Race report from DS Johnny Weltz

As the longest stage of the race, we expected a calm start. But it all took off right from 0 km. Steven was one of the most aggressive as he was only a few seconds down on GC and Best Young. So he was gunning for the time bonuses.

But it was Christian who joined the right moved. He was out there for more than 100 km. Then the race hit a crosswind section and it all split in to several groups. Christian’s break got caught and Steven had a shot at the bonus sprint, which he won. With that, he took over the best young jersey and moved up to third in GC.

From there, it was one long sprint where our guys did all they could to put Tyler in perfect position. He had Napolitano’s wheel in last kilometer but hesitated in the final. He finished 7th and moved to 4th overall. And the team still leads the overall GC.

Team Garmin-Chipotle H3O stage 1 results
1. Danilo Napolitano 5h10′50″
7. Tyler Farrar +00″
48. Steven Cozza +00″
51. Pat McCarty +00″
59. Dan Martin +00″
75. Lucas Euser +00″
77. Chris Sutton +46″
78. Christian Meier +46″

Team Garmin-Chipotle H3O GC
1. Ruben Plaza 5h18′14″
3. Steven Cozza +03″
4. Tyler Farrar +08″
17. Dan Martin +24″
25. Pat McCarty +28″
59. Lucas Euser +43″
73. Chris Sutton +1′05″
79. 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 15h55′15″
2. Palmeiras Resort-Tavira +06″
3. Liberty Seguros +14″

Riders Gear up for Fundraiser at Denver’s Table 6

BOULDER, Co – August 14, 2008 – The U23 National Championships and Junior National Championships had a decisively argyle flair with the Slipstream Sports teams making a clean sweep of the podium this year. Team 5280/Felt, Team VMG/Felt and Team Garmin-Chipotle proved again that they are the country’s most successful young riders.

Laurel Rathbun of Team 5280/Felt medaled in all of her events, wrapping up with first place in the time trial, third in the road race and fourth in the criterium at the Junior National Championships.

“I had so much fun at national, and it was nice meeting the other girls,” said Laurel who is 12 years old. “I was really happy with my results, especially the TT win. My teammates were awesome in their races, too. Hopefully I’ll be able to come back next year!”

Laurel was joined in honors by teammates Danielle Haulman, second in the time trial; Andrew Barker, third; Robin Eckmann, fourth and Michael Dessau, fourth in the time trial and second in the road race in his age group.

Team Garmin-Chipotle and Team VMG/Felt did their part to contribute to the Argyle Armada at the U23 National Championships. Kirk Carlsen of Team VMG/Felt took first place, followed by teammate Peter Stetina in second, and Tom Peterson, of Team Garmin-Chipotle, finished third.

All three teams, owned and managed by Boulder-based Slipstream Sports, a sports management company dedicated to the ethical growth of American cycling, are gearing up to give fans a rare opportunity to spend an evening with the riders and staff.

On Tuesday, August 19th, athletes from all three properties will team up to raise funds for the youngest members of the Slipstream squad. All proceeds will go to Team 5280/Felt. The evening includes a five-course meal, a sampling of wines from regions visited in the 2008 Tour de France, and an auction featuring Christian Vande Velde’s autographed pink jersey from the Giro d’Italia along and items from this year’s Tour de France.

Tickets for the event are available for purchase for $500 and may be obtained by calling 303-444-7500 or by sending an email to info@slipstreamsports.com.

About Slipstream Sports
Founded in 2005, Slipstream Sports LLC is a highly progressive sports management company dedicated solely to promoting the ethical growth of American cycling.

Christophe Laurent was involved in a routine crash a few days ago in the final stage of the the Tour of Denmark. He sustained an injury to his chest in the crash. As is often the case, it didn’t seem like a serious problem at the time, so no detailed medical evaluation was undertaken. However when Christopher returned home and began training again, the chest discomfort persisted to a worrisome (and painful!) degree, so x-rays were done which confirmed fractures of four ribs. There is no apparent injury to the underlying lung which is the real issue when ribs are fractured.

Christophe will be able to train gradually back to race level as his ribs heal and the pain subsides. The frustrating fact about fractured ribs is that there’s no way to immobilize them to allow them to heal since they must move a bit with every breath (breathing not being optional). So this will be more of a painful annoyance than anything and Christophe will soon be back racing.

It was a pleasure to meet Jason today. What a great guy! Even though he was starting to tighten and cramp up and the team car was waiting to leave, he still made time to stop and talk with us and allow us to get a picture with him. That was a great experience.

The team is going to do incredibly well in the next four stages. Go Argyle!

Thomas Welker

**Special thanks to Thomas for sending in pictures from stage 1!**

We started off the Tour of Utah today exactly as we had hoped…with a stage win! Jason took off in pursuit of a small break early on in the 101 mile race. It didn’t take long before he joined them, making it a group of 4. About halfway through the race, the breakaway was misguided off the course. So the peloton was stopped and waited for them to get back on course until they had a 3 minute gap again. We had a chance for a nature break, time to grab some bottles, and then cheer Jason on as they passed by!

With Jason driving the break and taking the KOM points, they still had a two-minute lead going into the final 20 km. Even a last minute chase by Rock Racing only put a minor dent in their advantage. Jason (above) made his move inside the last kilometer and took home a well-deserved victory.

The rest of us rolled in together with the field. We had an easy ride in the peloton, just staying hydrated and conserving energy. The word is that today’s climbs are the real deal. The first one comes after only 10 miles. It’ll be full on, out of the blocks, tomorrow. We’re looking to keep the streak going!

Stay tuned, Blake

**Team Garmin-Chipotle H3O also leads the overall team classification!**

Team Garmin-Chipotle stage 1 results
1. Jason Donald 4h07′09″
18. Will Frischkorn +21″
21. Blake Caldwell +21″
45. Peter Stetina +22″
56. Tom Peterson +22″
105. Tom Danielson +22″
112. Danny Pate +23″

Team Garmin-Chipotle GC
1. Jason Donald 4h06′59″
18. Will Frischkorn +31″
21. Blake Caldwell +31″
45. Peter Stetina +32″
56. Tom Peterson +32″
104. Tom Danielson +32″
111. Danny Pate +33″

KOM
1. Jason Donald

Team GC
1. Team Garmin-Chipotle H3O
2. Successful Living.com
3. Team Type 1

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.

Today’s road race is 85 miles long and includes four climbs for a total of 10,585 feet of climbing. The four KOM’s include: North Ogden Pass, Trappers Loop (feed zone will be near by), Big and Little Mountains.

Soaring over four KOM’s and more than 10,000 feet of climbing, Blake Caldwell won today’s stage and took over the yellow leader’s jersey. Joining Blake on the podium today was Peter Stetina who, with his 9th place finish, took over the Best Young Rider classification.

Difficulty:Moderately Difficult

Distance: 94.52 miles

Total Elevation Gain: 7,492 ft.

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Report from DS Chann McRae

Just 20 km in to today’s stage, Jason Donald joined a break that stuck all the way to the finish. He was the strongest in the group and kept the pace high. Jason attacked with 400 meters to go and distanced himself enough to easily take the stage win and the race lead. He also leads the KOM overall classification.

Above is a quick shot Chann McRae took of Jason Donald celebrating his first yellow jersey.

*Due to a significant time zone difference, detailed results and finish photos will be posted tomorrow.*

Showing his full appreciation for Team Garmin-Chipotle H3O’s efforts during the Tour de France, 8-year-old William from Nova Scotia sent in this great fan letter and original art! The scan of the picture doesn’t do the original argyle art justice! Do we have a new jersey design here?