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Tyler Farrar says he has spent time on the track, searching to recapture the speed that made him one of the sport's top sprinters. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (VN) — The saying goes, you’ve got to have money to make money. The same is true in sprinting: wins are a currency used to beget more wins, and without the confidence to win, a sprinter may as well walk.
Perhaps that’s why the stage 4 win for Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) at the Amgen Tour of California on Wednesday was so big it seemed the entire field was happy for him, congratulations passed around lightly, an entire team jubilant on a wide boulevard on the Santa Barbara beach.
Farrar took a big one for his confidence, winning a drag race of a sprint into Santa Barbara after hitching a brilliant ride on Ken Hanson’s Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies train. It marked his first of the year, and he bested phenom Peter Sagan (Cannondale) in the process. farrar won craftily, without a train of his own in the final kilometer, as Garmin had used its horses to keep him safe before the finishing straight and left the Washington-native to freelance, which he did to perfection.
“I didn’t see him,” he said of Sagan. “We were taking from the front. When our team was done, some GreenEdge guys slotted over, and I worked off of them. And then Optum did a really good leadout in the last K, and I was just able to tail-gun off of them.”
At different points in a solid career, Farrar has been absolutely brilliant. He’s won a stage at each grand tour, (two a piece at the Giro d’Italia and Vuelta a España to go with his July 4, 2011 Tour win) but at other times has suffered from the bad luck of crashes, the mental onslaught of tragic circumstances, and racing in the same era as top gun Mark Cavendish (Omega Pharma-Quick Step). This year, he’s finished second a few times, and was sixth at Scheldeprijs, but hasn’t snared the results he’s wanted. That may change now.
“I’m psyched. This spring wasn’t what I wanted, a string of second and second and third and fourth and second. … You know, in sprinting, wins are what count. I was really motivated coming into this. I’ve been training really hard this spring, and it’s paying off,” he told VeloNews just after the stage from Santa Clarita ended.
Before the race in California began, Farrar said he took some time to focus on getting his sprint back up to speed, working on the track. Three years ago, he was billed by many as the first real threat to unseat Cavendish. But promising results in the classics had Farrar dipping his toes in the cobbled monuments, trying to diversify his repertoire. The result? A lack of results.
“I started trying to focus on too many things: focus on the classics 100 percent, focus on sprinting 100 percent. And get better at climbing. This and that. And I think I was kind of stretching myself a little too thin,” he said.
On Wednesday, Farrar was right where he needed to be, both on the road on and the podium.“A win never hurts,” he said. “In sprinting, wins are what people count. I’m really happy to finally have gotten the monkey off my back this season, and hope to keep that going.”
He’ll have another chance on Thursday at the Amgen Tour, as a sprint finish is expected when the race barrels into Avila Beach after 185 kilometers.
Ken Hanson was second on Wednesday and said afterward he was too impatient in the sprint. Photo: Casey B. Gibson | www.cbgphoto.com SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (VN) — Ken Hanson (Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies) said all the right things after the finish of stage 4 at the Amgen Tour of California on Wednesday: he was happy with his team, he was happy with his result, and he was happy to do well in front of a home crowd.
His team did work well enough, unfurling a swift leadout in the final kilometer of the 134-kilometer stage. And Hanson should be happy with his result; second at a major race like the Amgen Tour is an enormous result for a rider from a domestic squad. And, with the finish in his former hometown of Santa Barbara, fans shouted louder than normal for a runner-up.
But after finishing second to Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Sharp) in stage 4, Ken Hanson clearly wanted more. Very clearly, he seemed to have expected more.
“I was a little too impatient and went a little too soon, and Farrar had good finishing speed,” Hanson said. “I lived here for so long. I have such good friends here, it feels like coming home. I was really, really motivated for the stage here. And I just came up a little short. Just was a little too impatient for the sprint. I think I could have gotten maybe 50 meters more out of my last leadout guy, [Alex] Candelario. But I was afraid of getting swarmed and pinched in, and kind of went a little early and hugged the barriers, and Farrar was able to come by me in the last 50 meters. It was close, and I’m happy, but I’m still really hungry.”
Hanson is one of America’s top domestic pros on one of America’s strongest teams, the Minnesota-based Optum squad. The team has recently bolstered its European racing regime, and is putting that strength to work. In a drag-race of a sprint today into Santa Barbara, the team had the best leadout inside the final kilometer, but was perhaps just a rider short. Farrar stole a seat on the tracks and barreled by Hanson, the most prolific winner in North America last season, and a winner at a race in Portugal, the Classica Aveiro-Fatima, earlier this spring. In California today, Hanson was close, but not close enough.
It wasn’t a win for Hanson, but it was far from a loss. And he knows it, though the sprinter in him has a hard time calling a second-place result a success.
“You know. It’s tough,” he said. “The timing couldn’t have been any better. I’ve got really good teammates supporting me … I think I was just a little too impatient. I think I could have waited a little bit longer to start my sprint. Three hundred meters is a little long. I had momentum, and just kind of went for it. Maybe a little bit more patience and one more guy, you know?”
The Tour of California is nearly a home race for Hanson, who seems to have done time all along its route, at one point or another. He was born and raised in Sierra Madre, and now lives in San Diego, though he used to live in Santa Barbara and went to college in the state as well. When he rolled through the finish straight after the podium presentation, Hanson was greeted with loud cheers from a mass of fans. The pressure, then, to do well, is present, even if he rides for one of the smaller teams.
“In the grand scheme of things, we’re a really small team, and we don’t even have all our best leadout guys here,” he said. “As you see, we’re just as good as the ProTour teams when we get organized,” he said. “I’m really motivated for tomorrow’s stage as well.”
He should get another crack on Thursday, when the peloton heads from Santa Barbara to Avila Beach. The fifth leg of the race is 51km longer than Wednesday’s stage and every bit as tailored to a bunch finish, but Hanson will almost certainly be more patient when he winds up his kick a day after his career best Amgen Tour result.
Prolific sprinter looking for win number 100 in Treviso
- Results are now posted for tonight's Goldenberg Heller Wednesday Night TT
A hot and windy afternoon turned into a calm and cool evening. I was sorry I didn't get to race. Yes it was that nice.
Thanks Ron, Don and Lynn for your help at the start and finish. You guys are a huge help. We truly appreciate it.
I'll give everyone a chance to look over results and help me make sure all the categories are right. In a day or so I'll upload them to the usacycling site.
Mark
Australian continues race after stage 2 crash
Canadian continues at Giro d'Italia day by day
- Hey Guys,
Thanks to everyone who attended the last two clinics. Due to the positive feedback, and increased interest in the events I am going to host a few more in the future. Unfortunately I am on the road for most of the next few months racing and living in my RV. So, most of these will occur when I return in August-October of this year.
The clinics/rides are free of charge. Here are tentative dates and the main focuses I intend for each event. All of these will be at Castlewood as of right now and are open to anyone. All I ask is that you have proper riding gear and a bike that works. All abilities are welcome, but be ready to ride for a total of 90-120 minutes. We will stop and go throughout the trail working on particular skills that can improve everyone's abilities from Cat 3 to Cat 1.
June 20th: Mastering cornering and shifting
August 8th: Descending and Ascending
August 22nd: Mastering cornering and shifting: continued from June 20th.
Sept 25th: Descending, ascending, and good line choice
October 9th: Building speed in the corners: cornering, momentum, and descending combined
That's the general outlook right now. Please mark your calenders. There is a slight chance the June 20th clinic might not happen. I will confirm the week of the event along with any of the other events.
If you have any questions, or if you want to be included on my email list for all clinics, please email me at drew@endurancefactor.com. On top of racing for the Kenda/Felt Pro Mountain Bike Team, I also do individual coaching, and one on one technical work on the trails. For more info on this and everything else going on, visit my website at www.coachdrewedsall.com .
Thanks to everyone that attended so far, Good luck to everyone the next few months. Hopefully we will run into each other on the trails in the future. Don't hesitate to shout out at me if you see me on the trails. Always good chatting with other riders.
Have fun riding/racing! - 1. Tyler FARRAR, Garmin-Sharp, in 3:14:09
- 2. Ken HANSON, Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies, at :00
- 3. Gianni MEERSMAN, Omega Pharma-Quick Step, at :00
- 4. Kris BOECKMANS, Vacansoleil-DCM, at :00
- 5. Peter SAGAN, Cannondale, at :00
- 6. Michael MATTHEWS, Orica-GreenEdge, at :00
- 7. Thor HUSHOVD, BMC Racing, at :00
- 8. Sylvain CHAVANEL, Omega Pharma-Quick Step, at :00
- 9. Jeremy VENNELL, Bissell, at :00
- 10. Jasper STUYVEN, Bontrager, at :00
- DNS Philippe GILBERT, BMC Racing
Flecha hopes to remain with Dutch squad
