Team Garmin-Slipstream’s Timmy Duggan came back from a near career-ending crash in 2008 to have a strong 2009 season, nearly winning stage 8 at the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré. Timmy spoke with Pez Cyclingnews’ Edmond Hood about his season in review.

Timmy Duggan - Dauphine Libere, stage 8

It has been a few months since last we spoke to Garmin’s Timmy Duggan. In the 2008 Tour of Georgia, the young man from Colorado came close to death in a 100 kph pile up; but 2009 has seen him back in the shark pool – at the deep end! We thought Paris – Tours was a good excuse to catch up.

PEZ: How was Paris – Tours for Garmin, Timmy?
Timmy: Good, we had Martijn Maaskant and Tyler Farrar well positioned but they go caught in that crash in the last few K.

Tyler was ready; but that’s bike racing – the road was narrow and there were high brick walls both sides so it wasn’t as if we had an exit strategy.

PEZ: How has ‘09 been?
Timmy: I had a really good race programme to come back with; once I had a solid base, we just kept adding races. I raced a lot at high level with no real breaks, just maybe two weeks between races, now and again. I would like to have ridden a Grand Tour, but 80-some days racing in my Pro Tour rookie season, coming off my injury isn’t bad! I’m just happy to have come from no racing to racing really hard.

PEZ: 2009 highlight?
Timmy: The Dauphine, where I just missed a stage win – but not just that, it was the first time that I had the right sensations back. If I’d finished fifth that day, it would still have been good because I knew I was back – over the hump!

The Tour of Missouri was pretty nice too, with David Zabriskie taking the overall win in the sponsor’s back yard.

And there was my first Worlds – it’s been great to ride these big races; San Sebastian, Plouay, the Worlds, Paris – Tours and Lombardy. I hadn’t done much of that sort of racing but now I have all that experience of six hour races, under my belt.

Read the entire interview: