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8th Tour of South China Sea, China

Dec. 25, 2003 - Jan. 1, 2004

24 hours in the life of Chris Baumann

By Paul Mirtschin

For the professional cyclist, taking part in a stage race such as the 8th Tour of South China Sea can take a lot out of you. With 684 kilometres over eight days, you would think there wasn't much time to do anything except sleep, eat, warm up, race, and relax before sleeping again.

For Sierra Nevada/Marco Polo rider Chris Baumann, there is always time to do a few other things, be it a visit to a local masseuse for a working over with vacuum cups, or a friendly game of baseball with the Russians.

Of course there is also the racing. Chris helped to take the Sierra Nevada/Marco Polo team to an overall third place, and also managed a top ten finish on stage six, the same day that he had the vacuum cups applied; maybe they do work after all.

Photos

Images by Francis Cerny/Nikon Camera

After a Chinese massage with the vacuum cups:
Photo ©: Francis Cerny
Chris Baumann showing the Russians how to play baseball.
Photo ©: Francis Cerny
One minute ahead after lap one of stage six.
Photo ©: Francis Cerny