Bobby Julich's Time-Trial Routine

[photo caption] CSC's Bobby Julich finished 29th of 176 in Saturday's Tour de France Prologue. Julich, who is not a time-trialing specialist, has stated that his Tour preparation has been focused on climbing. (photo courtesy ESPN.com)


[Editor's note: American Bobby Julich of CSC is keeping a web journal for ESPN.com during this year's Tour de France. The following excerpt is completely lifted from the ESPN site and is the intellectual property of Julich and ESPN.]


Bobby Julich's time-trial routine, in his own words:

Pre-Race
• I only eat pasta with olive oil with parmesan cheese -- no ketchup, no meats, no veggies -- and I finish eating exactly 3 hours before the event.
• Try to relax as much as possible.
• Go down to the route about 90 minutes before the race starts.
• Try to follow one of my teammates in the follow car to see what the turns look like at real speed.
• Get back to the bus, go inside and try to relax; drink water and talk to teammates about the turns and wind in the trial.
• Start on turbo turner, a device we hook up our bikes to about an hour before the stage; I go 20 minutes, very easy, then move to five-minute progression intervals to get muscles and heart rate and sweat going.
• 10 minutes before race, I go back into the bus, dry off and put on my racing gear.
• I'm ready to roll about 4-6 minutes before the start.
• Normally, I listen to music, anything with a real high tempo. Rap music does it for me. Today, I wasn't in the mood, but I'm sure I'll have my iPod on later, like before the 20th stage of the Tour!

Post-Stage
• I try to warm down and get to the bus and get on the stationary bike to warm down before meeting with the press. It's a time to reflect on my effort and share knowledge with my teammates that haven't yet gone in the time trial.