The Tour of California is gaining momentum. The route has matured into a world-class challenge with incredible vistas. The field is strong and the racing is incredible.

But we would like to take a moment to salute the fans. Aside from the massive crowds, signature fans are starting to become identifiable. They are icons that are becoming part of the the Tour of Califonia mystique.

We believe antler guy’s name is Corey. He runs like a deer and is on every hill top.

And here is Big Hair Superfan. His run is a little scary and labored but he is the personality of the Tour of California!! A chronicle of his antics is here http://bighairsuperfan.com

And of course, the podium girls!

wow.

Photo by Ken Conley

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Experienced climber Burke Swindlehurst joined the Bissell Pro Cycling for the 2008 season and is racing in the Amgen Tour of California for the first time in his career.

I sat down with the ten-year pro and stage specialist Swindlehurst prior to the start of the Tour of California to get his thoughts on the season and his future.

Lyne Lamoureux: What are your goals for this year?
Burke Swindlehurst: Geez, my goal I guess it’s just to….

DS Glen Mitchell: to please me (laughs)

Burke: to please Glen yeah, actually Glen and I go way back, we raced together on the Navigators together, so it’s kind of fun to have a former team mate and friend, it eases the transition a little bit, but my goals for this season are the same that they’ve always been for any team which is just to help the team get results first and foremost, those come ahead of any personal goals I have. From a personal perspective, I always have a few races that I really like which are you know obviously for me, races with big hills in them, so Tour of the Gila has always been a favorite, Hood, I love Hood that’s a great race , Cascades, Tour of Utah is back which I’m really excited about. And apparently there’s a stage in Colorado which is just after the race in Utah.

Lyne: You live in Utah right?
Burke: Yes I do. So those are, for me, those are the races that I have in my mind that I would like to do well at. Outside of that I want to help the team, and as much I hate to admit it, I am getting older, I’ll be 35 in a month, you know for me it’s not an issue but the guys on the team are already harassing me a little bit. So from that perspective, I’d really like, what knowledge I’ve gained over the years to pass it on and hopefully that’s something I can do. Hopefully, they’re open to listening to the old curmudgeon on the team given them a hard time.

Lyne: So does that cross your mind now, getting older and how many more years?
Burke: It doesn’t really enter my thought process until other people bring it up, but then you look in the mirror and see some grays and stuff and  I guess I’m getting on but physically I’m not really feeling it. The last few years have actually been some of my best I’ve had on the bike and obviously you get smarter as you get older and you learn to use your energy, but  I would say in the back of my mind I’d like to see myself go through the end of 2010, another 3 years racing. You have certain people you look at and you see them do well, and it’s usually, it seems like the end of 37 seems to be kind of where you see a little bit of decline. In my mind, that’s kind of my benchmark, make it to the end of 37 and then assess it from there.

Lyne: Are you going to follow the Glen route and become a DS? Do you think about it?
Burke: You know, I think about it every single day to be honest and I have for a long time and I’m still drawing a blank, (chuckles) it’s like what are you going to do when you grow up. But yeah I’d love to stay involved with the sport, it’s been really good to me and I enjoy it so if I can continue to make a living doing something I love and enjoy then why not. If anybody out there has any ideas, I’m open.

Lyne: As a new member to the Bissell team, what is this team like?
Burke: Everybody seems real excited and I feed off the energy. There’s a feeling within the program that it is taking another step up which is exciting. I’ve been on programs that have been around a lot time that have plateaued a little bit so this is fun for me to see a bunch of guys that are really excited to see growth and also know that we are going to take it to another level because we have the riders and the experience on the team and also the energy and the youth to do that so I think there’s a really overriding sense of optimism and excitement.

Lyne: Have you taken anybody under your wing?
Burke: Not yet

Lyne: Any young climbers on the team to maybe mentor?
Burke: Morgan…. I’m not going to go out of my way to take on that role, hopefully it will kind of happen. You know if guys think that I have something to give to them then I will, I’ll gladly do it but I’m not going to be one of those guys that order people around. I’ve definitely been around but I’m not going to be one to say ‘like this is how it is’ but if they come to me and say ‘how is it?’, then I’ll them my perspective.

Lyne: Are you ready for the Tour of California?
Burke: I don’t know but I have been training pretty hard for it even though I’ve been cooped up indoors in Utah. I’ve been working a little bit with Max Testa and having him, he’s in Salt Lake, that’s a huge resource so I’ve definitely seen some results, I feel pretty good about one of the guys that’s going to be on the California team.

Lyne: What are your goals for Tour of California?
Burke: This will be my first year at the Tour of California. Historically, I’m not a strong early season guy, I’m sure that had to do with where I’m at geographically, I’m in Salt Lake and so I don’t really start to really spread my wings until mid April, seems like the Tour of Georgia is where I start to feel some really good sensations on the bike so for me, California would be more for looking after guys like Ben Jacques-Maynes who have a history of doing well there and hopefully getting some momentum and maybe when I do get to Georgia I would have maybe that extra gear that I haven’t had the last couple of years.

Raymond Galang ,aka ‘elsaltamontes’ on the forums, of San Jose, CA is our second jersey winner this week for these beautiful pics from stage 3.

“Francois, missed you guys. i got caught early on on sierra. so instead of the beauty summit shots, we get the steep sierra road shots. the bonus was i was able to make it down and see the race in the end.

first shot is of hincapie all alone climbing sierra. guess it wasn’t long from the summit until the astana team caught him

the 5th to the last shot is leipheimer and gesink racing for first. what an exciting stage. and a difficult one as well.”

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Levi rode into the coveted Amgen Tour of California leaders jersey today on a specially painted US Champion stars and stripes Madone 6.9. We checked in with Scott Daubert of Trek to talk about the Madone 6.9 to understand what makes this bike stand out from the rest of the peloton.

Levi’s bike, painted in the US Champs Stars and Stripes

The new Madone’s beefy headtube, standard 1.8″ at the top and 1.5″ at the bottom
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Once again, the skies opened up to reveal the gorgeous San Jose hills. After a brutal climb up Mt. Hamilton, a select group gapped the field a the base of Sierra Rd.

George Hincapie had an advantage but Chechu Rubiera reeled him in and led Levi and the leaders up the climb. The final selection was composed of Gesink, Leipheimer, Zabriskie and Horner. Gesink accelerated and Zabriskie and Horner were dropped.

Here’s Gesink and Leipheimer a couple of hundred yards from the summit.

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San Jose, Calif. – Rock Racing’s Victor Hugo Peña sent a clear message Wednesday that he is a threat to contend for a strong overall finish at the Amgen Tour of California.

Peña was one of only five riders in the lead group as the race crossed its highest point, the 4,100-foot summit of Mount Hamilton, midway through Stage 3. The Colombian would go on to finish among a group of 15 riders who were 19 seconds behind stage winner Robert Gesink (Rabobank) and runner-up Levi Leipheimer (Astana).

Peña’s impressive performance in 102.7-mile (165.3 km) race from Modesto to San Jose moved him up 23 places in the overall standings to 10th place, 31 seconds behind Leipheimer, the new overall race leader and defending champion of the Tour of California.

Rock Racing Team Owner Michael Ball said seeing Peña race wheel-to-wheel with the best at the head of the peloton – on the toughest stage to date – was both satisfying and a disappointment.

“We came here to make the moves and win stages,” Ball said. “Like Mario Cipollini’s podium finish yesterday, Victor’s ride today proved that Rock Racing has top talent,” Ball said. “At the same time, this stage played to the strengths of our three riders who were not allowed to compete in this race: Tyler Hamilton, Santiago Botero and Oscar Sevilla.”

Peña, whose impressive credentials include wearing the yellow leader’s jersey for three stages of the 2003 Tour de France and winning an individual time trial stage in the Giro d’Italia, agreed with Ball’s assessment of the talented trio who are unable to compete in the most prestigious race in the United States.

“The only thing I can say is that at training camp, they were better than me,” Peña said. “Santiago and Oscar were much better than me. Tyler was always with me. So I think those three guys would have been good contenders for Levi.”

On a stage when only 16 of 120 riders in the race finished within four minutes of the winner, Peña said he felt comfortable on the day’s five categorized climbs. His performance, he said, made him recall the years he spent shepherding Lance Armstrong to several Tour de France victories when both were riding on the U.S. Postal Service team.

“Mt. Hamilton was a steep climb,” he said. “It reminded me of some of the steeper climbs in Colombia. In Colombia, we have long climbs, but not so steep as Hamilton.”

Photo courtesy of VeroImage.com

Photo by Ken Conley

Photo by Ken Conley

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Levi Leipheimer (USA), General Classification Leader
Astana

On today’s race:
“We knew that today was going to be important. I think this stage was the hardest stage in the three-year history of the Amgen Tour of California. It was a day with a few tough, but really beautiful, climbs. The Mt. Hamilton climb turned out to be really hard, and our team had something to prove today. I just didn’t want to let the guys down. Our morale is really good right now; we needed this win.”

On working with Robert Gesink to win:
“I think it worked out because I was conservative going over the top, but by the time I got to the finish, I had nothing left. I predicted yesterday that Gesink would be my ally today; he’s a huge talent and a star of the future. I’m glad he got the stage win, and thanks to our working together, I’m back in the Amgen Leader Jersey for the first time this race. I’m going to try to keep it until Pasadena, and with a team like Astana, I’m confident we can do this.”

On beating Cancellara and Millar, two of the world’s best time trialists, to the finish:
“To tell you the truth, I don’t know how Gesink and I stayed away. I was a little frustrated because I had been in that position before and I wasn’t really ready to commit everything yet. I was pulling through with the intention to make it, but I knew it was a long way. I was asking my team manager for information, and when I heard it was Cancellara and Millar, I thought there was no way we could make it, but the gap didn’t come down. Cancellara’s performance really surprised me today. It’s a great indication of how well he is performing right now.”

On the crowds during the race:
“In Modesto, and all throughout the race, even in the outback, the crowds again have been superb. I think they were suffering a lot on the Summit (Mt. Hamilton, where it was 38 degrees and foggy), so I want to thank them for encouraging me and all of the riders to do our best on a very tough stage.”

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Rabobank’s Robert Gesink Wins Stage 3 As Challenging Day Separates Riders and Shakes Up Remaining General Classification Leaders

Photo by Ken Conley

SAN JOSE, CA – After completing one of the most challenging and defining stages of the 2008 Amgen Tour of California, which included the brutal Mt. Hamilton (Hors Category) and Sierra Road (Cat. 1) climbs, cycling’s new generation shined again as 21-year-old Robert Gesink (NED) of Rabobank took the stage win. While Santa Rosa California resident Levi Leipheimer (USA) of Astana was outsprinted by Gesink for the stage win, the defending champion none-the-less gained the event’s overall lead. As the one of most difficult stages in the 2008 Amgen Tour of California, the 103-mile Stage 3 course from Modesto to San Jose featured 165 turns and two critical climbs that separated the pack.

“This win is really great for me because the field of riders is very competitive in the Amgen Tour of California,” said Gesink. “Today was a really big win for our team; we were strong as a team today.”

After struggling early on due to a stomach virus, Tyler Farrar (USA) of Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H30, who won the Amgen Leader Jersey the day before in Sacramento, abandoned the race after the second climb.

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Stage 3 Results

1 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank                                      4.28.29 (36.94 km/h)
2 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana
3 Jurgen Vandewalle (Bel) Quick Step                                   0.19
4 Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Quick Step
5 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Astana
6 Thomas Peterson (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H30
7 Christopher Horner (USA) Astana
8 Mauricio Alberto Ardila Cano (Col) Rabobank
9 Alexandre Moos (Swi) BMC Racing Team
10 Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Col) Rock Racing
11 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Gerolsteiner
12 Christian Vande Velde (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H30
13 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC
14 David Millar (GBr) Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H30
15 Gustav Larsson (Swe) Team CSC
16 David Zabriskie (USA) Slipstream Chipotle Presented by H30
17 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step                                     4.20
18 Darren Lill (RSA) BMC Racing Team
19 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) Gerolsteiner
20 Benjamin Jacques-Maynes (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling

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