French rider Benjamin Gournay rises to the challenge of Tour Down Under

THE Tour de France visits Benjamin Gournay's home town almost every year but he didn't fall in love with cycling until he got to Adelaide.

Bupa Challenge rider Benjamin Gournay. Picture: Roy Van Der Vegt.

THE Tour de France visits Benjamin Gournay's home town almost every year but he didn't fall in love with cycling until he got to Adelaide.

The 30-year-old Frenchman started riding for fun while travelling through Canada but got serious and bought himself a bike when he arrived in Australia almost two years ago.

In January he rode the Bupa Challenge Tour as part of the Santos Tour Down Under, which was perfect preparation for his Ironman triathlon debut in Melbourne two months later.

"It was the longest ride I had ever done in my life," Benjamin said of this year's trek from Modbury to Tanunda.

"With so many people on the course it was a great atmosphere and the race was very interesting with so many great riders.

"I have signed up to do it again next year with a team from work (Adelaide company OBS).

"We have a team of nine and train together on weekends and some mornings. It's good team bonding."

Benjamin is an IT consultant who comes from Boulogne-sur-Mer on the north coast of France but is loving his new life in Adelaide.

"It's quite flat but cycling is big there," he said.

"Nearly every year the Tour de France comes in that area and next year it is very close to where I live.

"I love it here in Adelaide.

"The quality of life, the beaches and the weather."

Now that he's conquered cycling and triathlon since he's been Down Under, Benjamin's next goal is to become a life saver having obtained his Bronze Medallion and taken surf lessons at Middleton.

To register for the Bupa Challenge Tour, visit www.tourdownunder.com.au. Individual entries close on January 15.