Lantern Rouge

In a stage race there are numerous forms of recognition. Some racers, the best ones, chase the overall victory. The sprinters covet the points jersey. The best young rider gets recognized for his budding talent. Everybody wants a stage win. But there's one form of recognition that most cyclists try to avoid: the Lantern Rouge. Named after the bright red lantern that swings from the caboose of a train, the Lantern Rouge is term reserved for the last placed rider in the overall classification. To quote wikipedia: "the rider who finishes last, rather than dropping out along the way, is accorded a distinction " I'd make that "dubious distinction."

Well at this year's Tour of Utah, after all was said and done, I was the Lantern Rouge. Here's the final GC (scroll alllllllll the way down):

Final general classification

		Result
1	Johann Tschopp (Swi) BMC Racing Team	21:26:32
2	Matthew Busche (USA) RadioShack-Nissan	0:00:43
3	Leopold Koenig (Cze) Team NetApp	0:00:49
4	Joseph Lloyd Dombrowski (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team	0:00:58
5	Ian Boswell (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team	0:01:03
6	Levi Leipheimer (USA) Omega Pharma-Quickstep	0:01:08
7	Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack-Nissan	0:01:19
8	Lucas Euser (USA) Team Spidertech p/b C10	0:01:21
9	Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:01:29
10	Mathias Frank (Swi) BMC Racing Team	0:01:31
11	Thomas Danielson (USA) Garmin - Sharp	0:01:32
12	Christian Vande Velde (USA) Garmin - Sharp	0:02:56
13	Peter Stetina (USA) Garmin - Sharp	0:03:13
14	George Bennett (NZl) RadioShack-Nissan	0:04:08
15	Francisco Jarley Colorado Hernandez (Col) EPM - Une	0:06:04
16	Chris Butler (USA) Champion System Pro Cycling Team	0:06:22
17	Francisco Mancebo Perez (Spa) Competitive Cyclist Racing Team	0:06:39
18	Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:06:56
19	Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team	0:07:10
20	Christopher Baldwin (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling
21	Freddy Orlando Piamonte Rodriguez (Col) EPM - Une	0:08:32
22	Max Jenkins (USA) Competitive Cyclist Racing Team	0:09:42
23	Andrew Bajadali (USA) Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies	0:09:46
24	Mathew Cooke (USA) Team Exergy	0:09:54
25	Marc Goos (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:10:55
26	Timothy Duggan (USA) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:11:04
27	Eduard Alexander Beltran Suarez (Col) EPM - Une	0:12:43
28	Mathias Flueckiger (Swi) BMC Racing Team	0:13:52
29	Michael Creed (USA) Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies	0:14:07
30	Jorge Camilo Castiblanco Cubides (Col) EPM - Une	0:15:13
31	Rory Sutherland (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team	0:16:17
32	Mike Olheiser (USA) Competitive Cyclist Racing Team	0:17:20
33	Benjamin Day (Aus) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team	0:18:17
34	Rafael Infantino Abreu (Col) EPM - Une	0:18:23
35	Yann Huguet (Fra) Team Argos - Shimano	0:18:45
36	Damiano Caruso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:19:39
37	Ben Jacques-Maynes (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling	0:20:13
38	Gavin Mannion (USA) Bontrager Livestrong Team	0:20:16
39	Reto Hollenstein (Swi) Team NetApp	0:20:45
40	Carter Jones (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling	0:21:43
41	Paolo Longo Borghini (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:22:58
42	Benjamin King (USA) RadioShack-Nissan	0:23:11
43	Michael Schär (Swi) BMC Racing Team	0:24:13
44	Cameron Wurf (Aus) Champion System Pro Cycling Team	0:24:43
45	Oliver Zaugg (Swi) RadioShack-Nissan	0:25:32
46	Joshua Atkins (NZl) Bontrager Livestrong Team	0:26:05
47	Robigzon Leandro Oyola Oyola (Col) EPM - Une	0:26:32
48	Craig Lewis (USA) Champion System Pro Cycling Team	0:26:36
49	Jesse Anthony (USA) Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies	0:26:44
50	Serghei Tvetcov (Mda) Team Exergy	0:27:43
51	Tom Jelte Slagter (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:28:02
52	Ivan Santaromita (Ita) BMC Racing Team	0:28:07
53	Lawrence Warbasse (USA) BMC Racing Team	0:28:24
54	Bartosz Huzarski (Pol) Team NetApp	0:28:56
55	Andres Diaz Corrales (Col) Team Exergy	0:29:18
56	Peter Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep	0:29:39
57	Taylor Sheldon (USA) Competitive Cyclist Racing Team	0:30:21
58	Michael Matthews (Aus) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:31:47
59	Jeffry Louder (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team	0:31:48
60	Jeroen Hoorne (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep	0:32:08
61	Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Team Argos - Shimano	0:32:42
62	Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:35:41
63	Marsh Cooper (Can) Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies	0:41:06
64	Jens Voigt (Ger) RadioShack-Nissan	0:41:21
65	Martin Velits (Svk) Omega Pharma-Quickstep	0:41:42
66	Andreas Dietziker (Swi) Team NetApp
67	Christopher Jones (USA) UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team	0:42:49
68	Thomas Rabou (Ned) Competitive Cyclist Racing Team	0:43:16
69	Andreas Schillinger (Ger) Team NetApp	0:43:36
70	Hugo Houle (Can) Team Spidertech p/b C10	0:45:33
71	Thomas Leezer (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:46:02
72	Fred Rodriguez (USA) Team Exergy	0:47:01
73	Joost Posthuma (Ned) RadioShack-Nissan	0:48:09
74	Alexander Candelario (USA) Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies	0:48:12
75	Edward King (USA) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:48:34
76	James Oram (NZl) Bontrager Livestrong Team	0:50:28
77	Brian Vandborg (Den) Team Spidertech p/b C10	0:50:47
78	Scott Zwizanski (USA) Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies	0:52:52
79	Patrick Gretsch (Ger) Team Argos - Shimano	0:53:00
80	Ian Burnett (USA) Competitive Cyclist Racing Team	0:54:03
81	Cesare Benedetti (Ita) Team NetApp	0:55:54
82	Ryan Roth (Can) Team Spidertech p/b C10	0:56:56
83	Jeremy Vennell (NZl) Bissell Pro Cycling	1:00:03
84	Kirk Carlsen (USA) Team Exergy	1:01:19
85	Gang Xu (Chn) Champion System Pro Cycling Team	1:03:09
86	Reid Mumford (USA) Team Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies	1:04:48
87	Nathan Haas (Aus) Garmin - Sharp	1:07:41
88	Jetse Bol (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	1:07:50
89	Alex Howes (USA) Garmin - Sharp	1:09:39
90	David Boily (Can) Team Spidertech p/b C10	1:10:55
91	Morgan Schmitt (USA) Team Exergy	1:12:47
92	William Clarke (Aus) Champion System Pro Cycling Team	1:15:26
93	Sam Johnson (USA) Team Exergy	1:15:49

See? I finished a mere one hour, fifteen minutes, and forty-nine seconds behind Mr. Johann Tschopp -- BUT I DID FINISH. Thirty-six racers failed to do so, and in my previous two attempts at races of this caliber, I was among the DNF's (Did Not Finish). I swung the axe out of my hands  at last year's USA Pro Cycling Challenge, and failed to respect how grueling these races are at this year's Tour of California. Some of DNF's crashed out, some lacked the speed and missed the time-cut, but many of them lacked the sheer stubbornness needed to keep going. And that's what it took for me to finish this race -- defiant stubbornness, and lots of it. It meant getting dropped on the climbs, time and time again, and continuing to suffer, sometimes for hours -- just so I could start the next day. Getting in a team car can be so tempting, especially when you're suffering, and hot, and dehydrated, hopelessly dropped. I'm proud of my Tour of Utah result. Even though my team didn't get the results we wanted, even though I finished last -- I contributed to our cause a lot, and I did my job all week long. I'm getting better, and that's why I keep doing it.