Dr. Allen Lim talks about what goes on inside the Team Garmin-Slipstream bus.

The 2009 Tour de France is well underway, and the riders have already faced their first vertical challenge as they took on the Pyrenees. On Friday's Stage 8, the riders faced a challenging group of climbs.

There was no time for warm up as the stage began with the climb to Andorre-la-Vieille. After a long descent, the climb to Col de Port woke up their legs again. After a short descent, they were faced with the last uphill challenge of the day, the Col d'Agnes.

With 5 stages done, we checking in with Dr. Allen Lim to find out how the riders are doing and how the team uses power to monitor their overall effort.

We caught up with Dr. Allen Lim after the Team Time Trial to get his insight on the team's strategy for the day

Team Garmin-Slipstream placed second in today's Team Time Trial in Montpellier, a mere 18 seconds off Team Astana's winning time of 46 minutes, 29 seconds. The team rode Zipp Discs with PowerTaps. Riders Bradley Wiggins and Ryder Hesjedal shared their data with us from their fast and furious ride.

Team Garmin-Slipstream rider Bradley Wiggins took 3rd place at the first stage of the 2009 Tour de France. This stage was a 15.5 kilometer time trial weaving through the urban streets of Monaco. For the first 7.5 kilometers, the route was consistantly upwards, and then generally descended for the remainder of the route. The technical aspect of the course meant that the riders with the best finishes not only needed to be strong but also good bike handlers.

Dr. Allen Lim talks about how the top riders of Team Garmin-Slipstream performed in Stage 1 of the 2009 Tour de France.

by Jesse Bartholomew

The 2009 Tour de France is right around the corner, and we're preparing just as much as the Garmin-Slipstream and Silence-Lotto teams. Starting with a stop in Girona, Spain to check in on the Garmin-Slipstream service course and the PowerTaps that will be sent to the Tour. The service course, or team warehouse, is where the teams prepare all the equipment and manage the logistics of a grand tour. In some cases, the teams put together concurrent race programs in different parts of the world, so it can be a very busy place.

Jesse Bartholomew, CycleOps Product Manager, recently traveled to Girona, Spain to work with Team Garmin-Slipstream at their Team Time Trial camp. Team time trialing is one of Team Garmin’s greatest strengths, but like any forte, it takes focused preparation and methodical training to achieve and maintain greatness.

The Adrennes Classics wrap up the Spring Classics for 2009. The Amstel Gold is the first race in the series. It has been an annual mainstay in the Spring Classics for the last 44 years, and though it lacks the cobbles that many of these Spring Classic races are famous for, it doesn't lack in diffuculty. With 31 bergs over nearly 260 kilometers of racing, the Amstel Gold challenges riders to merely finish the race, let alone be at the front of the pack when the finish line nears.

This year, Team Garmin-Slipstream was represented by Ryder Hesjedal, Martijn Maaskant, Jason Donald, Huub Duyn, Daniel Martin, Ricardo Van Der Velde, Thomas Peterson, and Christian Meier. Director Lionel Marie reports on the Team Garmin-Slipstream website, "The team was present all day long, and Ryder got into good break with the likes of Oscar Freire...For the rest of the team this race was a new experience and it’s never easy — turn right, left, right again….all day long!" To show us how not easy this race is, reigning Canadian National Road Champion, Christian Meier, shared his ride file with us.

by Will Frischkorn, Team Garmin/Chipotle Professional Cycling Team

After two days of “relaxing” in the bunch, in the pre-race meeting before stage 3, Whitey (Matt White, our director here at Tirreno-Adriatico) told us it would be a good one to strike out up the road, and that as it would likely end up a bunch kick, we’d lay it out for Tyler in the final. He couldn’t have been more spot on…

Haleakala Crater sits on the island of Maui in Hawaii. The route to the top for the record books is 60 km (36 miles) long and climbs 3048 meters (10,000 feet). One section of road that comprises the route is infamous as the steepest paved road on earth.

The record time to the top was first set in 1993 by Jonathan Vaughters at around 2 hours 38 minutes. This January, Garmin/Chipotle rider Ryder Hesjedal set his sights on breaking the record. Watch the footage, created by Media One Multimedia, of his first attempt up the climb:

by Will Frischkorn, Team Garmin/Chipotle Professional Cycling Team

The last time I wrote was in the middle of December, and while the time from then to now flew by, it’s a completely different time of year in terms of training. Then I wrote of skiing, hiking, lifting, running - of being a well-rounded athlete with time on the bike simply a component. Now I’m 2 weeks away from racing in Quatar, and it’s all about the bike.

by Will Frischkorn, Team Garmin/Chipotle Professional Cycling Team

Each year it feels like the true blue “off-season” goes by faster than ever imaginable. Once the race season is winding down the lists of to-dos, friends to catch up with, and activities you’ve craved for the past 8 months while limited strictly to the bike are huge. The first week is always a flurry of activity, and then that flurry just keeps on going. All of a sudden a month has passed and it’s about time to ramp up with a bit of focus.