Team Garmin-Barracuda » David Millar

Stage Preview: Tour de France, Week 2

Bryan — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 10:11:00 +0000

As the Tour moves on to the second week of racing, we have to say…WOW, what an amazing first week for team Garmin-Cervelo. At the time we write this, the team won stage 2′s team time trial, Tyler Farrar won stage 3, and Thor Hushovd has defended the yellow jersey through stage 6. Congratulations is in order for all the riders and staff, it’s been a fun week to be a Garmin-Cervelo staff member and fan!

This image pretty much sums up the first week as far as we’re concerned:

Beginning with stage 8, the Tour moves into difficult terrain which should favor the overall GC contenders. Stage 8 finishes in Super-Bresse after a tiered 900 foot climb starting at around 6.5k to go. The finish climb could favor punchy climbers with explosive power, but we’ll be looking to David Millar, Vande Velde, Danielson, and Hesjedal to show their climbing form prior to the high mountains.

Stage 9 looks to be a very tough day of racing prior to the first rest day on Monday, July 11th. With 8 categorized climbs, including the third category finishing climb, stage 9 looks like a day for a big breakaway of stage win hopefuls polka dot jersey contenders.

On paper, Stages 10 and 11 look very similar to Stage 9, but both stages have fewer categorized climbs that could favor the sprinters as their chances for stage wins quickly dwindle.

Stages 12 and 13 finally take the Tour into the high mountains of the Pyrennes for what will be the first two major GC battles of the Tour. Stage 12 finishes on the HC climb to Luz Ardiden, but also crosses the mighty Tourmalet which was featured twice in the 2010 Tour de France. We’re hoping Ryder Hesjedal has good memories of the Tourmalet and will hold his position as a GC contender after stage 12.

Stage 13 features the massive hors category climb Col d’Aubisque, but is otherwise not a mountainous stage. After stage 12′s super tough terrain, stage 13 should be another day for a breakaway, likely including a rider looking to gain points in the competition for the polka dot climbers jersey.

After a very tough first week of racing, the second week of the Tour could produce some surprises and shake up the overall classification. If we had to pick a “must watch” stage, it would be stage 12 over the Tourmalet and finishing on Luz Ardiden. Enjoy the race and stay tuned here for daily race reports from Team Garmin-Cervelo!

More photos from the Tour de France:

Next Page ›

Stage Preview: Tour de France Week 1

Bryan — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 20:27:26 +0000

The Tour doesn’t really need an introduction, it’s the TOUR. Easily one of the largest sporting events in the world, and certainly the biggest race of the pro cycling season.

For 2011, the Tour celebrates the 100 year anniversary of the first time the race was held in the Alps. The result is a route that doesn’t visit the high mountains for the first 10 stages. That’s not to say the first week will be easy!

Beginning in the Vendee region, stage 1 starts the first week with what might be a common theme: wind off the ocean, unpredictable weather, and tricky stage finishes. Stage 1 finishes up a 1-2k false flat that could leave the pure sprinters fighting for seconds. Look for Tyler Farrar or world champion Thor Hushovd to be battling for the win this Saturday.

In such a huge event, you hate to blow off other aspects of the race, but stage 2 is definitely for “all the marbles” in the first week of this year’s Tour. JV has made it very clear that we’re gunning for the victory in the team time trial. Riders like David Millar, David Zabriskie, Christian Vande Velde, Tom Danielson and Ramunas Navarduaskas all bring a huge amount of TTT experience with them to stage 2. With a team built around riders who are great time trialists, this will be a fun stage to watch!

Stages 3, 4, and 5 all share similar characteristics: none are truly flat, and all could present riders with strong cross winds off the ocean. Stage 5 includes a finish atop the “Mur de Bretagne” in the cycling, moule-frites, and crepes crazed Brittany region of France. There’s no way to call stages 3, 4, and 5 “sprinters” stages, but Tyler, Thor and possiby David Millar or Ryder Hesjedal might all have strong showings on these stages.

Stages 6 and 7 appear to be flatter, further away from ocean crosswinds, and will probably lead to large bunch sprints. Ace leadout man Julian Dean will definitely be helping Tyler Farrar look for a stage win on stages 6 and 7!

Team Garmin-Cervelo is poised with a great line up for this year’s Tour de France. The first week should be a great week for the team, we can’t wait to see it unfold!

View photos from previous editions of the Tour de France:

Next Page ›

Stage Preview: 2011 Giro d’Italia, Week Three

Bryan — Sat, 21 May 2011 18:26:27 +0000

Moving into the third week of the Giro d’Italia, the general classification is still wide open, and Christophe Le-Mével is poised for a great result in Milan!

The third week of the Giro starts with a 229 kilometer stage over 5 mountain passes, including the Passo Giau at an elevation of 2,236 meters (7,378 feet). The Passo Giau is the “Cima Coppi” of this years Giro, honoring Fausto Coppi and the highest point in elevation of the race.

Stage 15 profile:

Stage 16 brings some good news and some bad news for the peloton. The good news is that the stage is only 12.6 kilometers long, the bad news is that it’s almost all uphill. Gaining 650 meters in around 11km will be a stout test for GC contenders who will certainly be fatigued from the previous days effort during stage 15.

Stages 14, 15, and 16 is where the Giro will produce a definitive overall winner. Christophe Le-Mével, forth overall after stage 12 will hope to have three great days of racing so that he can hold his position on GC. Given the way Christophe has been racing, don’t dismiss the chance that he’ll jump into another breakaway and go for the Maglia Rosa.

Stages 17 and 18 look like transitional stages on paper, but that doesn’t mean they are without difficulty. With the race quickly coming to a close, stage 17 could be a stage for David Millar to go back out on the attack and try for a stage win.

Stage 17 profile:

Stages 19 and 20 bring back the high mountains, and the 7th and 8th uphill finish of this year’s Giro. Stage 19 has a very tough climb at the finish, but stage 20 is the stage you can’t miss if you’re watching from home. With 8 kilometers of dirt climbing to the Colle Delle Finistre, stage 20 will produce some surprises and could turn this years Giro on it’s head.

Stage 20 profile:

Heading into Milan for stage 21, the riders will face 32.8 kilometers of pan flat individual time trailing. Look for a time trial specialist like David Millar or Cameron Meyer to put in a good ride, and possibly take the stage win.

Stay tuned to our team site for a full race recap and race photos, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter for the latest race updates!

Also, don’t miss free shipping in the official team shop worldwide on all orders over $50!

View all stage profiles from week 3 of the Giro:

Stage Preview: Giro d’Italia, Stages 1-7

Bryan — Thu, 05 May 2011 16:11:36 +0000

The 2011 Giro d’Italia starts Saturday with a pan flat 21.5 kilometer team time trial, but quickly moves into mountainous terrain featuring 8 mountain top stage finishes. This year’s Giro is simply too epic to summarize with one race preview. With that in mind, here is the first of three previews for the Giro!

The first week of the Giro will present some great opportunities for Team Garmin-Cervélo to look for stage wins prior to fighting for the overall classification in the high mountains of week two and three.

Starting with the opening team time trial, we’ll look to repeat the success we had at the 2008 Giro. In 2008 our team won the team time trial, putting Christian Vande Velde into the maglia rosa for a day. Our team time trial squad will be anchored by veteran David Millar who has been on great form recently, and should provide plenty of horsepower to contend for the win in the TTT.

Profile, Team Time Trial:

Stage 2 presents a rare opportunity for the sprinters in this years Giro. While there’s no guarantee it will end in a sprint, most sprinters looking for stage wins on the flatter stages will have their team’s work to make sure a breakaway doesn’t stay clear of the main field. Tyler Farrar should have a great chance to win stage 2.

Tyler will have some fast lead out men with the support of Murilo Fisher, Brett Lancaster, and track star Cameron Meyer.

Stages 3- 6 are very tough to predict. On paper, you could call them sprint stages, but it’s hard to know what the final 20-30 kilometers look like without knowing the course very intimately. All 4 stages present great opportunities for attacking riders to get away late in the stage.

Garmin-Cervélo will look to a rider like Tom Peterson to go out on the attack during one of these stages to see if he can capitalize on the great form he has shown in the past few weeks.

Profile, Stage 5:

Stage 7 brings the race from rolling terrain into the first medium mountain stage with an uphill finish at Montevergine Di Mercogliano. The finishing climb gains around 700 meters (~2500 feet) in around 14.5 kilometers. While not terribly steep, this climb will be the first time that we see General Classification contenders come to the front of the race to show their form.

Our team will be looking to Christophe LeMevel as a contender for the overall classification. Stage 7 will be Christophe’s first chance to show his form for week two and three of the Giro.

Profile, Stage 7:

Our full roster:

Tyler Farrar and David Millar, Murilo Fisher, Tom Peterson, Cameron Meyer, Peter Stetina, Brett Lancaster, Christophe LeMevel, and Matt Wilson.

The 2011 Giro is going to be an epic race for everyone involved, so stay tuned to our team site for a race reports and photos! You can also like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter for the latest race updates!

More photos from previous editions of the Giro d’Italia:

Next Page ›

Preview: Tour of Romandie

Bryan — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 21:44:55 +0000

Tour of Romandie starts April 26th with a week of racing in the Swiss countryside.

The Tour of Romandie begins tomorrow with an exciting race format and great line up from Team Garmin-Cervelo. A 3.5km prologue opens things up with a pan flat course profile and what should be a sub 4 minute explosive effort perfect for prologue specialists.

Following the prologue the race moves into the hills for stages 1, 2, and 3. While there is a mountain top finish on stage 2, Romandie doesn’t have any high mountain finishes. The race course does have some significant climbing, but the overall classification will probably be decided during stage 4, a 20.5km individual time trial.

Team Garmin-Cervelo will have a great roster at the Tour of Romandie. We’re looking forward to seeing Dave Zabriskie and David Millar race the opening prologue and stage 4 individual time trial. Along with Zabriskie and Millar, our roster includes Jack Bobridge, Tom Danielson, Cameron Meyer, Peter Stetina, Andrew Talansky, Jack Bobridge, and Matt Wilson.

The Tour of Romandie should be a great week for Team Garmin-Cervelo, stay tuned to our team site for a full recap and race photos, like us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter for the latest race updates!

More photos from previous editions of the Tour of Romandie:

Next Page ›

Race report: Millar wins Criterium International ITT

CJ — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 15:27:51 +0000

Team Garmin-Transitions’ veteran David Millar won the final stage of the Criterium International in France, a short but technical time trial, moving him up to fifth overall. Millar said his time trial has been improved by some coaching from teammate Christian Vande Velde:

Christian Vande Velde was my TT coach from afar today. After I messed up the Paris-Nice prologue by over-strategizing it he took it upon himself to take charge. His words of advice were, ‘controlled panic.’ So that’s what I did, just rode like a loony!

I’m very happy, I feel that the team is starting to come into its stride and am sure the next few weeks are going to see us at the front racing at our best.

More photos from the Criterium International:

Next Page ›

Race report: Paris-Nice, stage 6

CJ — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 16:11:45 +0000

Team Garmin-Transitions starts the second-to-last stage of Paris-Nice with David Millar in the top ten overall. Director sportif Bingen Fernandez brings us the blow-by-blow from a fast and potentially dangerous stage:

Today was a lightning-fast stage. Early in the day there was a 23 rider breakaway with some dangerous riders for the GC. Astana, Caisse d’epargne and we started pulling to try to control it and brought the gap down. It was difficult to keep it around two minutes or less but the guys did.

Just before the last category one climb Christian Meier crashed badly and we thought he had broken something. Luckily it was only his bike — he was well and he could finish the stage.

In the last kilometers (in a bad moment) David Millar had a flat but Lionel and Klas the mechanic changed his bike quickly and he made it back to the front group. Finally we could keep our place in the GC after a super fast stage where the riders will remember this fast day for long time.

More photos from Paris-Nice:

Next Page ›

Video: In the car for Millar's Algarve TT

CJ — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 18:50:26 +0000

Sit shotgun for David Millar’s rough-and-tumble time trial at the Volta ao Algarve!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Race report: Paris-Nice, stage 2

CJ — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 23:10:56 +0000

It was another day of strong cross winds in Paris-Nice. But it was the final run-in to the finish line that caused the problems. Dan Martin was caught in a crash but made it to the finish, while David Millar remains in the top five of GC. Director sportif Bingen Fernandez sent us this report:

Today we had the same weather as yesterday, cold (3 degrees Celsius) and windy, but at least sunny. After yesterday’s stressful stage of fighting the wind the early breakaway was done after a couple attacks. Most of the peloton was wanting to stay together, thinking about the strong crosswind and trying to not waste too much energy.

The teams were working to keep the team leaders in a good position. We did the same trying to keep David Millar in the best possible position.

The final kilometers were more protected and we had a lot of possibilities to arrive with a peloton sprint. But what happened was a crash in the last kilometer. Dan Martin crashed and hit his knee — it seams it is not bad but we will see tomorrow.

More photos from Paris-Nice:

Next Page ›

Race report: Paris-Nice, stage 1

CJ — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:23:46 +0000

Team Garmin-Transitions dodged a bullet today in Paris-Nice, with strong winds causing many riders to crash. David Millar was able to make it into a key breakaway and moved up into third on the overall. Our newest director sportif Bingen Fernandez sent us this report:

Today it was one of those typical Paris-Nice stages — fast, cold, long and with a lot of crashes; but luckily not any for us. Still it was a very stressful day for the guys.

At 10 km to go 17 guys were in a break representing eight teams, and we had David Millar in it. This group took 17 seconds on the rest of the field. Because of that we now have David sitting third on the GC and Dan Martin and Tom Peterson just a few seconds behind.

More photos from Paris-Nice:

Next Page ›