Team RadioShack - First Training Camp for this Powerhouse Team

With cycling becoming more and more of a global sport, Team RadioShack's camp in Tucson, AZ, in early December is likely the only time that the entire team will be on U.S. soil for the 2010 racing season. I was invited to attend the media day, which brought journalists from around the U.S. and the world, because Lance was giving a press conference and introducing his new team.

Training camps require a ton of logistical planning: setting up interviews, finalizing team equipment adjustments, arranging travel for riders from 16 different nations, meeting sponsors' needs, setting rider schedules for the upcoming season, scouting appropriate training routes, dealing with the constant public curiosity of the team, making a comfortable environment for the riders to start to get to know each other, etc. The camp actually served more as a team-building, meet and greet exercise than it did as a place for the riders to log long hours in the saddle. Though seven of the riders will kick-off their racing season at the Tour Down Under in Australia from January 17 - 24, most of them still have a bit more time to gradually build their fitness for the racing season which lies ahead.

Here's a picture of Chris Horner and me with Levi in the Astana kit right behind and between us.

I had the opportunity to join the team on one of its training rides - a short and easy ride of just over two hours. One highlight from the ride was spending a considerable amount of time chatting with Chris Horner. It's always fun to see Chris, and he's a rider who has interesting insights into the world of the professional peloton. Chris had an unusual season in 2009 - he's had great fitness but also numerous injuries: crashing out of the Tour of CA with a knee injury, crashing out of the Tour of the Basque Country with a broken clavicle, crashing out of the Tour of Italy with a hairline fracture in his leg and rounding out the season with a broken hand in the fourth day of the Tour of Spain. The amazing thing about Chris is he shrugs it all off and keeps looking forward. He's really an eternally positive guy, who loves to race his bike and deals with all of the ups and downs along the way with little complaining - even when his Astana team from this season (2009) got months behind paying salaries. He controls the things he can (like coming to Team RadioShack to move to a more stable team and work environment), and makes the best of the things he can't - like keeping a positive attitude when he's injured. He's also quite a character, and one can't help but laugh when hanging out with Chris.

I also got the chance to catch up with Lance Armstrong on the bike as well that day. It was great to ride with him again, after being teammates way back in 1991 on the Subaru Montgomery team. One thing about Lance that most are aware of is how exceptionally busy he is. But most of you probably don't know that he constantly emails and texts while on his bike. Spending ten minutes riding shoulder-to-shoulder with him was a real treat. I realized at one point when we were bumping elbows and shoulders, gesturing, etc., that I was right back in that place of some 18 years ago - two guys out doing what they love - riding their bikes - and talking about many things cycling related. At one point, I realized how rare it is to get to rub elbows with him - literally - because of the inherent risks of doing so.

We led the RadioShack train back into town, and as we approached the resort, the ride ended. With that, we said goodbye and he slipped through a side door to avoid the people who invariably are waiting for him to try to get a picture, an autograph, to say hi or just get a chance to see the man who is trying to beat the odds, and win his eighth Tour de France in 2010. By the way, when I asked Lance if he could "put it together" (referring to winning the Tour in 2010), he told me he wouldn't be out here if he didn't think he could.

Tour of Spain Stage 12 Winner Ryder Hesjedal on Electronic Shifting

Ryder has proven to be a valuable asset to the Garmin - Transitions team. He spent the first 11 days of the 21 day Vuelta a Espana largely helping to control the race to set up the team's sprinter, Tyler Farrar, for his first taste of a Grand Tour stage victory. In stage 10, Ryder put himself into the winning four rider break but ultimately had to settle for second after being out-sprinted by Australian breakaway specialist Simon Gerrans of the startup Cervelo Test Team.

In stage 11, everything clicked and Tyler Farrar picked up his first, and in fact his team's first, road stage win of a Grand Tour (they had previously won a team time trial at the 2008 Giro d'Italia).

After a rest day, stage 12 again saw Ryder in the nearly day-long breakaway group. Today was going to end differently, however, as the finish was atop the massive climb up the Velefique. Ryder had to contest the sprint with David Garcia - the only other man who survived from the break all the way to the finish to contest the win, and he chocked up his first Grand Tour stage win! Amazingly, for the former mountain bike racer now in his sixth Grand Tour appearance, it was his FIRST road victory on European soil. After he won he said it was a "lifetime worth of work" to get this stage victory on the Velefique. Congrats, Ryder!

I had a chance to ride with Ryder doing some winter training at his home away from home in Maui, in late November. He was on the exact bike he used to finish out his season in Europe, including his Vuelta stage win. I asked him a little bit about his electronic Dura Ace shifting:

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Three Months in 10 Minutes.... The World's, Weddings, Pro's Training & Team Camps

I know, most bloggers who take a three-month hiatus would tell their readers that they were signing off for a while, but I never expected that I would not have blogged sooner. I mean, there have been so many great things to blog about: like when I officiated Jonas and Justina Carney's wedding (Jonas and I were team mates, and we've remained very close friends). It was a true honor to be asked to officiate for them, and also great to be able to repay the favor to Jonas, who married Christina and I almost five years ago. It was great to hang out with Alex Candelario, Reid Mumford, Mike Creed and their wives, and entertaining to watch Danny Pate crash the party.

Or, I could have told you about Levi Leipheimer's Gran Fondo (http://www.levisgranfondo.com/), held on the same stunning course in Sonoma County, CA we raced on in the Coors Classic back in 1988 (where I took 2nd). 3,500 people from around the country, and even world came to challenge themselves, meet Levi and his wife Odessa, and raise money for two great causes. It was one of those events which was really fun to announce but I've got to say I almost wish I had been riding! Here's a picture of me interviewing Levi moments before the start.

It was also great to see Scott Nydam there (BMC), who's been recovering from a bad accident and head injury earlier this season and Paul Mach (Bissell) my fellow Davis, CA resident. Scott looked like he had regained his old form from earlier this year, and he was the first rider to finish the gran fondo. On top of that, he was getting married two weeks later - congratulations Scott & Jennifer! It seems weddings were in the air.... On the stage after the event, left to right; Levi Leipheimer, his wife Odessa, Scott Nydam, Carlos Perez (event promoter) and me.

Carlos, the promoter, was a great guy who put a huge event together with his crew in just a few short months. This one sold out this year so make sure to register early if you want to do it in 2010.

Likewise, there was the World Championships in Mendrisio, Switzerland. There was no question that big Fabian Cancellara, the reigning Olympic TT champion and 2X World TT champ was the odds-on-favorite for the TT. He easily won, but oh!, what a day for American Tom Zirbel, who ended the day 4th! Here's a short video of us calling his TT on Universal Sports: http://tinyurl.com/Zirbel-Worlds-TT

Tom is a huge motor who also won the season-long National Racing Calendar in the U.S. this year, and he'll be riding for the Garmin-Transitions team in 2010 - so he'll get a big dose of European racing. Most people don't realize how good Tom is; he beat Lance Armstrong in every TT they both did in 2009 - the Tour of CA (Tom 7th, Lance 14th), the Tour of the Gila (Tom 2nd, Lance 3rd). Granted, Armstrong was coming off of 3 1/2 years of retirement, but that's still a pretty big accomplishment for a domestic pro!

With the conclusion of Levi's Gran Fondo, the road season has pretty much been over, and hence my down time. But things have been ramping back up as of late - talking with teams and trying to figure out which team camps I'll visit to interview riders and staff and hopefully get on a team ride with some of the guys. It's an exciting time of year because it's time to think of all of the team changes for 2010, and also to work on my announcing calendar.

There's been some time for vacationing in Maui along the way. And when in Maui, one resident you always want to try to hook up with for a ride is Canadian Ryder Hesjedal. Ryder had a great year, and capped it off by placing 2nd in a stage of the Tour of Spain, and then four days later winning a mountain top finish stage. I've got some video of Ryder which I'll add under a separate blog entry soon, but I leave you with this picture of good friend, and fellow vacationer, Michael Aisner. Michael used to own and run the largest bicycle race in America back in the 1980s. Most people credit him with putting the U.S. on the modern-day racing map. Here, Michael is at 10,000', atop Haleakala volcano. I know many people will say "10,000', what's the big deal? I've been higher in Colorado!" The cool thing here is that the climb starts at sea level, and Michael's about 5,000' above the clouds, contemplating the view from above - a view we don't see often.

Next week, I'm heading off to the first team camp for Lance's new team: RadioShack. For those of you who haven't heard yet, Lance has left Astana and formed a new, U.S. based team. He has also hired about a dozen of his former teammates to come with him including Americans Levi Leipheimer and Chris Horner, as well as a bunch of other international and American talent. In total, there are 26 riders from 16 countries, here's the official team roster:

Lance Armstrong (USA)

Fumiyuki Beppu (JAP)

Sam Bewley (NZL)

Jani Brajkovic (SLO)

Matthew Busche (USA)

Ben Hermans (BEL)

Chris Horner (USA)

Daryl Impey (SAF)

Markel Irizar (SPA)

Andreas Klöden (GER)

Levi Leipheimer (USA)

Geoffroy Lequatre (FRA)

Fuyu Li (CHI)

Tiago Machado (POR)

Jason McCartney (USA)

Dmitriy Muravyev (KAZ)

Sérgio Paulinho (POR)

Yaroslav Popovych (UKR)

Gregory Rast (SUI)

Sébastien Rosseler (BEL)

Ivan Rovny (RUS)

José Luis Rubiera (SPA)

Bjorn Selander (USA)

Gert Steegmans (BEL)

Tomas Vaitkus (LIT)

Haimar Zubeldia (SPA)