Woody Creek native eager to race in USA Pro Challenge
- Details
- Created on Tuesday, 23 August 2011 03:30
- Written by Dena Rosenberry
Jon Maletz, The Aspen Times
ASPEN — While he admits to experiencing fits of nervous energy — those brief moments when his pulse quickens and thoughts race in his head — Alex Hagman is doing his best to project an air of calm.
Saturday afternoon, less than two days before the USA Pro Cycling Challenge hits Colorado, the Woody Creek native was lounging in a Colorado Springs hotel room and watching “Back to the Future.” He seemed content and at ease. He was confident that “up to this point, I have done everything I can possibly do to be ready.”
“I'm really not feeling too much pressure,” the 27-year-old asserted. “It's kind of one of those things where if you get excited too early, before you know it you're spent before the race even starts. … I'm just trying to stay cool and keep things mellow.”
Follow the weeklong USA Pro Cycling Challenge at OutThereColorado.com. We'll have stories, photos and videos each day.
He acknowledged that would be a much more daunting task today, when the world's top riders descend on the Springs to compete in a prologue that kicks off a week of racing widely considered to be the most demanding ever to hit U.S. soil.
“Once you're on the line and the numbers are pinned, the adrenaline gets going,” Hagman said. “It's game on at that point.
“But honestly, this is not as much overwhelming as it is exciting. It will be a brutal and hard race but we've all done that, we've all been through it. Everybody in this tour has ridden thousands and thousands of miles.”
Read more about what Alex Hagman expects out of the weeklong USA Pro Cycling Challenge in Colorado. The race continues Tuesday in its first stage, with cyclists riding from Salida over Monarch Pass and up into Crested Butte, ending at Mount Crested Butte.
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