Images courtesy Marco Quezada and Garmin-Transitions. Transcribed and edited by Peter McCormick.

schmalz We’re here with Tyler Farrar of Garmin-Transitions. Welcome to New York, Tyler…did anyone bring up the notion of you racing (at roller party)?… You’re one of the top three sprinters in the world right now, so, any way you want to mix that up.

What’s the plan now? I would say your main competition is Mark Cavendish and now his leadout has gone away: Mike Barry has gone to Sky so the lineup has changed a bit, and you’ve got Robbie Hunter now, so how do you think your leadout trains compare now?

Farrar I think Columbia still is going to have a really strong leadout train because they’re so well drilled. At the top of the Tour they had eight riders at the front, so they definitely know what they’re doing. But we’ve put in a good effort to beefing up our side of the things, and I think also you see the progression our team made over the season, as we got better at leadouts, as the year went on. We’ve gotten better and gained experience in bringing in a few more guys who are good for that kind of thing. I think we’ll have a strong team next year.

schmalz It seemed that you and Julian Dean had developed more of a rapport as the season went on. As the Tour went on you guys seemed to know where to go, where to be at certain times. Your second places to Cavendish were a half-bike or something like that, so it seems that if you’re going to have a change in the leadout train, you’re going to lose some people from Columbia. Maybe that’s going to be the difference between the two. But the way Cavendish rides, is it really necessary for him to have a big leadout train? You’re more of a powerful sprinter, and Cavendish has more of a punchy, strong acceleration. Does he need a leadout train, necessarily?

Farrar I think he has shown that you can win without one, but it always helps as a sprinter to have a leadout train just because it takes a bit of the chaos out; you know you’re going to start the sprint in perfect position. No matter what kind of sprinter you are, [a leadout train] makes it easier for you, than having to fight for wheels.

schmalz What kind of finish is going to suit you the best? Is it a slight uphill, or a flat finish? Where do you think you’re going to have the most advantage?

Farrar It’s like you said: I tend to be more of a power sprinter; so, something where there’s a slight uphill me or just a really fast, long last sprint suits a rider more like me where it’s kind of top-end acceleration.

schmalz Sort of a Paris-Tours or maybe even a Milano-San Remo type finish? Do you think those are the ones you’re really going to be looking forward to? The Paris-Tours is a really long finish.

Farrar I was fifth in Paris-Tours last year, winning the sprint behind the four-man break (laughs), so that is a race that suits me well. Yeah, generally at the end of hard one-day races, that’s a sprint that suits a rider like me.

Training Began Two Weeks Ago

schmalz When does preparation for Milan-San Remo begin? Are you starting now?

Farrar About two weeks ago (laughs). I took a nice little break, about six weeks, and relaxed after the season, and then it’s back out, building the base. If you want to be good in the classics, you have to start training early.

schmalz You’re based in Belgium, aren’t you? Is it easier to train over there because you’re overseas already and the culture is – a cycling culture. Is it easier to get out and get the miles in, or do you find yourself not wanting to go out because the weather’s ridiculous.

Farrar The weather doesn’t really faze me. I don’t have a hard time getting out the door, regardless of where I am. I like Belgium. That’s my home now. I’ve lived there long enough and I’m there pretty much on a full-time basis these days.

schmalz Do you speak the language (makes hideous noises); a series of burps and grunts is what Flemish sounds like…you can order what you need to and get through the supermarket?

Farrar Exactly. Like I say, I’ve been there a while, have a lot of friends, so for me that’s home.

schmalz So, it had to be a big relief to get your first Grand Tour win at the Vuelta. Has that taken that pressure off you, to finally get that Grand Tour win and now you can just kind of lie back, get ready for things? Or does it just make you want to win more?

Winning His First Stage, Vuelta á España: It was definitely nice and took a little bit of pressure off, but every race is so important; it’s starts all over again.

Farrar It certainly helps the confidence. It was getting a little frustrating as the season went on last year, seeing as how I rode all three Grand Tours, and it wasn’t until the end of my Vuelta, it was pre-planned I wasn’t going to finish the Vuelta. I’d be in a bodybag. (laughs) It was kind of chipping away with all these second- and third-places and I’m starting to (wonder), wow, am I going to get one of these this year or not? It was definitely nice and took a little bit of pressure off, but every race is so important; it’s starts all over again.

The Distinct World of Field Sprinting

schmalz I realize you’re probably tired of talking about Mark Cavendish, so let’s talk about the other sprinters. If you’re going to think about the sprinters who were involved in the Tour this year, you had yourself, Mark, and Thor Hushovd, who’s always there and he won the green jersey. What is your plan, if you’re racing against them and you have a course that’s suits you at the finish; how do you plan on beating them at the end? When you’re in the sprint and you’re all together, are you thinking at all? Or is it just that your heart rate’s at 200 and you’re feeling your way through it?

Farrar You’re definitely thinking. It’s a tactical game as much as it is that you have to ride fast. But you can be the fastest guy out there but if you ride a stupid sprint you’re not going to win the race. You’re definitely thinking, but generally, we try and ride our own race. We don’t try to let the other teams dictate to us how we ride a sprint. We build our strategy in the bus before the race. Obviously you have to adapt your strategy to what the other guys are doing, but we try to go at it with the attitude that we’re making the race, not having the race made for us.

schmalz You have to place a lot of trust in the instincts of Julian Dean, don’t you? Because he’s the last guy in your leadout train; you’re following him until – you’re out.

Farrar Julian’s one of the best leadout men in the world, without a question. He has so much experience, and that’s been the difference for me. This year I had no Grand Tour experience before…

schmalz Before you did all three!

Farrar By having someone like (Dean), that’s good, because I can kind of switch off a little bit and just trust his judgment. He’s going to make the better decision most of the time than I am.

schmalz It seems that no matter what happens – there’s a mishap in the race – he gets shot, for instance; he’s still going to take you to the line. He’s really trustworthy.

Do you think, now that you’ve been winning and been involved in the sprints, has that changed the way when you go into a sprint – are you more respected more in the race? Do you get a little bit more room? Or is everyone going to shove you out of the way, no matter what?

Farrar It definitely makes a difference. I mean, no one’s just going to let you go where you want to go; no one hands it to you obviously (laughs). But it does make it easier when the other sprinters respect you. They accept you being there; when the see Julian and me fighting for position at the front, they don’t automatically…

schmalz “Who’s this squirrel? What’s he going to do?”

Farrar Right. I think you saw this as the season went on. We were taking control. Teams were looking to us to take control, and that makes it easier for the sprinter because it’s much better to have them looking at you, trying to play off of you and letting you ride your own race.

Shen Getting back to Cavendish again: Your ideal situation for beating him: Is he on your wheel or are you on his wheel?

schmalz How little of a draft is there behind Cavendish?

Farrar Unfortunately not as big a one as I’d like (laughing). It depends on the sprint. It’s really hard to sit here now and say, “It needs to be exactly like this,” because it’s so variable on the road. You know, I think, too often this year, I ended up sprinting from behind Cavendish. There were quite a few times when I came from two or three guys back and then finished second to him. And so that’s what we need to work on, starting the sprints from the front. I think us, further developing our leadout train, is going to be a big step in that direction.

schmalz Certainly. What was up with Columbia complaining about having to take control of the race during the Tour this year? They’d been winning stages; they were at the front; and then they’d be complaining afterwards that “everyone expected us to take control of the race.” It just seemed blatantly obvious that of course you’re going to take control of the race because you’re winning all the stages.

Farrar Yeah, that’s how it goes. You saw that we took responsibility, too. Every single field sprint: we had riders riding tempo on the front from the beginning of the stage. As soon as the break was gone, we had guys in the rotation. The fact was, they were the only team in the race that was entirely dedicated to the field sprints. So, that does bring a certain level of responsibility. We took responsibility but we also had GC (General Classification) concerns, so we didn’t have eight riders we could throw into it because we had Brad (Bradley Wiggins) and Christian (Vande Velde).

schmalz Brad and Christian weren’t going to be helping you pull anything back in those things.

Shen What was it like in Paris when David and Christian came to the front, their race was over and suddenly, on the Champs you have Dave and Christian in front of you.

What Happened on The Champs Elysees

Farrar It was great. Unfortunately we misjudged a little bit and I think that was just inexperience.

schmalz Can we talk about that last corner? I don’t know if you saw the film from the overhead, but it seemed like Julian went into that corner and it just killed your momentum. It was just that corner, and then it looked like George Hincapie sprinted at that point and in essence just cut you off and then Renshaw and Cavendish …

Farrar But that’s how the sprint on the Champs is. It’s really a sprint to that turn, and you don’t gain ground too much after that turn, and so it’s a sprint into the turn, and they won the sprint into the turn. It’s kind of a gamble we took. If we’d gone into the turn first, it would have been a different story. But we didn’t.

schmalz It was a matter of ten yards or something like that.

Farrar That’s how it goes.

schmalz Do you guys ever have words after sprints? Not like being contentious or having a fight. Certainly you’ll congratulate each other; do you ever share tips with anyone; why did you do that; how did you do that – with any other racers, not necessarily your own team. Like, “Wow, Mark, where’n the hell did that come from?” … Or are you pretty secretive?

Farrar I wouldn’t say we’re secretive but we don’t sit down and analyze everyone’s sprint together. I get along with everyone so it’s not like we’re fighting after a race. If someone did do something that was maybe a little dangerous, you might say something to him, but for the most part, we don’t talk a lot right after the sprints. We’ll talk the next day, and say, “nice job, congratulations.”

schmalz I guess you just naturally know when somebody’s done something that’s a little dangerous or a little over the edge in a sprint, because the emotions are high, especially in the early stages of a Tour. There are many people who are sprinting who aren’t necessarily sprinting in other situations. Everybody’s fresh; everybody’s going to take a shot at it, and suddenly you have this guy who’s not normally involved in things like at the front, and they’re going to splay themselves all over the floor; hit the deck. When they do something especially egregious, what do you do? Do you talk to them afterwards and say, “What’s going on?” Do you fire off a memo?

Farrar If it’s something really bad, I’ll say something. I’m not a guy who yells and screams a lot. I try to savor –

schmalz You’re not head-butting anybody?

Farrar Everyone has a right to race. It’s not like, just because I’m a sprinter who’s won races means that I should automatically be given free rein in the sprint. Everyone has a right to be there, so that’s how a field sprint is. It’s always chaotic. And that’s the thing. When you say someone was doing something dangerous, 99 percent of the time it’s not that they were actively trying to do something dangerous. It’s just that field sprints are chaotic; you only have your perspective; sometimes you don’t realize you just put someone into the fence (laughter). It happens. That’s part of the game. We all understand that. So it’s not that we hold grudges or anything.

Everyone has a right to race. It’s not like, just because I’m a sprinter who’s won races means that I should automatically be given free rein in the sprint. Everyone has a right to be there, so that’s how a field sprint is. It’s always chaotic.

schmalz How physical of a sprinter are you? Will you move someone with your shoulders or do you just kind of try to find spots and then get through them?

Farrar I don’t think I’m an overly aggressive sprinter…

schmalz Because you could move Cavendish four or five yards.

Farrar I don’t think I’m an overly aggressive rider but at the same time there’s a certain amount of physicality in every field sprint.

Shen Was there a point when you had to prove yourself, when you were new? Was there a point when guys were testing you? “Let’s see if we can push this guy out of the way?” Like in prison. (laughter)

schmalz To put the whole prison-rape perspective on this. Let’s see: how does it work?

Farrar It’s just, as you win more races and become more known, it does become a little easier because people respect you. They do give you that extra little bit of space that you don’t get when you’re new. It’s just a process of earning the respect of other sprinters and that just takes a bit of time.

schmalz Was there any specific incident that stuck in your mind when some guy just pushed you around, like, “Why did you have to do that?”…just trying to get through the race here.

Farrar I only had one real run-in in a field sprint this whole season, when (Danilo) Napolitano tried to crash me in the sprint at the Franco-Belge (won by Farrar – ed.). Other than that…even still: heat of the moment, and guys are making split-second decisions. If they had a bit of time to think about it, they might not always –

schmalz Not to put words in your mouth but I think that Napolitano has a bit of a reputation with other sprinters. I think that they’re a little bit upset with him because he’s endangering their livelihood because he’s a little more reckless than other sprinters.

Farrar He can be. It’s just one of those things; we have to do this day in, day out. It’s not like we’re going to race three times a year.

schmalz There’s another race tomorrow!

Farrar Exactly. There’s always an unspoken line you don’t cross. Every now and then, guys nudge up to the edge of it.

schmalz So how much longer do you think you have in your field? What’s your field of focus in field sprinting? Are you planning on going in and being a Classics rider? Are you going to make that transition? What do you think the plan is as far as your field sprints are concerned?

Shen You could win three- and four-day stage races too.

schmalz You’ve got a good enough prologue time trial in you to be able to win those three- and four-day stage races.

Farrar Generally, if there’s not a big mountain stage or a long time trial, I can be out there in the GC. I don’t really see a need to pigeonhole myself to say, “I’m going to be a Classics rider,” or, “I’m going to be a field sprinter.” I think you can be both. You just have to periodize your season and say, OK, at this point, I’m going to work with an eye toward the Classics. Which is easy because they’re all at the same time. You build through the winter with that in mind, and after Paris-Roubaix you take a little break and reassess and focus more on field sprinting.

schmalz Sort of a Tom Boonen/Thor Hushovd type plan.

Farrar They’re prime examples of guys who do both.

schmalz I say that because they have the same sort of form as you do. You’re a big, powerful type of sprinter, whereas you don’t really expect Cavendish to do well at Paris-Roubaix – just because of his size. He could but he’s not that powerful type of Northern Classic build.

Farrar I think Cav is a good enough rider that he could probably ride pretty well at any race, barring high mountains, but yeah, those races do suit a bigger guy that doesn’t get bounced around too bad on the cobblestones.

schmalz And have you heard that Cavendish is a delightful dancer?

Farrar I heard he’s a ballroom dancer.

schmalz He’s a champion ballroom dancer!

Farrar He’s very light on his toes.

Farrar on Cavendish: He’s very light on his toes.

schmalz His front profile is so small and he gets so far over the front of his bike – his chin’s basically on his tire when he’s sprinting. Have you thought about adopting that position? Or don’t you even think about it; you just sprint?

Sprinters’ Positioning

Farrar We play with it a bit, but part of it is just your body shape. Yeah, he gets really low, but also, he’s a smaller guy so he’ll have a smaller frontal area. There have been a couple of times when they’ve had the front-on shot in the field sprint and everyone points to that. And there’s Boonen and me sprinting, and everyone’s like, “Oh, look how much lower Cav is.” Well, yeah, but his bike’s four or five inches shorter than ours. No matter what I do, I’m not going to get as low as he gets, even if I put my head on the handlebars I’m still going to be higher. Obviously, that works really well for him. But you have to find a technique, a sprinting form, that works best for you.

schmalz What’s your wattage in a typical sprint?

Farrar It varies. You don’t see the really high wattage numbers in the sprints in races because it’s at the end of 200, 250 k. So the wattage numbers aren’t nearly as impressive as you might expect at that point in a race. But in training, you can crank 16-1700. I was doing around that, leading up to the Tour.

schmalz Do you do specific sprint training, or is it something that you have, and you focus on your weaknesses.

Farrar No, I do a lot of specific sprint training. That was one of the biggest changes for me. Before, I used to – and still have to – focus on my weakness: surviving in the mountains. But I used to spend too much time training on my weakness and not enough time training my sprint. That was one of the big changes I made this last season. I started working with Andrie van Diemen and he’s the one who said, “Look, you only need to be good enough for climbing to get through.”

schmalz “Don’t waste your time.”

Farrar You’re better at putting that energy into being that little bit extra better at sprinting because that’s what you do, and it really paid off.

schmalz Do you do a lot of motor-pacing and sprinting around the motor pacing, just so you’re used to that speed?

Farrar Yeah, simulated lead outs, that’s really important because, going out and riding 30k an hour and then doing a sprint isn’t the same as a 60k an hour run-in for 5k. Before the sprint, it’s a completely different effort.

schmalz Does it help to be comfortable on a bike at that speed? You have to be able to think at that speed too, because you’ve got to do a lot of moving in a field sprint, so it’s probably just getting you used to that speed and getting up to things.

Farrar I’ve basically lived on a bike since I was twelve-years-old, so I am comfortable on the bike at that speed. But it’s more from a training standpoint: you’re trying to replicate what you’re doing in a race. That’s the most effective way.

Shen Is the team able to get together and practice leadouts?

Farrar We do that at the training camp…and every race is also a practice.

schmalz Have you had a chance to train with Robbie Hunter yet?

Farrar Not yet. January will be our first big training camp.

schmalz Is he based in Girona also?

Farrar Unless he’s moving there. I believe he lives in Switzerland.

schmalz Are you going to Qatar this year?

Farrar I am. Now that they’ve moved California.

Shen Do you know if you’re doing California or the Giro?

Farrar I don’t know yet. You know, it’s a trade-off. The first half of the Giro is really sprinter-friendly, this year there’s a lot of field sprints, and California is a bit more of a climber’s race. Especially now that they’ve moved (California) to May, they’re going to make it a really hard race. But it’s really an important race for our sponsors – it’s an American team. I’ll go where the team tells me to go.

schmalz I think there’s a temptation for the sprinter to get the hat-trick of the Tour, Giro, Vuelta. All those wins.

Do you run with a 53 in the front?

Farrar Most of the time.

schmalz You never go to 54.

Farrar Sometimes. It depends on the race. If we know it’s going to be a really mass-sprint; a long downhill at the end of the sprint, then we will. But on a general basis we still run with a 53.

schmalz And I’m assuming you have what a 10 in the back?

Shen An 11!

Farrar A 9!

schmalz Well, thank you very much. It’s very exciting to have an American sprinter contending for Grand Tour wins. It just makes it more fun to watch, from a fan’s perspective.

Farrar I think it’s something a little different. We haven’t had that many American sprinters over there, for whatever reasons. Most Americans are GC riders or time trial specialists.

schmalz It seems odd that there aren’t more American sprinters. Do you think people who are athletically suited to sprinting go into other sports?

Farrar I don’t know. In theory, America should be a prime breeding ground for field sprinters because everyone races criteriums here. Everyone comes up through the ranks racing crits every week until they move into the national calendar o racing in Europe. From a training and development standpoint, it should be perfect. In America, the priority is GC. Thats’ what people understand. That’s what people aspire to: someday to wear the yellow jersey and win the Tour de France. That’s what American riders are drawn to.

Shen The one and only race Americans know about.

Farrar I think that’s what American riders are drawn to (the Tour).

Shen I wonder if it’s that American kids with fast twitch muscles play basketball and football…

schmalz You can have the same body type as a running back and be a good sprinter. But football’s a bit more lucrative. You need Garmin cheerleaders.

Farrar (laughs) Yes we do.

schmalz Get everyone out and see the Garmin ladies. That would help.

Farrar Like you say: athletes who could be very talented riders go into different sports. They’re more likely to be exposed to basketball and football before they’re exposed to cycling, unless they come from specific communities around the country that have a large cycling focus.

schmalz Did you get into it because you’re from Seattle and it’s cycling community? Or did you see it on TV and say, “I want to try that.” Or did you go the BMX route?

Farrar My folks have pictures of me, three years old, riding around the neighborhood…both my parents were avid recreational cyclists. They never raced but they rode five or six days a week. I started out screwing around with my friends and they were out on the road, so I got a road bike and started riding with them.

schmalz And you started dominating everyone immediately, is that how it worked?

Farrar I was a competitive kid, so it was natural that I wanted to try racing.

schmalz Did you win the first race you were in?

Farrar Not the first but the second.

schmalz Damn you and your fast twitch muscles!

Shen Did you sprint?

Farrar No, actually.

schmalz So you broke away.

Farrar Well, juniors racing is kind of special.

schmalz Was it a big field?

Farrar No (laughs). From the time I was fourteen… I was racing with the adult groups, Cat fours, Cat threes, Cat twos, Cat ones.

schmalz Humiliating all these accountants.

Farrar In America that’s what you have to do because there aren’t enough juniors to have proper races.

schmalz Did you ever do Junior Nationals?

Farrar I did, yeah. That’s the one race you have every year where you have a hundred Juniors.

schmalz And you had to do Junior years, with all that frantic spinning you have to do with those gears?

Farrar It’s interesting. They only enforced junior gears when I was eighteen. They did way back, before my time, but then they kind of let that rule lapse for a while. When I was sixteen I was riding a 53 x 11 and when I was eighteen I was riding a 52 x 14.

schmalz I see a bunch of juniors coming out of the woodwork to have you DQ’d for all those races that you won.

Farrar I’m a big supporter of junior gears. For creating better bike riders, it’s better for juniors to race with smaller gears.

schmalz And if we’re all racing with the same gears, what’s the difference?

Farrar Exactly. The reality is, there are only a few guys who can really push that big of a gear when they’re seventeen-years-old anyway…from a long-term standpoint, junior gears are a good thing.

schmalz In the New York area, George Hincapie came from here. He’s always been that size, from about the age of twelve. So all the old racers in town will have stories about George at about twelve just killing them. He’s just so huge and he’s always been such a good racer. It’s always been the same deal. I don’t know if George had to race with junior gears. He’s kind of a Paul Bunyon figure in the city. Everyone’s been beat by George.

Thanks for your time, Tyler.