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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 18, 2005
Mr Toad's Wild Ride
Hi Cyclingnews readers,
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Well, I was really happy with my ride yesterday. My goal was to stay in the top 10 overall; if I could move up past Mercado into eighth I would try it, but my biggest goal was just to maintain my position. I thought it would be difficult because I have never done a time trial so late in the race, and I had a really, really bad day a few days ago. So that left me completely terrified what the last few days of my Vuelta were going to be like.
I had had a couple of bad stages after getting sick, in the mountains, and then more recently four days ago when I lost five minutes on the Navacerrada stage [stage 17]. I shouldn't have lost any time, but that day I completely cracked. I think it was a fuelling problem and, for sure, my body not being used to three weeks of racing. It is not only three weeks of racing, but it is also because the Vuelta is completely out of control and very, very fast. That day the average speed was 43 kilometres per hour, despite some tough climbs, so it was extremely fast and I just ran out of fuel quite a distance from the finish. I completely came unglued, and if it wasn't for my teammates Michael and Benjamin who got me to the base of the climb, and Stijn, who waited from the breakaway and then chased with me as best as he could to the finish line, I would have been gone.
The unpredictability meant that I woke up nervous each day since, not knowing what was going to happen with my body, and if I would have another bad day. So I continued to race the same way that I raced from the beginning of the Vuelta, riding slightly conservatively, because with just one mistake you can lose it all. Because of that, in yesterday's time trial it was important to start strong but not go 100%.
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There was actually a huge, huge crosswind. We had opted to use a big, deep dish trispoke in the front because in the morning we rode it and it was mostly tailwind. But for the time trial itself there was a crosswind, and it was very, very dangerous. I think it would have been dangerous for any wheel that you would have used. For me, it was a big more tricky as I am light and real narrow while also being somewhat tall, so I am kind of like a sail. I am not so low to the ground and my centre of gravity is not as ideal as would be in the case of a smaller rider, or even a different-shaped rider.
There is a ride in Disneyland called Mr Toad's Wild Ride and that kind of sums up my time trial! It was crazy, to say the least; I think there is rubber are all over the road from my front wheel because the crosswind was incredible. I did the majority of the fast parts on the sides of my bars, which is not the most aerodynamic.
Anyway, at the halfway split Johan [Bruyneel] told me that I was a minute up on Mercado. That put me into eighth, and I could see Ardila in front of me. The last 15 kilometres were very dangerous, so bad that the barriers of the sponsors were on the road, but I just focused on Ardila's car in front of me and tried to stay safe. In the end, I didn't dig as deep as I really wanted to. I had a lot left because in the beginning I rode a bit conservatively - if you look at the time splits, you can see that I started very conservatively and I finished strong. I would have liked to have ended it a little bit stronger, but I chose to ride more conservatively because I knew that I had to get the finish line.
The times were very fast yesterday. For sure, everybody is in very good fitness and as I have said before, this race seems to be the fastest race I have ever been in, by far. The course was very quick and I think that if there hadn't been crosswind, if there had been a tailwind, the average would have been 60 km/h or something!
Heras did a great ride. He has had a strong team from the beginning, and even before he took the jersey, Johan pointed out in the that I should watch him as he knows this race better than anyone. There are no surprises for Heras and because of that, he's able to conserve a lot of energy. I have watched him and I could see things that he has been doing. Where some of us are behind, fighting for position or even in my case, being so nervous that I sometimes ride on the side of the peloton in the wind, I can see that he is in a perfect place, soft pedaling on his team-mates' wheels. It is a combination of him being a super rider, knowing the race and knowing himself, and also having a super team.
Anyway, that means that it is no miracle why he was so strong yesterday. He has conserved more than the other guys for the whole week. And it has been a very nervous and difficult last week of this race.
I am very excited about the final stage. I told Johan and Dirk that I am very, very, very happy! I am very pleased to be part of the Discovery Channel team and I am very thankful to my team and all the people around me who have helped me. I feel that I have achieved our goal of learning from this race. I have had a lot of ups and downs here, but I am happy to be here, getting stronger as a rider, and gaining experience.
Thanks for reading,
Tom