At just 23 years old, Steven Cozza (Garmin/Chipotle) has faced adversity in his cycling career. In 2007, he sustained a serious head injury after crashing in the rainy Stage 3 at the Tour de Picardie and still suffers from the trauma. Upon his return, after a 3 month long recovery period, Steven won the Best Young Rider classification at the Tour of Missouri, and then followed that up with his first professional victory in Stage 6 of the Vuelta a Chihuahua.
His 2008 season started off with top ten showings in the Tour of California prologue and stage 1 of the Vuelta a Castilla y León, but Steven was sidelined with a broken collarbone from a crash at the Three Days of De Panne in early April.
Steven Cozza (Garmin/Chipotle) attacks in Stage 1 of the Tour de Nez
I caught up with Steven right after the first stage of the Tour de Nez, the 75-minute Reno criterium, had put in multiple attacks that were neutralized and he finished tenth in the bunch sprint. With his well-known honesty, Steven answered my questions with self-deprecating wit and a smile.
