Captains America

Pretty cool that too of the most well-known American cyclists will be wearing the stars and stripes next year as U.S. champions. A day after Dave Zabriskie won his 4th straight U.S. time trial title yesterday George Hincapie was able to win the road race today. This is the 3rd time Hincapie has won the U.S. road championships. It seemed like good ol' George was due for some good news. 

Earlier this year he continued his tradition of not winning Paris-Roubaix with his usual mechanical problems. Hincapie promised he'd return to the race next year, saying it could not end that way for him. And then there was the controversy at the Tour de France where he rode just a little too slow to take the yellow jersey. The controversy was that other teams worked to limit their loses after Hincapie had finishes earlier with a breakaway group. The Hincapie group felt Garmin helped push the pace just to prevent Big George from getting into the yellow jersey. I'll always contend that Hincapie prevented himself from getting into yellow by not riding just a little faster. Regardless, it was a devastating day for Hincapie who seems to be racking up more than his share of just missed moments.

So hopefully the win today will take some of the sting out of this year's disappointments. I haven't checked, but I'm almost certain he'll be riding the Tour of Missouri just as Dave Zabriskie will (with Garmin's headquarters in Kansas City). So if you happen to be in Missouri during the race, cheer on our new American champions for me. Wish I could be there.