PEZ Talk: Daniel Holloway In Copenhagen

He’s the man with the shades and the comic routines; with the Euro-pop blasting and the soigneur trying to work around us, young American track standout and sprinter, Daniel Holloway, took time out from the Copenhagen Six day race to talk to PEZ.

PEZ: Thank you for speaking to us, Daniel – you’re no longer with Garmin?
Daniel: No, I guess they had a change of direction with their programme; but I learned a lot during my time there – being around guys like David Zabriskie, Christian Vandevelde and Tyler Farrar. Bissell is a good set up, the man at the top, Mark Bissell loves the sport and puts a lot into it.

PEZ: Do you have an agent?
Daniel: Yeah, Mike Rutherford – he looks after the likes of Chris Horner, so it was an easy decision to make. I got in touch with Mike during the spring of last year; I think I’m at a stage in my career where I need some one to take care of that stuff. I spoke to Bissell myself, but Mike made sure the contract had no loop holes.

PEZ: What do Bissell expect from you?
Daniel: They want me to win races! They’ve taken the team more sprint based, this year not a pure sprint team but they’ve certainly gone towards fast finishers – there was an opportunity for them to change things a little, when Tom Zirbel left – and they’ve taken it.

PEZ: What about a European team?
Daniel: Long term, that’s the plan – but you have to take small steps, to start. I was disappointed about leaving Garmin, I had thought that would be my way in to Euro racing.

PEZ: What comes after Copenhagen?
Daniel: I go home to Morgan Hill, California then it’s the team training camp – that’s only a couple of hours from where I live.

After that, we have a big money criterium in Singapore – Bissell are trying to break in to the Asian market, we’re in and out of there, just for the race.

I hope to find out soon if we’re going to the Worlds, I’m pretty confident that we are, but I hope to know for sure, soon.

After the Worlds, I’ll be in Europe with the National Team; we’ll be riding races like the Circuit Montanes as part of our build up to the Tour of California, that’s a big goal for us and we hope to be accepted for it.

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It was at this stage that Daniel had to put on his chicken suit for the rolling presentation – it’s like that, around him!

PEZ: Are you going to specialise, soon?
Daniel: You have to lean more to the road now that the Olympic programme has been trimmed; the Federations put up the funding to prepare for those races; but if there’s no madison or points race . . . I hope to keep riding the sixes though, I really enjoy them.

PEZ: Your goals for 2010?
Daniel: To win as much as I can and to give as much support to my new team as I can – whether that’s helping a GC guy or relaxing in the bunch and hoping to be sticking my hands in the air at the end.

PEZ: Have you got any six day contracts for next season?
Daniel: We’ve not heard yet, but with the state of the economy, it probably won’t be until July, when everyone knows which races are going ahead – we’re pretty low down the totem pole to be getting contracts already.

PEZ: How do you prepare for the Sixes?
Daniel: I don’t do a whole lot of specific preparation; I’m fit from my road miles. The shocker, when you ride the first couple of days of your first six of the winter, is the leg speed. In the madison here, we did 57 K in the hour, my maximum speed was 68 KPH and my max revs were 161 – that’s all on 50 x 15.

PEZ: What’s your favourite six?
Daniel: Zurich; it’s been good for us both years – but this year was really special, with it being Bruno’s last year, you couldn’t hear anything but the crowd screaming and the clang of cow bells.

Copenhagen is pretty cool too, but I’ve heard so much about Berlin that I’d love to ride there, one day.

PEZ: Do you have a coach?
Daniel: I’ve started to work with Jim Miller; but it’s baby steps. I’ve got this far by myself, just training on how I felt, resting if I felt tired and training harder if I felt good. But it’s down to getting that last five percent, you need someone who can help you get there.

PEZ: Are you a high-tech trainer?
Daniel: I used to train with SRM’s and at Garmin we had Power taps – I love to get all those numbers, but you really need someone to make sense of them – they’re good for your coach, he can figure it out.

If you look at the Tour, everyone is on SRM’s – they’re all looking for those extra half percents.

PEZ: You’re streaming images from here?
Daniel: I use the webcam on my MacBook, I put it on top of the cabin, trained on the back straight, it gives folks a feel for the environment, here. There’s a chat programme and folks can ask me questions.

PEZ: Finally – the glasses?
Daniel: I have a relationship with Oakley, all of my glasses are by them – this pair are a limited edition by the artist Will Barras.

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Now you know; it was time for him to saddle up – there was a crowd to please. With thanks to Daniel and wishing him all the best for season 2010.