For me there’s a particular point in our medical team’s management of a serious injury situation when I feel the most relief. That’s when the involved rider gets on a plane and heads home. Early this morning our Team Physiologist Allen Lim took Dave Z to a small nearby airport and got him headed to LA to join his pregnant, soon-to-deliver wife Randi.

Allen, Team Chiropractor Kevin Reichlin, and I collaborated to make that moment possible, and I’m both relieved and proud of how we managed the situation. Dave had a serious injury and was never for a moment out of the capable hands of one of us or, later on, those of our amazing soigneurs. And now he’s headed home to the ones who care about him the most. Yeah and wheeew!

The rest of the crew are a bit banged up and bruised, but hanging in there with good morale. Julian (left post crash) and Pat in particular have miscellaneous routine crash-related injuries, but are doing fine. A couple of others have minor wear-and-tear issues we’re looking after. However after yesterday’s sketchy racing and record-setting transfer (well-chronicled below by David M and Pat), we can probably survive anything the Giro decides to throw at us.

So much of succeeding over here has to do with temperament… specifically the ability to just take situations as they come and to simply accept them for what they are. It’s a character trait that I think everyone in our Giro entourage has and it makes all the difference.

The Times Colonist interviews Ryder Hesjedal on the possibility that he will be the first Canadian cyclist in more than ten years to compete in the Tour de France.

“Victoria’s Ryder Hesjedal is the kind of athlete whose persona in competition conflicts sharply with his demeanour away from it. Soft-spoken and introspective when he is off the bike, Hesjedal turns into Speed Racer when he is on it. Hesjedal is part of the U.S.-based Slipstream-Chipotle team and looking to become the first Canadian racer in the Tour since Gord Fraser in 1997.”

PezCycling News reports on Slipstream/Chipotle H3O’s win in the opening team time trial in the 2008 Giro d’Italia.

From the report “Never have I seen a team so absolutely thrilled with their performance as I did today on the streets of Palermo. The genuine emotion gushed from all members of the team as they rode like the stars they are and put Christian Vende Velde into the maglia rosa.”

DailyPeloton.com profiles Slipstream/Chipotle H3O and its Grand Tour veterans. From the article: “The nine riders of Slipstream are among the top teams expected to have a rider in the Maglia Rosa tomorrow when dust clears after the stage 1 team time trial.”

Somebody has lied to me. This race is madness! Not the chilled out pasta party I was told it was.

The day we are having today is unbelievable. It has been chaos! They had to delay the start because we got caught up in mad Sicilian traffic. Then my wheels were not right, so I changed them. I was so far behind that another kindly team let me hold onto their car and towed me back up and I got on - just before km 0!

Then it rained on a big descent. It was super dangerous and scared the bejesus out of everybody what with the treacherous roads here. Amazingly, nobody crashed. That soon changed. After somehow missing Za Dave’s crash yesterday (who incidentally is okay but stuck on a Magical Mystery Tour on the team bus as he can’t travel home for a few days), I thought that I was good for a few days without incident.

Alas no.

40 km from the finish, there was a massive pile up. Miraculously I didn’t hurt myself, but the impact was so great it ripped my foot out of my shoe. That was a first. I was left tip-toeing through the bodies and bikes looking for my shoe. Surreal.

Things then turned for the worse. The finish was crazy dangerous, like a roller coaster. I once again missed a crash by a gnat’s hair. Stuey and Brad went down hard. Everybody was battling for position while Christian was holding top three like it was a training ride back in Chicago. Easy.

Then after the finish we were supposed to get on buses and be taken to ferries. We shower in a building that resembles a prison. Then the buses are full so we’re left there in a parking lot. Whitey puts me, Ryder and Christian in cars with the mechanics to go back with them as this will be quicker.

So we thought.

This proves to be a mistake as we end up going to another port and have no idea what’s going on. Eventually we get going by which time the other guys are on a different boat from another port!

It’s now 22:11 and we’re still in the car. Christian has just asked me if I’d like to start compiling the ‘Top Ten Reasons Why I Hate The Giro.’ Oh and we raced 230km today, and it’s day three of twenty two.

And weirdly, I’m having a great time!

P.S. The photo is of the ferry leaving as Christian, Ryder and I arrived. Argh!

Cycling has ups and downs. Today, for me anyways, was a little bit of a downer. From start to end. Though it still hasn’t ended yet.

I crashed pretty hard with 70 km to go and had a long chase through the cars. It rained just enough to make things slick and some guys managed to fall off on a straight flat road. I wasn’t the last to get up at least. I saw a Lotto guy with a bad gash in his shin…he was the last one up. Glad that wasn’t me.

So I got back on and there was another crash with 20 km to go. I didn’t go down but ended up back in the cars again chasing some how. Didn’t catch on and rode in with a few other crashed/dropped guys.

After the finish we showered in what looked like old army barracks. I was surprised the water was warm. Then we waited in a parking lot for the bus to take us to the port for the boat ride (that’s where I am now writing this). Then after this boat ride, there is apparently another long bus ride. I suspect we won’t eat dinner until 10:30 - if we’re lucky! Then tomorrow is another long one.

Anyways, we’re all still in good spirits despite it all. Though it all seems a bit ridiculous for 2 days into a three-week stage race, it’s the same for everyone. Danny pointed out that two days ago we were on the winner’s podium. Now we’re kicking a Coke can around in a dirt parking lot. We had a good laugh because, in the end, it’s all about the experience. I’m still happy to be here and still having a good time with this team. I promise.

- Pat

In the tradition of early Grand Tour stages, stage 3 of the Giro included several crashes and finished with a crazy mass sprint (that also included a crash). Though David Millar (right getting bike change) and Magnus Backstedt were involved in pile-ups, both finished today’s stage.

David, Christian Vande Velde and Ryder Hesjedal all managed to finish on the same time as race leader Pellizotti, maintaining their respective time gaps. Ryder was happy to finish a solid 18th on the stage.

“Today was another stressful one! Too many crashes to count and a very fast, dangerous final,” said Ryder. “I ended up being near the front just because that was where Christian was, but it was also the safest place to be!”

“I am looking forward to getting stronger as the race moves on and we will see where opportunity presents itself.”

Slipstream Results Stage 3
1. Daniele Bennati 5:37′01″

18. Ryder Hesjedal mt
22. Christian Vande Velde mt
40. David Millar mt
154. Danny Pate +1′07″
165. Magnus Backstedt +5′19″
166. Chris Sutton +5′19″
180. Julian Dean +7′40
190. Pat McCarty +8′

Slipstream GC
1. Franco Pellizotti 11:52′17″
2. Christian Vande Velde +1″
3. Danilo Di Luca +7″
4. Morris Possoni +8″
5. Vincenzo Nibali +8″

76. David Millar +2′14″
87. Ryder Hesjedal +2′54″
168. Danny Pate +14′40″
171. Julian Dean +15′26″
179. Magnus Backstedt +16′50″
191. Chris Sutton +21′15″
192. Pat McCarty +21′33″

We are happy to announce the winners of our Paris-Roubaix and Tour de Georgia postcard contests. These two Argyle fans cheered on the Argyle at these two events and took the time to send us the special event postcards (Roubaix right) with notes about their favorite cyclists.

Tour de Georgia John Hollingsworth of Knoxville, Tennessee, US wrote: “A very talented team, too much talent to pick one favorite rider. I enjoyed meeting Tom Danielson and pushing Zabriskie up the wall of Brasstown Bald.”

Paris-Roubaix Pascal Lerouc of Vieux-Conde Nords, France wrote: “My favorite rider is Magnus Backstedt because I appreciate his athletic force and mental strength.”

Our two avid Argyle fans will receive a special Slipstream/Chipotle H3O merchandise gift pack that includes a baseball hat, team gloves, socks and trading cards. Thanks to everyone for their participation!

If you are lucky enough to find yourself in Italy this month or in France in July, be sure to pick up one of the special Slipstream/Chipotle H3O postcards (Giro left) and send it off to us with a note about your favorite rider.

And YOU could be our next big winner!