Activating Tour Rider #13: Matthias Kessler – Team T-Mobile

I’m intrigued by the underexposed riders in the Tour. Where are they from? How did they get to this level? What makes them tick? Of the 189 riders that started this year’s Tour, many have never or barely been mentioned. When the OLN broadcasters pointed out that the rider on the German T-Mobile squad, Matthias Kessler, wore the number 13 upside down on the back of his jersey because “he was very superstitious”, I had to see who this guy was. Turns out he’s the unlucky fellow who went flying into a fence post in the 2004 Tour, and after gutting out a stage finish with broken ribs, had to drop out. This year he looks to make it to the finish in Paris -- he currently sits in 57th place in the GC.