connected to the Tour

If you're like us, you're probably following the tour de France right now. You might be interested to see team director Dave Butler's director's perspective... Dave has been writing daily stage previews of the tour for sports.sympatico.msn.ca during this year's famous race around France. check it out »

Dave's previews

Tour de France stage eighteen preview

Tour de France stage seventeen review

Tour de France stage seventeen preview

Tour de France stage sixteen review

Tour de France stage sixteen preview

Tour de France stage fifteen review

Tour de France stage fifteen preview

Tour de France stage fourteen preview

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OBC Grand Prix

This past weekend, Josh "Jibber" Hall and I headed up to the Nations capitol for a 2 day, 3 event mini stage race. The stagers were a 125k road race in Gatineau Park, just across the river from Ottawa, followed by a 4.7k time trial later that night, and wrapped up Sunday with a tight 6 corner crit, with the overall standings being decided on points.

Looking at the start list of riders, and teams, Josh and I knew we had some work to do, with the VW and Gypco teams out of Quebec with 5-6 riders each, along with the usual suspects. Off the line, 6 riders went clear and that would end up shaping the top 3 on the stage 3.5 hours later. 3 riders were shed from the break the last time up the not so steep 3k climb. Josh and I raced very aggressive, spending all day trying to get a move away to get up to the leaders, and nothing was working, even with the 3 leaders less than 40 seconds on the last lap. It ended up being a sprint to the line for 4th, with Josh getting 6th. I tried to get up there, but I'll have to admit, I raced like a junior, and left it all on the road, and didn't have the gas to sprint up to the finish, rolling in 15th. That was a mistake that would come back to kick me in the pants a little later.

After a nice lunch in Old Chelsea, it was soon time to pin the numbers on the skin suit for the time trial. As many of you know, I'm not known to be a threat in a time trial. So I talked to my friend Garnett Abby who is a well known Master, and after a few pointers, and a “once over” on my TT position, I was ready to roll. Darko Ficko steam rolled in for 1st place with a time of 5:18.7, Greg Rein of Ottawa was the 2nd fastest with a 5:25.4, and Heath Cockburn edged me one spot off the podium by one tenth of a second, riding a 5:26.5, over my 5:26.6, gotta love chip timing. I should have shaved my mammoth arms that would have been good for that 3rd place!

The General classification now was still a little shuffled up, as there were riders that didn't do the time trial, but got bonus points in the road race, to still be ahead of me. Greg Rein held the lead and Darko Ficko in 2nd. I figured I could take overall with a win on the stage, so that's what I was going for. Darko and Greg Rein were both in the mix, but both were missing most of the important moves. After an hour of small breaks getting away and coming back, one Espoir Laval and a VW rider got away, with a about 20-25 seconds with 5 laps to go, Heath Cockburn, Darkos teammate from the LaBiciletta team went to the front with an impressive 4 lap time trial at towing the whole field around, and brought the break back on the last lap, and it was now time to set up for a field sprint. VW's Alex Lavelle and Martin Gilbert took the bull by the horns and started the lead out for Kevin Lacombe, their top rider overall at 7th place, I was able to slam in on Sébastien Moquin of the Gypco team, who was on Kevin's wheel. Coming into the last corner, Lavelle blew off letting Gilbert deliver Lacombe to the line, and as he did this, he swerved rather hard, and forced me to the outside of the corner, taking the longest route to the finish line, I came out of the corner 15 feet behind the 3 riders, and was only able to catch Gilbert. Moquin took the stage over Lacombe, with myself rolling in for 3rd. Josh ended up 7th on the stage, and worked like a champ for me all day.

It was a good weekend, looking back, had I not fired all my bullets like a young cowboy in the road race, and actually placed in the top 10 or better, my good TT and crit would have given me the top spot overall, but I have settle for 3rd and it was a lesson learned.

Overall after 3 events

1st - Greg Rein - Stevens Racing
2nd - Darko Ficko - La Bicicletta
3rd - Buck Miller - Jet Fuel Coffee Connected by Sympatico/MSN

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Stampede Road Race Win

It is Stampede time in cow town and every year there is a road race in honour of the broo-ha-ha. After nationals this is supposed to be a bit of a break for me but you still have to keep the tools sharp. The funny thing is, I recall the last time I did this race I was chasing my but off to catch the last Albertan to wear the fuel colours. Unfortunately I was unable to catch Andrew Davidson on that day, but today was a little different.

With the Tour de Tonna coming up, my coach and I felt like I should use this as an opportunity to really push the engine and see what tweaking I can do in the next week. I rolled in the group for about 10 minute and then at the first good climb on the 23 km loop I attacked with Phil Abbott, we rolled with some good speed but the Alberta riders know what we are capable of so we don’t get too far before the group catches after a hard chase.

As we are caught we make a tight right and up another quick steep hill, and I keep the pace high over the next three rollers. After the hard chase this destroys the field and I come out with a selection of 7 other riders after only the first 11 km…I am feeling good at this point and I help drive the break hard for the next 10km to ensure the group will stick.

Now to work, I use every opportunity in the next 110 km to shave weight off the group. 3 laps to go its down to 6…2 laps and a well timed drive over the steep hill after the right hand and the group sheds 2 more… then driving it in the headwind on the back drops one more and we come to the bell lap. The legs still feel good but these guys have survived everything I have thrown out…I have a good sprint but I don’t want to run the risk and I attack on the hill where I first went away on the very first lap 100km earlier, bottom to top and don’t look back until I am over the crest…it works, I have the gap and the other two are stuck playing chicken long enough to let me drive it out of sight…I come through the last 20km with a few minutes insurance. I felt like I really dictated the pace of the race but these guys made me earn it. It looks good for Toona. I think it was good to get my first road win of the year, I came close in Belgium but it’s just not the same. So a week of tweaking what was lacking today and I hope I can have the legs to help lead the team to some great results at our last big stage race of the year.

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Hurtin' in Kamloops

I know that Buck already put up some stuff about the road nationals but thought that I would chip in my two cents as to how my day went. From the gun I was having a hard time, particularly feeling the heat on the climb - which was funny as I had just the night before been talking about how the blistering heat the year before hadn't bothered me a touch. Oh, oh. Things didn't get better until much later.

It seemed like everything was going wrong: my lungs felt like they were burned, my stomach was acting up (from the undercooked pancakes at the 'great' breakfast place Buck picked), the phlegm was thick and coppery tasting (a sign in me that I'm not on a good day), and my back seemed on the verge of giving up the ghost. What a suck I sound like. Feeling like that I didn't think that I was going to make it anywhere near to the finish.

Making the split when Ryder went was a nice surprise; I was still in the race when so many were already out. Hanging in, and actually feeling better on the climb than on the flats, I slammed a couple of cold bottles of water and hacked and spat my way around for a bunch more laps. With the sore stomach Gatorade was out and I think I only ate one Clif bar, so I was worried about coming up short towards the finish of the 180km energy wise. Luckily a well timed dose of Clif shot solved that problem .

With 3 laps to go I was surprised to find myself still in the front, the legs had finally come good as I kept making the splits on the climb. For the last few laps of the race I had to stand on the climb as my hamstrings were cramping. This played havoc as Eric and I were chasing back up to Ryder and Dominique with 2 to go; I really had to mete out my effort that time. Dropped with 2 to go on the climb I struggled back on the flats and then was popped pretty quickly again on the last climb, which was disappointing. It seemed like a repeat of last year.

All in all though I have to say that I was really happy with my ride. The whole day was one long painful experience and to salvage a decent finish on what were some not too super legs is satisfying. Next year nationals are in Quebec I hear, allons-y.

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Road Nationals

18 laps of a 10k course, with a 3k climb, that’s a 180k road race with 54k of that climbing. Sounds like a hard day, and it was. It felt like the second you crested the top of that hill, you were at the bottom again. Riders were getting dropped as early as the 2nd time up.

Racing started fast off the gun, with attacks in the opening kilometers. There were a few small groups that rolled off the front, but all came back, and attack after attack gaining a few seconds here and there before more riders would go. Ryder Hesjedal of the Discovery Channel cycling team (he has a team mate named Lance something) wasted no time in putting the hurt on, with a hard attack on the 3rd lap that split the field. It came back together allot smaller.

On lap 6 or 7 the big split happened that would pretty much define the rest of the race. The leaders, Andrew Randell (Jet Fuel Coffee), Ryder Hesjedal, Christian Meier, Svein Tuft, Jacob Erker, Corey Lange, Eric Wolberg (Symmetrics), Dominique Perras (Quebec), Chris Isaac, (Ital Pasta/Transport Belmire), Peter Wedge (Kona/Les Gets), Bruno Langlois (Jittery Joes), Greg Reain(Stevens Cross), Ryan Roth (Gears Racing)and Frank Parisien (Espoirs Laval) would all stay out, and end up being the "winning break" of the day, with the pack blown to pieces, all over the place.

After Frank Parisien took a 3 lap flyer, and Symmetrics brought him back, Ryan Roth took a flyer with 2 laps to go, and only got caught on the last lap, by Frank again, who seemed to be riding a motorcycle today, instead of a bicycle. Roth ended up cracking after a super effort, and Frank rolled in for the win, with Eric Wolberg, and Dom Perras taking silver and bronze.

Andrew rode awesome despite "feeling horrible" with stomach problems, he ended up 7th on the day, a pretty good follow up to last years 5th on the same course.

Pozzy was riding well, but luck wasn't on his side as he flatted off the main field (which was very low in numbers) and couldn't chase back on. I felt for him, he had some legs today!

Zach raced hard, but came up short on the climb. He hung in till the bitter end, and guess with whom? Alex Cloutier, his track rival. It was funny to see Canada's best 2 pursuit riders in a 180k road race only seconds apart, just like Track Nationals last week.

As for me, well, I came here well prepared, had a good week of training, and even showed some great power and speed at CHIN, but I also came up short, with stomach problems as well, and just all around crumby legs. But I've had a good season, and one bad race shouldn't slow me down, the Tour of Altoona is coming up in 2 weeks, and I'm looking forward to testing out the GC legs, as I tend to go faster as the days go by.

NOTE- I'm a breakfast lover, and pride myself on being able to pick out the best Maw and Paw bacon and eggs joint in town (a trait handed down from my Father) but this morning, Andrew commented on something tasting funny, and Pozzy concurred, sure enough, Andrew and I both had bad stomach problems. OOPS! Next time, I'll let Andrew pick.

Official brief results -
1. Francois Parisien (QC) Espoirs Laval
2. Eric Wohlberg (BC) Symmetrics
3. Dominique Perras (QC) Kodak Sierra
4. Ryder Hesjedal (BC) Discovery Channel Pro Cycli
5. Peter Wedge (NB) Kona Les Gets
6. Ryan Roth (ON) Gearsracing.com
7. Andrew Randell (ON) Jet Fuel
8. Greg Reain (ON) Stevens Racing

Up next OBC Grand Prix, I love racing in Canada’s capitol, and this year it's a stage race, so tune in next time for the post race BLOG.

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new wheels

Leading up to big races it's nice to get the equipment dialed. We have some great sponsors that way, and A-class is one of them. Last year in San Fran they gave us some prototype wheels to test out. This year Andrew just got a new set of Carbon San Remo wheels to use at nationals. This is what Andrew has to say after getting the wheels dialed in for Kamloops...

Andrew says
"Got in a new set of wheels today from A-Class, the San Remos a carbon fairing bonded to an aluminium breaking surface type of setup. With a deeper section than the 340s they're looking pretty slick on the bike. Before going out for a ride I had them tweaked and prepped for Nationals in BC this coming weekend. Riding them they felt super stiff, a good thing when I'll be dropping the hammer on the climb in Kamloops."

Here's a few more pictures of the new wheels [+ click to enlarge]

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CHIN through to Peterborough

July 1st is the day of the infamous CHIN picnic, the winning of which awards local bragging rights for the year. CHIN is one of the coolest races of the year for me, mainly because everyone in the city that I know comes out and cheers - it makes me feel like a celebrity.

As always CHIN was a showdown between Ital and us. This year the team thought we'd change tactics and try and take the race to everyone else, rather than bringing it to a bunch finish like in years past. The weather had something to say about that though, as a gusty wind picked up towards race time, blowing strongly through the start finish area; it was to be a different CHIN than the usual suckfest. A definite highlight of the race this year was Steve Bauer - former 4th place finisher at the Tour de France and Canada's greatest ever cyclist - pinning on a racing number.

For another year CHIN came down to a sprint, even though the team had raced super aggressively in the hopes of instigating a winning break. Buck particularly raced hard, spending much of the race off the front and almost, almost, lapping the field. Impressively Ital started their leadout with 6 to go, at which point I thought for a moment that we might have been in trouble. Unfortunately for them they had a problem as their two main sprinters were taken out of the race when they rubbed wheels, and broke spokes, after having been pushed into one another by someone trying to get into the line - no respect. With 2 to go Jet Fuel hit the front, taking over as we have in years past with Tim following the train. The big surprise of the day came with half a lap to go on the back side of the course - Steve Bauer launching a great attack down the left side of the road. Trouble, was all I thought. Jumping out of the saddle after him I was in doubt of whether I could catch him or not and it wasn't until we were within a couple of hundred meters of the line that I did. From there Tim took over and once again the Jet Fuel squad were the winners at CHIN, making it four editions in a row now. Hopefully next year will be five.

I wanted to say thanks to everyone for coming out to support us, it's what makes the race so much fun.

Sunday, although it lacks the history of CHIN, was another great race in Peterborough. It seemed that this race was a great reply by the field in Ontario to my critique last week. All day we raced hard, with an average speed up around 44km/hr or more to make for one of the fastest races of the year. Unfortunately it ended in frustration for the team. After being attentive to the moves all day I countered off a move with 5 laps to go, hoping that the Ital team after having worked hard would be tired and be unable to bring me back. At 3 to go it was looking good, then with 2 they were closer, but closing that last little bit is always tough so I was hoping, but with 1 to go they got me. From what I hear it was with the help of Ed Maset - one of the guys that has been really aggressive these last few races and of an older pedigree - that Ital was able to get me, good to see him racing so well and showing the young guns how it's done. And so, once again it was a bunch finish. Josh and Joe did the leadout thing, this time for Buck. The team wasn't so lucky in Peterborough and storming through for the win was Dan Lefevre putting in a fantastic sprint and pushing Buck into second. Bummer, but you can't win them all.

Next weekend is road nationals out in BC, should be hot.

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Racing Strips

Well, it is halfway through track nationals and so far things have been as tough as anyone could have predicted. I am happy to report that I was able to qualify 2nd in the pursuit and got the opportunity to race Alex Cloutier in the final. I am also happy to report that despite sickness and other challenges of late I was really able to pull it together and race a very good final and defend my Canadian title. This one feels good because I was able to do it from the underdog position...I felt like it was a very mature ride on my part, planned and carried out the way it needed to be when I was not on the best legs.

After that, and a winning ride with Team Alberta in the team pursuit, I had to turn my eyes to the points race, this is one I really wanted this year...but it was not to be...Quebec rode the team strategy to the T. They new they had to control me and a few others in the race and they did it...it was real quality on their part...Martain Gilbert took the crown...one I know he really wanted and he earned it with a great ride, and I would like to congratulate him on a great ride and well earned win.

Tomorrow is a new day, with only the scratch race to worry about. With fresh legs I hope my sprint will come back and hopefully, make a race of it.

Wish me luck...

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