2023-07-18 13:25:38
The 28-year-old Norwegian climber runs a laborious first Tour de France, elbow fractured after multiple bowls. A year after being diagnosed with cancer during a doping control, he remains clinging to his dream of winning a stage: he has the Col de la Loze, on the program this Thursday, July 19, in his sights.
The road claims its due. It erodes, corrodes, strips, abrades cyclists and their mounts. The convicts who roam it for three weeks do not leave only their strength on the asphalt: also a part of their body. Torstein Træen paid more than his share. In front of us, he limps past. He looks for a deck chair, lies down in the shade of his team’s bus in the parking lot of a hotel in Scionzier (Haute-Savoie). This Monday, July 17, is a rest day. The laundry is drying. The runners make jokes to each other. Some swim in the small pool. A sweet smell of roast chicken escapes from the food truck.
For the first time in two weeks, Torstein Træen was able to rest without too much pain. The 28-year-old Norwegian climber is unknown to the general public. For his first Tour de France with his Scandinavian guest team Uno-X, he holds a sad record, that of the rider having accumulated the most gadins since the start of the event. In Bilbao, in the Basque Country, he inaugurated the asphalt by being the first on the ground. Fractured elbow. He refused to stop. During the eighth stage, rebelote, a fall after twenty kilometers. Four days later, while the peloton rushed towards Belleville-en-Beaujolais like a drinker towards the wine of mass, it is sunny in a descent. “The first two crashes were bad luck, and the last one was my fault, I misread the turn. But hey, it’s not very serious,” explains the victim, shrugging his shoulders.
“I just don’t have to make stupid mistakes”
His body says otherwise. In front of the yellow bus with the red and white cross in the colors of Norway, the stigmata stand out one by one, dots in relief of a painting. A bandage on the left wrist, a bandage on the right knee, scabs on the legs and arms, some old, already almost black, others more recent which let you see raw skin. A history of running through dried blood. His fractured elbow [le] not cause too much pain,” he promises. “Now it’s okay, I can move it.” He moves it in front of us. “It’s not too painful, but I still feel it. I didn’t really think about quitting. The doctor told me to continue if I could bear it, so I continued.
Torstein Træen doesn’t want to worry too much. Riders who drop out because of careless spectators, the recent death of Gino Mäder on the Tour de Suisse, or his own crashes could cripple him. He shakes his head: “I’m not afraid. I know that normally I’m good downhill. I just don’t have to make stupid mistakes.”
The man was born in Hønefoss, a green city of lakes and rivers, north of Oslo, the capital of Norway. A military father, a teacher mother. In a country historically unfamiliar with professional cycling, its destiny was not traced. From an early age, Træen loves to ride a bike. On TV, he gets carried away by the exploits of Thor Hushovd, absolute star in the country. His own career is built in the shadows, from discreet events in Malaysia or Greece, to the light of the Grande Boucle. Unlike many others, Torstein Træen did not want to leave the fjords for Andorra or Monaco and their favorable (fiscal) climates. He prefers to stay at home, ride with friends.
With all its setbacks, the Uno-X asset is 97th in the general classification, almost 3:30 behind the Vingegaard-Pogacar duo. He dreamed better. At the Critérium du Dauphiné, in June, the most important preparatory race, he finished eighth in the final classification, a source of hope. It annoys him: “It was a dream to participate in the Tour de France […], everything is bigger. But I was hoping to be more competitive. There, I do not have the impression of being part of the race. He hesitates: “I was there, but I wasn’t really running. I was just… there. To survive. And, often, it is long. You have time to think about lots of things, about the suffering, about what is happening.
“My experience last year calmed me down”
In recent days, the dark-haired climber, quite different physically from all the blond Vikings on his team, has been feeling better. Sunday, between Les Gets and Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, he slipped into the winning breakaway, without being able to accompany the best to the end. He finished in his best place, 34th. He smiles: “I’m on antibiotics because one of my wounds isn’t healing well. I think that helps me a lot.”
Torstein Træen has never known victory. He dreams of winning on Wednesday July 19 at the Col de la Loze. He knows that will be impossible if Jonas Vingegaard and Tadej Pogacar have the Te Deums sung before embarking on a heroic butchery. With his team, they spotted the alpine summit with passages flirting with 20% slope, steep as the shepherd’s twist-gut. At the very top, he remained stunned by the view. His eyes shine, even if he doesn’t say too much.
The Norwegian seems to take everything lightly, with a detached air. The reason is simple. In 2022, thanks to a doping control, an incipient testicular cancer was detected. He had to put his career aside for a few months to heal. Now all is fine. The press officer explained to us that Torstein Træen didn’t want to talk about it anymore. The climber himself addresses the subject: “My experience last year calmed me down. It taught me to look at life differently. Coming back [au plus haut niveau], I realized how lucky I am to do this job.” We ask him if he was afraid of the disease. He said, “No, just afraid of not being able to run anymore.”
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