April 11, 2005 — Over the past week I did more racing than in the two months after the Tour de Langkawi, and it felt good to get some race miles in the legs. Over the past two months I’ve been battling some health issues so my schedule was repeatedly changed around but once I started feeling better I was put on the roster for the Tour of Flanders, Circuit de la Sarthe and Paris-Roubaix “” two classics and one 4-day stage race within eight days.

I was happy to be on the Flanders team as my health was returning. I had never raced in Flanders or Roubaix so both races were learning experiences for me. I’ve been training with George Hincapie consistently for the last couple of months in Girona so I was motivated to head up north and help him achieve the results he had trained so hard for since the season began. My job in the classics was to stay with George for as long as possible and keep him out of the wind, fuel him with water and food, and help him maintain good position despite difficulties on the courses – whether climbs or cobbles.

The first hours of the classics are really fast as every team wants to have a rider in any ‘early’ breakaways. Most breakaways are doomed to get caught but riders that are away in front are guaranteed valuable television time for their sponsors. Despite having a great team in Flanders a tactical error left George out of the breakaway and he had to settle for 7th. The team was left frustrated in Flanders but motivated for the next rendezvous in Paris-Roubaix.

The day after Flanders I was on a plane for Nantes, France where I was scheduled to race the 4-day stage race, Circuit de la Sarthe. The stages in Sarthe are quite long: three stages are close to 200km each and one stage consists of a time trial and 100 km road race. I was using Sarthe as training for the Tour of Georgia and the Giro after being out sick for so many weeks. Each day I felt better and by the third day I was feeling like I could finally start racing at the front.

That evening I got a call from Dirk Demol, our team director, saying I would be racing at Roubaix. I tossed in bed that night, nervous yet excited. Paris-Roubaix has been on my mind since I was five years old and finally I was going to race it. Sarthe ende up well with my teammate Bileka in 3rd overall while I finished 9th. Soon after the race I was in a car on my way to Compiegne to meet up with the rest of the team for Paris-Roubaix.

On Saturday morning, the day before the race, I tried out my new bike with rear suspension and rode with George, Ryder, Eki, and Tony. I tried to get as much info from Eki and George as to what to expect and the next morning when I awoke, I knew it would be a good day for the team. Everybody was relaxed yet focused.

The race went well for me, I felt comfortable on the cobbles and stayed at George’s side until he was in the breakaway. I flatted about 50 km from the finish while still with the main bunch. From there Johan Bruyneel suggested I call it a day and head back to the finish in the team car. In the bus I sat nervously watching George approach the line. It was a fantastic day for George and for the team.