Astana Cycling Team

Posted by Chris Horner, Special to The Oregonian August 31, 2009 13:18PM

VENLO, Netherlands -- Today's stage in the Tour of Spain was completely different from Sunday's, aside from the last 30 miles of the race where the action was just as intense as it had been throughout Stage 2.

When our Astana team bus arrived at the start in Zutphen this morning the sun was out and shining, which was a nice change of pace. We arrived with plenty of time to get out and sign some autographs for the masses of fans that had once again come to cheer. I was enjoying the down time before the day started, posing for pictures and shaking hands with the fans, but before I knew it they were calling the riders to the line.

When the race started, three riders attacked and were gone within the first mile. With the break established so quickly, it was going to be a slow day until we kicked things into action for the finale. Since we were experiencing a pretty mellow cruise through the Dutch countryside, I started up a conversation with Tyler Farrar, a fellow Northwest rider (Wenatchee, Wash.). Suddenly, a curb appeared in the middle of the road.

Tyler hit it and was riding with his front wheel on one side of it and his back wheel on the other. Unreal! I was sure his luck had run out, and either mine or the rider to his other side along with it. Since we were in the middle of the peloton, I was also guessing that we would have lots of company on the ground. But to my surprise he pulled it out with one foot sliding on the road, and his hamstring getting stretched out while riding the top tube of his bike frame.

Impressive!

Whatever boredom that had started to set in a few moments before disappeared in seconds. But that's bike racing for you - anything can happen in a split second and it usually does!

Of course, 10 minutes later we were starting to get bored again. The race was heading in the same direction all day, so we expected to face headwind, headwind and some more headwind. Those conditions make the pedaling very easy for most of us in the field, but much harder for teams that were having to do the work of bringing back the break, like Saxo Bank, which holds the race lead and the sprinters' teams. The hardest part for me was not falling asleep and finding enough people to talk to before we got to the final of the stage to keep me entertained. And - of course - since this is Holland, dodging the random road obstacles that would suddenly appear in front of me. But even the obstacles appeared much less frequently than yesterday - just often enough to keep us from getting too comfortable.

As we entered into the last 30 miles of the race, the pace picked back up to full race mode, and my luck ran out. The riders in front of me got tangled up, and suddenly there was nowhere left for me to go. I had enough time to get my right leg down on the road, but, for once, momentum was NOT my friend, and my body was still moving me forward, toward the pavement. With limited options, I went for the Pete Rose move, diving toward the grass on the side of the road in hopes of finding a soft(er) place to land. I just made it.

I came up from my landing pad with only some scratches on my knee, a sore hand, and of course one scratch on my the chest from the slide. But having survived the latest obstacle, I had a new problem - I found myself at the back of a very quickly moving field with only 20 miles left to go. Luckily, I had my teammate, Michael Schär, looking after me to help to get me to the finish. He stayed by my side, and as soon as the road opened up again he was on the gas to try to get me back to the front. We were flying down the left side of the field with only inches to spare between the other riders on our right and the curb on our left. It was like being in a video game - dodging the road obstacles along the way, locking up the brakes before roundabouts, and then sprinting like mad to get back up speed and keep up our forward progress in relation to the rest of the field.

After a few miles, he had me back at the front of the peloton, and we could relax just a little. From there, it was just a matter of staying out trouble for a few more miles until we crossed the finish line. Of course, it wasn't as easy as it sounds when everyone around you is fighting for the win, but, at least now I only had to follow the wheels instead of pass them. I made it to the line, where I was relieved to finish another day without losing any time and without any broken bones. Now it is time to relax, get a massage, and prepare for another day of racing Tuesday.

Thanks for reading! Until tomorrow...

- Chris Horner, who lives in Bend, is Oregon's top road-racing cyclist.