
Santa Rosa, CA - Having had what could be termed a break-out year in 2008, Scott Nydam and the rest of the BMC Racing Team are chomping at the bit to kick off the 2009 season with a bang.
In last year’s Tour of California, Nydam had his greatest success and impressed the entire peloton when he and his team mates defended the King of the Mountains jersey. “That whole race was a special experience that will stay with me for the rest of my life,” Nydam declared. “My father had just been diagnosed as being gravely ill, I had just crashed out of the Tour of Qatar and was feeling a little defeated.” Instead of hanging on to the tail of the pack or waiting to get dropped by the peloton, Nydam decided to go on the attack. “The whole experience was very special particularly in the context of what was happening in my family, and is a memory I will savour forever,” Nydam explained.
With the 2009 edition of the Tour of California just weeks away, Nydam has been using the past months to recharge his battery. With BMC ramping up its goals and ambitions for the coming season, everyone is excited to see what will be possible in the New Year. Nydam took the time over the holiday to give some of his impressions.
What are your early season goals?
Like last year, I think that it is important that we hit the ground running. This year we have a bigger and better roster of riders and we should expect to build on everything that happened last year so that means going to many of the same races as we did in 2008, but this time with a lot more confidence and higher expectations.




This is your last big race, this is it. How does it feel?

A break of 7 riders went off in the first 10 miles of the race, and got almost a five minute advantage before being caught on the HC climb up Alpine Loop at around the 55-mile marker. One participant in the break was green jersey Brad White (Successful Living), on his third break of the race, who nailed down the Sprint jersey as no one contended the sprints.