I’ve been walking everywhere for the last few weeks as I need to lose a couple of kilos, but this morning I took a taxi home from Badalona cos it’s miles away. The taxi driver, who incidentally bore an uncanny resemblance to Russian leader Vladimir Putin, told me a remarkable story about Samuel Eto’o. It turns out that the driver’s mother works in a bakery and every morning Eto’o goes in to buy two sausage rolls and two egg custard tarts for his breakfast. Apparently Eto’o told Mama Putin that he is seriously pissed off about getting injured again and is considering taking up cycling as an alternative career. He did a lot of training on the bike to recover from his injury last season and he believes he is good enough to have a real crack at next summer’s Tour de France. He said he had a burning desire to become the first African to climb on the podium in Paris.

The driver said that his mother told him she is the only person in the world that Eto’o has spoken to about his plans. I have no reason to disbelieve the guy, after all he had an honest face.