August 22, 2005

Chris Horner: Across The Pond

Cycle Sport (March 2005)

Chris Horner has been lighting it up on the U.S. domestic racing scene since returning from his initial foray into the European pro peloton. He has been the top-ranked U.S. rider for the past three years, and when he finished third in the hotly contested Tour of Georgia behind two seasoned Euro pros in Lance Armstrong and Jens Voigt, the inevitable question arose once again. When is the affable Oregonian going to take another shot at Europe?

Chris Horner

It’s a question worth asking of the rider who has won just about everything the States has to offer. The year 2004 was no exception, as Chris led an upstart Webcor Builders team to victories at the Redlands Bicycle Classic and the Sea Otter Classic and then proved to be the perfect teammate as he paved the way for Charles Dionne to a spectacular win at the season-ending T-Mobile International on the grueling streets of San Francisco.

To be sure, there were some goals that went unrealized for Horner, most notably at the U.S. PRO Championships and the U.S. Olympic Trials, where he failed to plug two major holes in his impressive resume. In the end, Chris became a victim of his own success. He was so dominant that the bulls eye on his back was about the size of the state of Mississippi.

Horner reflected on the frustration. “First off, I didn’t have any problems with USA cycling. They selected a great course that was ideal for me; I just couldn’t get the job done. I didn’t have the same form that I had earlier in the year. I was sick before the race, and then with the riders riding kind of negative against me, if not absolutely negative, it just made it next to impossible to win. I really didn’t have any hard feelings about missing the Olympics, just hard feelings about the negative racing in general.”

Even with the mid-season disappointments, Horner’s consistent good form and ability to win big races hadn’t gone unnoticed, particularly with the Spanish-based Saunier Duval-Prodir squad. “We had a Spanish teammate on Webcor Builder, Imanol Ayestaran, who knows one of the directors on the team, so he was putting in a lot of good words for me. I knew Mauro Gianetti [Director on Saunier Duval] from La Francaise de Jeux.”

However, given Chris’ first attempt at the European racing scene, that association was a double-edged sword. “I don’t know if that was helping or hurting, but at least he [Gianetti] knew I was a good guy if nothing else. Whether he thought I could ride at the time I don’t know,” muses Horner.

In the end, Chris had a few influential friends in America. “The main thing that got me on the team was Scott Montgomery of Scott USA bicycles, and Wayne Stetina, of Shimano America, who has a lot of say. And my agent, Michael Rutherford, was doing a lot for me, too. We were coming in on seven or eight different angles trying to get on this team. Results helped, too, but I think it was really who you know versus who you are that got me on the team to begin with. And then at the World Championships everyone was like ‘Wow! We knew he could ride in the States, but we didn’t know he could ride here.' ”

The Worlds ride sealed the deal. “I went into the Worlds motivated. I wanted to do well. In my mind I had the idea of actually joining the team the day after Worlds, but I knew I had to ride well first before I could make that happen. I didn’t want to ask Saunier Duval about joining [right after Worlds] unless I had a good ride.”

Chris has always been known in the States as a master tactician. His plan in Italy was pretty simple. “There is not much strategy involved in the European races, in general, until you get all the way to the finish. It’s not like in the U.S. The U.S. has a lot more strategy going on because you have smaller teams. And when you have smaller teams, you have less guys to burn up. You have to be careful. You have to use them in the right places. But over in Europe it’s pretty easy. You survive, survive, survive and stay as fresh as you can. Make the split with the break and then start using strategy.”

Even with a good plan there was still the little problem of executing it. “I never took a pull. I was in survival mode at the Worlds. At Lombardy I had better form, but at the Worlds I was really just surviving. I was just following wheels. Even the last time going up the climb. You have to remember that everybody in that break except for me came from the Vuelta. I came from doing the T-Mobile [International in San Francisco] three weeks before, and I hadn’t raced anything since the U.S. Professional Criterium Championships before that.”

“So it had been seven weeks with only one race, and that race came three weeks before Worlds. That wasn’t a whole lot of preparation to get ready for Worlds. Body-wise, I felt incredible. I was thinking clearly, but the muscles in my legs were cramping because they just weren’t used to that kind of intensity for that length of time.”

Horner made the winning break, and the 14-man group was setting up for a drag race to the line. “The chances of winning a sprint for a rider like me, especially in a field like that, are pretty slim. But you never know. They could all crash, so I had some kind of chance. I came out of the last corner on Friere’s wheel, but [Danilo] Hondo and [Erik] Zabel, if I remember correctly, came up the left side. Then all the Spanish guys hooked everyone hard, and then Hondo came over and took me off of Friere’s wheel. But my gears started skipping a bit.”

He eventually finished a remarkable eighth, but it might have been higher. “I think I could have been fifth or fourth, maybe, but I had his [World Champion Friere’s] wheel. All I had to do was hold it to the line but I was having some issues with the bike and some issues with riders, too. It was exciting for me the whole race. I enjoyed every bit of it,” recounts Horner.

Chris had proven himself and earned a ride with the Saunier Duval team for the remainder of the season, including three big time races, Paris-Tours, Milan-Turin and the Tour of Lombardy.

Paris-Tours is known as a sprinter’s race. Even so, Horner was designated one of the team leaders along with U.S. PRO winner Francisco Ventoso. He confirmed his selection with several late race attacks, but when the bunch headed for the line intact, Chris sat up. “It was a curb-to-curb, crazy sprint. That’s just not what I do. I figured I was there for Lombardy, so it was safer to back off than it was to do the sprint. I am pretty good at that straight line, strung-out kind of thing, but I ain’t too good at curb-to-curb.”

The team responded to his good form by making him a protected rider in the last big race of the season, the Tour of Lombardy. “It was fun for me. I actually like the pressure of having that role. It make me race better too. I really enjoy that position. Going into Lombardy, I had a great Worlds, I had a pretty good Paris-Tours, and I was going for fifth or sixth at Milan-Turin but we got caught with 300 meters to go. So I am thinking that I am the real deal. But you always have doubts. It wasn’t until we hit the final climb that I was like ‘oh wow, I’m here. I have the form. Let’s go for the win.’”

“In that race, I did some things stupid, and I did some things smart. But at the finish of the race I was watching Rebellin too much, and I missed the move. When I missed the move, I felt like I could have followed any move that day. At Worlds I felt like all I could do was follow moves, and at Lombardy I felt like I could create moves, which is a big difference.”

“I just played it too cautious. Without having the experience of being able to visually tell how riders are feeling that day – in the States I race with these guys week in and week out and I can really visually see who is going good and who is not. But, when you are over in Europe and you haven’t raced with these guys and everyone is telling you ‘Rebellin is the guy, Rebellin is the guy,’ you stay with Rebellin. Right? And that is what I did.”

Even though he failed to notch a win in his post-Worlds tryout with the team, it’s all good. “I think those three weeks did a lot for me. When I show up at training camp, I don’t have to worry about fighting for a position and showing them how good I can ride,” notes Horner.

But, Chris has already tried once to break into the European pro scene. What will be different this time? “La Francaise de Jeux took care of me and my checks came on time. But it was a difficult environment for me because I just wasn’t used to it and didn’t know what I was getting myself into."

“This year the team is Spanish, but it is very international. It is registered in Spain, but I would say it was an international team more than a Spanish team. We have a bunch of Italians, a lot of Spanish, a couple of Swiss guys and of course me. At La Francaise de Jeux it was me and a bunch of French guys. Already with the Spanish guys, when I was over there, they were helping me out, speaking English with me and all that kind of stuff. It has already been a little bit easier. But the end result is I am just going to have to get over there adapt and get the job done.”

So what does Chris’ schedule look like for 2005? “Program-wise they have me down to do the Tour which means I am on the list but it doesn’t mean I am doing it. Being on the list is the first step. Having the form is the second step. They talked about me doing Flanders, too. I think they would like me to do more of the one-day races but, I am going to be coming back to do [Tour of] Georgia so that will interfere with a bunch of them.”

Where does Chris feel his strengths lie? “What I do best is stage racing. If you look at my results, that’s where my results come from – stage races. Of course, I have never done three weeks of racing, but I have done 12 days. So, yes, I have never done 21 days, and maybe on the 13th or 14th day that is all I’ve got. But of the last days, I am always wondering why we are going home instead of wanting to go home.”

Is the second time a charm for Horner? Clearly, he has shown that he has the potential to leave his mark in Europe. Here’s hoping that he joins a growing list of Americans who have proven that they can cut it across the great pond.