Burrito Boys Bag Another

I have not been terribly shy about expressing how much I enjoy the discipline of the Team Time Trial [TTT]. When incorporated into a stage race, the TTT is a spectacle of speed and coordination.

During a "race of truth" against the clock, it is one thing to turn yourself inside-out, but it’s quite another to do the same when you’re doing it for the guy next to you whose hopes for an overall victory have now been place equally on your shoulders.

At this year’s Tour de Georgia, Team Slipstream/Chipotle presented by H30 showed its team time trialing acumen by winning the Stage 4 TTT by over 3 seconds. On Saturday’s Stage 1 of the Giro d’Italia, Slipstream/Chipotle clocked a remarkable 53.366 km/h in taking the 23.6 km Palermo TTT.

The victory placed Christian Vande Velde in the maglia rosa. And in probably the most overused but highly undervalued fact, Vande Velde became the first American to be in Giro leader’s jersey in over 20 years [Andy Hampsten’s 1988 victory]. The closest an American has come in recent memory to wearing the rose-colored jersey was Tyler Hamilton’s 2nd place in 2002.

Unfortunately, the Slipstream victory came to a sobering end on Sunday’s Stage 1, which saw Davie Zabriskie carted off the course on a gurney. Latest reports showed Zabriskie fractured his L1 vertebrae in the crash.

MORE:
Velonews - Giro TTT: Slipstream's American Vande Velde in the lead
Cyclingnews - Slipstream shows speed in Sicily