It all started with a backache and stomach problems; I realize this isn't the best opening, but this is the perfect summary of our first day in Oman. You should know that in the race superbly organized by ASO, journalists are given the opportunity to follow the race from a car, watching the peloton and breakaways up close. It's a special occasion that allows us to tell the race from a different angle. In the Muscat Classic, things didn't go perfectly, our driver was agitated and had too sporty a driving style that gave me an unexpected backache and my Belgian colleague indigestion. The next step was practically mandatory, and we politely asked the media manager to change drivers, and that's how we met Said Haddou.

Here too, the approach wasn't the best, and language seemed to be an insurmountable barrier. "I'm sorry, I only speak French," he had explained to a colleague the day before, but we had a different fate: "I know a little, but I'll try to speak it for you," he told us, promising to study the route and take us to the most scenic points of the stage. It was an unusual beginning, a change willed by destiny, but one that led us to experience a special moment in Omani land, far from any danger. It must be said that he could become our bodyguard was clear from the start, over 1.90 m tall, with a boxer's physique and mover's shoulders, he could have been just another driver, but day by day we began to know his story and grew fond of him.

From his appearance, you wouldn't say it, but until 14 years ago, Saif was a professional rider. We discovered this thanks to a tip from a colleague who googled his name, and when we asked him if it was true, we realized we had embarrassed him. Cycling was a true love for him, and in his pro career from 2003 to 2012, he raced with teams like Bbox Telecom and Team Europcar. We start asking him many questions driven by simple curiosity, while he puts his hands forward, telling us he wasn't a great champion and few remember him. He seems to have little to tell about his career, yet little by little he starts to gain confidence and becomes a chatterbox. He keeps telling us he's nobody, but as a professional, he won 5 times, and each represents a special memory. One day he decided to stop, to get off the bike and completely change his life, with no second thoughts, no turning back. After his retirement, cycling was no longer even a hobby, just a chapter of his life he carefully preserves. He started working in real estate and then, thanks to his friend Thomas Voeckler, he returned to his first love, but as a driver.

For Said, this is his first Tour of Oman; we were here last year and automatically become a source of precious advice that he continuously draws from. Day by day, he becomes familiar not only with the race but especially with us, he knows what we need both for our work and our physical-mental well-being, and he goes out of his way to lend a hand. Every morning he welcomes us with a giant smile, and while we're busy with interviews at the start area, he reviews the route to find the best spots. "Today's menu includes these stops" he jokes, showing us the map, meanwhile we get in the car and dive into the race full throttle. His driving is calm; when there's a bump in the distance, he warns us, slows down, and only tackles it when he's sure we've secured our computers. It's strange for him to see journalists typing as quickly as possible; he asks us questions about our work, he's curious, but quickly understands that during the transfer stage after the stage to the hotel, we need to be left alone. As soon as he discovers we're Italian, he proudly tells us he rode the Giro in 2009 and completed the Tour in the same year. He has beautiful memories of Italy, especially the stage finishing in Milan where he finished ninth. "It was beautiful, even though I gained 4 kilos after the Giro; every evening they brought us so much food and I couldn't say no," he says laughing. He hasn't visited our country for a long time and would like to return, maybe as a driver for a race or simply on vacation. Meanwhile, he proudly tells us that after the Tour of Oman, he'll go directly to Tour de la Provence where he'll have Italian ex-footballer Fabrizio Ravanelli as a guest and can't wait to meet him.

The Tour of Oman is in full swing, the day's breakaway forms and we stop to wait for it, we see the peloton and then overtake it at twice the speed, trying to understand what the athletes are saying. Said moves skillfully, waiting for the go-ahead from judges and race directors, and then full speed ahead to the next stop. Meanwhile, other colleagues are stuck in traffic, there have been accidents, they've taken wrong turns, practically everything has happened in this Tour of Oman, yet nothing has ever concerned us. In every complicated moment, we found in Said not just a phenomenal driver, but a travel companion who didn't let us lack anything. As soon as he saw we weren't working, he would gain courage and tell us another piece of his life; in an instant, the situation would flip, and he would be the one asking questions, trying to learn some Italian phrases. Yesterday morning, we accidentally found an article in Le Monde about him; when the Belgian colleague showed it to him, Saif was embarrassed because it was his only interview. The date is from 2009, during the Tour, and the piece talks about him as the first cyclist of Arab origin to participate in the Grand Boucle since 1954. "I remember the day of that interview, I was sleeping in my room after a devastating stage when they called me saying a journalist wanted to talk to me. I thought it was a joke, they must have definitely gotten the wrong person and were looking for Voeckler," instead it was all true. I wasn't prepared at all, it was the first time, but that journalist told me to stay calm," Said told us between laughs, explaining how the encounter with that journalist continues to represent his little moment of glory. We ask him many times if he misses cycling, and he responds by giving us another piece of those years of his life; they seem so distant in his memories, belonging to a cycling made of bonds and legends. He has remained in contact with many of his French teammates; Thomas Voeckler is one of his dearest friends, but he also remembers Italians Matteo Pelucchi and Davide Malacarne in a special way.

We would like to listen to Said for hours and get lost in his stories, but the race continues and waits for no one. The peloton speeds past us, and he watches the passage roadside, leaning on car number 12; we stop to observe him while he gazes dreamily at the riders. We wonder what's going through his mind, perhaps he's reliving that part of his life or perhaps he's simply put it aside forever. Today, with the last stage of the Tour of Oman, it will unfortunately be time to say goodbye to him. I don't know if we'll meet him again in the future, maybe for a race or who knows, but know that if you could read some Omani articles on this site every day, it's also thanks to him.