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‘Fast Freddie’ tests corner for USA Pro Cycling Challenge prologue

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Created on Friday, 29 July 2011 01:36

Written by USA Pro-Cycling Challenge

BY BRIAN GOMEZ, THE GAZETTE

Negotiating a troublesome left-hand turn from Ridge Road onto Pikes Peak Avenue could be the key to recording a fast time in the opening leg of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, predicts a former Olympic Training Center resident known for his sprinting prowess.

Three-time road national champion Fred Rodriguez maintains the Aug. 22 prologue time trial will be won or lost based on performance on the corner that’s 1.5 miles into the 5.18-mile stage – an obstacle coming out of Garden of the Gods and into Old Colorado City.

Part of the newly created, Idaho-based Exergy squad, Rodriguez, 37, of Berkeley, Calif., had three runs Thursday on the mostly downhill course that kicks off the seven-day race, with 136 cyclists from 17 teams over 508 miles and 11 Colorado cities. He went 55 mph, but he slowed down on the corner, insisting he wants “to win the race, not end it there.”

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“That corner is going to be pretty critical,” said Rodriguez, a Colombia native who ended a 1 ½-year retirement last month with a 12th-place showing at a single-day competition in Philadelphia and will race next weekend in suburban Chicago. “Hopefully there are no crashes on it. Knowing racing, there will be one or two guys that overshoot the corner.”

The biggest question for Rodriguez? “How late do you want to brake into that corner?” he asked. “You want to come in hot. You’re going to come in hot. If you misjudge where to brake, you might end up braking too much and losing momentum into the corner.” He said, “You want to brake enough so you can take that corner” and keep your traction.

With tight finishes expected at the intersection of Colorado Avenue and Cascade Avenue in downtown Colorado Springs, Rodriguez dismissed the notion that a fast start is pivotal. “You could pedal really hard going down (from Garden of the Gods) and get some speed, but it might not be worth it because you’ve got to brake so fast, and then hit the corner,” he said. “You might be better off using that energy to get back to speed after the corner.”

And there are two methods of thinking, according to Rodriguez. “A contender is going to go as fast as he can, but he’s not going to take the risk around that corner, unless he really thinks he could win,” he said. There also exist prologue experts that “will take every risk possible in every second,” he said, “and risk maybe even crashing just to get that edge.”

Rodriguez hasn’t raced in the Springs since 1995, a year after he left the OTC following a three-year stint with the U.S. national team. Yet “Fast Freddie” isn’t just optimistic for a decent prologue finish. He believes his sprinting could lift him to a win in the fifth stage, from Steamboat Springs to Breckenridge, and put him in the hunt for the overall title.

“It’s going to be a very fast course” in the prologue, Rodriguez said, “because you can concentrate on just going all out instead of worrying about barriers or turns” once you’re through the first corner. He added, “In a prologue, every missed turn, every missed shift, it could be the difference between winning and losing a race. Everything counts.”