The road to support my growing family starts here in Oregon.
June 16-21, 2014 : Cascade Cycling Classic



Reda, Deignan, Craddock, and Schumacher. Not an easy start list.



But that shouldn't be a problem, I'm still in top shape.
Probably the last race of the season for that as fatigue is starting to set in.

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Short sweet prologue to get things underway.



Just an average day in the saddle. Hope Chloe is doing well back in Kansas.



I finish 26th but that's good enough to be just 9 seconds off the winner...



Bontrager's future USA superstar Lawson Craddock.

Nothing EXP worthy and I'm finally back on the bike after a few weeks off.

The next race update will finish the Cascade Cycling Classic:

Form - Hill

After a solid start in the prologue, I'm only 9 seconds off the lead.

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The only mountain stage, I need to make my move here.



And I go for it as the breakaway is caught and the climb starts.



I'm dragged back. That ends my chances as I'm exhausted already.



Lawson Craddock is in beast mode, watch out!



Get out of his way! Craddock is a man on a mission.
I struggle to the line for a top 10, Henao even overtakes me for 7th.

Remember when my specialty was time trialing, oh the memories...



With Henao beating me yesterday, Desigual said they would consider
giving the Colombian the leadership role if I faltered once again.



Not like it would matter, neither of us was going to beat Craddock.

After a rather poor time trial I'm looking for some redemption here.
At least Henao did worse than me so the team leader doubts are gone.



The breakaway leads everyone to the final climb with an advantage of 3'15".



Maybe the leader criticism is still going on as Henao is the one to go after the leaders when the first attacks start, in my defense I'm not feeling good today.
However, when Henao slips back to the peloton I'm forced to go.



I work my way through a few breakaway riders and quickly realize how far ahead Craddock, Deignan, Reda, and the other favourites are up the road. Not good.



But even they couldn't catch the remains of the breakaway.
A well deserved win for Daniel Jarstø.



I try to save as much time as possible but I attacked too late.
A 17th on the stage and I move up to 14th overall.
But at least I had a better showing than Henao once again.

Two flat stages wrap up the tour. Can't really improve my 14th overall.



Who thought this 5km circuit would be great idea with 170+ riders?
It's chaos, lapped riders and the breakaway riders getting all mixed up.



In the confusion, the cameras miss me falling on the ground!



It was just a little fall, but as I get back on my bike my leg tensed up.
Not wanting to risk further injury and because I had already lost 2 minutes,
I decided to get in the team car and abandon the race.

The team is sending me out for x-rays tomorrow. Hopefully it's nothing serious.



Back to race in the meantime. The stage is won by Filippo Baggio.

I was in the hospital get my x-rays taken so no pictures from the last stage.

But, I do I have good news. It's just a small strain and I should be back to normal in 2-3 weeks. Good thing I didn't try to finish the race because
the doctor said I could have caused a lot more damaged
and maybe missed a few months.

A sour way to end the tour, but at least I pulled out before I made it worse.
A learning experience, but I have been injured way to much
in my career for this to warrant EXP points.

Desigual is going to try to ease me back into the action with
a few one-day races whenever I'm feeling good to go again.
Fernando Alonso also warned me that if it's a nagging injury
they could shut me down for the rest of the season.

I asked him why, and he just said he was working on something and needed me
in top shape and fully health for next season. I wonder what he is up to?

Not that I would mind really, I get paid and could help Chloe
with Zooey since the 2nd baby on it's way.

Although I do get paid to race so I'm going to try my best to return.

As you would expect, Chloe wasn't thrilled to hear that I had injured myself.
But that's just part of cycling. A speedy recovery is all I can hope for now.

In preparation for my return, Fernando Alonso set me up with 3 British classics:



Then he said if my leg holds up I could finish my season racing the
Vuelta Ciclista a Leon and the Vuelta a Burgos.

That's a big if however. I need to be 100% to make that happen.

In the meantime: Chloe, Zooey, and I packed the bags returned to Spain.
It was a long flight but at least we had satellite TV onboard.

While I was channel flipping I happened to come across
a Breaking News segment on Sky Sports television.



That's what Alonso was up to.
The man sure knows how to pull strings together.
No wonder he wants me in top shape for the 2015 season.

My first time ever visiting Great Britain. But, I'm not here for the sight seeing.
After picking up an injury in the Cascade Cycling Classic
I'm here to test out the strain in my leg in a series of three one-day races.

--- *** --- *** --- *** ---



Objective: Complete the day.



Crosswinds make today harder than it should of been.
But, I complete my objective by finishing race.



The crosswinds help Adrian Gjølberg and the breakaway take the day.



Which is a shame because our sprinter Fabio Silvestre
takes 2nd from the peloton.

Objective: Do some pace making and complete the day.



First objective check. I work up front for 15kms.
My leg is doing okay, but every now and again I can feel a sharp pain.
I have felt a lot worse so I continue to pedal on.



My work sets up a bunch sprint. And would you look at that?
Fabio Silvestre has got on the back wheel of Bissell's Caleb Ewan.



And Silvestre uses Ewan's slipstream to perfection.



Good enough to finish 2nd behind Filippo Baggio in the pouring rain.
First crosswinds and now rain. What's next?