Wiggins 2nd, Millar 5th in Paris-Nice opener
Pouring rain greeted the riders today in Amilly as they kicked off the 67th edition of Paris-Nice with a 9.3 kilometer, dead-flat individual time trial. Bradley Wiggins (above) held the fastest time for the second half of the day, until race favorite Alberto Contador finished seven second faster. Another race favorite, David Millar finished 5th [...]
ESPN Cycling: Family man Vande Velde targeting Tour podium
ESPN Cycling features an interview with Christian Vande Velde who talks about kicking off his European season this weekend with Paris-Nice. “I feel ok, maybe a little bit better than last year at the same period,” he added before leaving for France, where he will take part in the March 8-15 Paris-Nice stage race, not [...]
Looking back on Paris-Nice, Farrar looks forward to Milano-Sanremo
What a week! The last few days have been a bit rough and I have to admit I am glad to have them behind me. This was my second Paris-Nice, and after last year’s race, which was on an “easier” course, I knew what I was in for before the race started. Nevertheless, I was [...]
Paris-Nice: real, gritty, human racing
So, obviously, Paris-Nice did not go so great for us. But I gotta say, what a great race! It had everything I love about cycling. Changing leaders, unpredictability, suffering. It was completely non-mechanical and could have been won or lost all the way to the last 20 meters of the race. In the end, a [...]
The Millar Diaries: Changing fortunes
Surviving & Leaving Paris-Nice March 16, 2008: Paris-Nice has proven to be the polar opposite to our Tour of California experiences. We have been cursed with bad weather and countless crashes, and some of us have been hit with differing degrees of sickness. It’s quite amazing how quickly fortunes change in sport. We had Tyler [...]
Paris-Nice stage 7: Nice – Nice
Hardly a ceremonial finish, the 119 km final stage of Paris-Nice loops up into the Maritime Alps north of Nice. Stage 7 kicks off with the hardest climb of the day, Col de la Porte (1068 m) and finishes with a fast descent off of Col d’Eze (496 m) in to Nice. The stage starts [...]
Injured Reserves Report: Paris-Nice
Team Physician, Prentice Steffen, MD writes from Paris-Nice with Team’s Slipstream/Chipotle’s first “Injured Reserves” report: I can only speak with authority about Slipstreams/Chipotle medical situations, but I can say with certainty that we’ve not had medical luck on our side recently. I arrived in France last week wondering if our good fortune would continue to [...]
Paris-Nice stage 6: Sisteron – Cannes
The longest stage at 206 km, stage 6 heads south from Sisteron toward the Mediterranean coast. The first part of today’s stage is mostly up, topping out at 1107 meters on Cote du Mousteiret. Then it’s up and mostly down to the finish in Cannes. The stage starts at 11:42 am and finishes between 4:25-4:50 [...]
Paris-Nice stage 5: Althen-des-Paluds – Sisteron
Stage 5 heads back in to the “flats” of southern France for 172.5 km of category 3 hills before it finishes in Sisteron. The stage starts at 12:22 pm and finishes between 4:15-4:45 pm. Slipstream squad Lucas Euser Tyler Farrar Christophe Laurent Trent Lowe Dave Millar Danny Pate Tom Peterson Christian Vande Velde
Embrace failure and celebrate the rarity of victory
For those of you who remember my little monologue back in November at our team launch, perhaps you vaguely recall one rather somber note. I said, ‘We must embrace failure and celebrate the rarity of victory.” Those of you who have been following our team’s rather euphoric ride for the last six weeks were probably [...]
Paris-Nice stage 4 results
Slipstream stage 4 results 1. Cadel Evans 4:32’56″ 42. Trent Lowe +05’19″ 47. Lucas Euser +06’16″ 57. Christophe Laurent +08’19″ 59. Christian Vande Velde +08’48″ 66. Danny Pate +11’17″ 124. Tyler Farrar +21’07″ 135. David Millar +21’07″ 141. Tom Peterson +21’07″ Slipstream GC after stage 4 1. Robert Gesink 17:10’12″ 21. Trent Lowe +09’27″ 47. [...]
Paris-Nice stage 4: Montelimar – Mont Serein, Mont Ventoux
The penultimate stage of the 2008 Paris-Nice finishes on the haut category Mont Ventoux at the Mont Serein ski station (1411 m), 6 km from the actual summit of the Giant of Provence. This 176 km stage begins with a relatively flat lead up that includes four category 3 climbs. The stage starts at 11:51 [...]
Results don't tell the full story
Well that sucked! I just couldn’t hold it when it went full gas on the last climb. I don’t really understand. I have been feeling a bit tired these last couple of days. I’ve not been my usual early riser and have not been feeling like I’ve been in control in the racing. I was [...]
Paris-Nice stage 3: Fleurie – Saint Etienne
The real fun begins with stage 3 of Paris-Nice as the riders follow the Rhone river south from Fleurie to the hills outside Saint Etienne. This 165.5 km stage includes several category 2 and 3 climbs and finishes with the category 1 Col del la Croix de Chaubouret (1201 m). The stage starts at 11:49 [...]
Unlucky stage 3: live and die as a team
Well, we set the race up the best we could have for Trent. Sadly, he crashed into a pole avoiding another crash and broke his bike. Since the peloton was split to pieces every where, we were a ways behind in the car. So no spare bike. His teammates couldn’t help much either, as their [...]
Surviving the "mental race"
Today was horrible – very wet and very cold. I had my fastest crash ever, hitting the deck at 60+km/h on a straight descent. People in front of me went down and slid for what seemed like an infinite amount of time. Fortunately Rebellin, Sanchez, Schumacher, Bertognilli were there which meant we had a strong [...]
Paris-Nice stage 2: Nevers – Belleville
At 201 km, stage 2 is the second longest stage of Paris-Nice. After getting off to a flat, fast start out of Nevers, the race heads southeast into the hills outside Belleville, where the riders will finish up with three category 3 and one category 2 climb. The stage starts at 11:50 am and finishes [...]
Paris-Nice stage 1: Amilly – Nevers
Stage 1 of Paris-Nice starts in Amilly, and after 184.5 km and one small category 3 climb, finishes in Nevers. This fast stage for the sprinters includes two intermediate sprint lines. The stage starts at 12:15 pm and finishes between 4:15-4:40 pm. Slipstream squad Lucas Euser Tyler Farrar Christophe Laurent Trent Lowe Dave Millar Danny [...]
GC hopes survive wind, rain and crash
Despite our “high wind warning,” shortened, 93.5 km stage today, Slipstream’s GC hopes were preserved…. Barely. Both Trent Lowe and David Millar made the final selection of 30 riders who contested the final sprint. Many of the top GC contenders were left behind by high winds that split the peloton to pieces. However, the news [...]
A French "snow day" for the boys
OH HAPPY DAYS!! ASO has shown why they are great bike race organizers today! They put us all back on our team buses and sent us 110 km down the road to race just the last 74 km of today’s stage. This is due to storm warnings and horrible rain and wind (up to 100 [...]
Must See Tyler Farrar crash video from Paris-Nice prologue
Sometimes a day at the office just doesn’t go as planned. Watch how a roadside fan captured Tyler’s day at work during the opening prologue of Paris-Nice. Bummed and banged up, Tyler is fine and did finish the prologue. WARNING: Contains Offensive Language. NOT SUITABLE FOR MINORS and should be viewed at work cautiously.
Paris-Nice Prologue: Amilly
The opening 4.6 km prologue for the 66th running of Paris-Nice is a flat and fast loop around Amilly, a small village about one hour southeast of Paris. The first rider is scheduled to start at 12:10 pm and the last rider will finish around 2:55 pm. Slipstream squad Lucas Euser Tyler Farrar Christophe Laurent [...]
Prologue part 2: Lowe 2nd best young, team 3rd
With his 10th place finish in today’s prologue, the 23-year-old Australian Trent Lowe (left) is just 1″ down in the best young rider classification, currently lead by Andrly Grivko. Overall the team put in a solid performance and is currently third in the team classification, just 3″ off of Credit Agricole.
L'Equipe profiles Millar on the eve of Paris-Nice
L’Equipe, the largest sports daily in France, and possibly Europe, included a full-page profile of David Millar as part of their Paris-Nice preview. The profile talks to David about his hopes for Paris-Nice, his role with Slipstream/Chipotle and his dreams for a clean sport. David says: “We [the sport of cycling] are on the forefront [...]
