When Chris Horner reflects on his Tour de France debut in 2005, one thing stands out in his memory — the hordes of fans along the roads.

“You get colorblind and you get mesmerized by it, and it’s difficult to focus,” recalls Horner, the longtime Bend resident and seven-time rider in cycling’s most famous race.

“Your head gets dizzy. It’s really exciting and it’s really cool, and you’re really paying attention to the fans. It really starts to make it dizzying and difficult to focus on the bike race. It took a few stages into the Tour for me to realize that you’ve got to start fading out the spectators and start focusing just on the racers.”

The 46-year-old Horner — who finished as high as ninth overall in the 2010 Tour and last raced it in 2014 — took some time this week to discuss another pro rider from Bend who is currently racing in his first Tour de France: Ian Boswell.

By all accounts, Boswell, 27, has adjusted to the legions of spectators and has settled into the grueling race, which started July 7 and finishes July 29, and whose 21 stages will cover 2,082 miles. After Friday’s stage, he is 84th in the overall standings, racing for the Katusha-Alpecin team.

Horner — who won the Vuelta a España in 2013 at the age of 41, the oldest to ever win a Grand Tour — makes a point to watch the Tour de France every day at home in Bend. He says he likes what he has seen so far from Boswell, whom he knows fairly well as a fellow cog in the Central Oregon cycling community.

“He deserves to be in the Tour; he’s riding fantastic,” Horner says. “The way he’s riding justifies the team bringing him. It’s really cool to have a direct connection to Bend, especially for the fans watching it who live here.”

Boswell left the British Team Sky and joined the Russian team Katusha-Alpecin last August, hoping to earn a spot in the Tour de France. Because Sky was so filled with talented cyclists — the team currently has the top two riders in the overall standings — Boswell figured he had a much better chance to race in the Tour with Katusha.

Known for his strength as a climber in the mountain stages, Boswell has been expected to support his team’s top climber, Russian cyclist Ilnur Zakarin, who is 13th in the overall standings, more than 9 minutes back of leader Geraint Thomas of Team Sky.

But because Zakarin is now essentially out of contention for an overall podium finish, Horner says Boswell should be free to go for a stage win rather than only working for Zakarin.

“In general, he’s free to go for stage wins now, I would assume,” Horner says of Boswell. “So we’ll get to see him jump in the early breaks and try to win a stage. He’s been in the front group on almost every last climb. He’ll have opportunities to go for a win. His best bet is one of the smaller mountain stages.

“And here at home, we’d be able to cheer on Boswell trying to win a stage instead of just working for his team leader.”

Horner says Boswell will only get better with more experience in the Tour de France. After three or four times, if he gets the opportunity, he will become more familiar with the courses, knowing when the climbs start and when the peloton picks up speed, according to Horner. He will better understand when and how much to eat and drink, and also how to deal with the weather swings in France.

“He is riding so well, he’s still at a young age, and now he’s had some experience over there,” Horner says. “After you’ve been there three, four years, it really starts making a difference. Hopefully he gets to the top level and really starts putting on a show.”

Horner says moving to Katusha from Sky was the right decision for Boswell. Even though Katusha is a Russian-based team, some of its riders speak English, as does the team’s general manager, José Azevedo, according to Horner. Incidentally, Azevedo was Team RadioShack’s manager when Horner won the Vuelta with that team in 2013.

“He’s a very good director and he speaks fluent English,” Horner says. “From that aspect Boswell should have no problem. At this point he (Boswell) was never going to make the Tour de France team on Team Sky. Every rider wants to do the Tour de France — now he’s got it. It’s on his resume.”

Horner says he has not officially retired, as he continues to compete in lower-profile races here and there. Earlier this month he finished 25th overall at the Sibiu Cycling Tour in Romania, his first race in two years after recovering from a long-term lung infection.

Mostly, Horner says, he is staying home with his kids, riding his motorcycle, and biking as much as 500 to 600 miles per week. He has a 3-year-old son with his wife, Megan, and three children (ages 20, 18 and 16) from a previous relationship.

“They remind me of how old I am,” Horner says of his kids. “I can spend four or five hours on my bike, but you come back and see how big your kids are … dang, I’m getting old!”

Horner has many memories of his seven Tour de France races, but perhaps his debut stands out the most.

“My very first one was something special,” he says, “because you never forget those.”

— Reporter: 541-383-0318,

mmorical@bendbulletin.com