David Millar, stage 5 time trial by Doug Pensinger, Getty Photos

Today’s New York Times featured Slipstream/Chipotle H3O and the strong impression the team has made during the 2008 Tour of California. Jonathan Vaughters talked about the plan for the last two stages of the Tour: “We are going to get to race our style of racing — which is attack, attack, attack.”

Still buzzing after his second place finish and the team’s overall showing during yesterday’s time trial, David Millar said: “I think we’re on the way to building something quite special. We’re having so much fun doing it. I’ve never enjoyed cycling so much in my life, and I’ve never worked so hard. And I think this is just the beginning.”

The UK based Cycling Weekly features a post time trial interview with David Millar who insists the race for the Amgen Tour of California gold jersey is not over.

Said Millar, ““I’m 49 seconds down on Levi but this race is far from over. We’ve got two hard days ahead but we’ve got the strongest team in the race. We won’t let him win it.”

Look for Slipstream/Chipotle to unleash some surprises this weekend as the race works its way down through Pasadena for the finish on Sunday. In particular, stage 7 from Santa Clarita to Pasadena might offer opportunities for a GC shake up with a nice 4,906-foot climb - Millcreek Summit - thrown it to keep things exciting to the very end.

A Spanish ESPN blog - ESPNdesportes - features Slipstream/Chipotle H3O as American cycling’s next big thing. Reporter Georgina “Goga” Ruizsandoval notes the team’s stellar performance in California as one that put them on the same level with the sport’s top pro tour teams.

**Linked article in Spanish.**

California Dreamin’
February 23, 2008:

So a lot has happened since I last wrote anything down. What this time last year was still simply a dream is now reality. I’m sitting in the breakfast hall alone on the last day at Tour of California. I’m not really sleeping much anymore, which normally means that I’m beginning to hit form, the fact I’m lying in second overall is probably a better confirmation of that.

Our Slipstream team is exceeding my expectations-and I have very high expectations-yet they’re being matched often and exceeded on a daily basis. This is not something I’m accustomed to and it is a wonderful feeling. Since we first got together in November it has been clear that we’re doing something right. There were the initial fears that the amalgamation of the old with the new may cause conflicts but that never arose. We as the new members were welcomed with open arms and we’ve tried our best to become part of the team that already existed, allowing it to grow and not simply change. I think none of us has ever had as much fun in a cycling environment as we did at the first meet and greet camp in Boulder at the beginning of November. It set the tone for the team and created a camaraderie that made going home and working our arses off for two months over the winter easier. Easier because we all knew our teammates would be doing the same as none of us wanted to let the others down when the racing began this year. This is a new feeling for me and I like it…

Our first race was Qatar, this was important for us for a couple of reasons. It is organized by ASO (the Tour de France organizers) and was our first outing as the bigger better Slipstream. The team that did Qatar came and stayed in Girona the ten days before so we could train together and get to know each other on the bike. The rest of the team congregated in Silvercity at the same time to do their altitude training camp and what later would become known as ‘The Longest Training Camp in The World.’

Adrie van Diemen, my coach and also the coach of most of the European based riders on the team, came down and spent a week putting us through drills and hardcore training. It was so much fun, we were doing lead out trains, sprint competitions, team time trials and other interesting crazy Adrie things. This once again is the first time I’ve been at a team training camp where we’ve been coached and trained, which may seem hard to believe but is a fact. This was made possible by the fact that all eight of us were fit and wanted to train, there was one day where we did a split session and were rolling back into Girona at night protected by team cars in front and behind us. We thought were pretty hardcore for that…

By the time we got to Qatar we were ready. I think we gave the other teams the fear when they saw us out the first day split into groups of two doing interval sessions on the one road we could use for training. All the other teams were pottering along in groups of eight trying to recover from the traveling. Not Slipstream. It was a good indication of our work ethic and drive, we got a fantastic second place in the opening TTT and then had CJ Sutton put on a consistently solid performance against the best sprinters in the world. We finally got to grips with our lead out train only to have it de-railed and smashed to smithereens on the road. Poor Maggie (Magnus Backstedt) took the brunt of it and is only now recovering completely from his broken collarbone. But hot diggety is our lead out train fast, we’ve got a style that we’re trying to master regards it as well, trying to do it a bit different to all the other teams, but I’ll go into that another time.

We raced aggressively and with panache at Qatar and became an incredibly solid racing team. Eddy Merckx thought we were great and even invited us out with the sheikh on the last day to go 4×4ing in the desert. Unfortunately a storm stopped this from happening, but it was nice that Monsieur Merckx chose our team to be his guests. Qatar finished well apart from a certain washing bag finding itself hung precariously from the one million euro chandelier in the Ritz Carlton foyer, but once again, that’s for another time.

So here I am sitting in the breakfast hall at California. It has been a wonderful week for us, and in truth it has exceeded my expectations. We’ve got two riders on the GC podium, we’re leading the Team Classification and we’ve had the Yellow Jersey for one day. We’ve also been the team that has taken the initiative from day one, the whole team has been great, the riders and the staff. The guys who have impressed me the most are Tom Peterson, Steve Cozza and Danny Pate. They were three riders that were on Slipstream before we came across and they are the real deal. JV has done a great job nurturing their talent up to this level and I could write a dozen anecdotes about them already. Hard as nails they are.

Stage seven is the last day, and we’re waiting to find out if we go over the last climb. If we do, the race is on. We’re going down fighting and it may not make us popular but I think by now the peloton expects Slipstream to race, the guys who a few weeks ago joked at the Argyle now have the fear when they see us roll towards the front.

That’s a wonderful thing.

Under thankfully dry skies, Slipstream/Chipotle came to the Solvang time trial ready to prove once and for all their depth as a team. And with a second, third, and sixth place finishes and the resulting significant changes in GC, the team did just that. Not to mention taking the lead as the best team overall.

Slipstream results stage 5, ITT
1. Levi Leipheimer 30′46″803
2. David Millar 29″
3. Christian Vande Velde 45″
6. David Zabriskie 1′15″
27. Steven Cozza 2′24″
29. Tom Peterson 2′25″
47. Dan Pate 3′16″

Slipstream GC after stage 5, ITT
2. David Millar: 49″
3. Christian Vande Velde: 1′08″
6. David Zabriskie: 1′36″
11. Tom Peterson: 2′58″
59. Dan Pate: 31′51″
77. Steven Cozza: 36′09″

This weekend, myself and the rest of the Slipstream boys are preparing for a March and April packed full of racing with a weekend full of firsts. Places, you ask? Well that would be nice and time will tell.

Saturday we contest Trofeo Laigueglia, the first big Italian season opener. It is packed full of monster climbs and an even more daunting start list. With three major, back-to-back passes–including the Passa del Ginestro–the final sprint group should be small.

On Sunday, we head to France for the first French Cup, Haut Var. Not having the profile in front of me is probably a good thing. I have heard it is a relentlessly hilly course that should produce another small group at the finish. This race is a favorite of our fearless leader, Mr. Vaughters, as he frequented the top ten back in the day.

From here we will continue the quest for more firsts and the usual eternal joy and happiness. Best of luck to the boys in CA! Let the Argyle Armada roll. Check back tomorrow for results and report.

Ciao, ciao - Lucas

One of the favorites for today’s individual time trial, three time US national time trial champ David Zabriskie had this to say about the possible outcome for today’s race against the clock:

“Still raining.”

Download your very own official time trial start list.

It’s an understood truth that today’s 15-mile individual time trial will ultimately decide who the leader will be for the 2008 Amgen Tour of California when the race finishes up Sunday in Pasadena.

Any one of the current top ten riders in the race could make history today. Three of them are Slipstream/Chipotle cyclists–David Millar (above ), David Zabriskie, and Christian Vande Velde (right)–all capable of putting in a race winning ride.

Said CEO/Director Sportif Jonathan Vaughters, “It’s going to be very interesting to see who recovers from yesterday’s death march. That will impact the results for sure. I just don’t know which way.”