Jonathan Vaughters, stage 2 For those of you who remember my little monologue back in November at our team launch, perhaps you vaguely recall one rather somber note. I said, ‘We must embrace failure and celebrate the rarity of victory.” Those of you who have been following our team’s rather euphoric ride for the last six weeks were probably wondering what the heck I was talking about.

Well, now you know.

We’ve let all our fans and the media see the reality of what goes on inside our team. And now the reality of what’s going on is tough. That is the way cycling really is. Mechanical victories and spotlessly perfect racing is something you’ll never see with us. Because, quite frankly, if that were the case, we wouldn’t be who we say we are - we wouldn’t be human.

In true cycling, you have very few great moments a year surrounded by a sea of suffering. This is just the way the sport is. It’s a sport where if one little thing goes wrong, everything comes crumbling down. That’s why you must celebrate, truly celebrate in your heart, when you do happen upon a win.

I know, I know. Paris-Nice was supposed to be our first “objective,” but let me tell you a secret: when you race with a human body, form comes and goes. Good days happen when you least expect them, and bad days happen when you’re supposed to be good.

We’ve already performed far above people’s expectations this year. Now we will fall short of them for a bit. It is the hardness of a sport where 180 start, 120 finish, and only 1 guy wins. It’s the hardest sport imaginable for the human body. And sometimes that human body fails the test.

Don’t worry. Just when you’ve given up on loving Argyle, and seen all our flaws, that’s exactly when we’ll win something you never thought we could. And most likely, we never thought we could either.

You’re getting a seat on the inside and all can say is buckle up. The ups and downs are big on this rollercoaster.

JV