the general public. Not to say that many tears need be shed for yesteryear’s spandex warriors. Apparently, some actually prefer the life of a tour leader over that
of a Tour leader. “I watch the guys race and I feel like a shell-shocked war veteran,” says Kiefel. “Now I get to see the sights, plus have a lot of good food and wine. Illustration by Gordon Studer

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