It wasn’t easy, but Dave Zabriskie (Garmin-Barracuda) captured his second USA professional time trial championship in a row, and seventh in his career, today in Greenville, South Carolina. Zabriskie bested Tejay van Garderen and Brent Bookwalter, trade team-mates at BMC Racing, to take the win on the track at Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research.
Zabriskie clocked a time of 40’41” on the 33-kilometer course, just six seconds faster than van Garderen. Bookwalter finished the course in 41’08”.
“Wearing the Stars-and-Stripes does not get old,” the victorious Zabriskie said. “The last few years I've brought it [the jersey] with me, even though I know I can't wear my Stars-and-Stripes on this day, but I hang it up in my room to remind myself how much I like it and how people want to take it away from me. I enjoy wearing it.”
All three riders, along with many of the 35 contenders in the field, were coming off of the Tour of California, completed last Sunday. Bookwalter spent his time there working for van Garderen, while Zabriskie held the yellow jersey until the penultimate stage.
With recovery from California a factor, riders took the course on an especially warm late spring day. Riders were split into three groups. Scott Zwizanski (Team Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies) took the best time in the first group, and would eventually finish 12th.
Van Garderen was part of the second round, taking the new best time and facing the anxious wait to see how Zabriskie – the winner of the Tour of California time trial last week – would perform.
Zabriskie indeed came good, albeit it with less room to spare than he is accustomed to. Though he did all he could, the near miss had van Garderen pondering his own race at the finish.
“I left everything on the course so I can't say I have any regrets,” van Garderen said. “But six seconds is a tough pill to swallow. It would have been easier to be second place by 40 seconds because then you know that there's nothing you could have done. When it's six seconds, that's when you look back and you're like, 'could I have gone a little better there or taken a corner different?' What's done is done."
Bookwalter, who burst onto the world scene in 2010 when he took second in the opening time trial at the Giro d’Italia, has yet to take the Stars and Stripes as national time trial champion. But after knocking on the door yet again, he will remain motivated.
“Third place is nice and it's nice to get on the podium,” Bookwalter added. “But I'm not going to stop here. I'm going to try to keep working to get that jersey.”
The U.S. road race championship takes place Monday.
USA Professional Time Trial Championships Brief Results:
1 David Zabriskie (Garmin-Barracuda) in 40’41”
2 Tejay Van Garderen (BMC Racing Team) at 6 secs
3 Brent Bookwalter (BMC Racing Team) at 27 secs
4 Tom Zirbel (Team Optum-Kelly Benefit Strategies) at 42 secs
5 Nathaniel English (Kenda 5-Hour Energy Cycling Team) at 57 secs
6 Timmy Duggan (Liquigas-Cannondale) at 1 minute, 16 secs
7 James Stemper (Kenda 5-Hour Energy Cycling Team) at 1 minute, 25 secs
8 Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Barracuda) at 1 minute, 30 secs
9 Ben King (RadioShack-Nissan) at 1 minute, 52 secs
10 Andy Jacques-Maynes (Kenda 5-Hour Energy Cycling Team) at 1 minute, 54 secs