Bike-mad Chelsea manager dreams of Dakar

Chelsea football manager Andre Villas-Boas owns five motorbikes and dreams of one day competing in the notorious Dakar Rally, it has been revealed.

The highly-rated Portugeuse coach, whose day job requires coaching multi-millionaire footballers and challenging for honours in the world’s most competitive football league, revealed in an interview with the BBC that bikes are in his blood and likes nothing better than riding off-road in the Portugeuse mountains.

He said: “I have a tremendous passion for football but my bikes are my escape.”

The 33-year-old said his first bike was a Yamaha XT350, followed by a number of Hondas and KTMs including an ex-Paris Dakar bike.

“I have a bit of a crazy head so I like enduro bikes – I go into the mountains with the big rocks and almost kill myself!”

And he added: “Of course, my responsibilities to this job come first, but the feeling when I’m on the bike with the throttle open is fantastic.”

And the Dakar? “I would love to ride the rally one day. But it’s expensive and maybe something for when my career ends.”

For the full interview go here.