Damp day in Austria but pair of fascinating Cherries interviews: Tour diary day seven

TODAY was the first day out in Austria where the weather turned slightly, as the clouds rolled in and we had our first rain, which was at times heavy.

That meant a damp start as I cycled up to the Cherries’ training base in the morning, with another couple of interviews in the diary.

The team were training late morning, so I got myself set up and set about getting some work done, sorting some cricket reports from yesterday’s games, as well as some football reports from the non-league pre-season.

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I said hello to Marco Rose as the team came back in and we had a brief chat about the weather (how very British!) before I went and got myself set up for my interviews.

I sat down with Charlie Stevens today. (Image: NQ)

Up first was young midfielder Charlie Stevens.

It was a pleasure to speak to him for the first time, a 19-year-old out on his first pre-season training camp with the first team and a massive Cherries fan to boot, so he has been enjoying his time out here.

His eye-catching performance on Friday against St Pauli drew comparisons to teammate Alex Scott, and we discussed that, his background and more.

Charlie Stevens (Image: NQ)

Then, it was the turn of Bafode Diakite, whose story is an interesting one this summer.

After joining the club for big money and starting last season well, his form mirrored the team’s as they hit a difficult patch and he lost his place to James Hill.

But with the departure of Andoni Iraola and Marcos Senesi, opportunity awaits Diakite – and he knows that, so that made for a good interview.

Read and/or watch both of those interviews on the Daily Echo website tomorrow.

Bafode Diakite (Image: NQ)

Once I wrapped up both of those, I did a bit more work after chatting briefly with Hill about golf – there seem to be a few golfers in the squad out here!

The rain stopped so I thought that would be a good moment to cycle back to my Airbnb, and I managed to stay relatively dry, which was a win!

Once back, I wrote up the Stevens and Diakite interviews and spoke with Sam from Back of the Net – take a look at their socials for that chat tonight.

While finishing up, I put the finish of the final stage of the Tour de France on the TV in my room.

While I don’t speak much German at all, it was a thrilling end to a race dominated by Tadej Pogacar and he, along with Mathieu van der Poel, put on a real show.

I was pleased to see van der Poel take the stage, and he looked overwhelmed with emotion as he only just held on down the Champs Elise.

He’s one of my favourite riders so it was great to see him win!

Once I finish writing this up, I’ll be winding down for the night.

Another busy day in Austria awaits tomorrow!