April 26/08 10:47 am - Tour de Georgia: Stage 6 report & full results

Posted by Editoress on 04/26/08
 

Tour de Georgia

Interviews by Amy Smolens

Prerace

Christian Meier - Symmetrics

Amy Smolens: What have your veteran teammates told you about the climb to Brasstown Bald and how are you going to approach it?

Christian Meier: I've seen the climb before. I was here in '05, I didn't get to ride it but I've seen it. I guess just try to make sure we're well positioned at the bottom of the climbs (the first two KOMs,) and then get too the bottom of Brasstown hopefully in the front group and then you can just ride up at your own pace, I guess there's not much else that you can do. Yeah, it' s just a matter of the legs being good and hopefully everything goes well, yeah.

AS: When I've spoken to your teammates all week - Cam Evans and Pinner for example - they always say "Christian will do well on Brasstown Bald." Does that put pressure on you, give you confidence, or a little bit of both?

CM: Well, I think a little bit more pressure than anything. I mean for us the main thing has been a lack of racing this year so it's kind of hard to tell exactly where you are compared to guys who have done the Tour of California, who've been racing in Europe, and all that kind of stuff. But training this year so far has been pretty good, so hopefully I can live up to the expectations and I'm going to give it 100% and that's about all I can do.

Jacob Erker: Always say 110%! (as Andrew Pinfold laughs hard at Erker's advice)

AS: (I ask Erker) How much?

JE: 110%.

CM: 123%, actually.

AP: 100% doesn't cut it anymore with today's economy.


Postrace, François Parisien - Symmetrics - 18th place in the stage

AS: You're Symmetrics' top finisher today, what do you think of your baptism on Brasstown Bald?

François Parisien: Definitely one of the hardest climbs I've done during a race. Maybe not one of the hardest ones I've done in my life, but for sure the steepest one, and you know it just gets steeper and steeper!! Yeah, you know, those kind of climbs I'm pretty good, like short, under 5k, and super steep, like in Tour de Beauce, I can do pretty good, and that kind of stuff and sustain my effort for just over ten minutes and I feel pretty good about that.

AS: This is your first major tour with Symmetrics, how's your experience on the team been?

FP: The team is working great together. I think the guys are talking a lot together and everybody knows what's their job. Everybody's about the same level and that's why today after the first KOM we had five guys at the front of the race. I'm very happy with what the team is doing as far as results. As for me, I thought I would have been doing a little bit better here but you know I'm working on self-confidence because the past couple of years when I was over in Europe I was always a soldier, I've never been put in a position where I had to work for myself, I was always working for other riders and riding on the front. So now I need to be more confident and believe in me and what I can do and I'm really working hard on that right now.

AS: This result in the toughest stage in a race of this caliber has to give you that confidence, right?

FP: Yeah, well, I know I can do it because when I was over in Europe I've done way harder races, way higher level. For example, the Tour of Portugal last year was twelve days and I finished it and I was working the whole week for some teammates so I know I can do those kinds of races, I have the level. It's just that like I said I need to be able to learn how to take pressure and to think about myself a little bit more.

Postrace

Svein Tuft - Symmetrics - in the day's major break, up two KOMs for approximately 60 miles

AS: You picked an epic day to decide you had the legs for a break.

Svein Tuft: Actually, it didn't really feel like it at the start, but once you start going you really open up and start feeling pretty good.

AS: There were a bunch of early breaks that went out and got caught after a short time. How did you decide that this was the right one to get into, the right combination?

ST: Well, I kind of noticed that every day it's been later and later. There's a bunch of hard, hard efforts but it's not really until 40-50k that it really gets away. So I didn't want to try to get in much of the early stuff just because it seems like everyone wants in on that, and it's not until guys start getting tired... so (Eric) Wohlberg and I slipped away with a couple other guys and we just drilled it and the field was just strung out and the field got strung out and the next group just kind of went from that and we were just sitting there looking at each other and that's when I jumped across to that move and that was the one.

AS: How'd you feel on the first two KOMs?

ST: Good, yeah, just controlled. The problem is that we had a bunch of guys but a bunch of guys that weren't really working that well so it was me and (CSC's Jason) McCartney doing the majority of the work, I think. I mean, that happens - the Astana guy (Andrey Mizourov) had no reason to (work) and the other guys were obviously hurting, I think, just on the climbs you could tell they were suffering. So they got popped (off) on the first one so that dwindled it down to four guys (Tuft, McCartney and Neil Shirley of Jittery Joe's) and one guy sitting on (Mizourov) so it was just the three of us (working.) So the last KOM McCartney kept a nice tempo on there and then we just kept rolling it right to the base of Brasstown.

AS: And Brasstown Bald itself, is it as tough as you remember it from three years ago?

ST: Well, you know, yeah, it's a nasty climb (note: grades up to 20%) The last k is rough and if you hit it with the lights out already it's a bit of a tough one (laughs,) yeah.

AS: It's been great for Symmetrics to have a guy in the major break two days in a row.

ST: For sure, yeah, I mean you never know what's going to happen so that's why we try and make sure we always have a guy in the move just to cover everything, you know?

AS: And in the situation where you guys are looking for sponsorship this season, this has to help, right?

ST: For sure, yeah, it's gotta be good for sponsorship if you're always out there. It's how we race anyway, you know? So it's not like it's any different, it's not like we're just going out there trying to get exposure, that IS how we race, so it bodes well for that, as well.