Euro Peloton was able to secure interviews with several team heads ahead of the first stage of the Tour of California. Seeking a bit of background into how team’s were decided ahead of the race as well as thoughts on how the stages will unfold, each team representative was more than accommodating.
Scott Moninger, Director Sportif, Toyota United
Moninger explained that his team won’t be searching for an overall win in the TOC. “For us it’s really looking at the overall race and deciding where we can be most effective. We have a lot of good sprinters so we chose a lot more speed demons, guys who can win stages as we’re trying more to win stages than the overall. Overall, we want to be effective, but we’re shooting more for the bunch kicks.”
For upcoming stages, Moninger likes his team’s chances. “Today is a good opportunity for us as well as some stages later in the week. The time trials and the mountain stages aren’t as much of a priority for us.”
He realizes, however, that there are many good sprinters in the race, which will make getting victories very difficult. “There are so many teams that can sprint, every single team has at least one sprinter. There are a lot of teams looking for sprint finishes, so we’ll try to pick our spots.” As for how stage one will unfold, he explained that “everyone is a bit nervous for the first stage, I’d be surprised if a big break got away today. The Coleman Valley climb will be key, but whether the break stays away is something else. It’s still 40 k from the top of the climb to the finish, so it’s not likely that a break will stay away. We’ll take it day by day, but I’m pretty sure today will be a sprint finish.” He was right. After a tense finishing circuit marred with crash, CSC out-foxed the Quick Step and High Road squads to get their second victory in as many days.
Patrick Lefevre, Director Sportif, Quick Step
Patrick Lefevre, the head of the Quick Step team, spoke at length about how he chose which riders would be brought over from Europe to contest the eight day event. “Our team trains in Tuscany and Spain in the early season, and those are the only two times that we can all train together. Then, when we come over here, we fly in and it’s very expensive. To come over here with our entire team of 50 plus employees would be difficult because of the expenses. We come with the double world champion but the organization doesn’t pay very well, so it costs a lot of money for us to come here. But it’s also true that our sponsors are American, and for that reason, we are here.”
His two stars, Boonen and Bettini, won’t have a lot of pressure to perform over the course of the race. “We did a good job in Europe to train, but it’s also the case that it is OK if Boonen or Bettini can’t win a stage here. Some of the stages are too hard so we can’t go for the overall. So one of our goals is to win a stage. After that, we’ll see what we can do for the GC, but I don’t think we have the team here to contend.”
For stage one, Lefevre felt, “of course we will try with Boonen, as he has proven he is the fastest right now on the team. If the parcours are too hard for Boonen to stay in the first group, we’ll try with Bettini. But we hope to win a stage with Tom.” It didn’t ed up working out for Lefevre and the blue train of Quick Step, but they’ll surely fight throughout the rest of the week to secure a win for their sponsors.
Eric Breukink, Director Sportif, Rabobank
Erik Breukink, the director for the Dutch Rabobank team, relayed that rosters were chosen much earlier in the year for the TOC. “We already spoke in the winter about programs and it’s an important race for our sponsors so that’s why we brought Oscar Friere. Then you build around him (Friere), with a few guys who can help him in the sprint and a few guys who can climb well, like Robert Gesink, who knows the course from last year. I would like to have brought a time trialist like Thomas Dekker, but we made a different program for him.”
While some teams (CSC, Astana, High Road) held training camps for the entire team ahead of the Tour of California, Breukink explained that “it’s difficult to bring a full team to California. We are spread all over in Europe, also the Tour Down Under, so you have to make a different program for other riders. It’s possible to maybe do it in the future if the sponsor is OK with it, so for next year, we’ll see.”
His thoughts on the first stage and how it will unfold center around the tense atmosphere that surrounds the first satge of any big race. “It will be a very nervous stage because it’s the beginning of the race, but we know the climb for this stage. It’s not easy, but we know it well so we’ll see. We’ll see how Friere is going. He had a bit of trouble a few weeks earlier, so he may need one or two days to get into the race. He’s not so sure of himself, but you never know with him. When he is on form, he can win on any day.” Friere was nowhere to be found at the end of the stage, but will surely show at the front before the Tour is over.
Bob Stapleton, Owner, High Road
Team High Road boss Bob Stapleton explained how High Road chose their rosters for the TOC. “Well, all the riders want to race here, so we had a great situation with the athletes in California. We looked at who has the best form, whose skills were best for the course and who worked best together to determine our team. We had the luxury of many great athletes to pick from for this race.”
Addressing who will have team leadership duties for the Tour, he said, “It’s day by day, we’ll see what happens on the climb to San Jose. We’re keeping all the knives in the drawer sharp and ready to use.”
He continued, “I think today will be a very exciting day. I think it will be very active. We have Cavendish who is within a few time bonuses of taking the jersey, he’s obviously a great sprinter. We have some guys that could go in breaks, so if they’ll let them go they could win, so we’re ready for anything.”
He also spoke about the young German, Gerald Ciolek. “Ciolek is on good form and he’s exceptional so he’ll definitely get his chances. If he can get away or if he’s feeling better after the climb, than it will be his time to run with the ball. It will depend on how the riders feel once they’re over the climb.” As it turned out, Ciolek felt excellent, finishing second behind a super Juan Jose Haedo. Ciolek also secured the young rider jersey based on his performance in stage one.
If a break was to escape, Stapleton explained who he would like to see from High Road. “I think there’ll be a bunch of breaks, I’d like to see Edvald Boasson Hagen, Adam Hansen or Thomas Lovkvist get away. When Gerdemen won the stage in the Tour, it was just a matter that he was lucky enough to get in the break that stayed away. We had guys in every break and Linus got lucky and the break stuck, so that’s sometimes how things go.”
Mariano Friedick, Director Sportif, Rock Racing
Finally, Rock Racing’s director sportif Mariano Friedick had a chance to reflect ahead of the start about his shortened five man roster. “We’re going to have to rely on other teams to see how the race will develop, but our main focus will be to keep all of our riders together at all times, and once we enter the finishing circuits, try to get Mario and Freddy into position so they can play off the bigger teams to see if we can get the win later on today. We can’t really do much about getting into a breakaway because we only have five guys. It’s unfortunate but we’ll still try to play our cards right.” Adding insult to injury, Mike Creed was sick throughout the night, and expressed concern about whether he could finish the stage.
Asked who would be the leader heading into Santa Rosa, Friedick was non-commital. “They’ll (Rodriguez and Cipollini) decide on the road who gets to do the sprint, I’ll decide with them and then we’ll support the strongest rider. We’ve been through the last three hundred meters of the sprint, we know exactly what it is like and we have a couple of scenarios about what we think will happen, and it will be up to Freddie and Mario about who gets to do the sprint.” Rodriguez ended up being the one who went for the win, but was unable to overcome the unified efforts of the CSC team.
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