An interview with Discovery's Tom Danielson

By Brian C. Grenier

It wasn't but a few years ago now that I sat on this very couch and read an article titled 'Cycling’s Young Guns'. The focus of the story was to introduce some of the rising stars on the Cycling scene. One of those riders with a very young face was a guy named Tom Danielson. Tom had just signed with Team Discovery, still led by Armstrong but he was considered by the press the guy who could ultimately replace Armstrong in the American cycling dynasty. Tom had the raw talent that could be honed into a Grand Tour Challenger, speed, power, climbing ability and plenty of drive.

Since coming to Team Discovery from Fassa Bortolo, Tom has proven his worth from day one with a win at the 2005 Tour of Georgia. This year he returned to Georgia and the hellish climb up Brasstown Bald beating Floyd Landis on the climb and finishing up in second on the overall General Classification, only 4 seconds behind Georgia Tour Winner Landis.  Tom's riding this year brought him a win at the Tour of Austria and the heart pounding result in stage 17 of the Vuelta a España.

We here at ProCycleNews wanted to catch up with Tom and see how he felt his season went and how he feels about the additions of his new team mates. Now that the season is over I had a chance to catch up with Tom and have a chat from his home in Durango Colorado;

Hi Tom thanks for taking time to chat with us at ProCycleNews, How is the off season going?

TD: Brian the off season is going well.  I began training again about 2 weeks ago, really nice getting back on the bike and pushing towards the 2007 season! Before then I had a good amount of down time resting. I spent a lot of time with my wife Kristen doing some projects around the house, we did a lot of mountain biking and actually got into some fly fishing. Yeah I did a little bit of fly fishing, here in Durango we have a great resource, we have the Animus river which has some of the best fly fishing in the world just awesome! I have also been doing some hiking, running and then of course traveling quite a bit making a lot of appearances and giving some talks. About three weeks ago I was in the wind tunnel working with the bike and my position so I have been pretty busy but have really enjoyed it!

Sounds like you are pretty diverse in activities for your off season trying to stay off the bike.

TD: Right, I mean especially how I came into the off season, I did the Vuelta so after an intense month of racing, biking just doesn't seem like the best option. If I hadn't done the Vuelta I would have been more motivated to do some other type of cycling events, mountain biking or that type of thing but that was an intense month of racing! So after something like that fly fishing sounded nice!

Now that the 06 season is over and you have had some time to reflect on the year, what are your thoughts on your performance this year? 

TD: It was a pretty solid season and I definitely improved over last year in every place minus the Giro where I got really sick even there I would have finished in the top ten. I have been in the top ten in every race this year - California I was in 8th, Georgia 2nd with a stage win at Brasstown Bald and in Austria I took first and the Vuelta ah the Vuelta, just an awesome year for me. I feel that it shows I am a very diverse racer and you know even when I am not in top condition I can still finish with the top riders. 

For me I think, look at where I was last year and then this year steps it up quite a bit and there is still a lot opportunity to improve. With that said I think a lot of the experiences I had in 2006 taught me some lessons and showed me some new directions to take in my training and my career. With this off season I am putting everything in place so I feel I can improve quite a bit over what I did in 2006. 

Do you see 2006 as a break through year for you?

TD:  Yes without a doubt, a lot of people have told me that you know. I think it has been a break through year for me! Looking back I won my first race in Europe this year which is a huge step up. I won a stage in a Grand Tour at the Vuelta and I won that at the end of the race! It is all about learning and I did make some mistakes in the beginning of the Vuelta but if you look at the second half of the race it is like night and day. I had some one do this for me and mystically added up all the time I had lost and gained through out the race, if I would have raced the first half like I did the second half I would have finished 3rd overall! For me though the last half of the Vuelta was without a doubt a break through performance, but I am not completely satisfied yet. I want to be a podium winner and a contender, the winner that I am at heart. I think the next step for me is to do what I did in the last half of the Vuelta through a whole Grand Tour this year which will probably be that, ahhhh…… race in July!

You had a great ride on stage 17 of the La Vuelta very different from the other stages what changed there and how did it feel?

TD:  Definitely the biggest victory in my career and winning it that way in a Grand Tour! Being aggressive from the beginning you know any time you are in the top 10 in the GC it is very difficult to get away from people everyone is watching you. You have the top 3-15 guys looking at you and they don’t want to loose their place to you any time you move they use their teams to chase you down! It was just a unique stage it started off with a giant climb and then there were a bunch of climbs before the 5th climb which was the climb of climbs so I was really aggressive with the team and we broke the peloton apart and it isolated the other riders and without their teams it became kind of a competition as to how many times they would follow me before they would make a decision and figure out this wasn't the best idea to try to chase me down. Eventually I was able to get away if you watch it on TV you can see how dramatic the stage really was, I think at one point the main peloton was down to something like 20 riders only 50km into the race! Any time that many riders get dropped it shows just how hard that stage really was but I prevailed!

Besides my race there were other battles going on inside the peloton between Vinokourov and Valverde for the overall GC it was awesome to cause that type of race to happen from my actions and have your biggest career win come out of it. I am very excited about it and am riding the wave of optimism from it reliving every moment, keeping it fresh and in the forefront of my mind. Right now I am putting together a multimedia style spin class that highlights the stage and brings the spin class riders into the depth of the battle! We will use a big screen TV and awesome sound and motivating heart pounding music. It is all professionally done and I think it will really benefit some of the riders that are caught inside during the cold months myself included!

Looking forward into 2007 with all the current changes on the team what do you see as some of your goals, what roll do you see yourself filling and what impact will having Ivan Basso on the team make in your eyes?

TD: I think that there are quite a few changes, I mean we have a lot of new guys 12-13 something like that - wow - that is a lot of new guys almost half the team. There are also a lot of good guys returning like Tony Cruz, Levi has been on the team before so that won’t be too much of a shock with those guys riding but with some of the others I have never ridden with them before so I don’t know who they are! But I am sure we will meet.

I have my own goals, as a cyclist you have to have them and I am learning as a cyclist you have to put your goals as a priority. You can’t really listen what the media says and read too much into it taking it to heart so in the area of public relations and other opinions out there I am learning. PJ my agent has been a great mentor in that area, he has helped me learn that you can’t take to heart what is written about you, what is said, it doesn't matter.

Obviously we are reading a lot about Ivan Basso coming to the team. For sure it’s great he is coming to the team and he is filling a need for the sponsors. He is a big name in cycling and there is sound reasoning behind it at the team level.  With that said, I have my ultimate goal and I can’t have that change based on who is on the team and the changes that have been made. My goals are mine and that’s who I am! Just because people are saying this guy is the next TdF winner I can’t let that change what my goals are as an individual. Keeping that in mind I am going to train as hard as I can this winter and get to the highest level of conditioning I can for '07 and then we will see where I am at and decide what my roll will be. I am not going to sit here in November and read that people are talking about Basso this Basso that, and think, ok cool he is going to take up the slack on the team and I am going to go eat some more donuts and call it a season and hope '08 is for me. NO!NO! I have my time line and my goals and I am not going to let whoever is on the team dictate what my goals are as an individual. Then of course if he is much better than me then of course I am going to work for him as a team and give my best performance for the Team. But until then I am going to train for '07 to be the best racer I can be, bottom line!

Who knows who is going to improve from year to year you just can’t tell these days. It is funny to me how a lot of reporters want to come out and try to influence the situation many months away and say this guy is this and that, it is so easy to get caught up in that. I mean who knows, YOU CAN COME OUT OF NOWHERE AND OBLITERATE THE FIELD IN THE PROLOG AT THE TOUR OF CALIFORNIA AND ALL OF A SUDDEN YOU ARE THE 'GUY'!

Tom USA Cycling is putting on a PRO Tour this year that looks to be comprehensive and some-what competing with another Pro Tour series, 5-10 years from now what do you see as the future for Domestic US Pro Cycling. 

TD : I see it going up, growing more than what you see already! I wasn't around for the Coors Classic and those days, but if you look back at the history of US cycling it was enormous back in the 70's and now you see it again with the success of Lance, Floyd, Levi and myself!  I think we are pushing Europe’s cycling level quite high and I feel that having the US Pro Tour is going to give us a venue and give US Cycling a place to showcase our talent. Just look at the Tour of California or Georgia and you can see a Pro Tour Peloton that equals Europe. Think of guys like Landis, Levi and others that are the best in Europe and then you have a place to show case them here in America! People will be able to see just how good these guys are as athletes and cyclists. Having these big tours in America is awesome. The guys love to come here to America and race. The hotels are nice and the roads are well kept, the courses are very safe and secure. American spectators are very involved in cycling, it is huge in America, I can’t even make it through the airport without being recognized, it is like this huge hidden phenomena that is growing every day. There are a lot of cycling fans in America the fan base is so huge and growing, bringing the Pro Tours into the spotlight will give them an opportunity to see the sport first hand and this is going to bring even more people into the sport. 

Just look at the Tour of California it’s huge and it is hard to find anyone who it doesn't touch. It brings in people to the sport who see it and say hey that is way cool! Look at what happened in Georgia, that race there is just such a big event that no matter what their background people come out to see that race and it is just a huge state event. The races will take place in so many diverse places in America I can see that so many people will take a look at that level of racing and be drawn into the sport. This is really going to bring the American Pro Tour to a new level. Just take a look at some of the big Pro Teams like CSC, Discovery and even T-Mobile, they all have a huge presence in America and they sponsor some very successful pro teams! I think if the level of interest in Pro Cycling in America keeps rising you will see more sponsors join in!

What do you see as the future for American Cyclists in Europe ?

TD : I think it is good very good <chuckle> after Lance retired you saw a lot of guys come out of the wood work and I think this year you will se it even more so. Right now there are a lot of guys ready to push over the edge into that pro-international level of cycling. Looking into the future you know that is hard, but right now we have the structure in place both in the US and Europe to support cycling and improve it a lot. For Americans I see us winning a lot and that will flow over into bigger and better cycling programs and teams back in the States.

Tom I would like to wrap things up here with a final question. I noticed that you sponsor the FT Lewis College Fund can you tell us a little about that?

TD:  I see myself as a product of college cycling. I was a good junior on the mountain bike and I went to college there and got lost and focused on cycling. But I also met a lot of people doing good things and this showed me what can happen when the people of Durango come together with the college of Ft Lewis. For me those opportunities that were given through the cycling program were part of what helped move me along in cycling and got me to where I am now. My main goal is to try to make Ft Lewis into a great cycling development program, which we have, we won the national title again this year and we have a couple of big guys coming out of there like Alix Hagman, and some guys that won the national title and have what it takes to make it into the pros.

Kristin and I have put in a lot of time together building a program there with two full time coaches and all the equipment. The Ft Lewis team basically looks like a Pro Team, we have a big trailer and a truck to pull it. We use this where the Team competes and at community events. So I want to help push college cycling here while I can. I am familiar with Ft Lewis's program so that helps. However as time goes on I would like to do things on a larger scale, like at the national level and raise money for college cycling as a whole. The reason for that is, in Europe for example if you are not making it into the Pros by 23 you are done if you are say 24 you are just not getting in at all. Conversely they start their development programs at a much younger age. 

Here in America it just isn't like that, you spend your high school days throwing a ball or; some other main stream sport and it isn't until college where you become exposed to cycling as a sport. That is just the difference in cultures.  But the thing about college programs is, you get a better rounded individual in the end that knows about money management, time management and all the skills necessary to run a life both in and out of cycling. So my goal would be to build onto that program and get something going nationally to help develop new school programs based on the Ft Lewis model. 

Even more on that right now on the 9th of December I will be in San Francisco where I will be working with a group in the area to bring up the junior racing to a new level. I have been working at that level here in Durango, Colorado where I have helped to raise money for junior programs and next year we will have race series called the Tom Danielson Junior Colorado Cup. The cup series will be made up of 10 races and will have a development feel to them. The idea will be to push junior cycling to a new level and get them ready to move into the college teams.

Thanks Tom it has been a pleasure to chat with you today. I think our readers will be delighted with the interview and your candid and forth right answers. Good luck with the '07 season and I am sure our readers will be keeping track of your progress through out the season.

Note:  My talk with Tom today was a great enlightenment. I was pleased to hear from such a well spoken young man. As a professional Cyclist Tom leads the way for the new breed of riders, he is the consummate professional on the bike, with time for community focus and helping build the future of cycling!