Calpe Training Camp: Business as Usual
We wanted to start today’s blog with a belated welcome. As a lot of you already heard, Fumiyuki Beppu has officially joined Team RadioShack. Beppu flew into camp two days ago and was extremely excited to see old teammates from Discovery Channel and start a new chapter with Johan and the boys.
Beppu is a native of Japan, but lives and trains in France. Needless to say, he will be an incredible asset, bringing the same competitive spirit that characterizes this entire team. He’s an aggressive beast on the bike, but off the bike , a “class act” everyone enjoys getting to know. Welcome, Beppu!
Day 2 began again back at the breakfast table. The team eats together, family-style as you’ve seen in pictures. Here, they begin their daylong crusade of consuming upward to 5,000 calories. Fun fact: Smacks seem to be the hot cereal of the week. The usual breakfast is followed by constant snacking on the bike. They rely on ZipVits, our nutritional sponsor, to maintain energy reserves.
The team is out at the Big Rig at 9:45am. Johan keeps things disciplined. He has a “wheels-down” at 10:00am sharp. You better be ready to ride, no excuses. If you have a few changes to your bikes like Rosseler did this morning, best play it safe and cut breakfast short to meet with mechanics.
The professionals our guys are, they were all ready to roll on Johan’s cue…It was off into the Spanish backdrop that looks more like a postcard than a reality. Haven’t seen a cloud all day. If you see the clouds, tell them Team RadioShack says “hello.”
The professionals our guys are, they were all ready to roll on Johan’s cue…It was off into the Spanish backdrop that looks more like a postcard than a reality. Haven’t seen a cloud all day. If you see the clouds, tell them Team RadioShack says “hello.”
Today’s ride was very similar to yesterday: 5 hours at an easy to moderate pace with two big climbs. “Big RED” rolled out of Calpe like a well-tuned machine. Buzz about town is bringing some locals and tourists out to watch each morning. The KTM MTB team even stopped by the hotel with hopes to meet some of their heroes. They are a young mountain bike team from Poland who look up our guys both personally and professionally. You should have seen the look on their faces when Steegmans, Selander and Beppu insisted they stick around, hang out for a bit, and take pictures.
Assistant sporting directors Dirk Demol and Viatcheslav Ekimov took their turn in the team cars this morning. For those of you who don’t know, Dirk and Eki were both hammers back in their day. Actually, Eki’s “day” was not too long ago, known for being an integral part of Lance’s record-breaking Tour de France victories. Dirk’s victory in the 1988 Paris-Roubaix still goes down as one of the most impressive wins in history.
Dirk and Eki, no strangers to the mountains, ran a tough route up the two climbs of the day. First up: A 7km climb that weaves and winds up a gradual hillside. As my legs hurt just looking up the road, I thought I was surely imagining laughter. I was very wrong. Impey and Steegmans were hooting and hollering at some inside joke. These guys made it seem effortless, but I guess that’s why they get paid to push pedals. It’s great to see that although this is their “job”, the looks on their faces show they genuinely appreciate and enjoy what they do each day.
The cars couldn’t keep up with the riders on the descents. Going as fast as 80 kilometers per hour, riders take the hairpins so fast you can hear tires squeaking. Chatter dispelled on the next 9km climb as attention and focus turned to what the directors called a “gut buster.” Ouch?
After one more descent, it was chow-time again. Lunch and dinner are heavy on the carbs and protein: pasta, salad, breads, fish generally. We have a pretty big sweet tooth in our mix…Cough, Chris Horner, cough cough.
While the guys were riding, our fearless mechanics were busy building the new TREK Team RadioShack Speed Concept TT bike. We’ll have a more in-depth story about the new bike coming soon...
We will tell you this. The Trek Speed Concept so glamorous it had it’s only Hollywood-style photo shoot on the beach. People were stopping in their tracks to check out the beauty like it was the next centerfold in Vogue. What a stud.
Happy Saturday, folks. Keep your comments coming and we’ll continue to answer your questions about life at camp. Cheers!
photos: Glenn Kasin
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