Santa Rosa is Levi country.
Levi Leipheimer stepped off the sign-in stage and faced the crowd behind the barriers opposite the stage. He raised his arms, and like an orchestra responds to a conductor flourishing his wand, the crowd responded with huge cheers. He could have said something like, “these are my people.”
Levi greets fans in Santa Rosa, 2012 Amgen Tour of CA stage 1
Sunday’s Amgen Tour of California stage 1 started and finished in Santa Rosa where Leipheimer lives. The course resembled almost to a road the route of Levi’s annual Grand Fondo ride.
After a loop around and back into Santa Rosa for an intermediate sprint line, the riders turned west, proceeded north, then dropped onto Route 1 for 15 miles of racing along the Pacific Ocean coastline. Next they took a left onto Coleman Valley Road where the pavement rose steeply. The climb is just 3 kilometers with an average grade of about 10%, hardest on the lower half and easier toward the top.
Route 1 near Coleman Valley Road
The road passes through land protected by the Coleman Valley Road Sonoma County Agricultural Preserve and Open Space District. The county, according to one resident, assesses a quarter cent tax to fund open space purchases.
Amgen Tour of California break-away on Coleman Valley Road
The break-away tackled Coleman Valley Road a few minutes in advance of the peloton. Sebastian Salas (Optum p/b Kelly Benefits) and Jeff Louder (UnitedHealthcare) seemed the least stressed by the ascent.
The peloton arrived a few minutes later. Earlier in the day before the start, Timmy Duggan of Liquigas-Cannondale indicated it wouldn’t be an easy day. “RadioShack and Garmin are going to make it hard,” he said, downplaying the chances for his team’s sprinters, Daniel Oss and Peter Sagan, for a victory at the finish line in Santa Rosa.
Alex Howes (Garmin-Barracuda) and Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Barracuda) towed the front of a fragmented peloton up the climb. The lead group included Chris Horner (RadioShack Nissan), Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare), Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank), Tejay VanGarderen (BMC), Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale), Tom Danielson (Garmin-Barracuda), Nicholas Roche (AG2R La Mondiale), Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale), and others.
Near top of Coleman Valley climb, Howes and Zabriskie lead the main pack
A bike length behind this group one of Leipheimer’s teammates paced him up the hill.
The road levels out near the top then the riders began a fast, tight, twisty descent, flying between stands of redwood trees. After the descent and through the town of Occidental wide, relatively straight roads and a tailwind helped the pack catch the break. Duggan pulled on the front and teammate Ted King brought Sagan back to the bunch after he flatted 5 kilometers from the finish.
No flat stands in Sagan’s way. He won the sprint and will start today in the leader’s jersey.
Redwood doorway on descent off Coleman Valley Rd.
Leipheimer will find himself back at home on stage 2 as the peloton ascends the Bonny Doon climb where he attacked in an earlier edition of the race.
Central California roadside fruit stand
402 miles of driving sets the mind to wandering. Here’s where mine went today while driving from LAX to Novato, California, for an overnight before stage 1 of the 2012 Amgen Tour of California.
Leaving gritty LA hot streets from the airport, rising out of the fog or smog into the Angeles forest, looks like Colorado country except with orangy-yellow earth.
Powerline tower looks like the outline of a cap sleeve dress for a giantess.
Taking notes in the car like this makes some passengers nervous. I tell them I do it all the time but it doesn’t make them feel any better.
Mini oil drills like bug-eyed rusty enormous flies drinking. Creosote.
Flat as the eye can see to my left. Like Indiana flat. Cheeries, grape vines, infinite rows of fruit trees and long skinny lines of low to the ground greenery. I’m glad someone can live out here and do this work to feed us, because I couldn’t live in a place this flat.
While passing the kind of perforated truck trailer that hauls cattle — the cows must have to pee at some time on the road. I wonder if they could spray a windshield. Maybe not pass too close.
Thousands of cows milling around bored in bare dirt corrals, standing, lying down, or feeding. So many cows silt from under their hooves hangs in the air over the road like a fine mist.
IKEA in the middle of nowhere.
Sign: Harris Ranch — wireless internet. You can be in the middle of nowhere and go anywhere.
Workers making their ways along the rows of green, bending, rising, bending.
Alex Howes, Tom Peterson, Nathan Haas, and Tom Danielson seem to ride together in the same races alot, Cali, Langkawi. TDF? Too young maybe.
Church, when to go to church tomorrow.
Baby vines — or are they orchard trees, look like Peanuts character Frieda’s naturally curly hair on a lollipop stick.
Swallows nesting in the overpasses swoop out by the dozens and swing back to their nests.
The clouds got teased-out dos at the hairdresser’s today.
Cameron Meyer can earn a top five GC result at the Amgen Tour of California (AToC) this coming week.
Cam Meyer, by Rob Evans (otbphoto on Flickr)
The 24 year-old from Perth on Orica GreenEDGE recently retired from the track with the goal of becoming a GC rider in week-long stage races. Meyer finished tenth in overall GC at Tirreno-Adriatico, a seven day event in March. It’s a result that was, Meyer told VeloNation, “a real confidence booster” to show he can do well in stage races, and sets him up well for the AToC, as does the California course and this year’s competition.
Orica GreenEDGE sends a squad stacked with Australian road and time trial champions to support Meyer. While it’s the team’s first year at this 2.HC UCI race, nearly one-half of the starters will recognize portions of the course, having raced the AToC once or twice previously.
Several factors can certainly upset Meyer’s ambitions in California. A month off for track worlds. Hungry GC competitors with dialed-in time trialing and stronger climbing skills can best him on a decisive Mt. Baldy finish. And teammates Luke Durbridge and Pieter Weening have been nursing knee injuries.
Pulling off a great result despite these challenges will further demonstrate that Meyer is the GC contender he believes he can become. Third on the individual time trial in Tirreno-Adriatico, Meyer said during the Tour of Turkey that the AToC’s longer, 28 kilometer time trial supports his GC objective. It’s relatively flat and long enough for him to build a bit of a time cushion going into the mountain stages.
Meyer also benefits from the potentially weaker than expected performances of a couple of traditional race favorites. If Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) rides, his recent injuries could hinder his results. Chris Horner (RadioShack-Nissan) should place well but may not win. Horner’s been training at home since the Ardennes Classics – part of his winning formula last year, but he hasn’t delivered stellar time trialing this season, losing 52 seconds and 40 seconds at the Pais Vasco and Tirreno-Adriatico races against the clock. Meyer finished 24 seconds faster than Horner in the nine kilometer Tirreno-Adriatico time trial.
Among other GC threats, Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) comes to California with great form and results; he could best Meyer at the Mt. Baldy finish but isn’t likely to pull out a better time trial. Tom Danielson (Garmin-Barracuda), Tejay Van Garderen (BMC), Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank), and Rory Sutherland (UnitedHealthcare) will also fight Meyer for a top five finish. Fellow Australian Sutherland starts the race on a motivational high after winning the Tour of the Gila a few days ago.
Counting Horner, and tossing in Joe Dombrowski (Bontrager-Livestrong) – the 20 year-old climbing phenom who smashed the time trial at the Gila, Meyer faces just seven true potential threats. Mix in a little luck, and Meyer can fly out of California with his best GC result of the season.
With the team’s roster in Italy clearly set up to support sprinter Matt Goss and the Italian race’s profile turning lumpy and then mountainous at the end of next week, Orica GreenEDGE fans might discover more excitement in tracking Meyer’s AToC journey. SBS will provide live coverage.
The battle for GC position, perhaps the most prestigious among pro-cycling prizes, produces exciting racing, and even more so when a young rider vies for overall race leadership. RadioShack-Nissan and BMC hunger for a great result after so-so seasons thus far; they will engage Meyer and Orica GreenEDGE to a hard-fought battle. A top GC spot for the young Meyer will be one he and the team can feel especially proud of in its first year as it builds talent for the future.
There’s another reason why Orica GreenEDGE will treat fans to great racing in California. The AToC has become an important preparation race for Tour de France contenders who prefer not to wear themselves out in the Giro. As such the possibility of a return invite next year to California for Orica GreenEDGE should also motivate the team to achieve good results. A 2.HC UCI race like the AToC can only invite at maximum 50% World Tour teams; with eight World Tour teams invited this year, that leaves ten who can’t send riders to California.
Robbie McEwen’s retirement from racing after the AToC will draw a lot of attention in California. But McEwen’s celebrations won’t spoil Meyer’s potential party. Based on McEwen’s statements to the press about his last race, and the fact that he continues with the team in an advisory capacity, McEwen’s first priority is a great result by the team. Which for the squad traveling to the Sunshine State, is the GC result Meyer dreams about.
Orica GreenEDGE roster at Amgen Tour of California (as of May 11): Cameron Meyer, Leigh Howard, Luke Durbridge, Matt Wilson, Pieter Weening, Robbie McEwen, Travis Meyer, Wesley Sulzberger.
Race maps and profiles are available on the Amgen Tour of California website.
Alex Howes at Garmin-Barracuda 2012 presentation
Golden, Colorado native and professional cyclist Alex Howes suffers when he works and he suffers when he can’t. But an event this August might provide him with a different kind of sensation.
[See procyclinggolden.com for the full interview I wrote, thanks to Alex.]
Tour of the Gila Final GC (l to r: Chad Beyer, Rory Sutherland, Joe Dombrowski)
Early Sunday morning in Silver City, New Mexico, Director Sportif Gord Fraser of the Competitive Cyclist Racing Team acknowledged his pro-cyclists faced a tough task. Tour of the Gila overall race leader Rory Sutherland held 1:25 over Fraser’s best placed rider Francisco Mancebo going into the final stage, and Sutherland’s UnitedHealthcare team surrounded him with what seemed like a bulletproof shell of support.
“But we’ll see. We have options,” Fraser said. “We have Chad [Beyer] and Cesar [Grajales] also in the top ten so maybe UnitedHealthcare will focus on Mancebo a lot and maybe that will give us opportunities to move up on the GC with those two riders as well.”
The Bontrager-Livestrong boys echoed Fraser’s assessment; it would be challenging to isolate Rory and move Joe Dombrowski, second on GC by just 33 seconds, to the top step of the podium. Teammate Ian Boswell thought Dombrowski might have a chance. “I think that everyone knows that Joe is probably the best climber in the race. Since the last climb is not that hard maybe it’s not as easy for him to get the time,” Boswell said. “We just have to play off what everyone else is doing. It’s a long way for Joe to go by himself so he needs to have some of us up the road or have some other guys up on GC to help him have that pull to the finish.”
Cheat sheet of climbs for Noe Gianetti of Team Exergy will be stuck on his top tube
Bontrager-Livestrong and Competitive Cyclist both benefited at the end of the grueling day – organizers didn’t name the stage “Gila Monster” after the venomous animal for nothing – by playing their cards well early in the race. The latter put Thomas Rabou and Max Jenkins into the early 21-man break with Beyer; Boswell and Lawson Craddock of Bontrager-Livestrong rode in that group of 21 as well.
The break gained 5:40 on the peloton and Sutherland half way into the 167 kilometer stage. The race leader’s jersey now belonged virtually to Beyer, who began the stage 2:38 behind Sutherland.
Sutherland’s calm approach
According to Sutherland, riders came alongside him and said, “you guys are ruining the race, you’ve lost everything, now you’re not riding.” But they couldn’t derail the Australian’s cool demeanor. “I’ve always found that by not caring you seem to care more,” Sutherland said after the race. He feels an unemotional approach delivers the best results in the end, because emotional responses wear out an athlete and can yield poor decisions on the road.
Sutherland’s not one to react to every move in the race. He trusts his pace is good enough. “I know that in the last 20 k if I ride by myself as hard as I can, I can probably take back a minute or more myself against guys that have been out there all day,” Sutherland said. He also trusts his teammates to help him conserve energy so he can deliver when it’s his turn to do so.
As soon as he reached his last teammate up the road who had ridden in the break all day, Jeff Louder, Sutherland told him, “Just don’t worry about anybody attacking. We just ride. If someone attacks and rides away a little bit, you just keep your tempo. I need you for as long as possible.” Both Louder and Jason McCartney before him pulled Rory to within 10 to 12 kilometers from the finish on Pinos Altos, steadily shaving down the gap to the final leaders, Beyer, Craddock and Boswell.
Then it was Sutherland’s turn to pay them back, towing several others in the chase group for the remainder of the race. Mancebo attacked. Dombrowski attacked. Sutherland rode his own speed and held on to win the overall race with 15 seconds to spare over Beyer.
Playing the options
Tour of the Gila stage 5 podium (l to r: Ian Boswell, Lawson Craddock, Chad Beyer)
Strong riding by his Competitive Cyclist teammates helped Beyer to leapfrog from ninth to second on GC in a stage that challenged riders with 9,100 feet of climbing at altitude.
After the race, surrounded by his mom, sister, girlfriend, and girlfriend’s mom, Beyer said, “Thomas and Max did a great job to stretch that gap out as far as they could, but it wasn’t quite enough.” He said he needed “two percent more fitness,” referring to either winning the stage or the race overall. Beyer finished third on the stage, six seconds behind the winner, Craddock.
Beyer and Craddock had separated themselves from the break on the hardest climb; Boswell later joined them and the threesome approached the final Pinos Altos ascent together. Boswell and Craddock pulled away from Beyer about two kilometers from the finish line. They crossed the line hands joined, arms raised, with Craddock taking the win. Bontrager-Livestrong also left the race as best team. Before the Gila, the team spent two weeks training in Boulder, Colorado.
Dombrowski gained eleven seconds on Sutherland, but lost enough time to Beyer to slip into third place overall. He seemed content with third, saying that considering a third on GC and the team’s first and second places that day, together with winning the team competition, “There’s not much more you could ask for.”
California bound
Bontrager-Livestrong and UnitedHealthcare will both begin the Amgen Tour of California motivated by solid results from the Tour of the Gila.
Marc de Maar leads Rory Sutherland in Criterium, stage 4 of Tour of the Gila
UnitedHealthcare’s Mike Tamayo said the team will send Sutherland with Marc de Maar who shepherded Sutherland over the roads during much of the Gila. They raced together for several years with Rabobank. “We kind of grew up learning to race the same way, we can read each other pretty well,” Sutherland said. “I never really need to tell him to do anything, he knows what to do.”
The remainder of the roster is still to be finalized, though it should include several of the riders who completed the Tour of the Gila. Ben Day isn’t expected to start in California. Sutherland mentioned Day’s mom has battled cancer for two years, and isn’t doing well currently.
When asked about how his Gila win sets the team up for California, Sutherland said, “It takes a lot of stress off.” He seemed cautiously optimistic about the team’s chances while acknowledging the challenge of a longer race. “I’m motivated, looking forward to what can happen. Again you don’t know, you just have to take it day by day and not make any mistakes and have some luck.”
His win at the Gila, Sutherland said, “puts us, the team, in a relaxed position. They’ve got a leader who they know they can count on.”
Team Exergy rider Noe Gianetti climbing during the Gila Monster stage, Director Tad Hamilton driving
A lot goes on during a bike race that you can only witness from a team car in the caravan if you’re not on a bike. Here’s a few team car terms based on my voyage in the Team Exergy car on the last and longest stage of the Tour of the Gila, aptly named the Gila Monster stage.
Nature break ensemble: another name for team directors stopping their cars on the side of the road for impromptu meetings about developments in the race.
Team director’s third hand: the team mechanic sitting in the back seat swarmed with wheels and water bottles. He is responsible for more than passing up water bottles and changing wheels when riders flat. He also tracks the names of riders up the road and where they stand on the general classification to help the team director formulate strategy.
Caravan-flavored lollipop: a two sided circle on a wand, one side green and the other yellow. A race referee on a motorbike uses this to instruct cars to wait or move up the road.
Rory Sutherland starting the Tour of the Gila time trial in the leader’s colors
At the age of 17 Rory Sutherland showed off his time trial skills by finishing fourth in the junior world championships. It’s easy to make up that it was an experience he treasures, something he took as a sign for his future. He recalled it the day before the time trial at this year’s Tour of the Gila, saying he’s been good at this discipline of road racing since that day in 2000 in Brittany.
Sutherland was looking forward to the Gila time trial. “The benefit of tomorrow is you inflict the pain yourself as opposed to someone else inflicting it on you. I like that,” he said.
Now 29 years-old, father to an almost three year-old son, the leader of the UnitedHealthcare team spoke cautiously but confidently about his chances in the Gila time trial: “I’m not the best time trialist in the world, but I’m pretty confident we can have a good show tomorrow when it’s important to show that for our boys.”
Rory Sutherland after crossing the Gila time trial finish line
He delivered, finishing second yesterday in the Gila time trial, three seconds behind winner Evan Huffman (California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized) and protecting his overall lead in this five day stage race.
Sutherland said he didn’t feel great on the 16 mile course, and was surprised to learn he’d come so close to winning.
While in Europe he made some adjustments to his time trial equipment. After the race he mentioned he rode on a new time trial bike in a new position, and the Gila provided the opportunity to get used to it before the Amgen Tour of California time trial.
Is a new bike and position Sutherland’s secret time trial weapon for California? Maybe. Or perhaps it’s the relaxed approach he seems to be taking here in New Mexico.
After the podium ceremonies yesterday, when asked about how he felt prior to the time trial, he laughed as he talked about having a relaxed time with his teammates the night before, just a bunch of boys going out for ice cream.
Today Joe Dombrowski kept something he lost last year during the time trial at the Tour of the Gila: the best young rider jersey. He kept it by leaving all he had to give out on the roads around Silver City, New Mexico.
The exceptional twenty year-old on the Bontrager Livestrong Cycling Team pulled off an amazing time trial ride, just 17 seconds back from winner Evan Huffman with California Giant Berry Farms/Specialized. Compare Dombrowski’s ride today with that of 2011 when he finished 34th, two minutes behind the leader.
He invested everything he had in today’s time trial and arrived at the finish line totally emptied.
Dombrowski’s known for his climbing skills. With this strong time trial performance, he projected the promise of becoming a formidable stage racer. He also displayed another successful stage racer’s characteristic: the passion to be great.
Joe Dombrowski starts Tour of the Gila time trial
Joe Dombrowski right after the time trial finish line
The signs of completing an amazing time trial (photo by Mary Topping)
How will Dombrowski astound Tour of the Gila fans on Sunday, in arguably the most difficult and final stage of the race, the Gila Monster road race?
Is 2012 the year Rory Sutherland stands on the podium in Los Angeles in one of the top three overall places at the end of the Amgen Tour of California?
“I think of all years this might be the most attainable year,” he said, speaking after a hilly stage 2 at the UCI Tour of the Gila which he leads by ten seconds. “I’ve had really good training, really good numbers. Everything’s been going the right direction. Since November we’ve been training hard for it as a team and me personally going through the ups and downs for that goal. It’s not the be all and end all of the world but I think we are in the best place that I’ve been probably form-wise to go there.”
Sutherland, leader on the UnitedHealthcare team, out-climbed strong domestic riders like Chris Baldwin (Bissell) and Francisco Mancebo (Competitive Cyclist) for a solo win on the stage one uphill finish at the Gila.
Sutherland believes the Tour of the Gila is the best preparation for California.
Today’s 16 mile time trial in the Tour of the Gila may decide the overall race winner. Sutherland’s looking for a solid result in the time trial to defend his lead in the race. Still, he seems pretty relaxed about the outcome. “If I get no results the next few days and I feel terrible it’s fine — yesterday [stage one] was an affirmation that I’ve obviously done the right things,” he said, referring to his form going into California.
When asked about the competition for a podium place in California, for example the questionable start of Levi Leipheimer, Sutherland said, “They’re all riders; they’ve all got numbers on like anybody else. There is still Horner…I don’t know if some of Levi’s things have been a bit of a media hype… I know he broke his leg but it doesn’t mean he’s that bad. I know he’s been doing long training rides.”
Andres Diaz, Team Exergy
Andres Diaz, Team Exergy, after talking about when he last saw his family in Colombia, says, “I go home again in one month and 15 days.”
When prompted with “Wow, that sounds like you are counting down the days. Is it to get back to your mom’s cooking?” Diaz says, “No, my girlfriend.”
Erik Slack, riding on Jetfuel Cycling Team
Erik Slack, Jetfuel Cycling Team, talks about staying with local families (host housing) at races like Tour of the Gila: “98% of the time it’s great. The only thing is you tend to gain weight. It’s the mothers. They want to feed you.”
Chad Beyer, Competitive Cyclist
Chad Beyer, Competitive Cyclist, cuts his own hair – it’s not that he doesn’t trust barbers to touch that fine coiffure. He says the reason is: “I don’t think any barber would want to be caught with me walking out the door like this.”
Vegard Laengen and Georg Preidler, Team Type 1-Sanofi before stage 2 Gila start
Lots of riders, including Norwegian Vegard Laengen and Austrian Georg Preidler, Team Type 1-Sanofi, are suffering from the altitude in Silver City, New Mexico where the elevation reaches about 6,000 ft. They arrived on Sunday from Europe, three days before the race began. On the morning of stage 2, Preidler looks down at the computer on his handlebars and says, “It’s 5 o’clock at home.”
Julien El Fares, Team Type 1-Sanofi
Julien El Fares, Team Type 1-Sanofi. His mom is French, and his dad, Algerian. He hasn’t made it to Algeria yet, but he’d like to see his dad’s home country some day.
Sam Johnson, Team Exergy
Sam Johnson, Team Exergy, loves the Tour of the Gila — it’s special to him because he grew up in Santa Fe, New Mexico. This year he rides it for the 6th time. He says, “It’s an epic race. No other NRC race is so demanding. Until now we’ve had stage races with five minute climbs and uphill time trials determining the GC. This is a real deal stage race with a major time trial.”
Tomorrow the riders take on that 16 mile time trial. They will climb 1,188 ft on the out-and-back course which starts as a four lane road and narrows to two lanes. Everyone expects windy conditions.
ProVéloPassion 