A bizarre chain of events put an end to what was a dream run for Dave Zabriskie. Cyclingnews '...
David Zabriskie (Image credit: Jon Devich)
How bizarre
A bizarre chain of events put an end to what was a dream run for Dave Zabriskie. Cyclingnews' Anthony Tan talks to the man himself in an effort to make sense of it.
Up until July 5 this year, Dave Zabriskie was living a dream. A stage victory at the Giro d'Italia, a call-up to his first Tour de France, and then winning the opening stage of La Grande Boucle, where he became the fifth North American to wear the coveted maillot jaune.
After three days in yellow, the next day's team time trial was always going to be a test of nerves. Zabriskie and defending champion Lance Armstrong were separated by just two seconds, and sure, the Discovery Channel team had a point to prove - but so did Team CSC.
"I think we'll ride fast tomorrow. It's our goal to win this [team] time trial," said CSC team manager Bjarne Riis, as the mind-games began playing out before the media the day before in Tours.
The first two-thirds of the 67.5 kilometre parcours from Tour to Blois were virtually flat and non-technical, and having driven the course behind Davitamon-Lotto that morning, it was obvious the final 20 kilometres or so would decide the day.
