Refreshed Zabriskie riding for a new team

Refreshed, renewed and wearing a snazzy new argyle uniform, Dave Zabriskie is as excited as he's ever been about the start of a new cycling season.

The Salt Lake native, Olympus High graduate and two-time reigning national time trial champion kicks off his 2008 professional cycling season in a big way this weekend when he and his new Slipstream/Chipotle team race in the Tour of California against many of the top squads in the world.

"It feels new," Zabriskie, a veteran cyclist and one of only a handful of Americans to wear the yellow jersey of the Tour de France, said in an interview with the Deseret Morning News. "I've done this for a while, but this is a new thing. I'm trying not to get too excited about it and just let things happen."

Slipstream is creating a buzz in cycling circles for reasons far more complicated than the flashy blue, orange and white argyle patterns on their distinctive kits. The fledgling team competed in races primarily in North America last year and established itself as a forerunner in the fight against the doping scandals that threatened to destroy the sport's credibility. This year, Slipstream is front and center as the highest-profile U.S. based team and has the spotlight shining squarely on it.

Zabriskie left the powerful Team CSC squad he had ridden with for a few years in part to join what he hopes is a new beginning for the sport — especially in America now that the Discovery Channel team has disbanded due to a lack of sponsorship.

"Obviously, we're getting a lot of attention because of our anti-doping program," Zabriskie said. "We're one of the first teams to go with the biological passport and we're going to be tested more than any team ever. Right now is a very important time for the sport and I wanted to be part of something that, I hope, will make a big difference."

Because of Slipstream's anti-doping stance, virtually every cycling publication in the world is paying lots of attention to the squad. Bicycling Magazine will be following the unit all season. VeloNews has already turned the team into its cover art, and ESPN.com recently featured the upstart team in a massive online expose. Team manager Jonathan Vaughters, a former pro cyclist himself, was even nominated as Sports Illustrated's sportsperson of the year.

All that attention, Zabriskie said, will hopefully pay off in new sponsors and other teams joining Slipstream in combatting the use of performance-enhancing drugs or other methods such as blood doping.