Boulder, Colo - With two of America’s top cycling events planned during Interbike week in Las Vegas, it’s a perfect opportunity to recognize riders who can excel in both cyclocross and criterium racing. Double Down at the Mandalay Bay is designed to do just that.

Double Down at Mandalay Bay recognizes those riders with a vacation prize to the top men and women riders who compete in both CrossVegas scheduled September 23rd and the USA CRITS Finals scheduled September 24th.

“The Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino is proud to be a part of the two largest cycling events to hit Las Vegas,” stated Scott Voeller Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino VP of Marketing. “We think the Double Down prize is a great way to reward the athletes who are consistent at both CrossVegas and The USA Crits Finals.”

In 2008 the Double Down at Mandalay Bay was captured by Adam Meyerson in the men’s category and Katie Compton in the women’s category. The two racers combined strong finishes in both CrossVegas and the USA CRITS Final to take the vacation packages.

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Yaroslav Popovych has a rich history riding for Johan Bruyneel, General Manager of the Astana Cycling Team. In Popovych’s first year at Discovery Channel, the Ukranian won the Tour de France’s white jersey, honoring the Best Young Rider, while helping Lance Armstrong win a record setting seventh Tour title. His Tour de France success continued with a stage win in 2006 and a personal best eighth place overall finish in 2007, while helping teammate Alberto Contador win the leader’s yellow jersey.

“I was with Discovery for three years,” stated Popovych, “and then went to Lotto for one year….and now I am with Astana. I do not feel there is any difference between Discovery and Astana. I stayed here for three years, three very good years, where we won the Tour. Now I’m coming back and Lance (Armstrong) is back. It’s great.”

“There was a huge change from Discovery to Lotto for me,” continued Popovych. “Lotto’s main focus was Classics and Discovery’s focus was stage races. Both were big teams with different emphasis. It was very different riding for Lance and riding for Cadel (Evans). Their approaches and style were completely different.”

Popovych secured the third overall position at the 2008 Paris-Nice. “The first two months with Lotto was very good.” Popovych signed with Lotto to provide support to Evans at the Tour de France.

“After Paris-Nice I kept getting sick. I didn’t understand why I kept feeling bad. I went to the doctor to try to figure out what was wrong. I just kept feeling bad, bad, bad. Even in the Tour….I was feeling bad. I was not at 100%. The team was feeling pressure and I was expected to give Cadel support but I could not. The team was not happy and I was not happy. I tried my best in the mountains for Cadel and my team. 2005, 2006, 2007 were very good years…..2008 was bad….and I am looking forward to a very good 2009.”

“Coming back to Astana is like coming home for me. At the training camp I felt very comfortable right away. I knew the riders and the staff. For me it has been a relief to be back. I feel like I am back to normal. I will ride the Giro and I will help Lance or Alberto in the Tour. I know that I can help Lance, Alberto, and Levi. I know my role on this team. It’s a nice fit for me. I can handle the work pressure on this team. Johan’s organization is the perfect fit for me. He is one of the few people I know who has successfully been able to manage both individual and team goals.”

Before Popovych rides the Tour, he will ride for Leipheimer and Armstrong at the Giro d’Italia in May. “The Giro is crazy, tough….plus Lance wants to ride the Giro. It will be amazing this year. I know the stages finishes well. The Giro is very important for me since I Iive in Italy. My wife and my baby will be there to see me.”

Popovych finished third in the 2003 Giro and fifth in 2004, spending three days wearing the overall leader’s pink jersey. Prior to turning professional, Popovych captured the U23 Paris-Roubaix title and the World Road Championship in 2001.

Photo courtesy of www.lynelamoureux.com

After a year of racing as part of one of the best amateur teams in France, Alex Howes is returning to his roots, rejoining the Slipstream organization, as he will be racing with the U23 team VMG/Felt for the 2009 season. Through it all, Alex has chronicled his adventures through his blog sharing his ups and downs with the world.

The 20-year old (almost 21) Alex Howes was born in Golden, Colorado. He came up through the ranks of the Slipstream organization first as a junior with the 5280 team and then spent a year with the Slipstream squad in 2007. He capped that season with a foray to France racing at the Tour du Limousin and the GP Plouay where he launched the first attack of the ProTour race.

At the end of 2007, he joined one of the best amateur team in France, the VC La Pomme which is based in the Marseille area to continue his to learn to achieve his goal of racing professionally full-time in Europe.

I caught up with Alex right before the US Cyclocross Nationals where he finished fourth in the U23 race.

How did you get into cycling?
Alex: My father did it for quite some time. It just kind of happened, he put me on a bike, he put me on another bike.

And that was it?
Alex: And that was it. Now he doesn’t really do it much anymore and I spend 30 hours on my bike (chuckles). I was brought up through the ACA here, the American Cycling Association, the local club, they have a very good juniors program, so it was pretty easy as far as trying to find races and things like that.

How did you get with the Slipstream in 2007?
Alex: I was with the junior development team [5280 Magazine] and I don’t know, I guess I got a couple of results and Jonathan [Vaughters] was looking to bring a couple of the younger guys up, it was and to some extent still is a development team so he brought me and Peter Stetina up from the junior ranks …. and he handed me the contract at Nationals one year, it was right after I got third, a third place that I was really disappointed with, I cramped up just before the line, I probably should have won but it [the contract] was a huge surprise: ‘well you lost, here’s a contract’. ‘Whoa, all right’.

You were with the team with Slipstream in 2007, and then moved to France. Why?
Alex: I was with Slipstream the whole year that season. The reason I went over to Europe in 2007 is with Slipstream, I did a couple of races here and there, the road races we did were Chateauroux, Limousin and Plouay.

Why did you decide to stay in France in 2008?
Alex: The reason was because Slipstream had gone from a development into a more or less a ProTour team, it went from a team that was hoping to get into mildly fast French races to want to race the Tour next year. It was a huge jump, too fast for me and all parties decided that it was better if I found a team that was a little bit more geared towards a little lighter racing schedule. While I was over there, Vaughters made a couple phone calls and helped set me up with a really good French team.

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We met up with Markus Storck, founder of Storck Bicycles, and asked him a few questions. Check out our video interview with Markus, where he touches on topics such as how he got addicted to the bicycle, how the Klein merger with Trek affected him, and what motivates him when he designs a new bicycle today.

At just 27 years of age, American Mike Creed of the Rock Racing team finished up his ninth year as a professional with his last road race of the season, the Tour of Missouri back in September. While coming through the ranks, Creed was crowned U.S. national champion 20 times and was a member of the world championship team 6 times.

Creed has had ups and downs in his pro career, facing illnesses with relapses of Epstein-Barr disease and back problems while racing for the Prime Alliance, US Postal and Discovery, TIAA-CREF which became Slipstream teams, and now with Rock Racing.

I sat down with a relaxed Mike Creed, the evening after the time trial at the Tour of Missouri where our conversation meandered starting from this year, to his outlook on suffering, his recommendation to USA Cycling for its endurance track selections and finally his goals.

You’ve had good year so far. You finished sixth at US Pro Time Trial, you were strong at Mt Hood finishing fifth overall. Talk about your year and what’s different this year.
Mike: Personally, it hasn’t been a great year as far as results wise but it hasn’t been a bad year at all. It’s been a really consistent year, obviously this race I’m really tired, the legs don’t feel great but you know I’m a lot more relaxed than I have been for a long, long time and part of that is due to just the way the team operates, in that there’s not any of the old school cycling tradition and that’s very, just very refreshing, it’s taking an approach that you show up and do your job and there’s no questions asked, just do it. Whereas with other teams there’s a bit of… you know you have to do x, y and z, you have to wear your warmups and… there’s just so much that goes into it, it was always hard for me, it was always hard.

So lets talk about Rock Racing. Did it changed the way you train, the way you approach racing?
Mike: It definitely changed the way I approach racing because when you have guys like [Oscar] Sevilla, Tyler [Hamilton], [Victor Hugo] Peña and [Santiago] Botero, these guys, they are the outright leaders and so for me it just made my job really clear. I have to race the first two hours and I can relax two hours and that’s what expected of me. If I can hang out and feel really good, you know they’ll work for me but in general, this is my job, I knew I could do that, I knew I could, even on my worse day, I can be there for two hours and get bottles and chase breaks and do everything so those guys can relax.

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Quite a year for Canadian Dominique Rollin. On his first year with the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team and his second year racing on the North American circuit, he caught everyone’s attention after the fourth stage at the Tour of California, the 135-mile (217 km) slog from Monterey to San Luis Obispo. In horrendous weather conditions, Rollin pulled away from his breakaway companions with 12 miles (20 kms) to go and held off some of the best riders in the world, including a chasing George Hincapie (Columbia) to take the stage win after nearly seven and a half hours in the saddle. He also went on to win the Sprint Competition.

Throughout the year, the 6 foot 2 inches, 182-pound Rollin worked hard for his team to bring in victories and Rollin himself finished thirteen times on the top step of the podium in 2008 (so far) which included a stage win at the Cascade Cycling Classic and the CSC Invitational.

I caught up with a relaxed Rollin at the start of the Tour of Missouri where after joking about wishing for windy and horrible weather conditions for the upcoming race, Rollin who excels and loves racing in bad weather, looked back at his year.

Rollin was also looking forwards to a final racing push starting with the Tour of Missouri, the World Championships and finishing up with the Jayco Herald Sun Tour in Australia.

“It’s the second year that I do the Sun Tour, it’s a good experience, I like it. This year, I’m taking advantage that half my team is Australian to stay a it in the warmth before returning to the cold weather in Quebec. It’s a way to extend the season, to take a rest a little later, this way I don’t really have a morale break or a loss of motivation.”

Team for 2009. His Toyota-United team is ceasing its existence after three years  as its primary sponsor  decided not to continue after the end of the year. At the time of the interview, Rollin said he had a few offers and declined to talk more about them.

“It’s a strange year. I only hope not to gain the reputation of shutting down teams, two in two.” smiled Rollin whose previous team Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada folded at the end of 2007. “Joking aside, it was disappointing to have a team like Toyota-United leave.”

During Interbike, I learned that Rollin is joining the new Cervélo TestTeam for the upcoming season.

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The 2008 road season is coming to a close, and with it, comes time of looking back and thinking about the future. I caught up with 6′ 4″, 194-pound Tom Zirbel of the Bissell Pro Cycling Team on the eve of the Tour of Missouri where we chatted about his season and his wish to go “race the best and biggest races” in Europe.

Returning from an almost aborted 2007 season due to a blood clot, his  third season as a professional started off strong for the 29-year old rider nicknamed Thor. In May, he was leading the Tour of the Gila when he crashed and broke his collarbone amongst other injuries and had to take a break to recover. The time trial specialist came back to win the Tour of Elk Grove prologue, the Tour of Utah time trial and topped it off with a second place finish, just 5 seconds behind winner David Zabriskie (Garmin-Chipotle) in the US Pro Time Trial Championship.

You were coming on strong this year and then crashed at Gila and broke your collarbone.
Tom: Collarbone, three ribs and a hand.

And then, you recovered and came back strong again. How do you handle all that?
Tom: I was just kind of feeling sorry for myself the other day, I’m feeling tired, I can tell it’s been a long season, the break I had was ‘the breaks I had’. It was just after Gila, that was my break trying to recover from those broken bones, it wasn’t like a true restful break. I’m starting to feel the effects of a long season but it’s a good thing that this [Tour of Missouri] is a big race, that I’ve never done it and I’m excited about it, the hard rolling stages suit riders like us. I’m just trying to suck it up and come in with a good attitude and put in my seven days of racing and go out with a bang.

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When the start gun fired at the inaugural San Francisco Twilight Criterium on September 13th, the pro women’s race posted an incredible lineup that included Olympians and national champions.

Photo by Ken Conley

Two-time Olympian and 2004 National U.S. Time Trial Champion Christine Thorburn (Webcor) who placed 5th in this summer’s Olympic Time Trial, made the San Francisco Twilight one of her last races before she retires at the end of September to concentrate on her “other” full-time career as a rheumatologist. Also riding for Webcor was Gina Grain, a member of the Canadian Olympic Team, 2007 Canadian National Road Champion and 2008 U.S. Open Track Omnium Champion.

Included in the lineup with Webcor were Kat Carroll (Aaron’s), Shelley Olds (Proman), Laura Van Gilder (Cheerwine), and Kelly Benjamin (Cheerwine).

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Japanese university students Toyohiro Oka (Trek-Marco Polo Cycling) and Yuya Sasaki (Team Nippon-Colnago), from Kyoto Sangyo University, decided to take a few weeks off, rent a car and race in California. In preparation for their big collegiate national road race, they thought that racing in the States would put an edge on their training and gain invaluable experience. The American peloton is unlike any peloton in Japan.

“Racing in Japan is very different. The standard mode is for a breakaway to go,” commented Oka, who is a senior majoring in business administration. “The winner is always from this initial break. There is very little strategy involved. I wanted to come here to learn how the American riders race, like attacking. I wanted to see the Americans race and ride in an American race. My hope is to take back the attacking race form to Japan and use it in races there. I really do like how the riders attack the peloton.”

 Toyohiro Oka (Trek-Marco Polo Cycling)

“I also like the way the teams work together here,” continued Oka. “There is not much in team strategy in the Japanese collegiate ranks. Watching the teams ride was interesting.”

“The criteriums have been fun but are very fast. The pace does not fall and remains fast.” Oka won the Suisun Harbor Criterium in Suisun City, CA. Oka placed first in the Miyata Cycle Road Race U23 and placed 12^th in the Japan National Road race U23 in Japan this year.

 Tony Cruz (BMC) and Yuya Sasaki (Team Nippon-Colnago),

“I came here because there is a very important collegiate race at the end of the summer, stated Saski, a senior studying law. “I want to win that race and came here to train. I want to be able race well. I came to learn how to race fast. I am learning how attacking the peloton and pacing can affect a race.”

“I hope to be a professional cyclist one day and plan on continuing my training even after graduatiion,” declared Sasaki. “Since I have been here I have grown to admire Eric Wohlberg (Symmetrics)  and I remain a Pantani fan.”

While racing in California, Saski placed 7^th at the Winters Road Race in Winters, CA and placed 7^th at the University Road Race in Santa Cruz, CA. Saski won the South Japan Road race and came in 7^th at the Japan National Championship Road Race this year.

Sasaki riding in the University Road peloton. 

Many thanks to Yukie Nakamura (Kenda Tires) and her husband Masayoshi (Mark) Nakamura for setting up the meeting with Oka and Sasaki. Mr. Nakamura would like to make this an annual program for young Japanese collegiate riders to gain invaluable experience riding in the American peloton. Hopefully we will see more young Japanese riders enjoy their summer vacation competing in the California Cup series next year.

All pictures copyright Stephanie Gutowski

I caught up with some of the riders and Directeur Sportif at the start of the 2008 Tour of Missouri Stage 1 in St Joseph to get their thoughts on the race. Last year, a 20-rider break went up the road in the second stage, and that was it as far as the GC race with George Hincapie taking the overall win. I was curious to get opinions of the possibility of such a break making it again this year.

George Hincapie (Columbia)

About the competition. We don’t race in America that much and even the small teams have everything to prove and nothing to lose, it always more difficult in that sense, we don’t want to underestimate anybody.

About a break getting 15 minutes again and will Columbia chase a break. I doubt it, you never know. Probably.

Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Chipotle)

About the Tour of Missouri. The team plan is come to the finish unscathed today, all at the same time. I think it’s all going to come down to Wednesday. Columbia has a beautiful team here, they’ll be the major competitor for us.

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