The future is bright

The future is bright.
Going into the Redlands Bicycle Classic with Trek-Livestrong is always a first evaluation of the riders during competition. Despite some bad luck with crashes, I was really happy to see the boys’ strong results. I was also impressed with their spirit.
Dale Parker finished 6th in the prologue, only a few seconds off the best time. With three riders in the top 20 we were in a good position for a top-10 finish with any one of them. Unfortunately, Parker and Joe Dombrowski left the race the next day after suffering bad crashes. Michael Vink dropped out with health issues, which left us with only five riders after just two days of racing. Joe Lewis finished 8th in the first road stage and showed that he will be a very valuable asset for us for the rest of the year. Due to the attrition, we came up with a tactical plan to save as much energy as possible until the last stage and break the race open on the “sunset loop.” I was especially impressed by George Bennett’s performance during the week and he finished 8th overall in what was probably the least-suited race of the year for him. I suggest you remember his name because I predict a great future for him. I also have to mention our two youngest riders, 18-year-olds Josh Atkins and Robin Eckmann. They delivered a great amount of work for the team and gained valuable experience.
Charlie Avis rode an amazing race, considering he is a fulltime student at Princeton University. He managed to be a great team player, laying the foundation for some attacks by Bennett.

Most of my U.S. riders are in Belgium, racing with USA Cycling and doing great. Lawson Craddock won the 8 km TT and Ryan Eastman finished the stage race in a very honorable 9th place. But what pleases me most is when my riders go out there and show that they are not shy or afraid to animate the race. They are active and try to win, even at the risk of losing some time on general classification. Those who followed my career should recognize that style of racing.
I feel confident that we have an impressive team and a great staff, which enjoys helping me develop those young riders. We had some incredible extended and painful laugh sessions at Redlands that eased the riders’ suffering but got all of us closer together, treating each other like family. I look forward to Tour of the Gila at the end of this month. But in the meantime it is time to rest and train hard for all of us, including yours truly. I am racing the legendary Ski2Sea next Sunday in Kelowna. You’ll get the details in my next blog.
Talk to you all in a couple of weeks,
Axel Merckx