Left to right: Will Frischkorn, Tom Danielson and Tom Peterson keep things under control at the front.

Yesterday the boys displayed just how strong and truly professional they are. We took control of the crit right from the start. Will, Danny, and Tom D kept the peloton lined out all the way to the end. Yes, just the three of them! [See VeloNews report.]

The short course and strong winds made it hard for any breakaways to hold on to a gap and the team made sure nothing with a danger rider got anywhere. They kept ramping the speed up a notch each closing lap, and with one lap to go, Jason launched off the front in an effort to gain some time. But it came back together just in the final corner.

I gave it my all to follow the sprinters and go for a time bonus, but came up just short and finished 4th. Jason, Tom and I were all in the top 10. The guys were really impressive.

Today is the big day we’ve been looking forward to. We’re going to keep this jersey!

Team Garmin-Chipotle stage 3 results
1. Ricardo Escuela 1h30′40
4. Blake Caldwell +00″
6. Jason Donald +00″
7. Tom Peterson +00″
11. Tom Danielson +00″
16. Peter Stetina +00″
77. Danny Pate +32″
82. Will Frischkorn +59″

Team Garmin-Chipotle GC
1. Blake Caldwell 8h41′20″
2. Darren Lill +04″
3. Jason Donald +18″
13. Peter Stetina +28″
27. Tom Peterson +1′47″
38. Tom Danielson +5′37″
55. Will Frischkorn +15′24″
62. Danny Pate +17′22″

Best Young Rider by Vitamin Water
1. Peter Stetina 8h41′48″
2. Tom Peterson +1′19″
3. Kiel Reijnen +1′19
4. Scott Stewart +1′19″

KOM by Zion’s Bank
1. Glen Chadwick 21 pts
2. Blake Caldwell 13 pts
5. Peter Stetina 8 pts

Team GC
1. Team Garmin-Chipotle 26h04′46″
2. BMC +20″
3. Rock Racing +38″

Stage 2 of the Volta a Portugal came down to field sprint where Tyler Farrar demonstrated his late season form by finishing third. There were no major changes to the overall classification with Steven Cozza third overall and Tyler Farrar fourth. Cozza still rules the Best Young Rider classification and Team Garmin-Chipotle H30 is still the top team in Portugal.

Team Garmin-Chipotle H3O stage 2 results
1. Danilo Napolitano 4h10′44″
3. Tyler Farrar +00″
47. Dan Martin +00″
76. Lucas Euser +00″
82. Steven Cozza +00″
86. Christian Meier +00″
92. Pat McCarty +00″
98. Chris Sutton +46″

Team Garmin-Chipotle H3O GC
1. Ruben Plaza 9h28′58″
3. Steven Cozza +03″
4. Tyler Farrar +08″
17. Dan Martin +24″
24. Pat McCarty +28″
55. Lucas Euser +43″
71. Chris Sutton +1′05″
78. Christian Meier +1′18″

Team Garmin-Chipotle Best Young
1. Steven Cozza
2. Oleg Chuzhda
3. Dan Martin

Team GC
1. Team Garmin-Chipotle H3O 28h27′27″
2. Palmeiras Resort-Tavira +06″
3. Liberty Seguros +14″

Perfect. That’s the only way to describe how my Garmin-Chipotle teammates rode stage 2. We knew we had the team to take control of the race and we used the confidence to do exactly that. Our BMX start specialist, Will, with some Tour form to boot, hit out from the blocks causing a reaction from the field. We countered with Pate, Peterson, Stetina, and myself all going away at some point on the first climb. Just over the top, we had our entire team in a group of less than 30 and could take turns following attacks in the valley before the next climb. Danielson was in a strong move, but with Oscar Sevilla of Rock Racing in it as well, it was short lived.

The second climb was a little more mellow with Peter attacking a couple times. His acceleration opened some gaps, but all of the favorites were forced to respond and it was more or less still together. A promising breakaway of six with Danny Pate established itself following the downhill. Unfortunately for us, nobody wanted to work with him. No surprise, after all, since we all saw The Pate in stage 15 at the Tour. A reshuffling followed with a new ten-rider break going with Peterson and myself in it. Once again, Sevilla was present and that was a no go. Peterson told him that we were going to chase it as long as he was there, so he escorted Sevilla back to the field.

Now with eight left in the breakaway, we were sitting pretty. I could let the others in the breakaway do the work as Jason was the race leader. Up the final climb, I followed Lill and pretty soon it was just us two left. Back in the field, Peterson set an incredible tempo to whittle the lead group down and isolate most of the other team’s leaders. Nearing the top of the climb, the two of us still had a good advantage ahead of the chase group with Jason still amongst the favorites. It was perfect. I had the opportunity to go for the stage win, and either Jason or I would be in the jersey.

We were able to stretch out the gap some on the final downhill and came in to the last kilometer still clear. I started the sprint at 200 meters on Lill’s wheel and came around him to keep Team Garmin-Chipotle’s winning streak alive! Jason and Peter finished in the small group just behind. With that Peter established a solid lead in the Best Young Rider competition and all three of us are in contention for GC.

Up today is a 60-minute flat criterium in Salt Lake City. It’ll certainly be a crowd pleaser, but a nervous and hard-fought 60 minutes for us. We’re looking forward Saturday’s queen stage with the mountain-top finish at Snowbird. We’re going for it!

The Boulder Daily Camera interviews Taylor Phinney on his performance in the qualifying round for the 4000-meter individual pursuit.

From the article: “A sound ride against Volodymyr Dyudya of the Ukraine put aside any fear of a breakdown as Phinney claimed the seventh of eight spots in the field. ‘My goal was 4:19,’ said Phinney, who finished in 4 minutes, 22.86 seconds. ‘I thought the track would be a little hotter than it was.’ The finish means he will be facing New Zealander Hayden Roulston, a tall order. Roulston finished second to England’s Bradley Wiggins in 4:18.99.”

The Rocky Mountain News reports on Taylor Phinney’s initial qualifying round in the 4000-meter men’s individual pursuit during the Beijing Olympic Games. The article feature interviews with Taylor’s parents, Connie and Davis.

From the article: “It’s been incredible,” Carpenter-Phinney said of being at the Olympics with the entire family. “It’s (her son’s) first Olympics, and he slayed some dragons out there … One thing you need to know. I was seventh in my first Olympics, and he was seventh (in qualifying).”

This MSN Video feature profiles Taylor Phinney on his preparations for the Beijing Olympics. The video also takes an intimate look at his family background and life with father Davis Phinney and mother Connie Carpenter-Phinney.

Riding in heat 6 against Ukraine cyclist Volodymyr Dyudya, Taylor Phinney clocked the 7th fastest time during today’s qualifying heats for the 4000 meter individual pursuit. Taylor rode a 4′22.860″ qualifying time.

Taylor’s split times:
1000m - 1′07.621″
2000m - 1′04.552″
3000m - 1′04.856″
4000m - 1′05.831″

True to what Kelsey Phinney predicted for the day, the track was fast and Bradley Wiggins set a new Olympic record with his qualifying time of 4′15.031″

4000 meter individual pursuit results
1. Bradley Wiggins 4′15.031″ *new Olympic record*
2. Hayden Roulston 4′18.990″
3. Alexei Markov 4′21.498″
4. Volodymyr Dyudya 4′21.530″
5. Steven Burke 4′22.260″
6. Antonio Tauler 4′22.462″
7. Taylor Phinney 4′22.860″
8. Alexander Serov 4′23.732″

Taylor will compete tomorrow August 16 at 16:30 Beijing Time in the third heat of the semi-finals against New Zealand cyclist Hayden Roulston.

Location:
Salt Lake City, Utah, United States

Overview:
Finishing 2nd overall in the 2008 Tour of Utah, Blake Caldwell used his Garmin Edge 705 to record all but the final individual time trial of this five-stage race.

Stage 3 was an evening criterium through downtown Salt Lake City. The riders raced for 90 minutes on a 1-mile circuit around the Salt Palace.

Team Garmin-Chipotle H3O controlled the pace of the tight race from the gun. Hardly a sprinter, Blake Caldwell still managed to finish 4th with Jason Donald 6th and Tom Peterson 7th on the stage.

Difficulty: Easy

Distance: 31.15 miles

Total Elevation Gain: 1,202 ft.

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