In this ‘unplugged’ interview with Dave Zabriskie taken in Italy after Worlds,CycleTo tries to find out what it is like in Z’s world.

Tyler Farrar endured deplorable conditions today to finish second in the final mass sprint and take over the lead at the Circuit Franco-Belge. In addition to increasing his lead as the Best Young Rider, Tyler also took over the points classification.

The typically miserable fall weather took its toll on the peloton with nearly 30 abandons, including two Argyles. With more wet, cold weather in the forecast, Tyler will need all three jerseys to defend his reign as the king of suffering!

Team Garmin-Chipotle H3O Results
1. Mark Renshaw 4h35′47″
2. Tyler Farrar +00″
31. Steven Cozza +00″
42. Martijn Maaskant +00″
97. Mike Friedman +2′31″
125. Christian Meier +5′48″
DNF Tom Danielson +2′35″
DNF Kilian Patour +13′12″

Team Garmin-Chipotle GC
1. Tyler Farrar 8h40′20″
2. Tom Boonen +02″
30. Steven Cozza +16″
64. Martijn Maaskant +44″
112. Mike Friedman +5′08″
118. Christian Meier +6′04″

Best Young Overall
1. Tyler Farrar 8h40′20″
2. Jurgen Roelandts +04″
3. Mark Renshaw +06″

Points Overall
1. Tyler Farrar 40 pts
2. Jurgen Roelandts 32 pts
3. Tom Boonen 25 pts

Heather Antunes from Markham, Ontario writes about her family’s Tour de France experience:

My husband and I have been avid Tour de France fans for years and were able to go for the first time this year. It was amazing and we can’t wait to return next year! We support team Garmin-Chipotle wholeheartedly and are thrilled to see the only Canadian in the Tour on your roster! GO RYDER!! Our two boys loved watching the spectacle that occurs every race day as we followed the team from stages 9-14. My 12 year old took this photo in Foix at the finish line. We can’t wait to cheer on Ryder and the rest of the team next year, look for us waving one of the few Canadian flags seen at the Tour!

CyclingNews reports on Taylor Phinney’s winning kilometer time trial ride during the USA Cycling Elite Track National Championships at the ADT Event Center Velodrome in Carson, California.

From the article: “Following a meteoric rise in the individual pursuit event since last year’s championships, 18-year-old Taylor Phinney (Boulder, Colo.) scored an elite title in the men’s kilometer time trial. Phinney clocked a winning time of 1 minute, 3.208 seconds to best silver medalist Jimmy Watkins (Bakersfield, Calif./Momentum Cycling) by more than two seconds…”

With his second place finish in the opening stage of the Circuit Franco-Belge, Tyler Farrar took over the Best Young Rider jersey.

For the first stage of Franco-Belge we had wind, rain and nothing but dangerous roads. It was a war here in Europe today! If my mom would of been able to see what my eyes saw today, she would have surely killed me. Luckily almost all of us finished scrape free.

I went in the first break of the day (pictured below right). There were seven of us and it didn’t last much more than 10 km. The next break went with 16 riders, including Tyler. It was good, but not great. With a break of 16, we need at least two guys, if not three up front. After about an hour of hard chasing, the Belgium Predicto-Lotto team brought it all back together.

With about 70 km to go, another break of seven went clear. We had three 21 km finishing laps to do. There were a couple crosswind sections and we worked for good positioning. Martijn, Tommy, Christian, Meatball and Kiki worked all day bringing us back up to the front every time we got swarmed, so we were pretty good with 20 km to go.

With one lap to go, Tyler and I were fighting to stay in the front. It got strung out in the gutter because of the wind and with 1 km to go, Tyler was sitting in 5th. He was sitting pretty and came in second to Tom Boonen in the sprint. What a good day for us!

Dave Z said after the race he was having some back pain again from his injury during the Giro this year. At least it’s just about off-season and he can really get down to full rehab.

Thanks for reading, Steven

Post Script: The Belgians were really mad about me shaving the mustache off. I think it will have return to the pro peloton soon.

Team Garmin-Chipotle H3O Results
1. Tom Boonen 4h04′45″
2. Tyler Farrar +00″
36. Steven Cozza +04″
112. Christian Meier +04″
113. Martijn Maaskant +32″
129. Tom Danielson +2′25″
131. Mike Friedman +2′25″
136. Kilian Patour +13′02″
DNF David Zabriskie

Team Garmin-Chipotle GC
1. Tom Boonen 4h04′35″
2. Tyler Farrar +04″
39. Steven Cozza +14″
112. Christian Meier +14″
114. Martijn Maaskant +42″
129. Tom Danielson +2′35″
131. Mike Friedman +2′35″
136. Kilian Patour +13′12″

Best Young Overall
1. Tyler Farrar 4h04′39″
2. Jurgen Roelandts +02″
3. Philippe Gilbert +03″

Points Overall
1. Tom Boonen 25 pts
2. Tyler Farrar 20 pts
3. Philippe Gilbert 17 pts

From Marshall Dobbins of Rockville, Maryland:

I have been to the CSC Invitational with 1 or both of my 2 sons every year for the last nine years and was looking forward to another great day of racing this year. I was really excited last winter when I read that you had signed Magnus Backstedt to a contract. I kept hoping that we would get to see him race here in the USA.

The week before the race, I followed my usual plan of looking at the race roster a couple of nights before the race and then going through a vast assortment of cycling magazines to find things to get autographed. When I saw Magnus on the start list, I went into high gear to find a picture of him winning Paris-Roubaix.

When we got to the race, we looked around to see were all the teams had parked there vehicles. When we saw Argyle, we went to wait to see Magnus after his pre-race warm up ride. He signed all of the items my son Alan and I had. I got lots of great pictures during the race and several more of Magnus on the podium afterwards. The entire day was highlighted by the picture of Magnus with Alan!

Thanks to all of your team and staff for a great day!

CycleTo features Steven Cozza and his notable ride in Varese, Italy.

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In his VeloNews journal, Will Frischkorn talks about the physical and psychological struggle of taking time off the bike - whether by choice or force.

From the journal: “Few things are harder for a cyclist than not being able to race their bike. For many who work their passion so much of their life, their values, their time, their focus, even their momentary inner self-worth is tied to what they are doing at ‘work.’ When it isn’t possible to ply their chosen trade a foggy unhappiness settles in…I was barely exercising, but was always tired. I didn’t feel like myself. While I should have been jumping up and down every morning I rolled out of my own bed, I was actually feeling a bit of the “end of the season depression” that we sometimes talk about as the body adjusts to the change of routine.”