ToC Stage 7 – Queen Stage
Today’s stage started off just as we knew it would, with the Garmin boys going on the attack. They did a great job of putting on a show all day long, with two riders in the break, both of which were a serious threat for the overall lead. The RadioShack boys had their work cut out for them, but we also got a lot of help from Trek-Leopard, who of course were looking for a stage win in the Amgen Tour of California. The break got no more than two minutes ahead of the chasing field, as we knew with a shorter stage, the chances of giving a large break any more time than that would have put us at a serious disadvantage and caused serious problems later in the day.
Our plan was to get over the first climb of the day with all eight RadioShack riders in tact in the front group. After going over the top of the climb, to my surprise, we really did have all eight riders still present and accounted for. Even after all the work they have been doing all week, Ben, Markel and JMac were still riding strong on the front at the top of the climb. After that, I was hoping all three would then make it to the start of the second big climb of the day, Glendora Mountain, but I never though that they would actually make it over the second climb and still be pulling time back on the break more than 2/3’s of the way through the tough stage.
When they finally came off, the team still had a few more surprises for me in the final 1/3 of the stage. At that point, we had a little extra stress, as our team car blew out a back rear tire, putting us on edge as we would be without our team support until the staff and directors were able to swap all of the equipment from Car 1 to Car 2 and get the lead car back up to us. We also had Haimar at the back of the group, trying to pick up bottles before we reached the last point in the race where you were still allowed to feed from the car. Haimar had to do an incredible effort to pick up the critical last bottles that we would need for the final climb before the feeding was cut off.
After that little extra drama, Dimi was the sole RadioShack rider on the front, doing all of the work to bring back the break. I yelled to Dimi that we needed him to drive it solo for the next ten miles, taking us to the base of the final climb up Mount Baldy. This was going to allow Busche to start the climb as fresh as possible, and leave both Levi and I to close any remaining gaps to the break or hopefully just protect our lead from any attacks that were certain to come. Only, again to my surprise, after Dimi pulled off, our young pro Busche had everyone on the limit, myself included, as he blew the remanents of the front group apart. His pace was incredible! This kid’s name has to be added to the list of young American pros to look out for in the very near future.
There was a slightly crosswind from right to left. Busche gave Levi and I a nice draft, but left everyone else exposed and suffering. At first I thought maybe I was having a bad day when Busche hit the front, but then I looked at my SRM meter and saw how high the numbers were and then looked behind me and saw how few riders were left. At this point, all the discomfort I thought I was feeling seemed to disappear as I realized that Busche had torn the field apart, bringing the front group down to only about six riders.
From behind me Levi started yelling encouragement to Busche, which motivated him to another level, and he lifted the pace yet again. The fantastic practically neo-pro rider took us down to the final mile or so with only Levi and I on his wheel when he finally pulled off. From there it was the Levi show! As Levi took over from Busche, he lifted the pace yet again, putting more time into the group behind us as he drilled it to the finish with me on his wheel. With all of the screaming fans that turned out in full force around us, I was loving every minute.
As Levi took us to the line, both hands raised, RadioShack went 1 and 2 on an incredible stage in the Amgen Tour of California. Hope all of the fans watching on TV enjoyed the show put on from the Garmin boys, Trek-Leopard, and of course, the fantastic boys of RadioShack. Thanks for all the support. One more day to go!
