The Mehlting Pot: The Pro-Tour Says Hello to Canada
By Cathy Mehl
The UCI Pro Tour has arrived in Canada by crossing the Atlantic Ocean ….in a chartered jet, no less. Twenty-two teams have arrived in Québec City to ride in two one-day races, the first coming up on Friday. Team RadioShack, along with all other teams, have all settled in at the beautiful Fairmont Le Château Frontenac in the heart of Old Québec. The hotel is teaming with activity as riders come and go, wheeling bikes through the lobby and bundling up for training rides. Morning rain fell hard and fast, but cloudy skies are holding off on dumping more rain for now and the streets are drying. It’s afternoon and with most of the riders and staff still not adjusted to the time difference, it’s quiet now while the boys get massage, catch up on emails and in general just take it easy.
On Tuesday more than 170 riders plus mechanics, team directors, doctors, and journalists boarded the special jet at Roissy-Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, France, along with more than 400 bags and suitcases to arrive in Canada ready to race. Team Director Viatcheslav ‘Eki’ Ekimov remarked that it was a completely stress-free trip across the pond. In general teams drive their equipment trucks from race-to-race, but for this special off-continent event it was necessary to travel a little lighter. Estimates give each team 758kg/1670lbs of weight for 8 riders, six support staff, 14 bikes, a dozen pairs of spare wheels, a tool chest and two repair stands. All have been set up a corral section in a tent outside the hotel, where the team mechanics work in tight quarters to keep the bikes tuned and ready to roll.
Le Château Frontenac is a stunning hotel with castle-like architecture, including more than a few turrets. It sits on the St. Lawrence River and is surrounded by narrow streets teeming with restaurants, shops, and plenty to do and see. The hotel dominates the skyline and is part of the fortified section of the city, where the architecture has a distinct European feel to it. After exploring the immediate area around the hotel, one can pass through the Porte St-Louis and Porte St-Jean to see the modern section of downtown too.
So who’s here anyway? The riders are Chris, Jani, Levi, Tiago, Haimar, Markel, Popo and Sergio with Eki directing from the car. Also making the trip is Dr. Dag, soigneurs Elvio and Choppi and mechanics Craig and Francisco, all from Europe. Also on hand is Brenda Phelps, who joins the team for all USA-based races, plus Glenn Kasin providing photography and me, hoping to share some behind the scenes happenings with the fans for a few days.
This evening a limo is coming to pick up the guys for a Trek-organized special reception, so we’ll give you more info on that next time. Stay tuned; there is plenty of racing to come!
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Hard to grasp from your tv screen: the sound of a
pro peloton accelerating after a turn, leading up
to a bunch sprint: http://t.co/N8WpL3Dj
RT @vanderjeugd: http://t.co/INjaNBRz Chaos in
Muscat.Staff of 16 teams running around looking if
all bikes, ... http://t.co/KgLWfoPA
Video: Tour of Qatar Recap: http://t.co/G6w2BW7A #RSNT
Finally, fast man @Giaco_33 has joined twitter. He
sticks to Italian for now, but please encourage
him!
#tourofqatar Check out our video recap with
@RobertWagner83 @Markelirizar, Popo and Giacomo
Nizzolo: http://t.co/PdwUhhUK
