Big Gears and No Fear: The TOC Prologue

The prologue podium: From left to right, Wiggins, Cancellera, Farrar

Palo Alto was the scene of the prologue stage of the Tour of California today as 132 riders embarked on the eight stage event, in a race of truth against the clock. And as the dust settled on day one of the Tour, the race revealed a few surprises and a familiar face on the top step of the podium: World time trial champion Fabian Cancellera.

British time trial champ David Millar had a solid ride, but was outdone by teammate Steven Cozza

As mentioned earlier on Euro Peloton, the quality of this year's TOC field is among the best in the sport, so the competition in the prologue was sure to be fierce. The first rider off, Iker Camano of the Saunier Duval team, streaked down University Boulevard, as eager fans lined each side of the wide road leading to the Stanford University campus. Australian national time trial champion Adam Hansen, the 17th rider out of the start gate, set the day's initial best time with a solid ride of four minutes and one second, only 14 seconds off the eventual winning time.

Adam Hansen, the Australian national time trial champion, set the early benchmark for the stage

American time trial champion David Zabriskie, sporting a Don Quixote-like mustache, was next to set a best time, stopping the clock with an excellent three minute and fifty-nine second ride over the pancake flat course. Another Slipstream rider, Tyler Farrar, formerly of the French Cofidis squad, bested his teammate by going three seconds faster than the mercurial Zabriskie. His time would hold until the last few elite riders took to the start house.

Leipheimer couldn't repeat his 2006 and 2007 TOC prologue victories

Bradley Wiggins, the track specialist of team High Road, set a blistering early pace that paid off with a new best time of three minutes and fifty-five seconds, just one second faster than the young Slipstream charge Farrar. The crowd roared as the lanky brit crossed the line, and many thought the race was won. And it was, until Fabian Cancellera, resplendant in his world time trial champion kit, set out on the course. Turning a massive gear, Cancellera looked more like a rocket than a bicycle rider as he flew by the announcing stage on his way towards the huge round about that brought the big Swiss rider back to the finish line. Rising out of the saddle, with pain etched on his face, Cancellera crossed the line a full four seconds clear of Wiggins, ensuring the victory for team CSC. For Tour of California race organizers, the CSC/High Road/Slipstream podium was a best case scenario finish as the three most tested teams in the peloton finished at the top of the classification for the day.

Cancellera was dominant, flashing the form that won him a world championship the last two years

In a compelling surprise, young American rider Steven Cozza placed an amazing 10th, only a scant nine seconds off Cancellera's winning pace. Cozza bested time trial stalwarts Vladimir Gusev, the Russian national time trial champ, Australian national champ Adam Hansen, Swedish national time trial champion Thomas Lövkvist, and even British national champion David Millar. Contacted by Euro Peloton after the race, Cozza was extremely pleased with his and his team's success, and had a lot to say about this, his season debut.

Cozza put in an excellent ride to finish 10th

As he lined up in the start house, Cozza said "I was trying to think only about going fast, but I was nervous. It's the first race of the season for me, so I wanted to go as hard as I could and not have second thoughts later on. It's hard to stay focused in such a short race." As for Slipstream's morale, Cozza stated "we had five guys in the top fifteen so we've gotten off to a good start. Every day we want to get better, and I'm ready to do my part to help the team, getting into breakaways, and help out the older riders to succeed."

Another possibility for Cozza is the young rider competition. He trails Edvald Boasson Hagen, the 20 year old Norwegian time trial champion, by only three seconds in the classification. Speaking of his chances, Cozza had a wait and see approach. "I don’t know, I'll play it by ear up until the Sierra sage. Depending on how fast the pace is there, I might be able to respond." During the race, the announcers for the prologue, Dave Towle and his grey-bearded partner opined that some riders would "soft-pedal," or take it easy in the prologue to save themselves for stage one. Cozza refuted this thinking, explaining that the effects of the prologue are "not much, if anything. It helps you open up in the next day. We're used to long distances on the bike, so a short ride like this is good for the body to get it race-ready for the next day." With the first climbs of the Tour on the horizon tomorrow, perhaps Cozza will try to get away early to put Edald Boasson Hagen on the defensive. Please see my other articles at bicycle.net for continued coverage of the Tour of California.

All photos by Ralph Thompson at www.anysportphoto.com