I caught up with the BMC team at the start of the 2008 Tour of Missouri stage 5, in St James where the riders were getting ready for another aggressive stage in high humidity. Mike Sayers announced his retirement earlier this year, and is racing his last big race at the Tour of Missouri. Going into the day, Jeff Louder was sitting in tenth place in the overall classification and had been very aggressive in the previous day’s break. Darren Lill had a great time trial result finishing in seventh place but missed the move on stage 4, and is now back to hunting for stage wins and assisting his teammate in moving up the GC. Finally, Jonathan Garcia is hitting his form after suffering two hard crashes this year.

This is your last big race, this is it. How does it feel?
Mike: Yes, this is it. I get mixed feelings, the team, I think they finalized the roster this week, and they are doing a press release, I feel a little bit left out honestly but it’s part of it. Especially after a day like yesterday where I suffered a little bit and those are the days I’m not really going to miss. I think as we get closer to Sunday, it’s going to be a little more difficult. The only good thing is that Ive known it’s coming and I can prepare myself for it, just going to give the last couple of days everything I got. The team is riding really well which is awesome, that’s one thing I’m really proud of, how far the team has come, how far the team is going. It’s just kind of the natural evolution of things.

The BMC team seems to have brought it up a level in the last few months, what brought this on?
Mike: I just think it was the progression, I just think it took us some time to get guys organized and get some experience in the bank, again I think we’ve reached that point, obviously the leadership from Gavin[Chilcott] and John [Lelangue] has made a big difference, they were always pushing guys to be aggressive and I think it does help you get a little more cohesive. I think it’s just a combination of things, I just think it’s generally the natural maturity of how things are going. And you bring in some more experienced riders like Tony [Cruz] and Jeff [Louder], they make a big difference, it’s not just me telling guys what to do, those guys are talented enough to kind of lead by example, it’s been really nice and a really nice team to finish up with, that’s one of the great things, I get to leave on one of the best teams and just kind of be proud of that whole thing.

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That the Philadelphia International Championship traditionally ends in a field sprint belies the true severity of the course. Over 250 km in length with ten climbs up the Manayunk Wall and 13 climbs up the Lemon Hill thrown in, the race in Philadelphia can lay claim to being the hardest one-day race on the domestic calendar. This year’s edition was made all the more difficult with the exceptional heat and typical humidity. In the race of attrition, BMC’s supremely experienced Mike Sayers fought through the conditions to come out with a satisfyingly high finish.

The heat would play a decisive role on the day

The 9am starting time, though perhaps earlier than most professionals are used to, was useful in saving the riders from having to race the whole day in above 90° F (32° C) temperatures. “Today was really hot,” Gavin Chilcott reported. “We started out just under 90° and according to our thermometer, we were over 100° by the end of the race.” The team had a plan for keeping the guys as cool as possible. “We had a heat management plan to keep the guys cool and hydrated,” Chilcott said. “The staff worked pretty hard at it, but I think it was a worthwhile thing to do.” Jeff Louder agreed that the staff’s efforts were definitely helpful. “I felt really strong today, and the heat management plan really helped me a lot,” he said. “I didn’t suffer nearly as much from the heat as I have in the past.” The team went into the day with no clear leader, but rather an action plan that would find BMC riders fitting themselves into nearly every important move. “We went in with the idea of not wasting too much energy early on, concentrating on going with moves, though not creating them,” Chilcott said. “Mike, Taylor and Tony were in an interesting move with about 2 more large laps to go. That had a huge potential, but in the end, I think it was just a little too far away from the finish.” It may have also burned a few too many matches for the two BMC fast finishers, Tony and Taylor. “Being in that move may have come at the expense of not being really strong for the finish,” Chilcott reasoned. “In this heat, the guys had enough power for one big effort, and then recovering from that became even more difficult.” Likewise, Martin Kohler took a potentially dangerous flyer with about 25km to go, but his efforts too were outpaced by a charging peloton. “Martin was trying to bridge up to a strong 3 man break, but didn’t quite make it,” Chilcott said. “But it was a worthwhile effort even if it didn’t really pay off for him.” “I really like the racing here,” Kohler said after the race. “I like the heat and though I have never done a race this long, I am happy with the results.”

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