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Tour de Gruene - NE
Texas, USA, November 1-2, 2008
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Day 1 - November 1: Individual time trial, 16miles (25.6km)
Armstrong sets off on 2009 comeback trail with time trial win
By Mike Gladu
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The Tour de Gruene is well-established as the traditional end-of-season road cycling weekend for racers in Texas. Deep in the Central "Hill Country" beside the clear waters of the Guadalupe River, and run during the annual Fall "Wurstfest" - a celebration of the German heritage of the local settlers of nearby New Braunfels, the TdG has had a successful 25 year run as the last road event of the year in a state that really doesn't have an "off-season".
Add to that the unusual format (two rider TT, solo or tandem bike) and categories (self-categorized by pace and age), many racers use this event as an opportunity to pair up with their friends, family and 'significant others' and share their love of competition.
Pairings run the gamut from low-key to all out, so three categories are offered - Schnellgruppe (fast), Blitzgruppe (faster) and Ubergruppe (fastest) to keep traffic separated, and age groups to even the competition out a bit. Most of the two-rider single and tandem teams are there for the weekend celebration of the locals German heritage, but there are always a few carrying some speed and fitness into the late season who vie for the last win of the year.
Add to that a new twist - the late entry by a retired pro looking to test the waters for a comeback.
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With a new 16.6 Mile individual time trial added to the weekends usual tour and team time trial, there would be two opportunities to gather data, and with a little luck, a few respectable adversaries to shoot at.
Lance Armstrong's entourage (four vehicles and 12 people, including his mechanic, coach, manager, teammate, personal assistant, aero guru photographer, videographer, and all four kids) rolled in, found places to hide for their preparations, and when they were found, were gracious to the fans while they readied their rider.
Scheduled to pair with long-time friend and business partner John Korioth in the TTT on Sunday, it was decided "College" would sit out the ITT on Saturday and let Armstrong focus on the job at hand. Korioth was pressed into duty as the pilot for the follow-scooter bearing spare wheels and wheel-maven Steve Hed - there to get a close-up look at new position changes under race conditions.
Race day weather couldn't have been better for everyone - with sunny late afternoon skies and temps rising into the 80s (degrees Fahrenheit), the limestone cliffs and tall cedar along the banks of the Guadalupe River offered a shady, cool, undulating and fast course to play on.
Going last of 135 riders, two minutes behind the current state road TT champ Eric Benz, Armstrong fought a bit to get into a rhythm, and didn't totally get comfortable in the new position, but as he approached the finish and the cheering crowd lining the road from a quarter mile out, he would come within 13 seconds of catching Benz in a time of 33:14, establishing the record for the new event.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Mike Gladu/Photosport International
- Steve Hed and John Korioth talking wheels.
- Armstrong bundles up as the kids look on.
- The Tour de Gruene had a better than usual turnout but it was no secret what the reason was.
- Armstrong gives a last-minute interview before his time trial start.
- Texas is ready for Lance Armstrong.
- Lance Armstrong checks if his skin suit is all tight.
- Armstrong with a confident smile before the start.
- The race-fit looking American is ready to head out on the 26km course.
- And off he goes!
- Will the shadow of Lance Armstrong prove to be too big for the man himself? Armstrong looks fit in October and will surely be at his best level in 2009.
- Armstrong now only looks ahead to what will be an interesting racing year 2009.
Results
Overall results 1 Lance Armstrong 33.14 (46.489 km/h) 2 Erick Benz 1.43 3 Stefan Rothe 1.54 4 Cord Offermann 2.20 5 John Coppin 2.50 6 Justin Wolfe 2.51 7 Jason Bentley 3.11 8 Ron Huijsman 3.45 9 Kurt Bickel 3.49 10 David Hoffman 3.52 11 Philip Wikoff 4.01 12 Kurt Joseph 4.32 13 Joshua Barton 4.33 14 George Heagerty 4.52 15 Leighton Adams 5.27 16 Scott Munroe 5.30 17 Jeremey Thomson 5.36 18 Jose Gonzalez 5.44 19 Eric Pendland 5.45 20 Jon Huibregtse 5.51 21 Mike Adams 5.59 22 Christina Wolfe 6.04 23 Gregory Simmons 6.17 24 Johng Myhre 6.23 25 Steven Bigby 6.32 26 Robert Mercado 6.50 27 Dan Perkins 28 Bryan Carlson 7.05 29 Will Stokes 7.11 30 Jorge Alvarado 7.21 31 Sean Sullivan 7.24 32 JIm Alsup 7.32 33 David Dohnal 7.42 34 Mark Goldstein 7.52 35 Norberto Valdes 8.01 36 Kyle Odom 37 Barbara Kuhlemeier 8.10 38 David Felsing 39 Michael Braden 8.19 40 Edward Kennedy 8.21 41 Diann Sweeney 8.30 42 Thomas Carter 8.35 43 Annick Beaudet 44 Bill Neale 8.38 45 Dan Lundeen 8.41 46 Brian Meelbusch 8.47 47 Bill Lyons 8.55 48 Robert Briscoe 9.00 49 David Svahn 9.06 50 Craig Ayers 9.11 51 Marc Gonzales 9.14 52 Pierre Filardi 9.30 53 Ray Botello 9.42 54 Vince Rosetta 9.44 55 Kelly Sell 9.46 56 Jim Hayes 9.48 57 Dawn English 58 David Gill 9.51 59 Edward Robinson 10.02 60 David Harris 10.03 61 Steve Heise 62 Jose Farina 10.08 63 Robert Dole 64 Maurice East 65 Connor Penland 10.09 66 Drew Hochstatter 10.12 67 Mario Valaperta 10.16 68 Erik Kwiecienski 10.20 69 Aimee Gould 10.28 70 Jerry Hanke 10.38 71 Greg Koehnle 10.51 72 Mark Anderson 73 David Droege 11.03 74 Richard Kinsey 11.06 75 Michael Wynne, Jr 11.15 76 Laryn Mumm 11.23 77 Arthur Shultz 11.24 78 John Hertel 11.27 79 Sheri Rothe 11.31 80 Chris Vaughn 11.32 81 Marc Crozier 11.41 82 Jens Hess 11.44 83 Allan de Jong 11.51 84 Brian Young 11.55 85 Bruce Lantry 12.04 86 David Rilling 12.09 87 Doug Lyle 12.18 88 Ed Allbritton 12.31 89 Howie Hobbs 12.33 90 Jeffery Dixon 12.35 91 Edmund Beaudet 12.42 92 Thomas Lago 93 Ryan Campos 12.56 94 Daniel Munoa 12.57 95 Jim McTee 12.59 96 Melissa Kuliska 13.02 97 Edwin Lacson 13.10 98 Abel Gonzales 13.13 99 Charlotte Morris 13.23 100 Joaquin Oronoz Jr 13.25 101 Sherman Krause 13.29 102 Enrique Varela 13.30 103 John Wilmeth 104 Alan Goss 13.40 105 David Stephenson 13.50 106 Jill Hall 14.15 107 James Russell 14.25 108 Mike Bufler 14.44 109 Rebecca Alanis 14.48 110 Dustin Strickland 14.54 111 Kim Coley 15.11 112 James Compton 15.12 113 Mark Rowe 15.14 114 Sean Tipton 15.48 115 Robert Rivard 15.50 116 Ashley Specia 15.54 117 Norine Gill 16.02 118 Rebecca Lujan 16.03 119 Kimberley Raymond 16.08 120 Brad Phelan 121 Ashley Mayo 16.29 122 Lisa Reeve 16.50 123 Rolando Vera 17.13 124 Joy Allison 17.18 125 Naji Kayruz 17.48 126 Hunter Jackson 18.37 127 Charles Schneider 19.24 128 Lucas Conder 21.01 129 Nick Logan 21.46 130 William Hicks 22.22 131 Miles Vandewalle 22.34 132 Jeff Harston 22.44 133 William Harrell 23.01 134 Nick Bannon 1.09.32 By category Ubergruppe ITT, under 35 1 Stefan Rothe 35.08 2 John Coppin 0.56 3 Philip Wikoff 2.07 4 Jeremey Thomson 3.42 5 Ryan Campos 11.02 Ubergruppe ITT, 35-39 1 Lance Armstrong 33.14 2 Justin Wolfe 2.51 3 Jason Bentley 3.11 4 Joshua Barton 4.33 5 David Dohnal 7.42 Ubergruppe ITT, 40+ 1 Erick Benz 34.57 2 Cord Offermann 0.37 3 Ron Huijsman 2.02 4 Kurt Bickel 2.06 5 George Heagerty 3.09 Ubergruppe ITT Women, under 35 1 Christina Wolfe 39.18 2 Sheri Rothe 5.27 Ubergruppe ITT - Women, 35+ 1 Annick Beaudet 41.49 2 Aimee Gould 1.53 Blitzgruppe ITT, under 18 1 Brad Phelan 49.22 Blitzgruppe ITT, 18-34 1 Drew Hochstatter 43.26 2 Chris Vaughn 1.20 Blitzgruppe ITT, 35-44 1 Kurt Joseph 37.46 2 Eric Pendland 1.13 3 Bryan Carlson 2.33 4 David Felsing 3.38 5 Brian Meelbusch 4.15 6 Kelly Sell 5.14 Blitzgruppe ITT, 45-54 1 David Hoffman 37.06 2 Scott Munroe 1.38 3 Jose Gonzalez 1.52 4 Jon Huibregtse 1.59 5 Gregory Simmons 2.25 6 John Myhre 2.31 7 Norberto Valdes 4.09 8 Robert Briscoe 5.08 9 Ray Botello 5.50 10 Laryn Mumm 7.31 11 Abel Gonzales 9.21 Blitzgruppe ITT, 55+ 1 JIm Alsup 40.46 2 Arthur Shultz 3.52 3 Jim McTee 5.27 Blitzgruppe ITT Women, 35-44 1 Diann Sweeney 41.44 2 Dawn English 1.18 3 Kim Coley 6.41 Blitzgruppe ITT Women, 45+ 1 Barbara Kuhlemeier 41.24 Schnellgruppe ITT, under 18 1 Connor Penland 43.23 2 Hunter Jackson 8.28 Schnellgruppe ITT, 18-34 1 Leighton Adams 38.41 2 Vince Rosetta 4.17 3 David Droege 5.36 4 Michael Wynne, Jr 5.48 5 Marc Crozier 6.14 6 Daniel Munoa 7.30 7 John Wilmeth 8.03 8 James Russell 8.58 9 Dustin Strickland 9.27 10 Charles Schneider 13.57 11 Lucas Conder 15.34 12 Miles Vandewalle 17.07 13 Orlando Villegas DNF Schnellgruppe ITT, 35-39 1 Dan Perkins 40.04 2 Willg Stokes 0.21 3 Mark Goldstein 1.02 4 Kyle Odom 1.11 5 Edward Kennedy 1.31 6 Marc Gonzales 2.24 7 John Hertel 4.37 8 Jens Hess 4.54 9 Howie Hobbs 5.43 10 Edwin Lacson 6.20 11 Enrique Varela 6.40 Schnellgruppe ITT, 40-44 1 Robert Mercado 40.04 2 Sean Sullivan 0.34 3 Michael Braden 1.29 4 Bill Lyons 2.05 5 David Svahn 2.16 6 Craig Ayers 2.21 7 Edward Robinson 3.12 8 Robert Dole 3.18 9 Mark Anderson 4.01 10 Richard Kinsey 4.16 11 Allan de Jong 5.01 12 Bruce Lantry 5.14 13 Doug Lyle 5.28 14 Jeffery Dixon 5.45 15 Joaquin Oronoz Jr 6.35 16 James Compton 8.22 17 Sean Tipton 8.58 18 Rolando Vera 10.23 19 William Hicks 15.32 20 Jeff Harston 15.54 21 William Harrell 16.11 22 Nick Bannon 1.02.42 Schnellgruppe ITT, 45-49 1 Thomas Carter 41.49 2 Jim Hayes 1.13 3 Maurice East 1.33 4 Jerry Hanke 2.03 5 Brian Young 3.20 6 Sherman Krause 4.54 7 Ashley Specia 7.19 8 Naji Kayruz 9.13 Schnellgruppe ITT, 50+ 1 Mike Adams 39.13 2 Steven Bigby 0.33 3 Jorge Alvarado 1.22 4 Bill Neale 2.39 5 Dan Lundeen 2.42 6 Pierre Filardi 3.31 7 David Gill 3.52 8 David Harris 4.04 9 Steve Heise 10 Jose Farina 4.09 11 Mario Valaperta 4.17 12 Erik Kwiecienski 4.21 13 Greg Koehnle 4.52 14 David Rilling 6.10 15 Ed Allbritton 6.32 16 Edmund Beaudet 6.43 17 Thomas Lago 18 Alan Goss 7.41 19 David Stephenson 7.51 20 Mike Bufler 8.45 21 Mark Rowe 9.15 22 Robert Rivard 9.51 23 Nick Logan 15.47 Schnellgruppe ITT Women, under 35 1 Rebecca Alanis 48.02 2 Joy Allison 2.30 Schnellgruppe ITT Women, 35-44 1 Melissa Kuliska 46.16 2 Jill Hall 1.13 3 Rebecca Lujan 3.01 4 Ashley Mayo 3.27 5 Lisa Reeve 3.48 Schnellgruppe ITT Women, 45+ 1 Charlotte Morris 46.37 2 Norine Gill 2.39 3 Kimberley Raymond 2.45
