Orica-GreenEDGE update from Mt. Baldy

When you’re a sports director for a pro-cycling team, you don’t just use your head. Sometimes your legs act as your best asset.

Today Neil Stephens, sports director for the Australian Orica-GreenEDGE team, jogged alongside Luke Durbridge for part of the last kilometer of the Amgen Tour of California stage 7 uphill finish on Mt. Baldy.

Perhaps Stephens told Durbridge something like this: “Keep on it mate. You’ve made it this far, the finish is just around the corner.”

Likely Stephens wouldn’t have mentioned to Durbridge that Joe Dombrowski of Bontrager Livestrong had finished far enough ahead of him to pinch the best young rider’s jersey off his shoulders. Time for that later.

Durbridge came in 4 minutes 23 seconds after Dombrowski, in 21st place. That result and two days in the best young rider jersey are outcomes the 21 year-old neo-pro can be proud of.