My name is Elin - A pro cycling lover's reflections

Have you ever seen this picture before? No? I think it is from a Calvin Klein commercial, and the model is Marius-Nicolae Stoica. Isn't he so beautiful? He does not always look like that of course and nowadays you can more often see him in cycling clothes than in adverts for famous designers. Anyway, I think he is so cool. Only the second photo model in the pro peloton though, as Matti Breschel has to been modelling around the world (N.Y. mostly), but still it feels cool that cycling has two real photo models.

Surely the boy hasn't had a great season so far and the Romanian cycling federation barely knows that they have a pro cyclist in the Amore & Vita-squad.

Anyway, Stoica hopes to be the first Romanian cyclist in the Tour de France but that will never happen as, in1936, four Romanians called Georges Hapciuc, Virgilin Marmocea, Nicolas Tapu and Constantin Tudose all lined up for the start on July 7. But none of them finished the race.

Marius-Nicolae Stoica will perhaps not be the first Romanian rider in the Tour de France. It's possible that he never will ride the Tour. But at least we can hope that more Romanian riders can be part of the pro peloton as so many European + Kazakhs been tested positive for doping lately. We need some fresh air and I hope riders from all over the world, who is clean, will have the chance to turn professional.