On The Road
by: Bill Oetinger 9/1/2005
Life after Lance
Lance Armstrong has finally retired, to the relief of all his rivals at the Tour de France. Now perhaps we can have a real race and not just a royal procession. (Honestly, wouldn't you agree this latest chapter in Lance's magnificent seven was just a teensy bit boring? Hark back to the stages of less than two months ago, and tell me what jumps out as especially thrilling. Not much, right?It all seemed somewhat reordained.)
So now we have a new, more-or-less wide open field of play, with loads of contenders. Die-hard cycling fans are excited. But die-hard cycling fans are also worried: without Lance and his larger-than-life story, will the mainstream media forget about us and our favorite sport? Worriers see signs of doom everywhere. For the first time, Lance won't be headlining at the San Francisco Grand Prix, and for the first time, the race will not be televised live. Coverage of the Giro was reduced to two inane hours on "Cyclism Sundays"--I can hardly bear to type that stooopid show title--and as far as I can see, coverage of the Vuelta is gone entirely, bumped off the Only Lance Network in favor of bass fishing, buck hunting, and bull riding.
We're right to be worried. It's a sobering reality check to be reminded that our favorite pastime remains a niche market in this country, and that the public's appetite for skinny guys on bikes adds up at best to passing interest and at worst to utter contempt. But hey...get over it. If that's the way it is, face the fact and stop pretending otherwise. We've had a good run out of the Lance years. They bought us a lot of air play and good will. Now we move on, continuing to ride our bikes and watch pros ride theirs (whenever televised).
But to hold on to whatever sliver of mass market attention we may still have, media folks are wondering where the next Lance will come from. Which young American rider can fill those shoes? The simple answer is: no one. Lance wrote his own story and no one is going to repeat it. But others will have their own stories to write, and their stories may be almost as interesting, at least to those of us who really care about the sport.
If you follow bike racing, you will have your own list of possible heirs apparent. But it may be a muddled list. The riders are everwhere, changing teams, growing up, growing old. You need a scorecard to know who's who. So, as a public service, I am going to do a short list of likely suspects...those who might rise to the level of superstardom, transcending cycling's niche market and capturing, at least for a moment, the wandering attention of the general public. The list is arranged with big-name veterans first and newbies later. Other than that, it has no order of priority nor any hidden agenda.
Levi Leipheimer
Santa Rosa, California
Age: 31
Team: Gerolsteiner
Leipheimer has had a very productive 2005 season, but it could have been even better. At the Tour of Georgia in April, he gave up 14 seconds to Tom Danielson in the last kilometer on the monster wall of Brasstown Bald. That was ten seconds too many, and he ended up second overall on GC by just four lousy seconds. Atthe Dauphiné Libéré in June, he was second--by one second--in the ITT, but it was enough to put him into the leader's jersey, ahead of an all-star cast. He defended the jersey up the fearsome Mt Ventoux, then lost it the next day by letting a silly breakaway stay away, handing over the lead to relative nobody Inigo Landaluze. In the end, he still finished on the podium, but he could easily have won it all.
At the Tour de France in July, he had a top five finish all wrapped up for the final, processional stage into Paris. But the irrepressible Vinokourov rained on Levi's parade with his amazing preemptive strike for the stage win, bumping Levi down to sixth...a frustrating demotion that cost him close to $20,000, if I remember correctly. Finally, at the Deutschland Tour in August, he put all the pieces together, dropping everyone on the Rettenbachferner--at 2670 meters, the biggest, baddest ascent of the 2005 season--and then holding on through the rest of the stage race to win it all.
So...second at Georgia, third at the Dauphiné, sixth at the TdF, and first in Germany. Not bad at all. He has three top tens at the TdF and a podium at the 2001 Vuelta. At 31, he still should have a few good years ahead of him, and it's not too far-fetched to think he can improve on those placings in the next two seasons. He has all the tools to be a major stage race winner.
Levi has one other asset that could help him break out into the mainstream media spotlight: his wife, Odessa Gunn. Much as we might deplore it, sizzle still sells, and Odessa sizzles. If the People magazines of this world ever cotton on to her, they'll have her on one of those "100 sexiest people" lists. But she's more than just a babe. She's smart and witty and fun. You've already seen her in tv ads at the Tour. Look for more of her if Levi's star continues to shine.
Floyd Landis
San Diego, California
Age: 29
Team: Phonak
After distinguishing himself as a super-domestique for Lance Armstrong last year, Landis came into his own as a team leader in 2005. In some cases, his recent results mirror those of Leipheimer: almost there, but not quite. In 2004, he won his only stage race, the Volta ao Algarve. He wore the leader's jersey for five days at the Vuelta, but ran out of steam near the end and dropped out on Stage 18. This year, he held the lead at the Tour of Georgia but lost even more time on Brasstown Bald than Leipheimer, ending up third on GC, nine seconds behind Danielson. At the Dauphiné, he was placed as high as fourth midway through the stage race, but faded to 11th at the end.
At the Tour de France, he performed consistently throughout, always making it to the last few selections on the hardest mountains...but never quite breaking through for the big attack or the big win. He finished in a very respectable if somewhat uneventful ninth place.
Landis has all the required tools. He can time trial like a demon, can climb very well--if not quite on a par with the true grimpeurs--and is smart enough to understand race strategy. Whether he can progress from almost-there to all-the-way-there remains to be seen.
Tom Danielson
Durango, Colorado
Age: 27
Team: Discovery Channel
Tom Danielson came to the all-conquering Discovery Channel team after a few years of less than impressive results on other teams where his role wasn't well defined. Discovery management sees in him the makings of a really great racer, and they're bringing him along carefully, grooming him to be something special.
His 2005 season could not have begun more auspiciously with his spectacular win at the Tour of Georgia, grinding down the competition on the Brasstown Bald torture rack. He then went to the Giro d'Italia, supposedly to ride in support of Paolo Savoldelli, but had to drop out early due to severe knee pain...perhaps brought on by that big push on Brasstown Bald a couple of weeks before. He took some time off to rehab the knee, then tried it out in the seven-day Tour of Austria in early July, where he finished second in the uphill time trial and fifth overall. Not bad for an event where he claimed to just be riding himself back into shape.
Now--as I write this--he's well placed in the early going at the 2005 Vuelta (as is Floyd Landis). We await more results from Spain to see how high he can soar. At only 27 years of age, he has his whole future laid out before him. Big things are expected of him. We shall see...
Chris Horner
Bend, Oregon
Age: 33
Team: Davitamon-Lotto (new for 2006)
Chris Horner came to the Euro-pro ranks in 2005 with the Spanish team Saunier Duval-Prodir. Prior to his trip across the pond, he had a sensational domestic US career, winning all over the map: stage race wins at the Redlands Classic (four times), the Sea Otter Classic (twice) and the Tour of Georgia. Also the Malaysian Tour of Langkwi and the one-day San Francisco Grand Prix, to name just a few from a long list of victories.
In 2005, he made headlines with a storming win on Stage 6 of the Tour de Suisse and fifth overall on GC. This earned him a spot on Saunier Duval's Tour de France team. In the big race--his first TdF--he was active almost every day, putting himself in several strong breakaways and generally looking impressive, although his 33rd overall wasn't the stuff of legends.
Horner will be 34 next year, and it may be he has already spent the best years of his career tearing up the domestic US circuit. Look for stage wins and one-day race wins from him, but probably not overall stage race victories on the European ProTour.
Bobby Julich
Reno, Nevada
Age: 33
Team: CSC
When Bobby Julich finished third in the 1998 Tour de France, it seemed he was destined to conquer the world. But injuries and strange team strategies put his career in limbo year after year. Most figured he was at the tail end of a decent if not spectacular career when he signed with CSC last year. Since then, under the guidance of team Director Bjarne Riis, Julich has reinvented himself, and he's riding as well as he ever has.
In 2004, he won the bronze medal in the Olympic time trial. This year, he became the first American to win the prestigious Paris-Nice stage race, then followed up with a win in the Criterium International. He finished a very good 17th overall at the Tour de France (riding in support of team leader Ivan Basso), then won another ProTour stage race, the Tour of Benelux. All of this has left him fourth in the season-long ProTour standings.
Julich is one of the best time trialists in the world and a better than average climber. He will be 34 next season, an age when many pros are looking at retirement. But he has just signed another two-year contract with CSC, and is as eager as ever to race. So it's not unlikely that he will post some more splashy results before he hangs it up for good. But a grand tour win? Probably not.
George Hincapie
Greenville, South Carolina
Age: 32
Team: Discovery Channel
George Hincapie is having the best year of his entire cycling career, at a time when another rider in his shoes might be content to simply ride is support of his team leader, Lance Armstrong.
He certainly has ridden well in support of Armstrong, being the only teammate to accompany Lance on all seven of his golden journeys to Paris. (And he finished 14th on GC in the process this year.) But he has done so much more in 2005, beginning with his oh-so-close second place at Paris-Roubaix in April. He then won two stages at the Dauphine and followed that up with a win at the one-day race Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.
Perhaps the highlight of the season--and a popular win with cycling fans everywhere--was his surprising triumph atop Pla d'Adet, the premier mountaintop finish in this year's Tour de France. Not content to rest on those laurels, Hincapie has just won the GP Ouest France Plouay, one of the most prestigious one-day races in France.
Hincapie is a hard guy to figure out. He used to be considered a rolleur...a classics rider with a good but not great sprint. Now, he can do a little of everything. His wins have included time trials, field sprints, and mountaintop finishes...the whole package. Admittedly, the mountaintop finish came as the result of a huge breakaway earlier in the stage, but still... He has shown consistent improvement in his climbing, year after year. And while being 6'3" and 175 pounds may prevent him from ever being a true mountain goat, he has so many other strengths, the whole package is formidable.
He too is getting on in his career, but he still has some good miles left in those long legs. It will be interesting to see what his role becomes in the new Discovery team. Now that he is Lance-free, perhaps he will be able to free lance a bit more.
Tyler Hamilton
Marblehead, Massachusettes
Age: 34
Team: none
While sorting through the big names in American cycling, it would be wrong to leave out Tyler Hamilton, regardless of his current status as living under a cloud of doping allegations. While it is not the place of this column to address the rights or wrongs of his case, I can safely say there are legions of cycling fans who still support Hamilton; who think he's been jobbed, and who wish he could get back on a bike, back on a pro team, and back in the peloton. Whether that ever happens remains to be seen, although it's worth noting that he's still staying in shape: he may be banned from UCI-sanctioned events, but he recently won the famed Mt. Washington hill climb in New Hampshire.
He gets another day in court this month. Even with a positive outcome to that hearing, it would still be next year before we could see him in competition again, at which point he'd be 35. What with the two-year lay-off and all the stress of what he's been through, it's unlikely we'll ever see him again as the world beater he was when he won gold in Athens. And that's a shame.
David Zabriskie
Salt Lake City, UtahAge: 25
Team: CSC
Although still relatively young for a pro cyclist--especially an American in Europe--Dave Zabriskie has the splashy distinction of having already won stages in all three of the Grand Tours. His wins in the Giro and Tour (both in 2005) came by way of time trials, while his win in the 2004 Vuelta came after a long, solo breakaway. He has also been US time trial champion.
That pretty much tells the story of Zabriskie's strengths, at least up to this point in his young career: his specialty is the race against the clock. (A long, solo break requires almost the same skill set as a time trial.) He has yet to demonstrate that he's an all-rounder. But time-trialing is the most elusive of the racer's skills to acquire. If you have that, you're ahead of the game.
He's young. He's part of a strong, supportive team. He appears to have his head screwed on straight...no whacky attitudes or problems. With any luck and with a little climbing voodoo, he may develop into the complete package, or close to it.
Saul Raisin
Dalton, Georgia
Age: 22
Team: Credit Agricole
At 22, Saul Raisin has to be one of the youngest Americans with a European pro contract. His first season--this year--with French team Crédit Agricole started out on a sour note with a terrible crash at the Tour of Dunkirk, where he broke his pelvis, collarbone, and some ribs after being punted off the road by a support moto. But he bounced back with 13th overall at the Tour of Georgia and more recently--and more impressively--with a ninth on GC at the Deutschland Tour.
Tyler Farrar
Age: 21
Team: Cofidis (new for 2006)
Saul Raisin may have been the youngest American Euro-pro in 2005, but that will change next year when Tyler Farrar puts on his Cofidis livery. Tyler has been on quite a roll lately. Looking back through his palmares for the past three years, one sees a lot of firsts listed (as in: first place in a race). As the years go by, the firsts stay the same, but the races go from provincial or espoir races to more and more important events, both in the US and in Europe. His most recent win was his biggest so far: the USPRO Criterium Championship in Chicago in August...the same week he signed his two-year contract with Cofidis.
Tyler is a sprinter, first and foremost...at least at this point in his budding career. That may change, but it seems to be his strong suit, so expect many sprint victories from him, but probably no stage race overall victories.
The peloton...
There are dozens of other Americans either already riding with ProTour teams or riding on domestic teams with dreams of making it to the big leagues across the Atlantic. Some are nearing the ends of their careers after years of toil on the roads. Others are in their early 20's and are on the way up, or at least hope they're on the way up. Patrick McCarty, Craig Lewis, Will Frischkorn, Danny Pate, Steven Cozza, Ian Macgregor. The list is long and the hopes are high. Dreams of glory waiting at the end of years of hard work.
Some critics have bemoaned the fact that there isn't another American ready, right this minute, to step into Lance Armstrong's shoes. But I say: relax! Let a few other countries have a shot at the Tour de France, starting with the poor French themselves. They've been waiting 20 years to win their own national race (Bernard Hinault, 1985)...and they could be waiting a few years more, from the looks of their current talent pool.
Besides, there are loads of other races worthy of our attention, even if the average American couch potato has never heard of any of them. Many American riders will be winning ProTour races for many years to come. In fact, in spite of the retirement of Armstrong, I would submit that our current crop of pros, along with the young, promising juniors in the pipeline, represent the healthiest, strongest group of riders this country has ever produced.
Former pro Jonathan Vaughters is now the Director of the TIAA-CREF team, which is dedicated to bringing along young cycling talent. Vaughters is an articulate writer on the subject of cycling, and I came upon an interesting piece by him concerning the retirement of Armstrong and the future of American racing. Rather than pass you along a link to his site, I will quote the piece here and let it stand as my final words on this subject...
A belated thank you
"When faced with giving my opinion on Lance Armstrong, I have always simply said what my honest opinion has been. In the world of cycling, where he is revered and worshipped, my words have sometimes come across as harsh, and I have been quoted by authors who feel my opinions help their exposure of Lance's underbelly. But all this is a bit misunderstood; I quite simply answer people's questions, whether it be my next door neighbor or a reporter from the New York Times, with the same words: Lance has not always been a kind person to many people who I consider friends. He has, at times, been callous, with many people I respect and like. I don't like that, and I don't see that as something I need to gloss over. If our situations were reversed, I am sure he would be as straightforward as I have been.
"All of this said, I realize, as of today, I need to thank Lance, and indeed need to apologize for being a bit too unedited with my thoughts. This realization came as I was scrolling through the results of the Mt. Evans hillclimb in Colorado. As I rolled down the page, I saw something that truly made my heart warm. The list of junior riders went on and on and on. The numbers of kids showing up to do this venerable Colorado race were beyond what they have ever been before. From my retirement onward, my passion has been the young riders of the US, and to see so many young riders coming up and trying the sport is something that makes me believe in the future of US cycling like no one rider's performance can. It shows that our sport is penetrating the imagination of American youth and pulling them away from the more accessible and softer activities that have made our country infamous (and fat).
"I was peering into this wonderful development from a hotel in France where for the last three weeks I had been entertaining guests from all over the world who came to see the wonders of cycling. All of this combined to make me realize what has probably been quite obvious to everyone else for some time: Lance Armstrong is having an impact on cycling that spreads so far and enriches so many that it could never be replicated. He has made my passion and continued existence in the sport a reality, and he has indirectly made it possible for teams like mine to exist, along with making the talent to drive such teams available. Without Lance, quite plainly, these kids would be eating Cheetos on the couch with their peers and I, quite plainly, would not have a job.
"No matter what my criticisms have been, there is no replacement for his influence. Therefore, as a critic and a sceptic, I came to the conclusion that instead of criticizing, perhaps I needed to view the world as a bit larger of a stage than I have been seeing it as being, and say thanks instead.
"So, as I fly back to Colorado from France, I figured I should write a letter. A thank you card is really what it is. It's not a retraction of my earlier opinions, or a statement saying Lance is the nicest guy I ever met, but it is simply a heartfelt thank you for making the sport I cherish so much more alive in the USA. It is a thank you for all the talent and enthusiasm, present and future, which has come to our sport because of your accomplishments. It is a thank you for making my little world a better place.
"As the French say: 'Chapeau.' Which means 'hats off,' and signifies when one's detractors stand back and realize they were mistaken. Chapeau, Lance. Chapeau."
Bill can be reached at srccride@sonic.net