April 15 (Posted June 23)...
Post race thoughts from Team Director Gary Casella..  Part 1 of 2

I have been back home for a few days and I have had the chance to reflect back on the experience of the Vuelta de Uruguay for my iomega-Orbea squad..  We started out very excited and highly motivated to ride as well as we could.  Traveling so far for a race of this nature motivated the guys to prepare better than in years past as well.  We were excited for the experience that was ahead for us.
 
Stage one was at this coastal resort town called Piriapolis, just a few km's west of Latin America's hottest resort getaway Punta del Este..  There we had a TTT (team time trial) of 7km on the coastal roadway.  The media and the people there that turned out to see the race was unbelievable.  UCI officials checked all our TT bikes, measured them all, and our helmets (no TT helmets were allowed due to the new UCI rules).  We started and cranked out the course in a respectable time as we also drew the last starting spot for the day.  Bad Luck started to rear its head starting this day as just prior to starting we had two blow outs on our TT wheels.  We had two race flats on our Kenda tires all of 2003...this was weird.
 
Stage two had us travel to Rocha from Piriapolis and it was our best day out on the road for the entire Vuelta.  Chris Abbruzzese was on the front the first of the race in some early moves.  Tad Hamilton got some TV time and stuck a move early and took second in a points prize sprint after misjudging the sprint banner.  Ransom, Coffman, Jukich and myself were towards the front of the pack and also in some moves towards the end of the race.  Bad Luck again showed up this time having Chris Abbruzzese take a nasty fall at like 35 mph on a small downhill.  It looked and sounded bad as Chris hit the ground hard.  How he didn't break a bone is a miracle in itself, but he left plenty of skin there on the road to Rocha..  From his shoulder to his ankle on his left side was road rash.  Ouch!  To top it all off he had a rider fall over him as well. His bike and gear were trashed and though he remounted and tried to finish, his Vuelta was done.  Chris is a trooper and as painful as it was to see his injuries, I knew it was nothing compared to the disappointment he felt being out of the Vuelta on day two. 
 
The race finish was a group went up the road and then the field where Ransom hit the front with like 500 meters to go and then a swarm of riders just sprinted into the town on the rough and bumpy roads.  It was mad, but so much fun as the last 10 km were lined with people on both sides of the roads.  The rest of the squad finished in the field and ready for the next day.
 
Stage three day us do this crazy 200km transfer to the start and we opted to not take the bus as it went too slow and we would have had to leave at like 2am to get there on time.  So we repacked all our gear and drove in our team support vehicles.  We made it there OK.  This was going to be the toughest day terrain wise as we had some pretty big hills and the roads were rolling all day long.  This stage was from a small town called Jose P. Varela (named after the person who's cause was to make education free and available to all Uruguayans) By the end Eric Ransom said we did like 7000 vertical feet I think, over 147Km. 
 
The day started good and the iomega squad was towards the front of the peloton most of the day.  We knew that the last 60km is where the race and roads would be the toughest.  Uruguay is considered a flat country compared to like Colombia, but Uruguay is in no way flat.  Its rolling all the time and it adds up.  We came to this 3km steep tough climb and right as we're about to get started Boom!  My rear tire blows out.  The pack rides off and the neutral car blows by me and the team car finally gets me a wheel and I'm back on the bike.  Chasing as tough as I could up the biggest climb of the day.  The caravan by the top was almost out of sight and a few others got spit out the bunch as the race seemed to explode there on the climb.  Apparently so, as I rolled into the finish I was hot and tired chasing solo all the way.  Afterwards I find out they said I missed the time cut by 2 minutes!  
 
I heard they weren't doing time cuts at the directors meeting, but I guess now the UCI head official from France was.  Needless to say I was upset as I felt the best on the bike in years.  The team rode in well with Esteban launching a move 2km from the line and eventually finishing 13th after being caught 400 meters from the line.  A valiant effort as Esteban has becoming more aggressive a rider and I like that.  A great sign of things to come in the future from him.  The rest of the guys finished in the field with Coffman a little bit further back.
 
The next day was Stage 4 and traditionally its either calm and an easy stage or windy with echelons and crosswinds.  It went from Melo to Tacuarembo.  Some rolling hills at first but definitely flatter than the ride into Melo.  We got the windy day.  Right from almost the gun with only a mere 201 Km to go, it seemed like we were racing the Twilight criterium back in Boise they took off so quick. 
 
Basically different teams went to the front and drove it into the gutter so everyone was fighting for wheels single file on the left side of the road.  The pace was almost 50kph average and then 6 Km in to the stage Tad has a double flat.  The first flat had him ride into the grass as his cyclocross skills came in handy, as he kept it upright but blew tire #2 when he hit something off the road.  With the pace as it was...it couldn't have been any worse for Tad. In short, it sucked.  Having to chase 190Km into the wind solo...I knew his day was a rough one ahead. 
 
Tad the trooper just made the time cut in Tacuarembo which was extended today by the official but for me and three others the day before they wouldn't do it.  Strange how that works.  No rain as predicted but muggy and hot.  A tough night was it was like 95 degrees in our hotel room that night. 
 
The non racing riders Chris and I had a room and it was like midnight and sweat was just pouring out as I laid in bed.  I couldn't sleep.  Chris noticed the conference room at the hotel where we were, that they were doing all the TV post stage stuff had AC...and the TV crews had just finished up and left.  So Chris said we got to get the team sleeping in there.  We were on a mission.  We opened the door to the room with the 4 riders (Mike, Eric, Esteban and Tad) and they were all red faced in their sleep!  Some smooth talking to the front desk clerk and Chris nonchalantly shuttling half dressed cyclists through the lobby. It was sight to see but well worth it, as everyone was sound asleep in minutes.  After a little resistance from Tad who was sleeping well and some comical stuff from Eric's behalf we got a great nights sleep.  Good call Chris.
 
Stage 5 from Tacuarembo to Salto was pretty much the same as the day before.  More crosswinds and a long stretch to Salto at 169Km.  This time though rain was in the forecast for later in the day.  The start was just outside Tacuarembo. 
 
We weren't getting good breakfasts and the night before in Tacuarembo we hit this bakery/deli place and loaded up for breakfast the next morning.  Another great adjustment by us.  Pasteles (bread) and coffee weren't cutting it as breakfast with 100's of kilometers to ride.
 
We ate well and looked forward to having a good day and learned a lot riding into the stiff crosswinds the day before, and how to ride in the gutter fighting for wheels all day.  The best quote of the day before came from Mike Coffman, that said "..man, I was exhausted just from moving up and fighting for wheels all day long, much less racing."  That's pretty much how it is.  I can only imagine those Belgians in Northern Europe racing this way in the cold and how tough they must be.
 
Today they waited like 10km before slammin the door shut and driving it up the gutter...only 150km to go this time.  It wasn't a few Km's later that Tad again was the first rider to flat.  Shorter to the finish, Tad needed an easy day to recover from yesterdays efforts...this wasn't what was ordered.  Tad had prepared well and was riding good and tough but the mishaps and bad luck just couldn't have been any timed any worse for us.  With the field going at 100% to rip up the peloton and create time gaps, Tad was in for another long day.  Amazing though is that as upset as he may have been he took it in stride and started towards Salto with a good attitude.
 
Up ahead the field was splintering into smaller groups as the pace up front never slowed and in the second group and catching the lead group that contained Jukich, were Coffman and Ransom.  They were like 50 meters off the back of the last riders in the lead pack riding through the support caravan and then a team car moved a bit left and the riders adjusted touched wheels, down they went and Coffman flew right over them.  Ransom just amazingly managed to sneak by but waited to see if Mike was OK.  As I ran up to see him I saw him grabbing his shoulder, not a good sign, but one we see often in cycling...so I told Eric to keep on going.  The Vuelta DR's thought he may have separated his shoulder at first, but his Vuelta was done and he was in the ambulance headed towards Salto to get some X-rays. Mike later saw medical attention in Salto and later was diagnosed with a broken collarbone.  Mike was in a lot of pain but in good spirits amazingly enough, given his fall and all the people around him talking Spanish 100 miles an hour asking how he felt and stuff.  I am sure it was all a bit much, but Mike seemed pretty calm and relaxed and took it all in really well. 
 
This was first time spending quality time with Mike Coffman over an extended period of time as we have raced together and in the same category over the last few years.  He is a great guy, and much funnier and cordial than I thought.  Probably because I always saw him with his game face and race gear on.  He has a great support team in his wife, and he is a competitive guy.  Mike's cultural experience in Uruguay I think was great as he seemed to really enjoy himself looking around and seeing new things.  I was proud of the way he rode.  He was aggressive and in some really good moves with good riders.  Thanks Mike for coming to ride with us for the Vuelta.
 
A little while later there was another crash as I traveled with Mike in the ambulance.  No iomega-Orbea riders but iomega-Orbea's newest Uruguayan recruit Gonzalo Tagliabue was involved.  There were like 6 riders all over the road was we pulled up and some looked pretty bad.  Blood was on the road, bikes all smashed up, and riders aching and crying.  As we stopped I saw Gonzalo getting some attention.  He was dizzy and in pain.  Looks like this Argentinean rider touched wheels in the echelon and he was pretty far up in the group and lost his balance and fell hard with a few other riding over him and Gonzalo going over his bars, landing on his back and then two riders rode into and over him! 
 
His luck was that the rider that rode over him cut his wrist open with his chainring, requiring like over 20 stitches, and Argentinean National team member Colla, who is no small rider, was the one who fell on top of him.  The on sight medical staff were concerned with his back and pelvis as he landed took a big hit and were worried he may have fractured it.  Off to the hospital Gonzalo went with Coffman.
 
All the riders ended up OK, battled and bruised but nothing major. 
 
On our way to Salto we passed all the riders and I eventually got dropped off as Mike and Gonzalo headed towards the hospital.  I saw Esteban in the second group and then later Eric in a chase group that contained some good riders.  Much further back as Tad still slugging away to get to Salto.  The winds didn't let up but about 70Km from the finish the winds shifted and then came the rain.  It wasn't a sprinkle but a full on downpour that lasted about 30-40 minutes.  The riders were soaked.  The wind shift made it a tailwind into town and I am sure the riders enjoyed that as they raced into Salto at 30+mph.  Eric seemed to be finding his form and given his bad position was looking the best he had all race long.
 
As we entered Salto, Esteban had just finished in the second group that was 15 minutes back, and then about 12 minutes later was Eric group.  Tad again the trooper through wind and rain made it to the finish after another long day in the saddle.  I checked up on Mike and he was at the local hospital getting checked and X-rayed. 
 
This Stage was probably the roughest of them all for us given the weather, the bad luck, and the huge time gaps.  The Vuelta was taking its toll and we were feeling it.  As I was walking to the hospital one of the publicity caravans talked to me and they said...they never saw a team have such bad luck at the Vuelta.  I said "how so?"  They said the last three days we (iomega) had the first rider with an incident (Gary, Tad, Tad) flat and then Mike, and the time cuts they felt were unjust...they just wanted to pull me over and say that appreciated us being there and to keep our chins up and that better days were ahead.  I would have to agree. Better days were ahead and we were halfway to the finish.

(read Part 2)