The Wachovia Cycling Series race in Lancaster yesterday was super fine. The finish was a nail-biter, photo finish between Freddie Rodriguez and Greg Henderson. Greg just barely pipped Freddie for the win. At the press conference later, Freddie was sorta joking about all the stuff that had gone wrong for him. The team was delayed on their flight and it took them 25-40 hours to get to Philly, plus some of their stuff was lost. (Same for the Liqui-Gas team, who still haven't received their baggage!) So Freddie rode with only one teammate and no team car.
Freddie has had bad luck in past American races with mechanicals: this day was no exception. One of his pedals fell off, and without a team car, he had to get a pedal from the Mavic support guys, ride with it to the feed zone, where his team support staff was. Halfway up the feed zone hill, somebody ran into his back wheel and messed up his derailleur. So Freddie had get off the bike and run up the hill with it, give the bike and pedal to his wrenches, and jump on spare bike. Turned out the seat wasn’t adjusted to the right height on the spare bike, so he rode one lap with everything out of whack.
In spite of that, he managed to finish second. Some smart, gutsy riding and pretty impressive determination. Watch out for Freddie on Sunday….
I’m hearing from the DC guys that Lance’s training is coming along really well, and he’s looking mighty good for July. I’m told the guys are really motivated, especially with the Giro win. And so are the CSC guys – they’re the team that is gonna give Discovery a run for their money at the Tour.
So I’m having a blast with the teams who are on the meal plan here – I see them three times a day, being the food police. We have a ton of fun with it, and it’s a great way to get to know the guys on European teams. The DC guys are great – they are just the best guys. I tell you, Tony is the leanest I have ever seen him, after the three week Giro. It’s the same thing after the Tour, every guy loses 8 or 10 pounds or more. Their bodies are just depleted. This new Pro Tour thing is forcing the guys to ride too many races with too much traveling, and too little, or no recovery time. We’re gonna start seeing injuries and illnesses in all the teams from the constant stress on their bodies, and not enough recovery time.
Freddie has had bad luck in past American races with mechanicals: this day was no exception. One of his pedals fell off, and without a team car, he had to get a pedal from the Mavic support guys, ride with it to the feed zone, where his team support staff was. Halfway up the feed zone hill, somebody ran into his back wheel and messed up his derailleur. So Freddie had get off the bike and run up the hill with it, give the bike and pedal to his wrenches, and jump on spare bike. Turned out the seat wasn’t adjusted to the right height on the spare bike, so he rode one lap with everything out of whack.
In spite of that, he managed to finish second. Some smart, gutsy riding and pretty impressive determination. Watch out for Freddie on Sunday….
I’m hearing from the DC guys that Lance’s training is coming along really well, and he’s looking mighty good for July. I’m told the guys are really motivated, especially with the Giro win. And so are the CSC guys – they’re the team that is gonna give Discovery a run for their money at the Tour.
So I’m having a blast with the teams who are on the meal plan here – I see them three times a day, being the food police. We have a ton of fun with it, and it’s a great way to get to know the guys on European teams. The DC guys are great – they are just the best guys. I tell you, Tony is the leanest I have ever seen him, after the three week Giro. It’s the same thing after the Tour, every guy loses 8 or 10 pounds or more. Their bodies are just depleted. This new Pro Tour thing is forcing the guys to ride too many races with too much traveling, and too little, or no recovery time. We’re gonna start seeing injuries and illnesses in all the teams from the constant stress on their bodies, and not enough recovery time.
posted by velogal at
4:38 PM
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