Tough Times in France: Slipstream Laid Low at Paris-Nice

After an excellent start to the 2008 season at the tours of Qatar and California, the Slipstream team came to the Paris-Nice stage race with aspirations of the overall with David Millar and a stage win or two from Tyler Farrar or Trent Lowe. For the prologue, Farrar was blazing the soggy course when he fell hard into a corner (below). Two days later he abandoned the race.

Chute Paris Nice 2008 FARRAR Tyler
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David Millar, going back to 2007, had made it very clear that he planned on trying to win the overall title at Paris-Nice. Steadliy building his form for the French stage race, Millar too dropped out of the race due to sickness after being dropped on Ventoux. His teammate Trent Lowe, a good climber who was toward the top of the general classification before the Mont Ventoux stage, crashed and took himself out of the hunt for the overall as well.

Trent Lowe (pictured in Discovery kit 2007) crashed in Paris Nice and fell off the GC pace. At only 23 though, "T-Dog" will have his day in the "Race to the Sun" soon

Worst of all is the fact that Paris-Nice is an ASO sponsored event, the organizers of the Tour de France. Slipstream will have to hope that ASO overlooks their poor performance when deciding on the teams for the 2008 Tour. All is not lost for Jonathan Vaughter's team though, as they have performed well in most of the races they have entered. No doubt the Argyle Gang will live to fight another day, in another race.