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Patrick McCarty, Phonak

16 June 2006

Il Texano Completes Il Giro

McCarty in Italy for his first Grand Tour, photo: Makoto.Ayano/ CyclingTime.com

Patrick McCarty may not be a household name in America, like the Hincapies and Armstrongs, but he is steadily making his way up in the cycling world. The 24 year-old from Texas just finished his first Grand Tour, the grueling Giro d'Italia, where he performed domestique duties to help his team captain, José Enrique Gutierrez, finish second overall in Milano. We caught up with Patrick via telephone while he was recovering in Texas before returning to race the remainder of the fall in Europe.

Deep in the Heart of Texas

BR:  Ciao Patrick. Thanks for joining us for a BiciRace.com interview.
PM:  No problems.
BR:  Are you back home in Texas after finishing the Giro d'Italia?
PM:  Yes, I am in Austin, at my brother's old place.
BR:  Do you stay in Austin a lot?
PM:  Yes, when I can. My brother moved to Ohio earlier this year but kept his house here in Austin so he would have a place to come back to.
BR:  Very nice for you. Does your brother cycle too?
PM:  Yes. He rides a little bit but he is more of a beer-drinker type. [Laughs.]
BR:  Does he drink Shiner Bock?
PM:  Oh yes. Just about anything really.
BR:  Growing up in Texas, how did you get started in cycling?
PM:  My dad got both my bother and me into it. I was really the first one to race, and my brother used to race. He is about five and half years older than me. He raced in college and up through the Category Three amateur level. I was about 14 years-old when I started. My first race was a local Tuesday night criterium. I was there to help my friend win, which he did.
BR:  And that was in the Dallas/Fort Worth area?
PM:  Yes, in a suburb called Allen, near Plano.
BR:  So was there enough racing for you in that area?
PM:  It is not too bad. There was a race for me to do every weekend, so it was perfect.
BR:  Did you ever do the Hotter'N Hell 100? [Read: Gran Fondo De Rosa]
PM:  Oh yes. I did that plenty of times. A very nice ride in Wichita Falls.
BR:  And in Europe, where are you based?
PM:  In Girona with all the other American guys. It is a good place for training.
BR:  Who do you usually train with?
PM:  Well, it kind of depends on who is in town. Most recently I have been riding with Jason McCartney. And there are a lot of the TIAA-CREF riders that live in the area. I am able to ride with those guys a lot.
BR:  Right. Jonathan Vaughters' team.
PM:  Yes.

Postal to Phonak

US Postal Days, photo: Bart Hazen

BR:  You started your professional career in 2004 with USPS. How were you able to become recognized and signed?
PM:  I was on an Under-23 national team right out of high school. I went over to Belgium for three seasons. The team is run by this Belgian guy, Noel Dejonckheere, from his home in Izegem, Belgium. Right now I think it is mostly juniors on his team, but back when I was there it was amateur guys and younger guys. That was the only team I had, and I really did most of my racing in Europe for those three years... Not racing in the USA. I was able to have one or two good races and that is what enabled me to get on US Postal so quickly.
BR:  You had contact with Dirk Demol?
PM:  With Johann [Bruyneel]. He is actually from that same town, Izegem, that Noel is from. That is the same town that I lived in for those years. Noel and Johann know each other well. It was an American team, and being an American made the contact easy.
BR:  And then this last year you made the switch to Swiss-based Phonak. How did that transfer come about?
PM:  It was not really working out with Postal. I was not getting from them what I wanted, and they were not getting from me what they wanted. And in the end they weren't going to resign me. I had to find another team and it was not going to be with Discovery. I was not very happy, and I preferred to go somewhere else. I had two years where I barely raced. I raced so little that no one really saw my name, and the results were not there. So, even if I wanted to go to another, team I did not know if I could. Again it was Noel Dejonckheere who helped me out. He is really the one who got me a place on Phonak. I did really well to get a place on the team.
BR:  You make only the second American on quite an international team.
PM:  Yes, there is only Floyd Landis, and a Canadian, Ryder Hesjedal.
BR:  Now you have had a chance to race and complete your first Grand Tour, the Giro d'Italia.
PM:  Yes, now up to this point this year, I think I have like 55 race days. That is about as much as I had in both years combined on Postal/Discovery. The races this year have been about 85 or 90 percent ProTour races. I have been racing a lot more, building up my confidence while the team is building their confidence in me. It has been a good change.
BR:  And you finished a Grand Tour!
PM:  Exactly. It was great for me.

First Grand Tour: il Giro d'Italia

McCarty in Escape above Cinque Terre, photo: BiciRace.com

BR:  What did you think of the Giro d'Italia overall?
PM:  Overall it was good. Everyone was telling me it is the best one [Grand Tour] to do for your first race, even with the hard final week. Again, it was my first Grand Tour so I don't have anything else to compare it to. There was not a lot of pressure on me, but it was still a very difficult race.
BR:  After racing for three weeks, did all the stages just run together like a blur?
PM:  It was not quite a blur. Some of the stages were not that easy to forget, especially the ones where you were having a bad day or a good day.
BR:  You made the breakaway in stage 12 from Livorno, above Cinque Terre. How was that?
PM:  I could not believe it. That day the roads were very, very tiny and technical. There were a couple of times I thought I was going to crash. It was like the organizers were taking us through an adventure race, or survival race. But it made for a good stage and race. It was too bad for Mori and Sella, who both crashed at the end.
BR:  Which stage left the biggest impression on you?
PM:  Oh. I would say that stage where we went through Switzerland. It started in Aosta.
BR:  Stage 14 up the San Bernardo?
PM:  Yes. It started in Italy and then went up a 30K climb right away. Up and down. There was another final climb that took us back into Italy [the Passo del Sempione].
BR:  Why did that stage make an impression on you?
PM:  Because I was having a bad day. I got dropped from the gruppetto. That was really the first day I thought I was not going to finish the Giro. I was fine up until that day. And then from that day on I was starting to think that if you have a couple of bad days, you will not finish the Giro. Even on a day like that, if you made the time cut, you could still exhaust yourself so much that your Giro would be over. That was the first day where I thought, "Oh shit, I might not finish." [Laughs.] Before that I was really confident, and I thought I would have no problem.
BR:  Which rider at the Giro impressed you the most?
PM:  I would say Guti. Our teammate [José Enrique] Gutierrez. Of course Ivan Basso was really, really strong, and you could see that coming.
BR:  Yes. Looking back at all the pre-Giro predictions, no one selected Guti as a top three finisher.
PM:  We hit the big mountains, and I thought no way he would stay in there. But he did. It was really impressive.
BR:  How is Guti as a rider? Is he forward in giving out his team orders, or is it just expected that you know what you are doing?
PM:  Every day we have a meeting before the race so we knew what we had to do. If he stopped for a pee or for a rain jacket, it was my job to stick with him. There was no saving myself. I was there for him. It is the best case scenario when he does not have to tell us anything. I was hardly ever around on the big finales when it was stressful, but there were a few stages when he kept stopping for one adjustment or another. Like on the stage to Plan de Corones, which was shortened. That day was another really bad day. He kept going back for jackets, and I had to be in and out of the cars all day. It was not a big thing for him, but for me it was tough to continuously stop and keep climbing again. But in the end he is the one who has to perform at the front, and I only have to finish with the gruppetto, so it is fine.
BR:  You were living up to your "domestique" duties?
PM:  Yes. Exactly. ... Hold on one minute... Sorry about that.
BR:  Are you placing an order at Taco Bell? [Laughs] Or I guess it is Dairy Queen in Texas?
PM:  [Laughs] Austin has some great restaurants. Some great Mexican food. That is where I am heading right now. To a place that is cheap and with not too many "gringos."

Not Taco Bell, but Italian Risotto

McCarty with the BiciRace.com pen, photo: BiciRace.com

BR:  Do you like Italian food?
PM:  Oh yes. But the problem is afterwards, outside of Italy, the Italian food never tastes good again. Rarely can you find a place that makes the plates in the right way.
BR:  Do you have a favorite dish?
PM:  Yes. Risotto. I really like rice based dishes. Like Paella.
BR:  What about Italian caffè?
PM:  Actually I don't drink coffee.
BR:  You don't!
PM:  No. I am probably one of the few cyclists in the world who does not drink coffee. I liked it. I used to drink it, but I kind of had to stop. It affects my heart rate too much before the races.
BR:  What about the Italian girls? Where you impressed?
PM:  Yes. They were maybe a little bit better than the girls in Spain. There were a few times I paid attention, but most of the time my eyes were on the road. You don't see a whole lot when you are in the race. I was trying to dodge all the people that hold out their mobile phones to take a picture. They're standing and looking at the screen on the phone and don't realize how close their phone is to the riders.
BR:  Your parents were very nice. We met them at the Giro. Did they follow the Giro for the whole three weeks?
PM:  Yes. They were already over in Europe earlier in the year for Coppi e Bartali. They get to go to Europe a lot. They are totally from Texas: They don't speak any other language, but they travel light and know how to travel easily.
BR:  Did your mom ever figure out the SIM card for her phone?
PM:  Yes. I told them it would be cheaper to use an Italian card instead of their American card.
BR:  Do they have any more trips planned?
PM:  They were totally beat after the Giro, but they jokingly started talking about the fall. They are considering the Worlds, or other races.
BR:  What is your racing schedule like?
PM:  I leave the 28th of this month to go and race the Tour of Austria. Then I have a break, and then I will race Germany [Deutschland Tour], and San Sebastián. And then depending on my form, I will either do the Tour de Pologne and some other races, or I will do the Vuelta a España.
BR:  The Vuelta would be nice. Another Grand Tour.
PM:  I am not too scared and it would be a great experience.
BR:  Who will win the Tour de France?
PM:  Floyd Landis. He will give them a good run and will be tough to beat. A lot of people were worried about him after the Dauphiné, but he is fine. He is a smart guy and knows what he is doing.
BR:  Pat, thanks for the interview. Enjoy the Mexican food.
PM:  Thanks to you. Talk soon.