WSU Student Trains For Tour De France

PULLMAN – WSU Cycling Team captain, Chris Dugan has been riding since he was five-years-old. He said he got inspired at such a young age by watching the Tour de France on T.V. with his dad.

Dugan currently is in the recruitment stage with many teams around the U.S. including the CCB team and the world team, Education First to join for the upcoming Tour de France race.

He plans to hear back from those teams in December for a tryout. Chris said his specialty in climbing will set him apart in the tryout competition. If he makes the team, Dugan will be training and competing with his new team in January to prepare for the big race.

Out of 15 to 20 men on the team, only seven members per team are selected to compete in the Tour de France.

He said managing school and training is hard but still pushes himself to bike one-hundred kilometers every day on trails around the Palouse including Blaine and Lenville Roads in Moscow, Idaho.

He said he has had some major crashes throughout his cycling career but with his dream in mind, he gets back on the bike every time. 

When in training, he said he constantly watches professional racers to get a better idea of their cycling tactics to put on his own routine. His favorite racer to watch is the professional Road Racing Cyclist, Chris Froome.

Chris said having his older brother, Dylan Dugan, on the cycling team with him helps him be more persistent with his trainings. He said his family always encourages his dream and would very proud of him when the day comes.

“I would be the proudest person alive as well as the happiest brother that anyone could ever have and I do anything I can do to support him-even if that meant running outside switching his tires out when he gets a flat during a race or carrying him up the finish line if I had to,” said his brother, Dylan.

He said although there is an age limit to compete in the big race, he is going to keep pushing until he gets that opportunity.

“The main thing I want to take away is just keep believing, keep fighting for your dream, keep working toward your goal. I want to make sure I be the model for those young athletics that want to make it to the Tour de France that are scared or thinking they can’t do it but they definitely can,” said Chris.

I will be catching up with him this summer in Belgium during the Tour de France to see where his recruitment process has taken him.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The video was aired on a previous broadcast.