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Benjamin Day, riding for Toyota-United, pushes his way up Vail Pass on Sunday in the Teva Mountain Games HIll Climb. Day came in first and set a new record for the Vail Pass Hill Climb, completing the course in 25 minutes, 48 seconds.
VAIL, Colorado — Cyclist Benjamin Day came to Vail for a test ride and ended up breaking a 21-year-old record.
Day, a Toyota-United team rider, won Sunday’s Vail Pass Hill Climb race at the Teva Mountain Games in 25 minutes, 48 seconds, beating the mark American cyclist Andy Hampsten set during the 1987 Coors Classic by 45 seconds.
“I was actually really, really nervous for this because I know I’m not that fit,” the 29-year-old Day said. “I had a bad crash in the Tour de Georgia (in late April), and I’ve been struggling since then. This was my second week back training.”
Day, who rode the 9.8-mile road course for the first time Saturday, wanted to get a peek at the route he’ll be racing in August when he and his team compete in the Colorado Stage International Cycle Classic.
“We’ll go up this climb, so it was a good opportunity to come here and give it a go,” said Day, a time-trial and climbing specialist.
Day averaged a speed of 22.6 mph.
“There was an awesome tailwind,” Day said. “That played a big part in everybody going close to the record.”
Chris Baldwin, another Toyota-United rider, was second at 26:29, while Jonathan Baker was third at 26:57. Day, an Australian who lives in Boulder, met Hampsten last year, although at the time, Day didn’t know it.
“He lives in Boulder, and I remember one time last year I’m at the pub with the boys, and we’re sinking a few beers, and my mate introduced me to this guy named Andy, and I’m going, ‘Good day, Andy, how you going? What do you do, do you ride a bike at all?’ The next morning they said to me, ‘That was Andy Hampsten, did you realize that?’ And I said a few choice words to them,” Day said. “Andy is an absolute legend.
“I haven’t spoken to him since then. He was really down-to-earth, so that gives me a lot of respect for him.”
Hampsten won the 1988 Giro d’Italia — the first and only non-European to do so — and finished fourth in the Tour de France twice.
Day hopes to repeat his performance come August.
“Now I’ve got a good benchmark for the Colorado Stage Race,” he said.
The 2006 and 2007 Hill Climb winner, Ned Overend, was fifth at 27:23. Overend, who will turn 53 in August, wasn’t so concerned with a repeat, as he competed in Saturday’s mountain-bike race.
“I thought about (skipping the mountain-bike race), but the truth is, I’m a mountain biker. I’m a road racer, too, but it’s good to come up here and do both,” Overend said.
Day, a Toyota-United team rider, won Sunday’s Vail Pass Hill Climb race at the Teva Mountain Games in 25 minutes, 48 seconds, beating the mark American cyclist Andy Hampsten set during the 1987 Coors Classic by 45 seconds.
“I was actually really, really nervous for this because I know I’m not that fit,” the 29-year-old Day said. “I had a bad crash in the Tour de Georgia (in late April), and I’ve been struggling since then. This was my second week back training.”
Day, who rode the 9.8-mile road course for the first time Saturday, wanted to get a peek at the route he’ll be racing in August when he and his team compete in the Colorado Stage International Cycle Classic.
“We’ll go up this climb, so it was a good opportunity to come here and give it a go,” said Day, a time-trial and climbing specialist.
Day averaged a speed of 22.6 mph.
“There was an awesome tailwind,” Day said. “That played a big part in everybody going close to the record.”
Chris Baldwin, another Toyota-United rider, was second at 26:29, while Jonathan Baker was third at 26:57. Day, an Australian who lives in Boulder, met Hampsten last year, although at the time, Day didn’t know it.
“He lives in Boulder, and I remember one time last year I’m at the pub with the boys, and we’re sinking a few beers, and my mate introduced me to this guy named Andy, and I’m going, ‘Good day, Andy, how you going? What do you do, do you ride a bike at all?’ The next morning they said to me, ‘That was Andy Hampsten, did you realize that?’ And I said a few choice words to them,” Day said. “Andy is an absolute legend.
“I haven’t spoken to him since then. He was really down-to-earth, so that gives me a lot of respect for him.”
Hampsten won the 1988 Giro d’Italia — the first and only non-European to do so — and finished fourth in the Tour de France twice.
Day hopes to repeat his performance come August.
“Now I’ve got a good benchmark for the Colorado Stage Race,” he said.
The 2006 and 2007 Hill Climb winner, Ned Overend, was fifth at 27:23. Overend, who will turn 53 in August, wasn’t so concerned with a repeat, as he competed in Saturday’s mountain-bike race.
“I thought about (skipping the mountain-bike race), but the truth is, I’m a mountain biker. I’m a road racer, too, but it’s good to come up here and do both,” Overend said.
More records fall
In the women's race Katie Compton let a record-setting pace. Compton, of Colorado Springs, set a new record at 32:06.Pua Sawicki of HawaiiIn second at 32:24, while 20-year-old Chloe Forsman of Boulder was third at 32:08.
The top three female finishers all broke the old record.
Sports Writer Ian Cropp can be reached at 970-748-2935 or icropp@vaildaily.com.
