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Stepping up - The Chris Horner diary
From being the USA's top domestic rider for several years to riding for a ProTour team in the Tour de France, Chris Horner is always on the up.
A talented all-rounder, Chris had a successful year Saunier Duval-Prodir in 2005, and is now riding for Davitamon-Lotto. As one of the team's key men in the Vuelta, Horner will be detailing his progress in this special diary for Cyclingnews during the race.
September 13: Total chaos
Today turned out to be a pretty decisive day. It was a hard day, with the first climb 20 km into the stage. On the first climb, things blew apart and it was total chaos, with people literally EVERYWHERE! It was an ugly sight!
I made it back up to the front group after the climb, and we all rode along until the last climb at a nice tempo, and then things went to hell again. I got to watch the leaders ride away on the last climb again, wondering what the hell I was doing. The real action was up front, when Valverde lost contact with the front group. Vino got away, bridging up to Tom Danielson, and Tom took the stage while Vino got the lead by 9 seconds. That means that tomorrow is going to be UNBELIEVABLE, with everything so close and another mountain stage.
It really looked like Vino was out of luck yesterday, when he couldn’t get rid of Valverde, but once again, things changed. That means that the race is probably going to be filled with drama - all the way to the end. It’s definitely going to be some great racing, I just hope I actually can do something before the end. I’m running out of days, and if things don’t come around, it’s going to turn out to be a really long training race for me.
It’s really been a strange race, but it’s cool that things are still going. The field is getting cut down more every day. We’re down to five riders now, but we’re still doing better than the teams that only have four. My director was excited to see me move up two places in GC today, since that meant that he got to move up to position ten in the caravan. Apparently when you spend all day driving in a caravan, that becomes a BIG deal.
That’s all for now. I’m a really tired bike racer today, so it’s off to bed for me. Only four days to go.
Thanks for reading,
Chris
- September 17: Three from three
- September 16: A little taste of home
- September 15: Getting ready for the TT
- September 14: Team-mates got me through
- September 13: Total chaos
- September 12: The psychological warfare involved in peeing
- September 10: Looking for a rest day
- September 9: TT Time
- September 8: Lucky 13
- September 7: Karma?
- September 6: A delirious idiot
- September 5: Form is coming around
- September 3: A tall order
- September 2: Another big loss
- September 1: Looks can be deceiving
- August 31: It's the little things that count
- August 30: Survival in the mountains
- August 29: Calm before the storm
- August 28: A long, hot day
- August 27: Real racing
- August 26: Groundhog Day
