BOULDER — One is the former darling of British cycling, a fallen figure who is now a star again.
Another is the only American to win stages in the three biggest cycling races in the world.
The other was once the future of American cycling, a veteran who has shelved a career of servitude to become the unabashed leader of the top team in the United States.
As a second-year expansion team on the international cycling scene, Boulder-based Team Slipstream/Chipotle landing David Millar, David Zabriskie and Christian Vande Velde isn’t quite like the Boston Celtics teaming Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen with Paul Pierce.
However, the same questions about egos, sharing the wealth and leadership apply.
Can three cyclists, all worthy of an international spotlight, share a light that will intensify if they’re successful? Who gets to attack and when? Who will help whom and can they lend a hand to Slipstream/Chipotle’s young roster? Many a cycling team has crumbled from too many stars scrambling to reach the top of the podium.
“No, they’re not like that,” team director Jonathan Vaughters said. “It’s my job to carefully select guys who will fit in. There are riders I didn’t pick who I didn’t think would fit into our culture.”
They get their first chance to pass the ball around today, when Slipstream/Chipotle begins the Tour of California, a 650-mile race that starts in Sausalito and ends next Sunday in Pasadena.
This is Slipstream/Chipotle’s first step toward locking up a Tour de France wildcard invitation. It’s banking on its three biggest spokes to turn the wheel against competition much more formidable than what a skeleton roster faced in the Tour of Qatar last month. This field includes Astana, directed by former Lance Armstrong boss Johan Bruyneel; former Tour de France team champion CSC and Tour de France regulars Rabobank, Gerolsteiner and Quick Step.
Slipstream’s credentials are impressive for any team, let alone an American upstart. Millar, 31, is a multistage winner of the Tour de France and won the 2003 world time trial championship. A doping charge stripped him of the title, but he resurfaced following a two-year ban to become a much-quoted, much-respected spokesman against doping.
Zabriskie, 29, is a three-time U.S. time trial champ who led the 2005 Tour de France for three days.
Vande Velde, 31, was a chief lieutenant on two of Armstrong’s Tour wins with U.S. Postal and spent the past three years with the prominent CSC.
“The older guys have commented that they’ve never seen a team like this,” Millar said. “We’ve never experienced it.”
Vande Velde is the team leader, serving as Vaughters’ eyes on the course whose past history as a top domestique has given him an expertise on strategy and a sixth sense.
“He’s experienced and he’s a good leadership figure,” Vaughters said.
Which of the three gets to attack for a podium finish will depend on the day, the race, the mood. Nothing is set on a prerace game plan.
“The camaraderie is just incredible,” Millar said. “That’s kind of the first battle. We have had some concern in regards to we’ve got all these young guys to come on and crash our party. But it’s been the opposite.”
So no problems with ego?
“Oh,” Millar said jokingly, “my ego’s bigger than all of them.”
The model to follow is U.S. Postal and Discovery Channel when Armstrong was king. Slipstream/Chipotle’s Tom Danielson spent a year on Discovery pushing Armstrong to the finish.
“It was simple,” Danielson said. “Everybody rallied around him. There was never any question at all what the decision was going to be. Whatever he said, we did. And I think that worked really well. I think when he left the team that’s when things got really confusing.”
This is where Vaughters and Vande Velde come in. The key is continuing to build. Egos could be the team’s biggest strength or its most destructive element.
“I won’t let that happen,” Vande Velde said. “I won’t let the egos flare up.”
On tour
The Tour of California is Boulder-based Slipstream/ Chipotle’s first step in getting invited to the Tour de France. A look at the California race:
Schedule: Today-Feb. 24.
Length: 650 miles over seven stages.
Course: Starts in Sausalito and ends in Pasadena.
Other teams: Astana, CSC, Rabobank, Gerolsteiner and Quick Step.
Other major races this season:
Paris-Nice: March 9-16.
Tour de Georgia: April 21-27.
Giro d’Italia: May 10-June 1.
Tour de France: July 5-27.
John Henderson: 303-954-1299 or jhenderson@denverpost.com
