Hampsten on Elba

October 8th, 2007 by Doug Schnitzspahn

Pick up a copy of the latest issue of Outside’s Go.
I wrote the cover story about a cycling trip I took with Andy Hampsten in Italy this summer. Hampsten, who is the only American to ever win the Giro d’Italia, runs tours in Italy that merge intense riding with an intelligent immersion in Italian culture through his company Cinghiale, named for free-wheeling wild Tuscan pigs. But beyond that, Hampsten’s a thoughtful, self-effacing, energetic figure, and a strong proponent of cleaning up the sport. It was an honor to ride (and drink wine) with him.

Here’s a quote from Hampsten that did not make the story, but addresses how he thinks the sport can reclaim its image:
“It’s not easy but it’s very simple. The riders have to say, ‘let’s clean it up.’ They have to realize it. It has been dirty since the 80s. A lot of people quit because they don’t want to deal with it, but if the riders said, ‘lets clean it up from within, not from the outside,’ then the sport is going to be more interesting than ever.”

And another on the pure psychological pressure of racing the Tour de France:
“It’s three weeks of absolute physical, mental, and psychological pressure. If it’s 23 days of racing, 18 of those are just staying out of trouble. There was never a second when I shouldn’t have been calculating what I was doing, or thinking about a competitor, or thinking about how my competitors were thinking about me. You just go nuts analyzing everything. It’s exhausting. But I learned how to relax until the gun went off and then deal with the variables.”

Outside also published a Q&A with me about the trip. LINK

You can read the story here. LINK

45 Responses to “Hampsten on Elba”

  1. JIm wrote on 10/9/07 at 1:41 pm :

    Awesome Doug, I’ll pick up the mag today. I remember you mentioning this trip, it’ll be cool to read about it (plus I haven’t seen “Go” yet–might this be an Outside that talks about the outdoors?!)

    Which reminds me, have you seen this?

  2. Lonnie wrote on 11/17/14 at 4:15 am :

    .

    ñýíêñ çà èíôó!!…

  3. Dan wrote on 11/17/14 at 5:32 pm :

    .

    tnx!…

  4. Roberto wrote on 11/21/14 at 9:19 am :

    .

    tnx!!…

  5. gordon wrote on 11/21/14 at 6:56 pm :

    .

    thanks for information….

  6. randall wrote on 11/21/14 at 9:34 pm :

    .

    ñïñ….

  7. clarence wrote on 11/23/14 at 12:42 pm :

    .

    ñýíêñ çà èíôó!!…

  8. Darren wrote on 11/24/14 at 11:03 am :

    .

    ñýíêñ çà èíôó!…

  9. Franklin wrote on 11/25/14 at 3:41 am :

    .

    áëàãîäàðþ!!…

  10. gerald wrote on 11/26/14 at 6:55 pm :

    .

    thank you….

  11. Stuart wrote on 11/27/14 at 11:35 pm :

    .

    áëàãîäàðåí!…

  12. harry wrote on 11/28/14 at 9:05 am :

    .

    tnx….

  13. Oscar wrote on 11/28/14 at 12:05 pm :

    .

    thank you!…

  14. Allan wrote on 11/28/14 at 12:39 pm :

    .

    thank you!…

  15. Phillip wrote on 11/29/14 at 1:51 am :

    .

    ñïñ….

  16. willard wrote on 12/1/14 at 10:32 am :

    .

    good!…

  17. shaun wrote on 12/6/14 at 5:17 pm :

    .

    thanks!…

  18. Alejandro wrote on 12/6/14 at 6:43 pm :

    .

    ñýíêñ çà èíôó!…

  19. cory wrote on 12/10/14 at 9:00 pm :

    .

    áëàãîäàðåí….

  20. theodore wrote on 12/10/14 at 9:37 pm :

    .

    ñïñ….

  21. Sean wrote on 12/10/14 at 10:46 pm :

    .

    ñïàñèáî çà èíôó!…

  22. Micheal wrote on 12/13/14 at 4:45 pm :

    .

    áëàãîäàðþ!!…

  23. alejandro wrote on 12/17/14 at 11:09 am :

    .

    thank you!!…

  24. ernest wrote on 12/17/14 at 1:38 pm :

    .

    thanks!…

  25. bill wrote on 12/23/14 at 1:45 pm :

    .

    hello….

  26. Clinton wrote on 12/23/14 at 2:23 pm :

    .

    ñïñ!!…

  27. andrew wrote on 12/23/14 at 11:03 pm :

    .

    tnx for info….

  28. Dean wrote on 01/15/15 at 1:34 am :

    .

    ñýíêñ çà èíôó….

  29. Micheal wrote on 01/15/15 at 7:28 am :

    .

    ñïñ….

  30. herbert wrote on 01/15/15 at 8:02 am :

    .

    thank you!…

  31. Austin wrote on 01/21/15 at 8:40 am :

    .

    thanks….

  32. Jack wrote on 01/22/15 at 1:55 am :

    .

    áëàãîäàðåí….

  33. Ralph wrote on 01/23/15 at 7:02 pm :

    .

    good!!…

  34. Bernard wrote on 01/25/15 at 10:29 pm :

    .

    tnx….

  35. otis wrote on 01/25/15 at 11:01 pm :

    .

    good!…

  36. Cecil wrote on 01/28/15 at 3:31 pm :

    .

    tnx….

  37. Kirk wrote on 01/30/15 at 10:21 am :

    .

    ñïñ!!…

  38. daniel wrote on 02/1/15 at 8:54 pm :

    .

    ñïàñèáî….

  39. Clyde wrote on 02/3/15 at 9:19 am :

    .

    good….

  40. Chris wrote on 02/8/15 at 6:18 am :

    .

    hello….

  41. Jerome wrote on 02/9/15 at 1:58 pm :

    .

    ñïàñèáî çà èíôó….

  42. Rene wrote on 02/9/15 at 2:36 pm :

    .

    ñïàñèáî….

  43. Isaac wrote on 02/9/15 at 3:15 pm :

    .

    hello….

  44. Joshua wrote on 02/9/15 at 3:53 pm :

    .

    ñïñ!…

  45. gordon wrote on 02/12/15 at 11:58 pm :

    .

    áëàãîäàðåí!…