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A new start: The Tom Danielson diary 2005
After his ill-fated stint with Fassa Bortolo in 2004, likable American climbing specialist Tom Danielson looks to have found a more conducive home for 2005 with Lance Armstrong's Discovery Channel team. Follow his diary on Cyclingnews as he rides alongside the Boss as part of Discovery's ProTour arsenal.
Vuelta a Espana: September 2, 2005
Success for the team!
Hi Cyclingnews readers,
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Everything is going well here at the Vuelta. Today's stage was pretty long and little bit difficult in the beginning with the climbs and the speed. It was a pretty difficult course...on the profile it looked like one of the easier days but it proved harder than that. The speed was very high and it was another 220 kilometre stage. After yesterday's race, it was hard.
I had a bad stage yesterday, but today I felt like a different person. I hope that yesterday is the only bad day that I have. I think part of the problem was nerves, I always wanted to be in the front of peloton and my teammates saw me constantly wasting a lot of energy. If I dropped back in the peloton I would shoot up the side. I felt strong, but my roommate Michael Barry says that is sometimes a bad thing. When you know you are feeling good, you tend to burn matches. You say "oh, no problem, I will be good at the end." I was pretty nervous trying to get myself to the front - I could have been a little bit smarter, stayed back, and moved up at the right time. But I am learning for sure.
I had a bad day because of that. I just didn't feel like myself on the last climb. I wasn't too disappointed in yesterday because I was almost relieved to have the bad stay out of the way. Now that I look in hindsight to how I have been feeling and how I felt yesterday, it wasn't so bad.
Maybe also the first mountain stage was a shock to the system. A little bit of everything added up, but I don't want to make excuses either. The main thing is that I am here to learn and to finish the race, and then maybe to do good stage. So I can't worry about losing a little bit of time here and there when I have never done the Vuelta before. I am just going to really focused on these next three stages and continued to progress. I hope to feel better each day, get stronger and learn how to race a Grand Tour.
Tomorrow actually goes to my other hometown. Well, I don't live in Lloret del Mar but that is right by Girona. We train on all these roads. Michael [Barry] and I know the roads real well. It should be a flat, easy stage but we are in the Vuelta so I am sure it is going to be fast for everyone. It will just be a matter of sticking close to my teammates, feeding properly, listening to Johan and Dirk in the car and staying focused. Keeping calm and not wasting energy.
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We also had a visit from Ekimov tonight at the hotel. He helped me a lot and taught me a lot this year, helping me in the Tour de Georgia. So it was really special to see him completely recovered from his back injury and looking very strong. He was actually hoping to race here, but Johan thought he needed a little bit more time.
Today was really good for the team because Max won the stage. It was a pretty incredible performance because with 15 kilometres to go he had a flat. Michael and Stijn dropped back for him. The finish was very, very dangerous and fast and very difficult, but they basically dropped back and brought Max from the flat tire and the back of a completely lined-out peloton all the way to the front by kilometre four. Michael got him into position and then Max did the sprint and won the stage! What made it even more impressive was that the first part of the stage was very difficult for Max, with all the climbs. He just stayed smart, kept within himself and he had the best legs at the end. So for sure today was a great day for the team.
Michael is clearly going really well. He was pulling for me on the climbs yesterday, next to the Liberty team and he had been in the breakaway before. Today he did another good ride, so he is definitely going well. I am excited for him and feel that we have a great team. I think that once we all start getting used to the race, we can play a big part in it.
Thanks for reading,
Tom
Stage 6 results
Stage 7 results