Michael Woods: Kris Kringle

"We came here with a bit of a 'ragtag' team," said Brent Bookwalter to the media corp at the final press conference of the Tour of Utah (ToU). I was sitting beside Bookwalter when he said this about his team (BMC Racing), a team whose budget is well over 10 times that of Optum's, and that had one rider on it likely earning more than the entire combined salaries of Optum's 14-man roster. When I heard this line, all I could think was; "if his team is 'ragtag' then what does that make us?"

Canada's Michael Woods is a former middle-distance runner turned road cyclist and he races for the US WorldTour outfit Cannondale Pro Cycling. He proved his climbing ability on the world-class stage in February 2015 when he rode into a fifth place during the queen stage 4 of the Volta ao Algarve in Malhão behind stage winner Richie Porte, world champion Michal Kwiatkowski, Jon Izzagire and Geraint Thomas. You can follow his blogs on Cyclingnews during the 2016 season, his first year on the WorldTour, on his website: rustywoodscycling.com, and on Twitter: @rusty_woods.