“Destiny Won’t Find You”...this been my mantra of the year. Despite setbacks from my horrific crash in the Vuelta in September, I've never stopped believing that I can win the Tour. Well, it doesn't look like I'll have the opportunity this year. I’m sitting here on a plane back to Boulder to race in the USA for the remainder of the summer. My team has chosen the Tour squad based on results, and because of a herniated disc that kept me out of some races in the early season, my schedule has been tweaked with the intention of doing everything possible to keep me healthy for the TDF.

It wasn’t until a small race in Portugal that I realized that the goal I thought I was working towards, the Tour de France, was now in jeopardy. My progress was not enough for my team and I was told needed to show something quickly in Route du Sud or I wasn’t going. I poured on the pressure and really wanted to show my team I was back to my winning ways. The uphill time-trial was the perfect chance for me and I entered the race so excited to show I was back. I started incredibly strong and had a very fast time going, as this sort of event is my specialty. At the second time check I was ahead of the best time at the moment. With only 4k remaining my body just shut down. I clearly went out too hard and became extremely frustrated. I took that into the next two days of the race and rode strong for my teammate Dan helping him win the overall.

While I understood I wasn’t performing at my best level, I was hoping at least I could go and help out the team at the Tour. I have a solid record of performances in grand tours and I truly believe I could have accomplished amazing things at the TDF. I can confidently say I’ve never felt better in training and I’ve shown in the longer races that I’ve improved day after day. Although I think I’d be finding form right at the mountain stages of the TDF, I will have to now challenge myself with races here in America. And for that, I’m also very excited. My new schedule will have me racing Cascade Classic, Tour of Utah, The Tour of Colorado, USPRO and Tour of Missouri. After these races, it’s back to Europe finishing with Giro di Lombardia. Destiny isn’t going to find me, I am going to chase it down.

Thanks for your support.

TD