Whats up with this guy? He could have a solid euro career but chooses to crush the domestic field. I cant get excited about his dominance cause it seems silly for him to be so good but settle for state side racing. Thoughts?
Money?
He tried the euro peloton, didn’t like it, and chose to be back in the States.
As I recall ( could be wrong) he raced in Europe previously, but prefers to be close to his family and not live in Europe.
He sure is schooling them at Redlands though. I find it fascinating to see how he can elevate his teammates, who were otherwise mediocre last season, into a well-oiled machine. Will be interesting to see how Healthnet adapts their strategy to see if they can win any stages. I’m thinking of the CSC train-break that one day in I think Paris-Nice. I would love to see Health Net get try to pull a TeamTT break if they could get away and see what happened.
I guess I’m saying I don’t mind his dominance so much as I think it simply relates to his considering his family life in the equation. I’m still interested in the racing, just looking at different angles.
T
I met Chris a few years ago when we sponsored Mercury. He had just returned from Europe racing for La Francais De Jeux. He is a super nice guy and seems really competitive. He is also a southern california kid and former shop rat. My guess is going over to europe racing for a french team was a big culture shock. He had also always been “the man” over here. Free to go after victory in any race. Being told to bury yourself in a gutter full of cowsh** for a few hours to keep the team leader protected cant be too much fun and probably tough to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I hope he makes the Olympic team. It will be interesting to see him go head to head with some of the Euro studs while they have good form. His win in San Fran although impressive was against Vinokourov and Simoni after they had packed it in for the season. They were here for sponsor obligations and vacation.
I met Chris at a BBQ before USPROs a couple of years ago. He is very down to earth, walked up and introduced himself. I talked to him for a while and he basically said that he couldn’t take racing in Europe and being away from his family for that long. Last year it seamed like he was looking to try to reenter the european peloton.
I’ve got a friend on Webcor and he says he is great to race with. He is always positive and gets teh team to respond that way. Last year he said that Steve Larson was the exact opposite - Steve was the big fish on the team and every one had to jump at his every wish.
You can tell by reading the cyclingnews diaries that the other teams are pissed at the way he is able to get the most out of the team. HealthNet has way to many leaders and way too much ego, where as Webcor has a solid group of guys who are more then willing to bury themselves for Horner and Dionne for the sprints.
Matt
Wow! I didnt expect such a positive response. Sounds like a solid guy.
There are lots of big fish in our little pond. He is not the first to decide that the European peloton is not for him. What about Kevin Livingston? Johnathon Vaughters?
The lifestyle of a Euro-pro cyclist is incredibly difficult for anyone, let alone if you have a family with children.
I respect the guy for continuing to do what he loves at a high level and integrating it with his life.
Craig
I dont disagre that Vaughters and Livingston were good riders, but neither ever dominated U.S. cycling the way Horner has the last couple years. To truly be a big fish in a little pond you need to be head and shoulders above the competition. Last year Horner caught Vaughters in the Redlands TT! Vaughter always claimed his specialty was uphill tts. I think this photo says it all. You can almost hear Horner saying “Nice career in Europe Jonathan, now welcome to my pond”
Do you honestly think Vaughter’s really cared last year? Seemed to me that his heart and mind weren’t into after he came back from Europe…like he was just collecting a pay check.
I feel bad for the sponsors of Prime Alliance then. Thats pretty sad if he allowed them to pay him.
Go american racing!
Agreed. But the Vaughters we saw on PA, was a far cry from the rider he was in Europe.
The thing about racing in the US is that the talent pool is not so deep as in Europe, so there have been a few big fish over the years. Remember Malcolm Elliott? A decent pro in Europe, he left for LA Sherrifs (I believe) and dominated in the US. Couple of years ago it was Gord Fraser’s turn in the crits.
"I feel bad for the sponsors of Prime Alliance then. Thats pretty sad if he allowed them to pay him. "
Vaughters said before the start of the season that he only was racing last year because he wanted to mentor younger riders. I think he did just that and PA got more than their money’s worth from him.
As to comparing Vaughters with Horner, look at them both in their prime not when Vaughters was in semi-retirement.
Amen.
I have nothing but repect for Vaughters and Livingston.
Vaughters wrote an article a few years ago for… maybe velonews. It was about the factors that make a rider a good european pro. They were talent, scientific training and will. He used LA as the example of the best combination of the three. He said he had the will and the training but not the talent. He said that Horner was as talented if not more than LA but that he couldn’t mentally take the lifestyle.
Horner also said before last years worlds tt that he would be mad if he didn’t get in the top 3. I think he got 17th or something. Bit of a welcome to the big pond. His training for it was crazy, three weeks of 700 miles per week all on the tt bike and all big gear 60-75 rpm. He did that up until four days before the tt. Sounded odd to me. I might have remembered some of the detail wrong, so dont qute me.
Are we talking about the same guy? I didnt even think Horner road the TT at Worlds. He is not on the start list or in the results? Julich and Levi were the Americans. He did the road race and was actually on the attack quite a bit and was in one of the last breaks of the day.
What’s Horner riding??? Tubulars or Clinchers in this picture?
I believe Saturn was a Michelin team. They look like Michelin pro race clinchers. Michelin is very strict on the
“no tubulars allowed rule”
Although he is racing so those must be race wheels, so they cant be clinchers 