Team Holowesko Partners U23 rider Caleb Fairly has already had a strong season, long before he made the jump to the big time as a stagiere for the Garmin-Transitions ProTour squad. But last weekend he confirmed why he will be racing as a full member of the team next season, with a 12th place in the Memorial Marco Pantani followed up with a super-impressive podium in the Giro della Toscana.
When I found out I would get to ride the last 6 weeks of the season as a stagiere for the ProTour team I was ecstatic. I had been hoping and planning all year that I would have this opportunity, and it wasn’t until just a few days before USPRO that my contract was approved by the UCI!
I had been training the past month to make sure I was ‘fit’ and it would have been devastating for me to have ended my season early knowing I had such good form.
Coming over to Europe I had zero expectations, except to have fun, enjoy this experience, and to learn as much as I could. I had a few days in Girona before my first race, and Timmy Duggan was kind enough to let me stay with him.
That was awesome as he showed me the in and outs of Girona — like where to buy meat and which bakery had the best bread, along with a lot of the history of Girona.
So far this has been an excellent trip and I’ve already learned so much.
Getting third in Giro della Toscana was an unexpected result but very exciting!
I didn’t have a ton of confidence before the race, but had told myself that even though I didn’t ‘feel’ it I was still going to ride like I belonged at the front of that race.
It’s funny because I didn’t even know who I was sprinting against until I was standing on the podium and the announcer was speaking in Italian and introduced the winner as Daniele Bennati!
It was on of those WOW moments for me!
