By McCall Knowlton
Tour de France competitor and prolog winner Dave Zabriskie signed autographs at The Canyons Resort in Park City Utah on Tuesday.
Zabriskie turned into a hometown hero this summer after spending three days wearing the coveted yellow jersey and beating Lance Armstrong by two seconds on the fastest ever first day of the Tour. He became the third American to ever wear the yellow jersey and the only American to win stages in all three Grand Tours: The Tour de France, the Tour de Italy and the Tour de Spain.
Park City locals and a few tourists were on hand to meet, take pictures and ask questions of the cycling star. His Cervelo PC carbon fiber bike also made the trip to the resort and was on display for Zabriskie?s well-wishers.
Zabriskie, a Utah native, received a welcome home party after the Tour de France courtesy of Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson. He currently lives and trains in Park City and the surrounding areas as he prepares for the upcoming UCI World Championship cycling event, plans his upcoming wedding and recovers from an injury incurred on his was home from the Tour.
Exiting a restaurant in Denmark, on the road back to Utah, his right hand went threw a glass door and severed the tendon in his right hand. ?Signing autographs is good physical therapy,? he said. His fianc? Randi Wright said she didn?t think it would be that bad, but quickly changed her mind when the blood started flowing, an ambulance showed up and she tried to keep Zabriskie from passing out from the shock and pain.
Zabriskie competes for the CSC cycling team, led by Ivan Basso, the second place finisher in this year?s Tour de France. Zabriskie, cycling well and supporting his team leader Basso, was forced to pull from the Tour, on the fourth day, while he defended his fourth place position. ?It was just such a freak accident,? Don Glazier of Portland, Ore., commented at the signing. Zabriskie said he still wonders if he hit the leg of a crowd barrier or clipped the back wheel of the rider in front of him. Glazier, a master?s racer in Portland, looks up to the small, tough and well-built rider. ?I just don?t have the killer instinct he has,? Glazier said, an instinct Wright describes as ?just part of his freakishness.?
Introduced to cycling as a teen, Zabriskie ?lives to ride and he?s just been going and I?ve been there to support,? Wright said. The couple will travel to San Francisco this weekend where Zabriskie will start the San Francisco Grand Prix. ?Were going because Ivan [Basso] will be there, but we will just have to see how it goes,? Randy said. She has been following him on his bike as he adjusts to the new handles that let him brake and change gears with his right hand cast still on. Their wedding on Oct. 22 will keep the couple local for the next couple of months, and then they will return to their traveling, training and competing schedule around the world.
