Saturday, March 28, 2009

Back from the Tour of California

What a week as most of you already know Levi has won for the third year in a row but it was no easy week. In fact Levi is out now due to a fractured sacrum.

For the Colavita/Sutter Home Men’s Cycling Team presented by Cooking Light, the individual time trials on February 20th were the highlight of the final stages of the 2009 Amgen Tour of California. Luis Amaran proved he is capable of competing with the best in the world, delivering an impressive ride that put him in 16th place – just one second behind Lance Armstrong (Astana).

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Luis and Sebastian Haedo started Stage 7, an 88.9-mile route from Santa Clarita to Pasadena, in great form. The pair were part of the first group in the very difficult opening climb and were poised to improve Luis’ overall position. The Colavita/Sutter Home squad waged numerous efforts to get into the break but were unable to make them stick before the field hit the day’s big climb. On the ascent, the attacks were fast and furious, with Astana setting a torrid pace. Luis and Seba were taken out by a crash and the race’s medical director decided that Luis could not continue. But Andy Guptill, Davide Frattini, Aaron Olson, and Tyler Wren rode valiantly to finish safely within the time cut. CIMG0787.JPG

The organizers of the 2009 Amgen Tour of California claimed that they saved the best stage for last and they did not disappoint. The 96.8-mile route from Rancho Bernardo to Escondido was the most difficult of the race, with four King of the Mountain climbs, including Palomar Mountain, the highest summit on the tour at 5,123 feet. The climbing was very difficult, causing several of the remaining riders to drop out. But Colavita/Sutter Home’s stalwart five – Seba, Andy, Davide, Aaron, and Tyler – held on to the end and finished the tour.



Cold California

Posted on 2009-02-13 15:13:19

Only I would land in California on Wednesday with temps around 55 and raining.......and of course it is 70 and Sunny in Washington D.C.! I have now settled in with the team and am happy to report that everyone is fantastic. All the riders are doing well and it has been great working with them. Today the sun is fighting its way in and out as we get ready for the Start of the Tour of California. Today we had some locale news interviews as well as my friends over at pezccycing news.

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The team gets ready for a morning ride and make their last minute adjustments.

American Association of cycling Team Doctors

American Association of Cycling Team Doctors (AACTD), 2nd Annual Symposium, 2.14.09

PRESS RELEASE

American Association of Cycling Team Doctors (AACTD)
2nd Annual Symposium
Sacramento, CA
2.14.09, 8 a.m. to 12 noon

Embassy Suites Sacramento - Riverfront Promenade
100 Capitol Mall
Sacramento, CA, 95814
Tel: 1-916-326-5000
Fax: 1-916-326-5001
http://embassysuites1.hilton.com/en_US/es/hotel/SACESES-Embassy-Suites-Sacramento-Riverfront-Promenade-California/index.do

AACTD's 2nd Annual Symposium will be held on Saturday 2.14.09 on the morning of the Tour of California prologue (which begins at 1:30 p.m.).

AACTD is an interdisciplinary collaboration of science and health care professionals inspiring excellence in the care of cyclists.

Speakers and topics:

Michael Ross, MD
Jittery Joe's
Medical aspects of training

Kevin Reichlin, DC
Garmin-Slipstream
Chiropractic care at cycling's Grand Tours

Helen Iams, MD
Jelly Belly
Exercise-indused asthma/bronchospasm

Mark Greve, MD
Team Type 1
Injury epidemiology and prevention strategies

Conference participants will be eligible for Continuing Medical Education credits. Pre-registration is not required.

Tour of California releases full roster

Promoters of the 2009 Amgen Tour of California released complete rosters for the nine-day race starting Feb. 14. The race will feature 17 teams of eight riders each. The team I care about the most is Colavita/Sutter Home is listed below and I can now prep for the race.

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Colavita/Sutter Home (USA)
Alejandro Alberto Borrajo (ARG)
Anibal Andres Borrajo (ARG)
Lucas Sebastian Haedo (ARG)
Aaron Olson (USA)
Luis Romero Amaran (CUB)
Tyler Wren (USA)
Anthony Colby (USA)
Davide Frattini (ITA)

I have also connected with a bunch of people that I can finally meet in person at the TOC from childhood friends to Dr. Michael Ross author of the book Maximum Performance for cyclists and Ed Beamon former DS of team type 1.

RecoveryDoc



Tour of California

Posted on 2009-01-30 10:01:36

dr.rick_small.JPGFor those of you who are cycling fans I will be blogging from the Tour of California. I am very excited for this event that has now become the largest and most important race in the U.S. It will attract some of the best teams and riders in the world, and here is an excerpt from their press release:

Featuring a field that includes seven-time Tour de France Champion Lance Armstrong and two-time defending Amgen Tour of California Champion Levi Leipheimer (both racing for Astana), the 136 rider peloton also is expected to include 2006 Giro d’Italia Champion Ivan Basso (leader of team Liquigas); 2008 Olympic Champion in the time trial Fabian Cancellara (Saxo Bank); 2006 Amgen Tour of California Champion Floyd Landis (Ouch presented by Maxxis); 2005 World Champion Tom Boonen (Quick Step); three-time World Champion Oscar Freire (Rabobank); two-time United States National Champion George Hincapie (Team Columbia); and the top American performer in the 2008 Tour de France Christian Vande Velde (Garmin-Slipstream). Other anticipated participants include, 2008 Tour de France Champion Carlos Sastre (Cervélo TestTeam); four-time Norwegian National Champion Thor Hushovd (Cervélo TestTeam); 2008 U.S. Professional Champion and Olympic Gold Medal Winner Tyler Hamilton (Rock Racing); Mark Cavendish (Team Columbia), widely considered to be the world’s best sprinter; 2008 Best Young Rider in the Amgen Tour of California Robert Gesink (Rabobank); and 2008 Tour de France Best Young Rider Andy Schleck (Saxo Bank).

I am even more excited to work with Team Colavita/Sutter Home as they come off an impressive showing at the Tour of San Luis as the team doctor. So Check back soon as the RecoveryDoc works on Team Colivita/Sutter Home.