9.16.06: Inspiration to fight backWell, the Vuelta is just about done now. I rode hard today in order to protect my sixth place overall and that worked out fine, even though Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) did a very good time.
Looking back, it has been a difficult Vuelta for me, so to come back from my earlier disappointments and win that stage was an amazing experience. Bouncing back from such a low meant a lot. My season is over tomorrow so it is nearly time for a break. My wife is here now, so it is great to be with her.
My plan is to go home, go to Interbike and, of course, to recover. I also have a fundraiser back in Durango for my scholarship. It's called the Durango Fall Blaze Bicycle Tour and it will take place on Saturday, September 30. I'm looking forward to that!
Hasta luego,
Tom
9.14.06: Inspiration to fight backWell, as you may have seen, I won yesterday’s stage. I was really delighted with that, obviously. I’ve taken other victories in the past but this one is different.
First of all, this race has the title of a Grand Tour so that obviously makes it very special. But the biggest and most special part of today is that in one race I have been able to recover from the lowest I have been in my cycling career and, with the help of my wife and my team, been able to come back, fight back and deliver at the finish.
I actually didn't think I’d be able to get away in a break after it not working out the day before. But this whole race has been a surprise for me. It has been a surprise in the beginning, why I was so bad, then it was a surprise when I couldn’t go in the breakaway earlier this week.
To be honest with you, my priority in the stage was to work for Egoi in the beginning to make sure he won the KOM. So I bridged across to his breakaway and then pulled for him for three kilometres all the way to the top. He won the KOM which was icing on the cake and then, as you could see, Kashechkin and Astana just went crazy and I ended in the middle of it.
A breakaway went then. Egoi is very good at the breakaway and he said ‘Tom, Tom, this is your opportunity.’ I took it. I didn't care if it was going to get caught…I have been very, very frustrated in this race and have had to be mentally strong to come back from all the disappointments that I have had from the beginning. Every pull that I took was brushing the dirt off my shoulder, and the finish line was where I brushed it all off. It was a great experience.
I should add at this point that a guy called Gene McClean has been a big inspiration for me. I met him through the LAF [Lance Armstrong Foundation] and he is a big cycling fan. Gene has brain cancer and has been fighting it every day. Cancer is a battle that you can’t ever give up on and compared to that, but bike racing is just a game. So thinking of his life and what he goes through is an inspiration and enabled me to fight back out of the lows that I have experienced here.
Anyway, until next time,
Hasta Luego,
Tom
9.13.06: Feeling the differenceI am getting better and I hope to improve more today and tomorrow, and then in the time trial. I felt good yesterday [Stage 16] and tried to go in a lot of breakaways at the beginning of the stage. I wasted a lot of energy doing that but I was hoping to be in a break and try for the stage win from there.
Now it is not possible for me to be in the early breakaway, so I will just be concentrating my efforts on the end of the race.
It was good for the morale to be attacking at the end. I didn't quite have the confidence to follow those big attacks - I would kind of hesitate and watch them attack, thinking, 'wow, that is impressive'. Then I would start pedalling and see that I could be there [and get back to them]. That is going to be good for my confidence from now on, and for me, I am entering the last week very motivated.
Who knows what is possible, as regards a stage win or other goals? I am going to give it everything I have and we will see. A lot of it is luck and how the race plays out. I mean, who knows - perhaps on one stage I will be the first guy to the top of the climb but there will be a breakaway, or I could have a bad day. You never know in bike racing and the level I am at in my career right now, I am not at the point where my body is just programmed. This is really my third full Grand Tour.
That said, I can definitely feel a difference and I can definitely feel my body responding well; last year, I was completely on the limit in the final week whereas this year I feel quite well. That is a big difference, and I think the next Grand Tour will be better... I will know my body better.
From what Johan says, I think I will be doing the Tour next year. That will be my goal and I hope after this race we will get ready for next season and come out swinging.
Until the next time,
Hasta luego,
Tom
9.09.06: Three tough days and a time trialWell, the past couple of stages have been held in Cuenca. Stage 13 concluded with a climb up through the old town and then a drop down to the finish. It was tough yesterday, it was hard to be in position before it started. It was all about fighting to be in the right place. It was actually very, very fast all day, very fast on the climb and I think all of us have had had a tough last three days. So a time trial on top of it makes things difficult.
I finished a little over a minute off the best time in the race against the clock today [Tom was 12th, 1'14 behind winner David Millar]. I would have liked to have been closer but we will see if I can improve in the next few days. I think that maybe those who weren't up on GC were perhaps a bit fresher for this time trial. For sure they have held back and wanted to give it a super ride today.
We used the same climb as was used towards the end of yesterday's stage. It was tough today - when you are on those cobbles, it is hard to keep your momentum going. A little guy has to go hard on the flats and also hard on the climb, all the way along. One good thing was that the heat wasn't so much of a factor.when you are working hard, you are always sweating. I think the hardest thing about the weather so far is that we have gone from hot to cold, hot to cold.
Anyway, that's the latest update. We are heading towards the mountains again so hopefully things go well and I can do something good there.
Until the next time,
Hasta luego,
Tom
9.07.06: Feeling stronger, but playing the team roleWell, things are getting better for me. I feel like whatever is wrong with me in the first week is going away. I won't know for sure until the time trial but I feel like I am back on track. I came to this Vuelta very motivated and I am going to finish the race with absolutely everything I have.
I tried to get clear in the last couple of days in the hope that I might be able to get back a little bit of time but it doesn't look like that is possible, as that was closed down very quick. But we will see - the race is very unpredictable and it is far from over. We are only on stage 12 today so it really is a long way to Madrid.
Last year at this time I was just hanging on for dear life whereas this time I feel strong. I am down in the GC for a number of different reasons. Right now I don't have one clear objective, whether it is GC or a stage win; I just want to come out and show that I am strong, show that I am a fighter and show that I am not a quitter.
The time trial is the next test…I am going to go fast there!!
Until next time,
Hasta luego,
Tom
9.03.06: Feeling stronger, but playing the team roleWell, I was stronger today than in the other mountain stages, that is for sure. I was with the first guys, but Johan asked me to wait for Janez. That is what I had to do. I lost time the other day…I still don’t know why that happened, but my legs are better now. Today I was easy on the back of Marchante when Sastre attacked. Those guys were going across to Vino and Kashechkin and I was there. But when your teammate is in the gold jersey, I guess that is what you have to do…
I hope I can do something later in the race. It seems I am back to where I should have been. I can’t explain why I was so bad in the first few days, but today I felt good.
It is very disappointing the way things turned out earlier on in the race. I am happy for Janez, the way things turned out for him [taking gold] but I am disappointed that I had that bad day, and also lost a bit of time on the first mountain stage. I would like to make a good Vuelta so we will see.
As regards my plans from this point on, I will have to listen to what Johan says and see what I can do. I would love to win a stage. I will try, but first I would like to climb with the best guys. Today I felt like I could have…if you watched the stage on TV, you could see that I could have.
Anyway, there are two time trials and three mountain stages left, so we will see…
Talk to you after the rest day,
Hasta luego,
Tom
9.02.06: Dealing with disappointmentWell, it was nice to get the best team award today. Obviously our team is riding really well so it is a good sign. I am definitely happy for Janez, he is a very strong rider. I am not so surprised that he has been doing well as I know he is very good, but to take the leader's jersey shows that he definitely has been riding extremely well so far.
I felt horrible yesterday. I felt bad the first day in the mountains and then yesterday was absolutely horrible. I could have ridden better up that climb in November! If you look at my performances all year, it just doesn't make any sense. I am not sick, there is nothing wrong with me - I have no idea what happened. I have never ridden that bad in my life. I was 36th on the mountain stage... 36th! I have never finished 36th on a mountain stage.
I would like to tell you what is going to happen from now on but I can't. Yesterday was a very disappointing day for me. It was very difficult for me mentally when I realised in the first minute on the climb that I was going as hard as I could but there was no power coming out of my legs.
The strange thing was that when I got back to the hotel, my legs weren't tired and they were not sore during the massage, either. It was weird, it was like just one cylinder out of four was firing. That was a new experience for me, to have such high expectations and then watch them all disappear in a few minutes of racing.
Now I am four minutes down. I have already had the disappointment, so it can only get better from here. I expect to ride better and hope tomorrow goes as it should.
Hasta luego for now,
Tom
8.30.06: First time in the mountainsToday was the first day in the mountains of the 2006 Vuelta. It was windy and hard and just really hot. I didn't feel that super on the climb; I was okay, but not super. I am happy in that I didn't lose that much time despite having a bad day.
I think it might just be a case of the first day in the mountains. This is a special race, a long race, so there is a long way to go.
The stage winner Danilo Di Luca and a few others got away from me with two or three kilometres remaining. When Di Luca attacked my legs were cramping a bit and so it was better for me to ride at one speed. Unfortunately I was by myself for a little bit, so I lost a little bit of time.
My teammate was up the road, Janez Brajkovic. He rode a super race today to get second and Triki (Manuel Beltrán) was good as well.
Looking ahead, I think the stages are going to get harder from this point and the results are going to be different. This is a long race and the first day in the mountains doesn't mean a lot. So let’s see how things go from here.
Until the next time,
Tom
8.29.06: So Far So GoodEverything is going well thus far, the team was very good yesterday. I stayed out of trouble, we covered a few breakaways and I was in a good position in the final. I was really happy with yesterday and in the team time trial we were good as well. I think that for the team that we have, we did a good ride. CSC was obviously a level above us but the other two were very close, so I think if we didn't make a few small mistakes, we could have got second.
This year is different for me than was the case last time round. I have prepared very well for this race. I am in better condition that I was here last year and I am understand racing a bit better. I am also more motivated because I have a good opportunity ahead of me. I have yet to see exactly what that opportunity is but in the next week we will learn what I can do here. I will do everything I can to have a strong ride in this Vuelta.
Thinking about it, I believe I needed to get last year under my belt in order to build my confidence up. As I have said in a few interviews recently, this is really only my third year as a professional cyclist. It makes things a little more difficult than for some other riders of a similar age. For example, when Ivan Basso was winning the world under 23 championships, I was doing group rides and getting dropped! I was not even training and was 25 pounds heavier than I am now.
This sport is so hard, it takes a long time to get good at it. For me, my fitness and engine are good but you have to understand the races, you have to understand the training and you have to know all that in order to realise how to get the best out of yourself. I spent last year learning that and this year I feel that I am ready to take advantage of the situation that is in front of me. So we will see how things go over the next three weeks.
I'll give you another update in a couple of stages,
Tom
