Cannondale-Garmin's Joe Dombrowski did more than just win a bike race last week at the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah.
His victory over Grand Tour veterans like Fränk Schleck (Trek Factory Racing) and Chris Horner (Airgas-Safeway) obviously announced his return to form as one of cycling's climbing prodigies, but it was his seamless ascent into his team's leadership role after two-time Utah winner Tom Danielson's suspension that showed how much he's grown.
Dombrowski, 24, sat at the dais of the post-race press conference last week in Utah following his first pro stage race win, his flat-billed ballcap resting loosely on his head as he coolly explained his decision to ride conservatively on the final stage, choosing to protect his GC lead rather than using his fresh-feeling legs to dance away to his second consecutive stage win.
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The Joe Dombrowski on the Utah stage didn't look so much like a kid who'd made a splashy entry into the sport but then struggled during his two years with Team Sky, failing to live up to some of the early expectations. The rider on the podium was a seasoned pro with the maturity to rally his troops in the face of adversity and then calmly execute a winning plan.
"I did my first two years at Team Sky as a neo-pro and, yeah, I struggled a little bit in the first couple years," Dombrowski admitted to the assembled journalists. "Last year I was off the bike for quite awhile when I had the surgery on my iliac artery.
"So far it's been a really good year for me. I've made steady progress. Anytime you have a long hiatus like that, you fix something and you think you're going to be straight back to the top, but it's not a linear progression."
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