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Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood: Festive Slipstream-Chipotle camp wraps up in Boulder
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The writing on the wall said it all. Okay, the writing wasn’t actually on a wall — it was on a chalkboard mounted above a urinal, in the lobby men’s room of the Hotel Boulderado in downtown Boulder, Colorado, where the entire 2008 Slipstream-Chipotle squad held its first official gathering November 7-16.
Nevertheless, the writing on the chalkboard in the men’s room perfectly summed up both the vision of America’s newest big team and the mood of its recent camp: “GO SLIPSTREAM. Here’s to a healthier year in cycling in 2008.”
Boulder may be among the most cycling-friendly cities in the U.S., (there’s a reason Slipstream calls Boulder home), but the sentiment of hope and renewal among the team’s staff of 50-plus, which hails from all corners of the planet, was a common one during the 10-day camp.
“Buzzing,” was the word used by British national champion David Millar, who has newly signed on as team co-owner and de facto leader, to describe the feel within the 25-man squad of half new and half returning riders.
Scheduled in what is traditionally the dead spot of the off-season for most riders — Millar joked while on a 100km group ride that he was “scraping the bottom of the barrel” — Slipstream's gathering was more a bonding camp than a training camp.
In addition to standard meetings with sponsors that included CycleOps Power, Zipp, Felt, Giro, Fi'zi:k, Oval and new presenting sponsor H30, an athlete representation firm, Slipstream team camp events included team-building exercises with psychological profiling, wine tasting, a “French Appreciation” evening at a local brasserie and a trip to a local rock-climbing gym.
“It’s been amazing, especially in regards to the organization, and the logistics that went into this,” Millar said. “They’re running it like no other cycling team. The level of organization is phenomenal. As far as the ambience, I’ve never been around anything like it. There’s sort of an electrical buzz around it. There are a lot of very happy guys, very excited guys.”
With the addition of new riders such as Millar, Dave Zabriskie, Christian Vande Velde, Magnus Bäckstedt, Julian Dean and Tom Danielson, the team has plenty to be excited about.
Sure, there were the tangibles, such as custom suits for every rider tobe worn for the team’s official presentation, a gift from British fashiondesigner Paul Smith,a pal of Millar’s.
Some of the team’s younger riders may have even been blinded by bling at the team’s first meeting, where every rider was given a BlackBerry Pearl in addition to new argyle Pearl Izumi team clothing.
In actuality, the BlackBerrys double as a way for team management to both stay in touch with riders and make sure they are on call for both internal and Olympic Movement testing agencies. And not all riders wore the newly designed team kit due to contractual obligations requiring them to wear their 2007 team clothing through December 31.
Riders were also each provided with state-of-the-art 3D bike fits, teammeals at many of Boulder’s nicest restaurants and, for about a third ofthe team, trips to the Ambient Air Technologies wind tunnel in Fort Collins. On Sunday, new recruits Tom Danielson and Ryder Hesjedal were the team’s last ridersto visit the wind tunnel, with Monday marking the camp’s official close.
Following the team throughout the week was a reality TV crew, filming what it hopes will become a regular program on Sundance Channel. A pilot episode of “Chasing the Dream: The Clean Team” was shown at the team’s official presentation at the Boulder Theater on Wednesday November 14.
Highlights from the pilot, which was largely shot at the national championships in Greenville, South Carolina, included segments featuring Mike “Meatball” Friedman and the team’s comical mechanic Damieon Shanks. However the oftentimes camera-shy Dave Zabriskie provided the standout sound bite of the pilot episode when he told the camera crew, “I have a long history of people hating me.”
But for all the fanfare surrounding the team, it was the intangibles that had the Slipstream boys laughing, drinking, dancing, dressing in costume and staying out until all hours on more than one occasion.
With the team’s internal testing program, run in conjunction with the independentAgency for Cycling Ethics, Slipstream’s riders have the security of knowing that unlike professional riders of the past, they not be pressured to use performance-enhancing drugs. With a thorough and transparent monitoring program, riders’ only pressure will be to stay clean — a reverse of the pressures many pro riders have faced over the past 15 years.
“Full transparency” was a phrase used often during the camp by team manager Jonathan Vaughters, who lived up to his word by allowing media full access to the team and its meetings. Journalists were invited to observe riders having their blood drawn and were allowed to sit in during the team’s meeting with UCI anti-doping czar Anne Gripper — a meeting where young American Tyler Farrar was one of the team’s most vocal riders.
“It’s a rare opportunity where you get to speak with the head of the UCI’s anti-doping fight face to face,” Farrar said. “I tired to capitalize on that as much as possible. I hope that they’ll continue to come and talk to the riders, so we can share our concerns and share our ideas. That’s huge. When it comes from the top down it’s not accepted as well by the riders as when they can have a stake in it and say, ‘Listen I agree with what you’re doing, but what about this?’ I hope they’ll continue to consult with us, and if they do I think things will continue to move in the right direction.”
With proven grand tour stage winners aboard, the team now has the cachet to get invitations to the sport’s biggest races. And though Vaughters hasn’t revealed any formal guarantees from race organizers, he has two very important bargaining chips in his corner — the team’s internal testing program and Slipstream’s status as the only big American team. Indeed, when riders met individually with Vaughters and assistant directors Jonny Weltz and Matt White, races such as Paris-Roubiax, Liége-Bastogne- Liége, the Giro d’Italia and the Tour de France were listed on their 2008 schedules.
“Being a part of this team, riding alongside these guys, getting to do the events we’re scheduled for next year, it’s a dream come true,” said Friedman, who roomed with Millar throughout the week but was told to be ready to ride in support of Backstedt at the cobbled classics. “I’m going to do whatever I can between now and April to make sure I’m there for Magnus.”
Likewise, returning rider Jason Donald spoke of his plans to ride Fleche Wallonne and Liége, with an outside chance of making the team’s Tour de France squad.
“Jonathan told me that if I can be there at the end of a 260km race like Liége-Bastogne- Liége, there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be able to ride the Tour in July,” Donald said. “I don’t know what to expect with races like Liége, but I’m going to make sure I learn as much as possible between now and then.”
American fans can expect to see the team at the Amgen Tour of California, the Tour de Georgia and the Tour of Missouri, as well as the national championships and a few select events, including the Redlands Classic, where riders will ride on a composite team alongside members of the VMG-Felt-Slipstream under-23 development team that includes junior world championship medalists Taylor Phinney and Danny Summerhill.
The Team Presentation
Slipstream’s team camp culminated last Wednesday with a formal presentation to a sold-out audience of 600 at the Boulder Theater.
Among those in attendance included 1988 Giro d’Italia winner Andy Hampsten, 1984 Olympic medalist Nelson Vails, former Coors Classic director Michael Aisner, former 7-Eleven star Ron Kiefel, recently crowned world junior time trial champion Taylor Phinney and his father, Tour de France stage winner Davis, whose Davis PhinneyFoundation for Parkinson’s Research was the sole beneficiary of the night’s silent auction.
Interestingly, no representatives from USA Cycling, based 90 minutes to the south in Colorado Springs, were in attendance. USAC chief executive officer Steve Johnson explained that he and chief operating officer Sean Petty were unable to attend as they were visiting the Canadian Cycling Association, addressing “mutual issues pertaining to the sport of cycling.”
With Boulder-based race announcer Dave Towle serving as the night’s emcee, the event began with the screening of the pilot for the team's reality TV show, “Chasing the Dream.” Following an introduction by Davis and Taylor Phinney, another short film, “A Millar’s Tale,” was shown showcasing Millar’s rise, fall and return to cycling following his admissions of EPO use in 2004.
Shot by British filmmaker Nigel Dick, director of nearly 300 rock videos for artists including R.E.M, Sting and Elton John, “A Millar’s Tale” documents Millar’s eye-opening prologue win at the 2000 Tour, and his decision to dope after crashing out of the 2001 Tour’s prologue. That night, Millar said he visited the hotel room of an “elder rider” on his team. Millar told Dick’s cameras that as he entered the room he knew he would be offered doping products and was sure he was going to refuse. By the time he left the room, Millar had changed his mind.
“It was anticlimactic, really,” Millar said. “It was that simple.”
But by June 2004 Millar found himself lying on a prison cell in Biarritz, France, having learned that his phone calls had been bugged for the previous six months and wondering how it had all gone wrong. Upon the discovery of used EPO vials in his home Millar admitted to using the blood booster to win the 2003 world time-trial championships and was slapped with a two-year ban before returning with Saunier Duval at the 2006 Tour.
Dick’s film ends with Millar’s new role as an anti-doping crusader and example for young riders like Taylor Phinney, who featured in footage shot for the film just a week earlier.
“I’ve met a lot of pros in my day,” the 17-year-old Phinney joked. “And I’d say David sets a high standard. I realized over the past few days that he really has become a great role model for me.”
Vaughters then took the dais and introduced sponsors who played a pivotal role in the evolution of the TIAA-CREF/Slipstream program, such as 5280 Magazine’s Dan Brogan, Scott Hirshorn of new presenting sponsor H30 and the team’s primary benefactor, private investor Doug Ellis, whose own multi-million dollar investment has allowed the team to continue without a title sponsor.
“I don’t think there’s anyone in this room who wants to see a different name on this jersey more than I do,” Ellis said, referring to the difficulty the team has had landing corporate title sponsorship in the current difficult climate of pro cycling.
Before Towle introduced the squad, Vaughters gave a short speech about Slipstream, briefly outlining his vision of the team.
“There is a choice in cycling,” Vaughters said. “You can choose to turn a blind eye and cheer for glory at all costs. You can write gauzy stories about artificial heroes, or you can choose to cheer for humanity and choose to celebrate the rarity of victory and perfection.”
Following the film, the entire Slipstream team walked on stage, taking their spots on a set of couches, stools and chairs as Towle introduced each rider alphabetically. Following the presentation was a Q&A session with the team; Zabriskie said he most hoped to win some sort of “timed event,” while Millar said a win at Paris-Nice would all but guarantee the team a spot at the Tour de France. Towle also lead the audience in a rousing rendition of “Happy Birthday” for Timmy Duggan, who was celebrating his 25th birthday.
“The whole event had a great vibe,” said Towle. “Tonight was a lot more than the best team presentation ever in the U.S. This is the pivotal turning point we’ve been waiting for.”
The evening ended with an auction, where dinner for two with Vaughters and Millar at Frasca, one of Boulder’s swankiest restaurants, went for $8000. Zabriskie's signed yellow jersey from the 2005 Tour de France went for $8500, with the auction bringing in a total of $35,000.
The substantial dollar amounts showed tremendous support for Phinney’s foundation, but most of all, what was apparent at the team’s presentation was that the men in argyle hold in their hands a tenuous, Hail-Mary devotion from those fans whose faith in the sport has skated onto thin ice — the types of fans that might not have money to auction on autographed merchandise, but might, perhaps, grab a beer at the corner bar of the team’s hotel and feel the urge to take chalk to that chalkboard in the restroom.
Team Slipstream-Chipotle presented by H3OMagnus Backstedt (Swe)Blake CaldwellSteven CozzaTom DanielsonJulian Dean (NZ)Jason DonaldTimmy DugganHuub Duyn (Ned)Lucas EuserTyler FarrarMichael FriedmanWill FrischkornRyder Hesjedal (Can)Christophe Laurent (F)Trent Lowe (Aus)Maartijn Maaskant (Ned)Dan Martin (Irl)Pat McCartyDavid Millar (GB)Danny PateKilian Patour (F)Thomas PetersonChris Sutton (Aus)Christian Vande VeldeDavid Zabriskie
