Locals compete in Tour de France

Just a couple of weeks ago, Salt Lake's David Zabriskie didn't know if he'd be invited by his employer to be a part of the Tour de France.

Zabriskie, the reigning national time trial champion and the owner of the fastest time trial in Tour de France history, had struggled through a handful of sub-par showings in races from California to Europe.

His time trial skills were never in doubt. But after pulling out of the Tour of California this spring and suffering through poor finishes in a handful of European tours last year, his status with Team CSC was in doubt.

A strong showing in last month's Giro d'Italia — he finished 58th overall and was the highest-placing American cyclist in the field — and an impressive fifth-place effort in the Dauphine Libere a couple of weeks ago convinced Team CSC management to include Zabriskie on its nine-man roster.

Whatever problems Zabriskie was having appear to be solved.

"It was confusing how I could go so hard in a time trial and blow up so quickly in the mountains," Zabriskie told Zelonews. "The road bike was too similar to the time trial position. Whenever I hit a climb, my quads would blow up."

One of only five Americans to ever wear the Maillot Jaune as the overall leader of the Tour de France, Zabriskie will be in his element today when the Tour de France starts in London with a prologue.

The 7.9-kilometer course will see the world's fastest cyclists roaring through London's Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park. With few technical turns and challenges, Zabriskie should be able to unleash the full strength of his powerful legs.

Still, he's shown marked improvement in his mountain stage capability as evidenced by his Dauphine Libere finish and being able to hang with the best climbers in the field, the 28-year-old Zabriskie is hoping for his best Tour de France finish yet.

Of course, cycling is a team sport and Zabriskie's job in most stages of the 21-day race will be to provide support and tempo for CSC's primary leaders, Frank Schleck and Carlos Sastre.

"I am a selfless rider at this point and I have no aspirations other than to help those guys, that is what they have asked me to do and that is pretty much what I have in my head," Zabriskie told Cyclingnews.com. "If an opportunity arrives (to win a stage) then it is a bonus, but I am fine just being a team player."