It has been a few months since last we spoke to Garmin’s Timmy Duggan. In the 2008 Tour of Georgia, the young man from Colorado came close to death in a 100 kph pile up; but 2009 has seen him back in the shark pool – at the deep end! We thought Paris – Tours was a good excuse to catch up.

PEZ: How was Paris – Tours for Garmin, Timmy?
Timmy: Good, we had Martijn Maaskant and Tyler Farrar well positioned but they go caught in that crash in the last few K.

Tyler was ready; but that’s bike racing – the road was narrow and there were high brick walls both sides so it wasn’t as if we had an exit strategy.

PEZ: How has ‘09 been?
Timmy: I had a really good race programme to come back with; once I had a solid base, we just kept adding races. I raced a lot at high level with no real breaks, just maybe two weeks between races, now and again. I would like to have ridden a Grand Tour, but 80-some days racing in my Pro Tour rookie season, coming off my injury isn’t bad! I’m just happy to have come from no racing to racing really hard.

PEZ: 2009 highlight?
Timmy: The Dauphine, where I just missed a stage win – but not just that, it was the first time that I had the right sensations back. If I’d finished fifth that day, it would still have been good because I knew I was back – over the hump!

The Tour of Missouri was pretty nice too, with David Zabriskie taking the overall win in the sponsor’s back yard.

And there was my first Worlds – it’s been great to ride these big races; San Sebastian, Plouay, the Worlds, Paris – Tours and Lombardy. I hadn’t done much of that sort of racing but now I have all that experience of six hour races, under my belt.

Read the entire interview:

After the unfortunate early exit of our GC leader Christian Vande Velde with his broken hand, we were constantly on the look out today for a big GC deciding move.

Zabriskie and I were in a promising one with all the major hitters from all the big teams but of course it came back. A few kilometers later sensing the tiring of the peloton I went in another move, hoping some strong guys and one of my teammates would join in, but it ended up being just three of us pushing into the headwind and over the relentless rollers the rest of the day.

Yep, the idiot break!

Oh well. At least I picked up a few bonus seconds to move our car up in the caravan order tomorrow! (You’re welcome, JV!)

I don’t think we did a kilometer of flat all day. Always up and down. Maybe there will be some sore legs tomorrow and there will be a few more fireworks in the peloton.

Thanks everyone for checking in!

See more team photos on our Flickr site!

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From the Argyle store:

With a very hard mountain top finish at the end of the day, it was not clear who would take charge to control the race all day. Ee wanted to have a break to go with us in it to be in front of the action. So when a group of 13 riders took off after 30 km with Will Frischkorn and Tom Peterson in it, it was perfect .

They gained up to 4 minutes on the field and the chase was on all day with several teams burning off their riders in the front to bring back the group. The break reached the last climb 8 km to the top with and advantage of 2 minutes, and then it all blew apart!

A group of four riders from the first breakaway grouped in the front with Tom in it. He lasted to 4 km from the finish when he blew-up, and Albasini from the break won the stage.

We had Timmy Duggan in as 16th just 3 min down, Huub Duyn 18th 3:40 down and Tom 20th at the same time. We are also third on team GC . It was a really hard climb with sections up to 22 percent grade. Tomorrow we climb up to 2,500 meter high mountain!

Team Garmin-Slipstream, stage 2 results
1. Michael Albasini 4h18.21
16. Timmy Duggan +2.56
18. Huub Duyn +3.19
20. Tom Peterson +3.26
65. Svein Tuft +9.13
66. Chris Sutton
85. Killian Patour +11.01
113. Will Frischkorn +15.26

Team Garmin-Slipstream, GC results
1. Michael Albasini 7h33.14
17. Timmy Duggan +3.06
18. Huub Duyn
19. Tom Peterson +3.36
64. Svein Tuft +9.17
66. Chris Sutton +9.25
85. Killian Patour +11.11
111. Will Frischkorn +15.36

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From the Argyle store:

The first stage started out quite easy — just a few attacks but nothing serious went of until the third category moutain where a group of escaped escaped with Timmy Duggan in it. The break lasted until the bottom of the descent and was caught.

Then with 50 km in to the race Svein attacked with a Milram rider and got off to a lead of 9 minutes before the sprinters’ teams started to chase. They where caught with 7 km to go.

The sprint was won by Andre Greipel but our own Chris Sutton was 11th . And because of the sprint bonus on the road Svein is placed fourth on GC! Tomorrow’s stage is a brutal mountain top finish so it will be exciting!

Team Garmin-Slipstream, stage 1 results 1. Andre Greipel 3h15.03 12. Chris Sutton 36. Will Frischkorn 49. Timmy Duggan 63. Tom Peterson 82. Huub Duyn 105. Killian Patour +1.23 124. Svein Tuft

Team Garmin-Slipstream, GC results 1. Andre Greipel 3h14.52 4. Svein Tuft +0.05 16. Chris Sutton +0.11 40. Will Frischkorn 53. Timmy Duggan 65. Tom Peterson 84. Huub Duyn 106. Killian Patour

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From the Argyle store:

With the Tour de France kicking off next week and several other big road races, such as the Giro d’Italia, recently completed, I’ve been following pro cycling closely lately. I have also been thinking about what to eat before, during, and after my own long recreational bike rides (including how to fuel for my first triathlons this summer).

For Epicurious’s recent story about healthy energy food, I talked to pro athletes Dara Torres and Shawn Johnson, as well as Garmin-Slipstream Pro Cycling Team member Timmy Duggan and the team’s physiologist, Allen Lim, PhD. They let me in on how the team stays in shape for training, sprints, and grueling all-day races. Here are a few key points, below:

Carbo-Loading: “The human body is like a house,” says Lim. “You’ve got to build a foundation and the basic foundation is carbohydrates, primarily in the form of rice, potatoes, and oats. Carbohydrates in this form give athletes energy and lean vitamins. Fresh fruits and vegetables are also important, and the more colors the better.” Bananas, honey, and oatmeal are good real food choices for quick energy. For short, intense events, the team downs simple sugars such as electrolyte drinks, energy gels, and energy chews (they use Clif Bar products).

Read more of the article.

It was a bittersweet moment for sure. On one hand it feels so good to finally be at the point where I can win on the ProTour level after fighting so hard this past year — recovering from my traumatic brain injury. One thing I’ve still been working to recover are my thought processes within a race, especially the more intense moments. I’ve had to re-learn a lot of little things that were previously automatic. But strangely, in the last couple days of the Dauphine, I had some things just click in my head. Some thoughts just became easier, simpler, and more automatic. So that was a huge accomplishment for me, to have that part of my brain and thoughts back.

But, man, it really sucks crossing the finish line with a guy half a meter in front with his hands in the air!

I’m losing a few nights sleep with that image in my head for sure. Trying not to think about it too much other than letting it feed the fire. To keep it in perspective, I was lucky to have my wife Loren and my dog at the finish line, watching their first ever European pro bike race in person. Might have to bring ‘em along more often in the future for good luck! And after the week of solid teamwork of each of my Garmin-Slipstream teammates, I was really inspired in the race on the final day.

I can definitely assure you that after some long months of struggling to just fill in the pack, my internal fire is lit up again and I remember what it feels like to be in it for the win.

Thanks for all the support, and if anyone needs me I’ll be out on the road working on my sprint!

Director’s report from Lionel Marie:

Last stage and a last big pleasure with the team! A very big group (28 guys) for the break but also with Timmy Duggan!

The last climb with 40 km to go included a 10km climb with a 10% average gradient. Timmy was alone after five kilometers! But on top Clement came back so the two were together or the descent until 10km to go.

They arrived and attacked in last kilometer. Timmy, with lot of intelligence put, pressure on Clement but he was the stronger one today. Still a big second place result!

Timmy is coming back guys !!!

David Millar was also very strong today, following without problems. So this was a great week before the Tour. See you guys soon! You should be happy and proud.

Today the sun was out so we had a very fast start! A strong group got off and we were well represented with Timmy in it. But a strong chase for 20km left any option to escape impossible. After it was caught two riders went off and that was the break of the day.

As the stage moved along it became clear that it wouldn’t be a bunch sprint — Tyler climbed well, but was realistic about the options for him. So when things started to go apart it was our climbing guys who took over. A group of some 35 riders was formed and we had three guys in it with Dan, Lucas and Christian. The Rabobank team spotted it was good for them so they controlled the finale and got the win. We where well represented as Daniel played the sprint smart and finished fifth on the stage, which show he is back on the game after some time off!

Dan Martin has a quick laugh with director sportif Johnny Weltz

Race report from Dan Martin

The stage was really hard from the start with a good climb. Timmy got in a big break of like ten guys but some teams missed it which meant a flat out chase ’till we turned around and hit the headwind. Then the group kind of stopped and the two-man break went. I felt terrible at the start but the same as yesterday I seemed to ride into the stage.

I felt really strong but just didn’t have enough time to fully recover from Liege before the first day. So my plan was to not lose time today and see how I feel Saturday. But with four guys in the front group going into the sprint after the group blew to pieces on two really tough climbs in the final 25km, we were able to work together a bit.

The sprint was a new experience for me, but from a group of climbers I would always be confident of doing something. The group opened up with 300m to go so I jumped but hesitated — so I was just chasing the guys after that. Oh well, not bad for a first try! Just hope the climbing legs show up again soon!

Team Garmin-Slipstream, stage 2 results
1. Oscar Freire 4h06.56
5. Dan Martin
12. Christian Meier
24. Lucas Euser
71. Timmy Duggan +1.34
96. Tyler Farrar +7.18
99. Steven Cozza
102. Ricardo Van Der Velde
154. Kilian Patour +12.19

Team Garmin-Slipstream, GC results
1. Gregory Rast (Swi) Astana 6.19.13
44. Dan Martin +0.51
47. Lucas Euser +0.55
51. Christian Meier +0.58
63. Timmy Duggan +2.29
84. Tyler Farrar +7.47
90. Ricardo Van Der Velde +8.02
118. Steven Cozza +13.09
145. Kilian Patour +18.12

Team Garmin-Slipstream stage 2 results
1. Yury Trofimov 4h12′46
18. Ryder Hesjedal +1′10
44. Danny Pate
56. Christian Vande Velde
112. David Zabriskie
123. Christian Meier +1′50
125. Timmy Duggan +2′22
142. Trent Lowe +6′10
DNS Tom Danielson (ill)

Team Garmin-Slipstream GC results
1. Luis León Sánchez Gil 7h42′39
38. David Zabriskie +0′42
47. Christian Vande Velde +1′27
73. Ryder Hesjedal +3′57
90. Danny Pate +5′15
106. Timmy Duggan +6′27
128. Christian Meie +10′21
148. Trent Lowe +15′45