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What’s Inside the February issue of Velo Magazine
Special Issue: Cycling’s Biggest Personalities
In this special issue we bring you a baker’s dozen of the most compelling personalities in cycling — and give you the opportunity to see how you stack up against their racing mentalities.
In establishing those we chose to profile in our Personalities Issue, we agreed that, more than results or name recognition, character was paramount. In the past year we’ve published cover stories on big personalities like Mark Cavendish, Jens Voigt and Fabian Cancellara, but there are countless others involved with the sport that merit attention.
Some were obvious choices to an American publication like ours, such as the always-smiling Chris Horner, the dark comic Mike Creed and the bass-thumpin’ Jeremy Powers. Other riders, such as Alexi Grewal and Willow Koerber Rockwell, weren’t included in the issue for recent racing results, but rather because their candid, outspoken nature makes them a story almost any time they have something to say.
And others, like Matthew Keenan, Brian Worthy, Ed Dailey and Andy Pruitt, aren’t racers at all, but they are colorful characters that have made a tangible impact on the bike-racing community.
To grace the cover, we unanimously chose Garmin-Cervélo’s Dave Zabriskie, professional cycling’s most eccentric and unpredictable character. He’s also the sport’s most enigmatic.
Zabriskie is a time-trial specialist who prefers to ride a mountain bike. He’s a videogame aficionado who unabashedly loves Marvel Comics characters, embracing the stars-and-stripes Captain America designs his six national TT championships have inspired. He’s a borderline germophobe, avoids talking on cellphones, and spent the 2011 season subsisting on a diet free of animal products. He’s been with the same woman, Randi, since he was a teenager; they have two sons, Waylon and Bo. His own childhood wasn’t easy; he grew up a non-Mormon in Salt Lake City, his parents divorced when he was young, and his father died while he was in high school. During his awkward teenage years he wore rollerblades; these days he’s traded them in for those goofy-looking Vibram toe shoes. He’s also a rider who is notorious for frustrating journalists, his oddball replies often ranging from entertaining to frustrating, usually spoken in a tone that straddles the line between serious and surreal.
Because this issue is dedicated to the qualities that define these individuals, we developed a test for you, the reader, to determine your own cycling personality, based very loosely on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment. We shared our cycling personality test with the subjects of our feature stories, to see how it matched up with the stories we’d produced. They are not necessarily the winningest names in cycling, though they do include the top sprinter in women’s road racing and the first American to win a stage in all three grand tours. The results may surprise you.
Also inside: A surprise prosecution means there is much more at stake for WADA than just Alberto Contador’s fate; with 12 months to the Louisville world cyclocross championships, the time is now for U.S. riders and organizers; how to personalize your bike, and your training; and an angry letter to the editor from former Giro d’Italia boss Angelo Zomegnan.
Cycling’s Cast of Characters
The Enigma: Dave Zabriskie
The Guru: Andy Pruitt
The Tragic Hero: Thomas Voeckler
The Comedian: Mike Creed
The Regulator: Ed Dailey
The Soul Searcher: Willow Koerber Rockwell
The DJ: Jeremy Powers
The Renegade: Alexi Grewal
The Storyteller: Chris Horner
The Matron: Ina Teutenberg
Mr. Ubiquitous: Brian Worthy
The Next Phil Liggett: Matthew Keenan
The Deaner: Geoff Kabush