The Prologue - Beyond Expectations
A message from Priority Health Cycling Team Manager, Mark Olson
I have been quietly confident about our new team and our abilities to perform at a world class level here at the Tour of California. I have felt from the beginning that we put together something special: A very good group of athletes, first class equipment and a top notch staff, however, today was AMAZING!
The team mechanics Ben Oliver and Ritchie had the time trial bikes dialed, the team soigneurs Joann Fusco and Kaycee Evans had everything the guys needed prepared and ready. The boys just needed to stay focused and give it there all.
Our Team Director, Glen Mitchell, put together a very smart plan; he put one of our best time trial riders at the front of the start list and one at the back. This may seem like a random process but it would turn out to be a key decision. Basically this plan protected us from any major weather changes on either end of the day. So no matter how the weather changed, we would still have one of our best time trial riders in a good position.
Ben Jaques-Maynes was the 2nd guys to leave the start ramp and posted a great time of 4:54:00. This was quite a bit quicker then his time last year in the Prologue. Rider after rider rolled through and the Ben's time stood in 2nd place. Then the major players started to hit the course, but the wind had changed a bit and swung around into a head wind. Ben's time continued to stand strong…
Now in the middle of all of this Brian Sheedy had a plan too. There is a King of the Mountain (KOM) competition as part of the Prologue; they take a split time at the bottom of the final climb to the finish line. Brian's plan was to save as much energy as possible coming into the KOM and then give everything to try and win. Brian dug so deep he literally blacked out at the finish in the team tent.
Now we had to wait, one rider at a time, to see if our guy's times would stick. The waiting was PAINFUL and the best in the world were still to come. And one by one Ben and Brian's times stood firm.
Only two riders left on course…. And only Levi Leipheimer would best Ben's time, still putting Ben on the Podium in 3rd place over all and 3rd place on GC going into Stage 1 tomorrow. No one could beat Brian's KOM time! He threw it down and risked it all and he beat the best of the best up the climb! He will wear the KOM jersey going into tomorrow's stage.
It was a very emotional day for me and the guys. They guys have work very hard and prepared specifically for this race for the past several months. They all came into training camp in better shape then I had ever seen them at any point last season. They deserve the great success they captured today and they have created great opportunity for the rest of the season.
We had a ton of support here today too. Many of our sponsors came a long way just to watch the Prologue. We'd like to thank all of them and in particular, Alex and the SRAM team for there extra support in helping us fine tune our bikes for the race and letting us borrow the SRAM car so we could follow more of our riders. I would also like to thank Mark Zickel of Priority Health and his lovely fiancée Kathleen for traveling all the way from Michigan to cheer us on.
If you are interested in the team's take on the day's events….check out their blogs.
It was a great day for everyone who supports the team. Thank you all for your support and helping us make this a great program!
More to come, the race is just getting started!
Mark Olson
Team Manager
Priority Health Cycling Team Presented by Bissell
