SB Nation User Blog: Chris...

Skil-Shimano 2010 Roster

Chris... — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:06:59 -0000

Courtesy of Radsport:

Piet Rooijakkers, Albert Timmer, Tom Veelers, Roy Curvers, Kenny van Hummel, Koen de Kort, Floris Goesinnen, Robin Chaigneau, Job Vissers (NED), Thierry Hupond, David Deroo, Steve Houanard, Yann Huguet, Alexandre Geniez (FRA), Robert Wagner, Simon Geschke (GER), Bert De Backer, Dominique Cornu (BEL), Yukihiro Doi, Fumiyuki Beppu (beide JAP), Feng Han, Long Jin, Cheng Ji (alle CHI), Frederik Wilmann (NOR), Mitchell Docker (AUS).

Not many changes from last year, when they threw a mix of sprinters and classics guys into the field with the odd nice result. Kenny van Hummel is the folk hero, along with being a solid sprinter. Some young talent in guys like Veelers for the classics. The biggest news is the arrival of Dominique Cornu from Quick Step. Cornu is a stage racer with a solid rep against the watch. At 24, there's time for him to add the climbing piece, though whether that ever gets him beyond the middlin' one-week events to the bigger stuff remains to be seen.

Oh, and the Asian cyclists... having some connections to that part of the world, I find it cool that they are investing in Japanese and Chinese riders. It's a beachhead. Check back in a decade or so.

Boom: Forget Cyclocross

Chris... — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:22:44 -0000

OK, not completely, but wunderkinder Lars Boom, 'cross god of past winters, is making a full transition to the road in 2010. From the Rabo Sport site:

"I will ride the Dutch championship beginning in January and also one or two cross races." More really is not [possible? happening?], said the Brabander. "The ['cross] World Cup? No, absolutely not. I want to focus on the spring classics. Providing the management team selects me, I want to ride the Omloop, de Panne, Flanders and Roubaix. And [something about riding the 'cross WC before a full road season]: that will not happen. "
For 2010, the look is only on the road. With what objectives? "I want a step up. It would be nice if I can win two more races than 2009 and especially in big matches. The Tour Yes, I would like to ride it. Obviously I do not quite know if I sit in the preselection. But again I would like to do a great Ronde but also ride the tour. And then a stage win. That would be wonderful."

Works for me. Cross is a cool sport, but obviously road racing dwarfs cross in all respects: money, opportunities, prestige, etc. It's an odd situation that such a young rider could feel conflicted at all about foregoing any portion of his road development, but then not everyone wins the 'cross World Championship at age 22.

Rabo Sport has a video interview with Bauke Mollema up. Why oh why didn't anyone sit me down as a child and tell me to learn Dutch? I blame my parents. Also, "boom" apparently means tree. Hooray for Larry Tree!

The Progressing Dutch Hegemony

Chris... — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:53:12 -0000

This post is an annual favorite -- not only because I get to use "hegemony" and a Rembrandt painting [Podium Cafe: cycling's classiest fanblog], but because I get to exercise my inner optimist and predict something that would make cycling even better: a wave of killer Dutch talent washing over the sport. As cycling nations go, the Netherlands is a big deal: plenty of history, decent-sized population/talent pool, and the Rabo Development Program is a model for how to grow future stars... assuming some of the names on this list grow into stars. Anyway, here's a rundown of what we said last year around this time, and how the Wonderkinderen progressed in 2009.

Overall -- I am not always crazy about the CQ Ranking internals, where they score every race under the sun, but this is an instance where they are most helpful, and miles beyond the stupid UCI system. This is a post about success at all levels... so here ya go. Rabobank jumped from eigth in the world to third, which is a pretty good reflection on Dutch cycling. Yes, foreigners Denis Menchov and Graeme Browne contributed to the points increase, but Oscar Freire's off year subtraced more than those guys added. In general, Rabo's solid season reflects marginal improvement across the board (individuals addressed below). The Netherlands has held the seventh spot in the world country rankings for four years; no change there. The victory total has slipped from 81 to 48, but I am not sure how much creedence to give this. No Dutch rider scored more than five victories in 2009, a mark set by Kenny Van Hummel and Theo Bos. Robert Gesink was the top rated Dutch rider overall, good for 23rd worldwide.

Individuals, on the flip...

Sebastian Langeveld, Rabobank

Age in 2010: 25

What we said then: He had some nice time trial results, 20th at Catalunya and 14th at the Tour de Luxembourg chrono. Otherwise, lots of teamwork. Rabo have a nice squad coming together, but if he's to become a leader in the classics, he'll have to earn it internally.

What he did in 2009: Doubled his point totals from 2008 and leapt up to 56th in the world. Most of his big point totals were in secondary races like Ster Elektroer and the SachsenTour, but he won three races, took second in the BeNeLux Tour ITT behind Edvald Boasson Hagen, and placed third overall. Moreover, Langeveld could frequently be seen mixing it up with the big boys of cycling, taking third in a Paris-Nice stage, 9th in E3 Prijs, 12th in San Sebastian, etc. Age 24 is still VERY young for a rider of the big classics, which are so demanding, competitive and hard to read. The steady improvement he showed this year in results alone -- to say nothing of first-hand impressions -- is a good sign that Langeveld remains on track to be a presence at the major classics, as early as this year.

Bauke Mollema, Rabobank

Age in 2010: 23

What we said then: A climber. He shadowed Linus Gerdemann around the DeutschlandTour, riding solidly throughout the mountains and taking 7th overall (chrono efforts need work). He also ran 15th in the Vuelta a Burgos, and competed in the Italian fall races. Off to a solid start.

What he did in 2009: Kind of a lost year, after he contracted mono and missed part of spring and all of summer. I am not sure there is any point in parsing his results, given this fact, but he is back racing (top 20s at Beghelli and Piemonte) and is undoubtedly looking forward to 2010, when he'll still be incredibly young in racing terms. His immediate ceiling will likely be some high-mountain support work or the odd breakaway, plus captaincy in some continental events. Maybe they will let him ride for Menchov at the Giro?

Martijn Maaaskant, Garmin-Slipstream

Age in 2010: 24

What we said then: Rode the Tour de France, generally did teamwork. Given his age, Garmin are smart to let him race a large chunk of the season without pressure. Am wondering if Garmin are going to build more of a spring squad? A healthier Backstedt should take some pressure off. Can Svein Tuft hit the cobbles? Can Hans Dekkers? Bears watching. JV has a gem in Maaskant, but he can't win races like Flanders on his own.

What he did in 2009: Not much change in his results over the past two seasons -- just swap that 2008 4th at Paris-Roubaix for a 2009 4th at the Tour of Flanders and you're done. Obviously both results are huge and solidify his spot among the potential winners on the cobbles. Maaskant also placed sixth in the opening stage of Driedaagse de Panne, the hardest of the race, and seventh overall. This is indicative of an April classics peak timed for Flanders and Roubaix and will likely be his program for years to come. Oh, and lessons learned: he crashed once and flatted three times in P-R, starting in the Arenberg Forest, an essential experience for aspiring cobbles guys. Bringing Johan Van Summeren on board may mean more protection and better results, but in any event, Maaskant has already arrived and is easily the country's best hope for a monument win.

Nikki Terpstra, Milram

Age in 2010: 26

What we said then: He's a ways away from competing in grand tours, but Milram are actually, finally building a stage race team around Linus Gerdemann and the Fothens, so Terpstra should have room to grow.

What he did in 2009: It's not easy being dressed like a cow, but Terpstra made the most of it, continuing his development... as a classics guy. [Not sure why I wrote "grand tours" last year.] His biggest day was winning a stage of the Dauphine Libere out of a five-man escape, earning him a nice yellow souvenir to wear for a day. More telling, however, are results like 17th in Paris-Roubaix -- a result that doesn't happen by accident -- or victory in the Ster Elektroer prologue and second overall just behind Philippe Gilbert. 29th in the final Tour time trial put him just 14" behind Christian VandeVelde, a result worth noting. Terpstra showed some real power this year, and could easily start creeping up the results lists, even if being on Milram means he'll have to win out of breakaways or in time trials.

Robert Gesink, Rabobank

Age in 2010: 24

What we said then: He's already a captain at Rabobank, taking 7th on GC at the Vuelta a Espana, the top-ranked foreigner after Levi. Don't be shocked if he pushes Denis Menchov aside for full captaincy this year. Oh, and for some reason, when he puts on the national kit, he always finishes tenth. Olympic RR: 10th. Olympic ITT: 10th. Worlds RR: 10th. Can I get a bet down next time?

What he did in 2009: Gesink moved straight to the top echelon of climbers in the world, and only an unfortunate crash early in the Tour de France prevented this from being a dream season. Honestly, I don't have much to add beyond reeling off his palmares: he won the Giro dell'Emilia, third in Amstel Gold, fourth in the Dauphine and on Mont Ventoux, and sixth in the Vuelta. He didn't place tenth in the worlds, however, defying the odds. Anyway, this is a post about development, of which Gesink has very little left to do. He rocks.

Thomas Dekker, Silence-Lotto

Age in 2010: 25

What we said then: Exiled for reasons that still aren't completely clear. Dekker's subtraction from Rabobank is Gesink's gain, but TD is the superior time trialist. If things work out at Silence-Lotto, and this whole episode doesn't turn into a doping matter (as has been rumored at times), then he'll probably go straight to the head of the class. And won't it just be typical Rabobank if Dekker is the one guy out of this talent wave to win big?

What he did in 2009: Got his ass suspended for some old EPO-tainted dope samples, after returning to the sport from a lost season with Rabobank... which brings us back to the subject of doping. Anyway, Dekker was racing pretty well at the time of the suspension, and there is no record of him doping since 2007, so the possibility of him returning in 2011 as a less fraudulent version of his old successful self can't be dismissed. He will still be just entering his prime. A bigger question is whether he wants to be a cyclist, and if so, whether anyone will want to help him in this endeavor.

Stef Clement, Rabobank

Age in 2010: 27

What we said then: Clement's calling card is the time trial. Ninth in Beijing, 22nd in Varese, but he ended on a high note winning the Chrono des Nations over guys like Pinotti, Gusev, etc. His 3rd in the Romandie ITT was actually even more impressive, beating these two and Martin, Larsson, Menchov, etc. Clement can climb a bit too, so he probably joins the Rabo Ardennes squad as a helper to Gesink.

What he did in 2009: He should get removed from this post on the grounds that he's not really a kid, but regardless he is was a very useful pickup for Rabobank this year. He's a consistently good time trialist, winning the Dutch national title and placing pretty high in various events. Also won a Dauphine stage. He is what he is now, a top-flight domestique in a variety of situations, including the high mountains and stage races, particularly where there's a TTT. Given the guys around him, he probably will only get occasional chances to ride for himself.

Laurens Ten Dam, Rabobank

Age in 2010: 29

What we said then: Obviously he wasn't captaining anything at Rabobank this season, but he may get his chance if and when they're not working for Menchov or Gesink. He showed strong in places like the Klausenpass and Hautacam, so his pedigree is clear.

What he did in 2009: Speaking of climbing domestiques who are too old to be in a "futures" post... he's another important cog in the shiny Rabo wheel. Hey, it's his birthday on Friday!

Lars Boom, Rabobank

Age in 2010: 23

What we said then: Like just about every continental rider, I'm not overly familiar with him. But he just won the Dutch national championship road race... and the time trial. Chew on that sentence for a moment. Turns 23 in late December. Good sweet Christ, is there any wonder why he just got kicked up to the Rabo senior squad from the development team?

What he did in 2009: Ah, the Special One. After losing all perspective on the guy, I have adopted a lower-key approach to predicting his impending greatness. He is, after all, just shy of 24 and slowly transitioning to road full-time. That said, after a quiet spring transitioning his form from cyclocross, he won his third race, the Tour of Belgium, with a ripping time trial that left Thomas Dekker, Serguei Ivanov, Nick Nuyens and a whole host of northerners behind. Later, after putting in his time, he won a stage of the Vuelta, his first ever grand tour, not merely by joining a successful breakaway but by burying a dozen of his cohorts with a devastating series of uphill attacks. Honestly, the only reason to maintain perspective on the Large Bomb is decorum or something. In my heart of hearts, and on more than a few pages of this site, my excitement over what he can and hopefully will do, starting soon, can't be contained.

Tom Stamsnijder, Rabobank

Age in 2010: 24/5

What we said then: Another seriously young kid, 23, just picked up by Rabo at the Gerolsteiner yard sale.

What he did in 2009: Good god, another cronoman? Stamsnijder couldn't crack the starting lineup at Rabobank very often in 2009, but no matter, he made it through his first grand tour, the Giro d'Italia, with enough in his legs to snare 19th in the Roma ITT. His past speaks of a power-crono-classics profile, so hopefully in 2010 he will get more of a chance to ride the big one-day races and start developing that set of talents.

Theo Bos, Rabobank / Cervelo TT

Age in 2010: 26

What we said then: Track kid, coming to the road. See Gavia's profile (of Bos, not Gavia). Anyway, missing from this Golden Generation was a pure sprinter, so the 25-y.o. Bos slots in nicely. Since he's coming from an entirely different discipline, fans will have to be patient with his development, but still.

What he did in 2009: I am in the I-believe-Theo camp, though reasonable minds will differ as to what happened on that fateful day in Turkey. Regardless, while his first full road season will be forever marred by the Daryl Impey incident, Bos soldiered on and scored six wins in both stage races and classics, even beating Kenny van Hummel for the Ronde van Noord-Holland, before the UCI sent him on holiday. Bos will be back in 2010 with Cervelo Test Team, lured by former Dutch sprinting ace Jean Paul van Poppel, whose boy Boy remains at Rabo.

In the comments you all mentioned a few other guys:

Ricardo Van der Velde, Garmin

Not much in the way of results in his first season with Garmin, but he got a taste of the big leagues by starting the Ardennes classics, Tour de Romandie, and Eneco Tour. His earlier palmares suggest he's a decent climber, though at 6' tall he will probably find more success in the lower climbs and power courses. Another cycling legacy: pop Johan was a points winner at the Giro and another long-legged guy. Anyway, as of this writing Ricardo is 22, so let's check back in a couple years.

Boy Van Poppel, Rabobank

Lopex had this to say last year: Son of famous Dutch sprinter Jean-Paul van Poppel. His mother podiumed five times in a row in the National Women’s road championships. Only 20 years old. And one of the few persons who managed to beat Cavendish in a sprint finale this year.

Oy, the kids just keep coming. Boy has double-lineage, which puts him one up on about half the guys on this list. Apparently to be a cycling prodigy in the Netherlands you need a note from your parents. Anyway, Boy was kept largely under wraps this year, winning a stage of the Tour de Normandie while getting a taste of continental-level racing at places like the Munsterland Giro, Circuito Montanes, and Driedaagse West Vlaanderen. Somehow I doubt he will be facing Mark Cavendish again anytime soon, but next to his 2010 plans on the Rabo Continental Team is a "maybe," so perhaps the callup is coming?

CycleTweet du Jour

Chris... — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 15:55:34 -0000

Today's dose of first-person wisdom from the cycling world:

Chicchi80:

New controll antidoping at 9 o'clock!!!!

BTW, I am pretty sure this tweet came after the visit, so it's not a warning of some sort. But, is he excited by a visit from the controllers? Yes, I know, it does instill some confidence knowing they're doing their job, but still... Or maybe he is excited about the hour. He should be, but my guess is that he's exasperated about having to get up at 9. To which I say, on behalf of parents everywhere, fuck you. Oh, and by doping controller standards, I hear 9am is pretty lux.

O/T, I have a number of offline PdC projects in the works, so my absence for 48 hours is not a sign of inactivity. And if that doesn't satisfy you, then I guess I'll write "I love the classics" 500 times as punishment.

World Competition and Rankings: How Would You Do It?

Chris... — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:42:12 -0000

[And yes, this is a VDS matter...]

It was only somewhat surprising that in my chat with Tyler Farrar the other day he didn't know he was fourth in the world in wins. He referred to UCI points, presumably using the World Calendar, which is a nice list of races but kind of skimming off the top. I was referring to CQRanking.com tallies (and editorializing by crossing Jose Rujano off the list), which cover pretty much every race that you can think of, and which count wins as well as points. All are measures of success, but look absolutely nothing alike.

Cycling is forever tinkering with its meta-organization at the top level, looking for ways to measure the performances of riders and teams. The Pro Tour, in its initial form, was one of the most ambitious attempts ever to create a "Major League of Cycling" that fans in places like the US could understand. The concept was to separate, for once, the top level teams from the second tier, pit them against one another all year long over the most famous roads in the sport, and declare various winners. While hobnobbing with the Second Division was not strictly forbidden, and while the Pro Tour did not insist on total control of the startlists in such races, inclusion of non-Pro Tour teams was minimal. This was an exclusive club -- akin to US team sports, where the major and minor leagues never truly mingle, or like football/soccer worldwide, where they mingle occasionally but the dividing lines remain clear.

The effort failed for political reasons that nobody feels like rehashing, but more fundamentally for reasons having to do with the nature of Cycling. Teams build and survive by attracting sponsors, not by selling tickets. So when (inevitably) certain Pro Tour teams wound up having to feign interest in big races that would have mattered a lot more to the Second-Division squads whose space they took, the races and teams objected. Why should the Tour de France host an Italian team that just exhausted itself in the Giro and is sending a bunch of warm bodies to France, when teams like Agritubel or Vacansoleil could bring far more interest to the race and pay a year's worth of bills in the process?

The result is to mostly go back to the way things were. Most of the big races retain some latitude to determine who should be there. Big teams race with their smaller counterparts as often as ever. Pro Tour teams pay extra for a special Seal of UCI Approval and a quasi-guarantee to a slate of races, but the resulting competitions are of questionable value. The Pro Tour calendar is a small subset of the races that matter, and even the broader World Calendar misses out on plenty of important events (Omloop Het Nieuwsblad? Paris-Tours??) while including stuff like the Tour of Poland. In the process, the World Calendar named Astana the #1 team -- a bad joke to anyone following Columbia-HTC (85 wins!) or Saxo Bank. Or anyone who reads the CQRanking, where Astana were 6th in points and 14th in victories, trailing squads like Agritubel (since folded) and the Tabriz Petrochemical Team of Iran.

But if the UCI draws its lines too narrowly, surely CQRanking draws too broadly, using every race under the sun to rank Tabriz ahead of Astana or Rujano ahead of Farrar. Actually, that's just victories, their points system is more just, but IMHO it would be nice to look at points from the "races that matter," and with all due respect to the Vuelta a Venezuela, it just doesn't matter to me.

So how do you figure this? Last year we drew up the Virtual Directeur Sportif calendar, a list of 47 races from around the world, which was slightly expanded from the previous year. We tried to catch all the "races that matter," but inevitably during the year there were races people got excited about which were not on the list. So if you were to create a list of the "races that matter," how would you change our current calendar? In the process of answering this, think about why exactly a race matters. Because the big names are there? Because it's historic? Because the level of competition is usually high?

The purpose of this survey is to assist tinkering with the VDS. We may be able to use winter races somehow, although we will see. Anyway, thanks for your input.

CycleTweet du Jour

Chris... — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:34:23 -0000

More first-person wisdom from the cycling world:

@stevendejongh:

Back at the pool, boys want to play some games in the pool.

Steven DeJongh's last 15 consecutive tweets have been about his boys. This is a man who is happy to have retired.

Giro di America?

Chris... — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:30:14 -0000

Several news outlets are reporting that the Giro is contemplating an American grand depart for the Giro d'Italia as soon as 2011. VN has its take, but the story originates with La Gazzetta, which innocently reported that Giro officials are in New York today to attend the opening of a photographic retrospective on a century of Giro history at the Eden Fine Art Gallery (Madison Avenue & 50th). This has set off a wave of speculation about starting the race in New York, Philly, DC, Baltimore, Bay Ridge, Providence, at the Caffe dello Sport in Boston's North End. The Italian love affair with baseless speculation has apparently survived emigration and a century of assimilation into American culture, it appears.

Gav will probably have more later in the Sesh (it is Wednesday someplace), but I will chime in that Washington is the least Italian city on the East Coast. Italians had so little presence in DC that the city actually built a (rather pitiful) freeway through the Italian neighborhood north of the Capitol. Can you picture that happening anywhere else in Megalopolis? Not bloody likely. Of course, DC has since become rather cosmopolitan, and as such has imported enough Italian chefs to put on a veneer of respectability, but apart from a few nice cafes, Nancy Pelosi, and the National Italian American Foundation in Dupont Circle, DC is thoroughly un-Italian. Memo to the Giro folks: New York City prologue, with one or two road stages meandering from Brooklyn to Philly, via most of New Jersey. Get it right.

Cafe Chat: Tyler Farrar Comes of Age

Chris... — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 17:05:51 -0000

The moment happened in late March, in Santa Croce on the Arno River, near Pisa. At the end of a moderate day in the saddle, the Cervelo Test Team, feeling confident and on form, put five guys on the front of a large pack of sprinters, hopeful that Thor Hushovd could finish off the fourth stage of Tirreno-Adriatico and send a message heading into Milano-Sanremo. Their move went unchallenged, but the pack split into two columns with 300 meters to go as a few Cervelo riders rotated off the front. With the column drifting left went Mark Cavendish, and locked on his wheel was one Tyler Farrar. Cav wound up his sprint, but so too did Farrar, who came past the Manxman's left to win the stage.

This was not Farrar's first win, or his first in Europe, or his first as a pro. The American sprinter had been winning the odd race overseas since 2004 as a U23 rider. He won occasionally for Cofidis after turning pro in 2006. He won in his first year with Garmin in 2008. But never had he won like this: in the limelight of Cycling's top echelon. "That was my first ever Pro Tour win," Farrar told me, in an interview last week. "That alone is a big deal, but in one day to beat all the big sprinters is great for your morale or your confidence. I think that was the first time I realized that I was out there and competitive with these guys and as fast as them."

The Cycling world noticed, but things didn't change overnight. From there the Race of the Two Seas went inland and uphill, putting an end to the stage sprints. Barely a week later, Farrar was on the floor holding his shoulder, in a crash during the early stages of Milano-Sanremo. He made his return five weeks later in the Tour de Romandie, quickly rounding into form and taking second behind Oscar Freire in Geneva. Liking what they were seeing and needing Farrar fully fit for his first Tour de France, Garmin sent Farrar to the Giro d'Italia to battle with Cavendish, Alessandro Petacchi and others. He wouldn't get the best of Cavendish again in 2009, but a string of seconds and thirds through the Giro and the Tour de France steadily built up the needed fitness and confidence.

Then, in August, Farrar launched the greatest streak of European success by an American sprinter ever: victory in the Vattenfall Cyclassic. Three wins and a second in the prologue of the Eneco Tour of Benelux, and four days in the leader's white jersey. Then another first, a stage win in the Vuelta a Espana, with luminaries like Freire, Bennati and Greipel left choking on his exhaust in the low late afternoon sun. And finally, two stages and overall victory in the Circuit Franco-Belge, leaving one Tom Boonen searching for answers. The biggest prize left, the season-ending Paris-Tours, eluded him with Farrar held up behind a late crash, but by then he made his point. Ninth in the world. Fourth in victories (behind Columbians Cav, Greipel and Edvald Boasson Hagen). First in every conversation about who can stop the Manx Express.

While the history books suggest otherwise, nowadays great cyclists are born wherever great genes coincide with some decent roads and a drive to work hard and succeed. It's no stranger that a top sprinter can come from a tiny island in the Irish Sea than from the sun-baked Columbian Plateau, just downhill from the central Cascade Mountains. Farrar caught the bug during his teenage years in Wenatchee, Washington, and fed his craft around the Pacific Northwest, including "a lot of laps around Seward Park over the years" as his family alternated between home and Seattle. As if Farrar weren't interesting enough to me, this was the clincher: a guy from the same streets I can be seen huffing and puffing over on any given weekend. A guy who came from the hills and the rain and the Washington BARR competition of my own experience, catapulting all the way to the top. Needless to say, I had to talk to the guy. Following are some excerpts from our conversation of last week, over the phone from Farrar's home in Gent, Belgium. If you have enough time, you can read the full transcript here.

On the Classics:

PdC: [long, rambling explanation about how much I love the classics...]

Tyler Farrar: I think as a rider I fall into the same category, I’ve always had a fascination with the classics. The first race that really caught my attention was the Tour of Flanders. I kinda got into riding bikes and got into this mad hunt for any magazines about bike racing, and for whatever reason the first one I found was a classics edition. I was just studying any magazine I could get my hands on.

The unfortunate thing this year is that I separated my shoulder in Milan-San Remo and I missed all the classics, and I was really focused, my number one objective of the season was the classics, and 100k into MSR I crashed. But if everything goes to plan I’ll be targeting the races in April, that’s the first big goal.

PdC: Of the classics are there some you’re focused on? Are you targeting the same races as Maaskant or do you trade off?

Tyler Farrar: Obviously having a guy like Martijn and now Johan Van Summeren we have two guys who are really proven in Flanders and Roubaix, so I think those two races I’ll be in more of a support role for those guys. And then for maybe Milan San Remo and Gent – Wevelgem will be something where I can make it a goal for me to get a result.

PdC: Is there a big difference physically between winning a classic or a stage of a stage race?

Tyler Farrar: It depends, which is not a very satisfying answer, but you know sometimes you get into a stage race and your eight days, ten days in, and everyone’s a little tired, it’s a flat day, everyone knows it’s going to be a sprint, and you get the right break up the road and you just kind of cruise along at 35kph all day and it’s pretty easy, you just sprint at the end. Other times it’s full gas all day, but you can get either. Whereas in a classic you’re pretty much guaranteed it’s going to be full gas, there’s no tomorrow, nobody’s trying to save their legs or recover for the mountains. Typically I find it’s harder at the end of one day races as opposed to stage races.

On Flanders:

PdC: Where do you like to train around Gent?

Tyler Farrar: Generally if I want to do hard training, that’s when I would go down to the Vlaamse Ardennes and ride all the climbs from the Tour of Flanders. From Gent it takes about an hour, hour and fifteen of flat riding on little farm roads to get there, and once you’re there you can do as many of the climbs as you want, zig-zagging around in the hills, get your training in and then you have another hour and fifteen to get home. If I’m just out cruising on a base ride, then I go every direction you can from Gent. I have some friends that live up north, sometimes I’ll go meet them and we’ll just go out and make big loops through the farms. But the majority of my real serious training is on the roads from Flanders.

PdC: Are there a lot of pros near Gent that you typically train with?

Tyler Farrar: There’s a handful that live within a reasonable distance from Gent. I train with them occasionally, but for the most part I like to train alone. I kind of grew up training alone so I mostly like to do my training alone. But I have a few guys like Wouter Weylandt from Quick Step, he’s one of my really good friends so we go out sometimes. Steven Caethoven who rode this year for Agritubel, he and I go out a few times.

On Columbia, Cavendish, and Leadouts

PdC: Is Robbie Hunter coming on board to help you at the end of the race?

Tyler Farrar: Yeah, Robbie’s a really experienced rider, he’s quick, he knows how to ride sprints, how to do leadout. This year in a lot of races I would have either Julian Dean or Chris Sutton with me in the end, which is great, but when you’re going up against Columbia when they have five guys, six guys totally dedicated to the leadout, it’s difficult. If I bring Robbie in and have Robbie and Julian Dean together, that’ll be a pretty good train to take care of me in the last km.

PdC: So the plan is if you have enough of a competing train you can wrest control from Columbia?

Tyler Farrar: I hope so, yeah. There’s not really an argument this year that Columbia was the best team in the world in leading out sprints, they don’t make mistakes often, but next year’s a new season, and I think you can see with my team as the season went on they started to get confidence in me and believe in me more, and that always helps guys commit to riding the sprints. Actually a lot of the guys had never really tried to lead anyone out before, so it was really a learning experience for a lot of the guys on our team. Looking to next year now the guys have a bit more experience, they have confidence in me, and we brought in some more guys with experience already, so I think we’ll have a strong team for next year.

The problem this year was (Columbia) is so committed and so well organized, with a couple guys you can’t get on the front with 4k to go. So we have to play off Columbia with Julian. Then either Cav or Greipel is sitting on the back of that train getting a free ride to the finish, not wasting any energy fighting for position, and Julian and I are back there with all the other sprinters fighting for Cav’s wheel or Greipel’s wheel and we’re wasting energy. So if we can get our own train up there instead of fighting with Columbia, that always helps.

PdC: So the difference between jumping their train and having your own is you don’t have the luxury of positioning with their train that you would if it were yours?

Tyler Farrar: Exactly. You’re not the only sprinter trying to be behind that train. If I could just say, ok they lead Cavendish out and I’m behind Cavendish and then we sprint, that’s a good deal. But when I’m back there, Hushovd wants his wheel, Freire wants his wheel, Boonen wants his wheel, that’s what a field sprint is. It’s all fighting for position. If I’m not going to waste energy fighting to be behind him, we’re going to hit the front with 2k to go, I’ll just sprint from the front hopefully. Because I think you could see there was a few days in the Tour and the Giro, I think speed-wise I was going the same speed as Cavendish, but I would start one or two guys behind him and I would finish on his hip, and it’s like, OK, I covered the ground in the same speed or faster than him but I was starting from too far behind him to win.

PdC: Cavendish dominating… when you race against him do you think about him or concentrate on your own plan?

Tyler Farrar: Mostly I try to ride my own race. Obviously when he’s in the race you have to take account of him, he was the best in the world this year. You’re always paying attention to what the other teams are doing, what teams are strong and what teams are going to ride for a sprint. But you can’t become too myopic and say “I’m racing to beat Cavendish today” because there’s plenty of guys in the race who are fast enough to win. You have to focus on putting yourself where you need to be to win and hoping you have big legs to win.

***

My impression of Farrar is that despite what happened in the cycling world this year, he harbors no doubt about his ability to beat Cavendish. Sure, Cav is fast, but Farrar was side by side with him enough to know that he can conjure up the same speed... or more. If it only happened once that it all came together for Farrar, much of that he attributes to positioning, and changes to both teams this offseason may result in Garmin getting to the front alongside or instead of Columbia next season. Time will tell. But what seemed one-sided only a year ago is suddenly one of the great emerging subplots to 2010: Can Columbia sustain their winning ways? Or is there suddenly room at the top for another American team, with a homegrown sprinter and a squad that found new confidence and new talent in time for a major challenge to the status quo? If all goes to plan, the kid from Wenatchee will be making a hard run after the World Number One and some of Cycling's most precious hardware.

O/T

Chris... — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:07:13 -0000

New look. [New! Look!] Whaddya think? Your PdC dollars at work...

CycleTweet du jour -- first-person wisdom from the cycling world:

@Greghenderson1:

windy here in melbs today. blow the milk outta ya cup of tea. made getn home on the pushy a tad difficult. bbq with friends watching the cup

Some sort of cup thing; Robbie McEwen chimed in in some pointed way. Extra points for a memorable bit of Australian... Also, apparently Danilo DiLuca has posed nude (per @cyclocosm) and Michael Boogerd is a professional racing cyclist again. Not sure how I feel about either.

CycleTweet of the Day

Chris... — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 16:31:25 -0000

First-person wisdom from the world of Cycling:

@manuelquinziato:

For who asked me: Because I can't believe that in a television news half the time speaks about WTF is happening in big brother's house!

OK, I may not be in a position to do translation jokes, and future nominees will contain more legible wisdom, but this one... as he says, WTF?

[update] OK, Big Brother is a TV series in Italy (and elsewhere). So Quinz is taking on the media! Chapeau.