The morning reconnaissance of the course brought a wide variety of colorful phrases, all ending with “freezing.” Basically, it was damn cold! Despite the snow surrounding us, it wasn’t actually that cold come race time.

The circuit was interesting with some technical descending and draggy climbs. My ride hurt. A lot. (me hurting above) Like Jason had warned me, the last kilometer was killer. Slight headwind and steady rise to the line had me crunching the gearbox. But I got there eventually.

Today’s results look pretty impressive for us, I must say. Three guys in the top 11 with such a quality start list is testament to the this team’s hard work. Work and knowledge that can only help a young rider like myself improve on a placing I am quite happy with.

It gets hilly tomorrow, so it will be interesting to test the climbing legs.

On March 24, 2008, Team Garmin-Chipotle H3O received official word from the Amaury Sport Organization (ASO) that the team was selected to participate in the 95th Tour de France on July 5-27! The Argyle Armada will be one of twenty teams from nine different countries who will compete this July in one of the world’s greatest sporting events.

Vaughters told Velonews: “I feel relieved after all the work we put in. We proved we are one of the better teams in the world right from the start… The bigger picture has been A+ work for a new team, so I’m glad ASO agreed with that. Off we go.”

Vaughters said it was too early to talk about which 9 riders + 1 alternate would make the final Tour de France roster. However, the team has released a long list of riders who are being considered for Le Tour. The final roster will be announced June 24.

Team Garmin-Chipotle Squad - Long List
Magnus Backstedt
Steven Cozza
Tom Danielson
Julian Dean
Tyler Farrar
Will Frischkorn
Ryder Hesjedal
Christophe Laurent
Trent Lowe
Martijn Maaskant
David Millar
Danny Pate
Christian Vande Velde
Dave Zabriskie

Ode Magazine’s April cover story focuses in on Chipotle as the new green fast-food. Founder and CEO Steve Ells talks about how his burritos embody a philosophy of “food with integrity.”

Full five-page story available for download.

After three weeks of hard training at home in Girona, we arrived in Madrid only to be greeted by yet more of the abnormal weather that wreaked havoc at Paris-Nice. Racing near Madrid, I would normally expect to be working on my cyclists suntan.

But the drive to the hotel today was slightly different. Freezing temperatures and falling snow! Inches of white stuff accumulating by the road side! OK, we are at 1200 meters altitude. But hey, it’s nearly April!

As for the race, I’m feeling quite good about getting a number on my back again and testing my legs. We are starting the race one man down with the Pate still fighting an illness he picked up at Paris-Nice. Get well soon buddy!

Other than that, we’re all raring to get out there. It would just be nice if it warms up a bit!

Here are the prologue start times for your favorite Slipstream/Chipotle riders:

Jason Donald 14:48
Pat McCarty 15:04
Dan Martin 15:20
Huub Duyn 15:36
Steven Cozza 15:52
Christian Vande Velde 16:08
Tyler Farrar 16:24

ESPN.com talks to team owner Doug Ellis about their Tour de France invite and hopes.

Said Ellis: “We’re not only going for publicity. We are going for the yellow jersey, to take it and try to hold on to it. It’s a new year in cycling. We want to bring innovating tactics into the race. We have competitive riders so there are chances for us to wear the yellow jersey and take stage wins.”

Half of the team have raced Milan-San Remo six or seven times. But for the rest of us, this was our very first time! Each of us was given a job. Mine was riding in support for Julian Dean and others, like Will and Maggy, were given free range to follow attacks. If they didn’t make the break, then they were also supposed to ride in support of our leaders, Millar and Dean.

Will made the right move, and after a bit of time, the break of the day was established. This was great for all of us because: 1. We were represented in the break, 2. The pressure was off the rest of us, and 3. TV time!

Will had a great day in the saddle, albeit being a very long one. We caught up with him about 10 km out and all he could ask for was some food after doing 6600 kilojoules worth of work!

I’m damn proud of my roomie!

People can sit at home watching these races on TV and say, “Oh come on! Don’t get dropped! Get back on! It’s easy!” But I am here to tell you, it’s way way harder than it looks.

Off to track worlds now!

Cyclingnews.com talks to Jonathan Vaughters about the teams plans for the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France.

Vaughters explained: “It may seem kind of old school, but we’re going to race the Giro – and we won’t be fiddling around there, we’re really going to race – and then we’re going to take a break and do some altitude training in Switzerland and then do the Tour with little or no racing in between.”