Slipstream-Chipolte just won the first pro team time trial in the U.S. since something like 1994. Astanta and High Road were close behind on the course here at Road Atlanta. It was a really hot day at this race course, which is usually used for automotive racing, I just heard someone say that the temp on the asphalt was 102 degrees. It certainly felt like it out there taking pictures today. OK, that is enough trying to play race reporter for me. I’ll leave the details to all the real race reporters who are frantically typing away here in the press room. Seriously, I don’t know how these guys do it. I have a new appreciation for all the immediate race results that I am accustomed to reading on sites like Velonews and Cyclingnews.

As you know, this blog is all about the bikes, and I took quite a few shots of the team bikes before the stage. Unlike most time trails, this race was run on road bikes; they weren’t even allowed to use clip-on bars. With the exception of the high profile rims on most of the bikes, they looked just like what you would see in a regular road stage. The riders weren’t even allowed to wear time trial helmets for this twisty 2.5 mile course that they repeated 4 times.

As you can see from the photo here, most of the Slipstream riders were using Zipp 808 wheels for their winning ride today. Only two riders, Danielson and Vandevelde were using the newer and much deeper Zipp 1080s. In addition to having a much deeper rim profile, I believe the 1080s have a newer more pronounced dimple pattern and the edge of the rim blends seamlessly with the tire. I’ll have to check the facts on those features, but I can say after looking at them up close that they are nice looking wheels.

As I said before, I have many more pictures to follow. I’ll start sorting and get them uploaded to my Flickr account as soon as I can. Stay tuned.

Updated 5/1: If you want to hear more about the 1080 wheelset, listen to this recent Zipp podcast. For those of you interested in bicycle technology, I recommend adding the Zippcast to your feeds. The podcasts are short (10-20 minutes) and I think they are usually quite interesting.