Pikes Peak Region Trail Finder

BY BRIAN GOMEZ, THE GAZETTE

Tom Danielson isn’t short on confidence after a top-10 finish at the Tour de France, and he knows how to compete at altitude. So almost everybody is labeling him as the favorite.

The Boulder resident should carry lots of momentum into the inaugural USA Pro Cycling Challenge, a seven-stage race with 136 riders from 17 teams that covers 508 miles across 11 Colorado cities, with the prologue time trial Monday in Colorado Springs.

A ninth-place showing last month in France – in his Tour debut – marked the best finish by an American at the Tour, and Danielson, a 33-year-old who headlines Boulder-based Team Garmin-Cervelo, placed third at the Tour of California in May. He’s no stranger to being in contention, with three top-10 showings at the Spanish Vuelta, a win at the 2005 Tour de Georgia and a victory at a 2002 Chinese event that also featured high elevations.

Danielson reports that he feels “pretty recovered” from France, having rejuvenated with a family vacation in Vail, and he has spent the past few weeks focusing on the 12,000-foot climbs that he’ll encounter going from Gunnison to Aspen in Wednesday’s second stage. Another point of emphasis for him has been the second time trial, in Vail on Thursday.

“I’m not really thinking I’m going to have an advantage because these guys are going to be coming from sea level and they’re going to be suffering altitude sickness,” Danielson said. “An advantage is more of my ability to handle the altitude. … At altitude, once you hit your threshold and once you empty the tank, there’s really no recovering.”

When Danielson trained on Independence Pass, “there was no way for me to get over that without experiencing all different types of emotions and physical feelings, just from the altitude alone,” he said. And he predicts the dirt on Cottonwood Pass is “going to make it a little more difficult.” Compared with France, he said, “there are steeper pitches on those climbs, but the high altitude on the climbs in Colorado will make them feel similar.”

For Danielson, the most strenuous part figures to be the stretch from Cottonwood Pass to Independence Pass, the last four miles of which are “very, very, very difficult,” he said, adding “if there is headwind, the riders won’t experience it so much. If there is tailwind, it won’t help either. There’s going to be no place to hide. And you’re at 12,000 feet. … You stand up, and you get out of the saddle, and every one of your muscles is burning.”

Danielson warned that the time trial in Vail is “not easy, and it’s not straightforward. It’s not like a typical time trial. It’s very difficult to read what equipment to use, and it’s very difficult to read how to gauge your effort.” Plus, riders don’t have room for a “bad day on the other stages,” he said. “It’s going to be an exciting race from the start to the finish.”

USA Pro Cycling Challenge chairman Shawn Hunter likes Danielson’s odds given “most of the directors for teams and a lot of his competitors are picking him,” he said. “This is his backyard. He’s the hometown boy. And he knows these roads better than anybody.”

About the favorite tag, Danielson said, “Mentally, I’m fired up. I’m motivated. … To be called one of the favorites is an honor, and I hope I can put that weight on my shoulders.” He added that he has had the “best season in my career so far. I’m looking forward to this race, and I’m going to give it everything I have. … It’s the terrain that I’m built for.”