USA Pro Challenge: Springs cyclist's team is folding
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- Created on Saturday, 27 August 2011 03:00
- Written by Dena Rosenberry
BY BRIAN GOMEZ
THE GAZETTE
Danny Pate (above, in a file photo) is certain that he’ll be racing next season. First, he must find a new team.
The Falcon High School graduate can’t compete for HTC-Highroad after this year. The California-based squad has plans of folding because of a dearth of financial commitments from sponsors, probably making the USA Pro Cycling Challenge his last major event.
“It is a bummer the team is ending,” said Pate, who recorded a 41st-place finish Friday in an 82.8-mile trek from Avon to Steamboat Springs to improve to 73rd in the overall with two stages remaining. “We all wanted it to continue. Nobody wants it to end. Some of us had contracts, and some of us didn’t. That doesn’t really matter. We all wanted to stay.”
“It is a sad feeling for everyone,” said HTC-Highroad rider Patrick Gretsch of Germany. “We are all friends, and when we realize that it is three months from being over, it isn’t a nice feeling. But we have to look to the future.”
Pate added that “the fact the guys are still riding well shows the class of the team. We come to every race wanting to win. Everyone shows up to race, and they want to race hard. We have a lot of motivated riders here.”
Bathroom breaks not an issue
Stef Clement doesn’t have trouble with bathroom breaks. When he has to go, he goes.
The Dutch rider said, “If it’s 50 kilometers to go, you can hold it up.” But he once stopped at a gas station during the Giro d’Italia. “We can stop,” added Clement, who is eighth in the overall. “And there are 20 cars behind the peloton. … We’re like normal humans.”
Online demand for Andy Schleck
Luxembourg rider Andy Schleck is a strong advocate of social media. He boasts 212,400 fans on Facebook, and he has 191,000 followers on Twitter. So can you blame him?
“There were always a lot of people when I raced overseas,” said Schleck, who is 39th in the overall. “In the last year, cycling exploded in the U.S., and in the Tour of California, we get more and more support. … I believe a big part is due to social media.”
Photo: This fan atop Cottonwood Pass shared her support for the Schleck brothers, Andy and Frank, with everyone. (The front of her shirt? "Make me a Schleck sandwich.")
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