First Endurance rider Fabian Cancellara took to the start of the Tour de Suisse opening time trial as the heavy race favorite in his home country tour. Blasting across the line to the sound of deafening cheers, Cancellara’s time of 9:41 bested the previous top time set by First Endurance rider Tejay Van Garderen (HTC – Highroad) by nine seconds. None of the twenty riders who started after Cancellara would come close to challenging him for the stage win.

“It was truly a fantastic day,” said Sports Director Torsten Schmidt. “The World Champion won the race in a dominant style. He really showed the spectators that he remains the true specialist in this discipline, and it was something extra special today for him to win in his home country.”

“I felt extra pressure today because it was my home race, but I like the pressure,” said Cancellara. “It was amazing to race in Ticino [the Italian speaking region of Switzerland]. My father is an Italian immigrant, and I feel at home here. It makes me proud to take the leader’s jersey in front of the Italian-speaking Swiss.”  This is Cancellara’s fifth win at the Tour de Suisse opening prologue. He claimed the overall race title two year’s ago on a far less mountainous route. “Both time trials in this race are my main focus, and I have accomplished my first goal with flying colors,” said Cancellara. “I can’t predict if I will have the jersey tomorrow or the next day, but we will do our best to keep it within the team.”

Cancellara was not the only rider on LEOPARD TREK to put in a strong ride. Linus Gerdemann claimed the final spot in the top-ten. Maxime Monfort finished three spots behind in thirteenth and Jakob Fuglsang rounded out the top-twenty.
“We are happy with the results from Linus and Maxime,” said Schmidt. “Linus has showed in the past that he can always put in a good effort in a short time trial. His condition is really good right now, and with his recent win in Luxembourg, he appreciates his team and his fitness. We can see this in how he is riding. His results confirms that his confidence is high.”

Although the team has much to celebrate, Schmidt was quick to note the one hiccup on an otherwise perfect day. “Andy had some technical problems during his race. He dropped a chain. He immediately received help from our mechanic, but the seconds ticked off quickly,” said Schmidt. “Fortunately, all our other seven riders had no problems and were able to ride 100% to the finish line.”

With their initial objective accomplished, LEOPARD TREK now looks forward to the first road stage tomorrow. The course covers 149 kilometers betwen Airolo and Crans-Montana. “The stage is tough directly from the start. There is a category one climb that opens the race, and we have a mountaintop finish,” said Schmidt. “We have lots of opportunity with different riders, and we’re ready to defend the yellow jersey. We go to the start with a good mood and big hopes.”

Full Results

Already victorious on stage two’s uphill dash for the line in Lyon on Tuesday, 48 hours later in Macon, the first-year fastman proved he is equally at home on the flatter sprint finishes. Combined with time trial specialist, Tony Martin succeeding on Wednesday’s time trial stage, Degenkolb’s latest triumph makes it three wins out of three in the Criterium du Dauphiné for HTC-Highroad.

“If you get one stage win in a tough race like this, it’s pretty good, so taking three in a row is pretty amazing,” said HTC-Highroad sports director Brian Holm, “John’s confidence was really high after he took that uphill sprint against some real specialists in that kind of finish. So we kept it under control in the last few kilometers, putting a couple of guys on the front, with Jan Ghyselinck and Gatis Smukulis keeping the pace high.”

“There are some big name sprinters here and to tell the truth I wasn’t too sure if John’d be able to match them on the flat as well as he had on the uphill. But it seems like we’ve got a guy who’s got a little bit of Erik Zabel in him and a little bit of Mark Cavendish, and he did absolutely fine.”

Full Results

First Endurance rider Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) powered through the rain to claim HTC-Highroad’s second victory in as many days in the Criterium du Dauphine race on Wednesday.

Martin claimed his sixth win of the 2011 season on a 42 kilometer time trial course (identical to the TT route which will be used in the upcoming Tour de France), 11 seconds ahead of Britain’s Bradley Wiggins, and 43 seconds up on Norwegian Edvald Boasson Hagen.

Already the winner of the time trial stages of Paris-Nice and the Tour of the Basque Country in 2011, Martin’s victory in Grenoble came just one day after team-mate John Degenkolb had claimed first place in stage two’s sprint finish.

“I found a good rhythm from the start and it all went really well,” Martin said afterwards. “It was a good test for me, and I’m feeling very confident now for the Tour de France time trial, too. Of course there will be some other top names there but hopefully I’ll be going a little bit faster, too. This win means a lot for me because it shows that step by step my build-up for July is going well. I’ve had four weeks of no races so the first few days of racing here were really hard for me, but now I’m feeling really good.”

This marks the sixtieth win of the season for team HTC-Highroad.

Full Results
1 Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Highroad 0:55:27
2 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:00:11
3 Edvald Boasson Hagen (Nor) Sky Procycling 0:00:43
4 David Zabriskie (USA) Team Garmin-Cervelo 0:00:58

A late surge for the line on stage two of Criterium du Dauphiné has sealed First Endurance rider John Degenkolb’s (HTC-Highroad) fifth victory of his rookie season in the professional peloton.

Degenkolb opened up the throttle with less than two-hundred meters to go on the technical uphill finish at Lyon, France, claiming the win ahead of Frenchman Samuel Dumoulin and Germany’s Paul Maertens.

The 22-year-old HTC-Highroad rider has taken five victories this season, including the GP Rund um den Finanzplatz Eschborn-Frankfurt and a stage win in the Tour of the Algarve, Tour of West Flanders and Bayern Rundfahrt.

“I’m having a super start to my career with so many wins, but this victory is very special because it’s my first in a World Tour category race,” Degenkolb said afterwards. It was the ideal stage for me, the day before we’d already checked out the finish and ridden up here so we knew what was coming and I knew where I had to be positioned to go for the win.”

He discounted a possible Tour de France start this season, saying “I’m too young and it’s not good to make too fast a start, but maybe next year it’ll be possible. In any case, guys like me and [HTC-Highroad team-mate] Tony Martin are a new generation of young riders in Germany and hopefully we’ll help bring cycling to a whole new level in our country.”

Full Results

With a long sprint through the circuit finish of a 251 kilometer race, Rasmussen showed outstanding resilience after the Giro d’Italia by pulling ahead of the pre-race favorites for the win of this iconic one-day race.

“With only five riders to work with, we had to take control right from the start,” said sport director Allan Peiper, “There were six riders out front in the beginning, and Caleb [Fairly] and Patrick [Gretsch] did a great job interchanging and controlling the pack. There was a maximum lead of nine and a half minutes, and Fairly and Gretsch slowly reeled them in.”

In the last thirty kilometers, there was a break of about a minute that held until the last lap of the race circuit when HTC-Highroad pulled them back.

“Leigh Howard’s derailleur failed at Lemon hill with three kilometers to go,” says Peiper, “But we had maintained a dominant presence in the peloton and the guys were able to keep the group together. Rasmussen was on point, and was able to make a big sprint from a ways back to take the win.”

This is Alex Rasmussen’s first win for the HTC-Highroad Sprint team, and the team’s second win of the day after Michael Albasini’s victory in GP Kanton Aargau.

RESULTS:
1 Alex Rasmussen (Den) HTC-Highroad
2 Peter Sagan (Svk) Liquigas-Cannondale
3 Robert Förster (Ger) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling

First Endurance rider Linus Gerdemann (LEOPARD TREK) won the final general classification in the Skoda Tour of Luxembourg.

LEOPARD TREK came to Luxembourg focused on winning the overall on home soil, and they accomplished their goal in dominating fashion. Fabian Cancellara won the opening prologue to pull on the leader’s jersey on day one. While the jersey would see a change in hands following Gerdemann’s solo win on stage two, it would stay within the team for the duration of the five-day race.

“From the outside, this win might have looked easy,” said Gerdemann. “It wasn’t. It was tough work. The team dedicated themselves to winning, and I can’t thank them enough. We had such a strong team. It was probably the strongest team I’ve had in my whole career. Working together on all five stages made this possible, and I’m so happy it worked out for us.  The circuit was tricky. It was up and down the entire time,” explained Gerdemann. “The climb before the finish line was tough, and it made for a nervous finale.”

Cancellara, Jens Voigt and Jakob Fuglsang set a blistering pace on the front of the field to prevent late race attacks, and the pace, along with the cobbled climb, proved too much for some. With three laps remaining, the front group on the circuit had been whittled down to 75 riders. Schleck’s attack came following the final climb on the final lap.

“If Fränk had won the stage, it would have been even better, but I think we’re all happy and relieved to have won the race,” said Gerdemann. “Everyone feels super motivated as we look forward to the next race. The most important part of the season begins now.”

Final general classification
1 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Leopard Trek 18:35:32
2 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) Skil – Shimano 0:00:02
3 Tony Gallopin (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:00:03

First Endurance rider Linus Gerdemann secured his first victory in LEOPARD TREK colors as he crossed the finish line alone on stage two of the Skoda Tour de Luxembourg. While First Endurance rider Fabian Cancellara toed the start line in Schifflange in the race leader’s jersey, it would be Gerdemann who would pull on the yellow jersey at the podium ceremony in Differdange.  “The whole team did incredible work today,” said Gerdemann. “It was a perfect day. We knew we wanted to make the stage hard. We wanted to win the stage, and we wanted to keep yellow. We accomplished all of this.”

As riders crossed the finish line to enter the local circuit, the field had broken into four distinct groups. Fränk Schleck, who won this stage last year, was joined by Cancellara, Gerdemann, Jakob Fuglsang and Maxime Monfort in the first group on the road. Three 9.4 kilometer laps, each requiring an ascent of Cote de l’Europe, stood between the field and the finish.

“We went up the climb on the circuit for the first time, and I accelerated,” explained Gerdemann. “Two riders [Anthony Charteau (Europcar) and Jurgen Van Goolen (Veranda’s Willems Accent)] followed me. We went away and gained over a minute. Inside two laps to go, I attacked after the climb, and I was able to stay away.   I chose to attack here because I was confident in my time trail skills,” continued Gerdemann. “I knew I could make a difference on the flats. I would get my gap on the flat road, and then I could defend it on the climb. I thought if I did it this way, the riders behind would see I had a chance and maybe give up a little bit.”

Gerdemann’s strategy proved successful. After riding away from his the others in the break, he never looked back. Gerdemann rode the final lap of the finishing circuit alone.  “On the last time up the climb, I thought about Wouter and his family,” continued Gerdemann. “I wanted to do this for myself and for the team, but I especially wanted to make sure I could do it all the way to the line for Wouter.  My legs didn’t feel good the last few days of the Tour of California, so I wasn’t sure what to expect here. I surprised myself with how good I feel,” said Gerdemann. “I’m completely happy with myself and the team during this race. I don’t want to look too much further ahead yet. We want to win the overall, but for now, I’m enjoying today.”

First Endurance triathlete Sarah Haskins and Jasmine Oeinck took 1st and 4th place respectively. First Endurance triathlete Cameron Dye took 3rd place in the men’s race.

race report courtesy of Sarah Haskins

This Memorial Day weekend was spent in Austin, Texas preparing for and racing in the second leg of the Race to the Toyota Cup Series. This was also my first time to Austin, Texas and Nate and I both love the city. There are so many parks, natural springs and gravel trails to train around the city; not to mention great food!

The race began early Monday morning with a one lap river swim, four lap bike and two lap run. Although it was a non draft race, it seemed almost like a “draft-legal” race with the multiple loops! Race morning was warm and muggy, so hydration was on my mind. I made sure to start off my morning with two bottles of First Endurance EFS with my PB and banana toast!

I was not sure how my body was going to react this weekend having just gotten back to altitude a couple weeks prior and also “training” through the race with the exception of a few easy days leading up to the race. The goal of the race was to earn valuable series points. Once the gun went off in the swim, it was time to race and be focused! About 400 meters into the swim, we ran into the men!! Unfortunately, some of the men went off course which led to a co-ed swim. I was sure that we were swimming the correct course, although it does make you think to make sure what you are doing is correct. I exited the swim in second position, about ten seconds behind Sara McLarty.

Once out on the bike, I wanted to push, but be sure to stay within my limits. Since this course was four laps and hilly, I knew being technically sound on the bike would be a key to success. Every lap, I became more confident in my cornering skills and also had to be aware of other cyclists on the course. On the third lap, the wind really picked up and I had to get out of aero position several times to make sure that I did not get thrown off the bike due to the cross winds. Thankfully, I had my Zipp404 verses my standard non draft Zipp808! I made sure to hydrate during the bike and drank two full bottles of EFS!

I exited the bike with a 90 second lead and knew that I just had to keep a steady, strong run all the way to the finish. With the heat and humidity, I wanted to make sure I did not push too much too soon and not make it to the line. Although, it hurt, I focused on trying to keep my form together best I could. I was so glad to get to that finish line and break the tape. In racing you never know what can happen. I accomplished my goal, did not make any mistakes, and could not be happier to win my second Toyota Series race. I still have a long season ahead of me, but am going to continue to focus on one race at a time.

Thank you to everyone for the ongoing support!! I hope you had a good Memorial day and had a chance to remember all those that have served our country. None of this would be possible without them.

Women
1. Sarah Haskins 1:59:35
2. Alicia Kaye 2:03:02
3. Becky Lavelle 2:04:26
4. Jasmine Oeinck 2:04:37
5. Nicole Kelleher 2:04:52

Men
1. Andy Potts 1:52:00
2. Hunter Kemper 1:52:13
3. Cameron Dye 1:53:35
4. Filip Ospaly 1:54:15
5. Ben Collins 1:54:25

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First Endurance rider Fabian Cancellara (Leopard-Trek) delivered another time trial victory today in the opening stage of the Skoda Tour de Luxembourg. The five day-stage race kicked off with an evening prologue in the city centre of Luxembourg City. Riders faced technical turns, cobbles and a short but steep, cobbled climb up Breedewee 700 meters from the finish. World Time-Trial Champion Cancellara, the second to last rider to go off, set a blistering speed averaging 42.1 kilometers/hour to set a time of 3:42 to win the race.

“It’s been a long time for me since I have won something. I feel extra motivated now for all that is coming,” said Cancellara. “I wanted to get a personal win and a win for the team, but I especially wanted to add to our happiness after our loss a few weeks ago. This win is for Wouter. It is also a win for Luxembourg. I’m proud that it happened at the team’s home country.”

“The problem with a time trial is that when it’s over, you always think about what went wrong and where you lost something,” said Cancellara. “Even when I win, I can always find somewhere I could have gotten a little bit more. The short effort required during a prologue isn’t something we do during a road race. It takes many, many hours of work to get something like this out of the body.”

“This is a good start for the team,” noted Sports Director Kim Andersen. “The other riders put forth a good effort, too. Martin did a nice time trial, and the climbers are grouped close together in the results. With the first day behind us, now the hard work starts.”

Cancellara and Andersen both expressed appreciation for the support LEOPARD TREK received during the stage. “Luxembourg is cycling-obsessed,” said Cancellara. “They are crazy about the sport in a positive way. Over the years, I notice they are studying the sport more and more. The whole country is behind this team, and it’s really special to have so much support.”

Cancellara will don the yellow leader’s jersey as the Skoda Tour continues tomorrow. Stage one begins in Luxembourg City and covers 192.8 kilometers before the finish in Bascharage. “Tomorrow we’ll see what Kim sets out for our team tactics,” added Cancellara. “We have a really strong team here. We want to bring home the overall win on Sunday. It won’t be easy for sure. There are a lot of great riders here. We have several options we can use, but for now, we’re happy to enjoy this first day victory.”

Full Results

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First Endurance was started by two racing fanatics (a cyclist and a triathlete) with a healthy obsession for sports nutrition. The idea was simple. Give endurance athletes access to formulas that are developed for one specific reason-to maximize endurance performance. First Endurance is committed to using only the highest-quality ingredients and uses the latest scientifically validated technological advancements.