When team publicist Sean Weide offered the chance to ride shotgun in the team car of the Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team at the Tour of Missouri, “10 Speed” instantly accepted.

Sport writers dream of this kind of unfettered access, being within the sanctuary of the team command center during a competition, experiencing the ups and downs of the event without the filter of the postgame “cooling off” period.

In cycling, each team’s director sportif - known in traditional ball sports as the manager or head coach - drives the team car. To make another comparison to major sports in the United States, riding shotgun in the team car is akin to sitting next to Tony La Russa in the dugout during a Cardinals game, or roaming the Rams sidelines with Scott Linehan, or standing behind the Blues bench with Andy Murray. You just don’t get that kind of access.

The only thing close in sports is the radio scanner available for NASCAR races, either at the track or online. In NASCAR, you hear the exchanges between driver and crew chief on the radio, but unless you’re sitting atop the pit box next to the crew chief, you are not where you would be in a cycling team car … right there, in the center of the action. The director sportif manages the strategy, tactics and logistics of his riders while the countryside — and cyclists on so-called nature breaks - whiz by.

It’s really quite remarkable because the race management occurs in a caravan of bike riders, team cars, medical cars, race-official cars, media cars, motorcycles, police cars … at speeds ranging from 0 to 60 miles per hour, with rapid accelerations and seat-belt-tightening decelerations, and too many close calls to count. It’s a wonder nobody’s killed or seriously hurt, but other than crashing into each other, the cyclists are safe … and trusting of the drivers behind the peloton.

So,  thanks to Toyota-United, “10 Speed” readers get a chance to experience a day in the team car - in Stage 2 of the Tour of Missouri - a 125-mile trek between Clinton and Springfield. Toyota-United director sportif Harm Jansen, an amiable former bike racer from the Netherlands, was at the wheel of the team’s Toyota-Prius. “10 Speed” sat in the passenger seat, and team general manager Amy Walker and mechanic Myke Berna were in the backseat. There was a spare set of bike wheels in the backseat, another set in the trunk, more on the roof rack along with four spare bikes, making the car not only a command center, but an equipment and supply vehicle as well.

First, a bit of background: Toyota-United is an American domestic team in only its second year, and the team already has more than 80 race victories to its credit, including 35 this season. The team is owned by former independent racer Sean Tucker, who started building the team in 2005 and brought Toyota on board as the main sponsor for the start of last season. Jansen is a former Dutch national champion and winner of the US Pro title in 1999. He raced for 17 years and after his retirement completed his Master’s Degree in engineering from Delft University of Technology (DUT) in The Netherlands.

9:30 a.m. - The team arrives at the town square in Clinton on Wednesday feeling pretty good, with rider Ivan Dominguez in the yellow jersey as the race leader after winning the first stage in Kansas City As a result, the team car is set to be the first team car in the caravan behind the peloton. The team also is reveling in being the only domestic team to win stages in the three major American races - the Tour of California, the Tour of Georgia and now the Tour of Missouri.

9:30 to 10:45 - The time before the race is a relaxing time. Riders mill around, mechanics prepare bikes, fans visit for autographs and photographs … but unbeknownst to everyone associated with the team, the day would trend downhill for the team before the race even begins.

10:50 - First sign this is going to be a tough day. Jansen appeals the case of Toyota-United rider Jose Manuel Garcia, who finished outside the required time frame in Stage 1 and was eliminated from the race. Garcia was the only rider to be eliminated on Day 1, so Jansen asks the organizers to reconsider, suggesting Stage 1 should have been deemed a hilly stage, which would have extended the time in which Garcia could finish. But race officials deny the appeal and Garcia won’t start, leaving Toyota-United with seven riders. This is a bad sign. Two riders already are hurting - Sean Sullivan with asthma and Ivan Stevic with a knee problem - and two others (Heath Blackgrove and Justin England) are tired from working to pull back a breakaway to set up Dominguez’s stage 1 win.

10:55 - “10 Speed” has to sign a waiver to release, now and forever, the team, sponsors, staff, agents and anyone remotely connected with either the team or Toyota of liability resulting from death or injury suffered in the car. Uh, oh.

10:59 - Second sign this is going to be a tough day for Toyota-United; One minute before the stage start, Jansen realizes he left one of his three radios on the team bus, and the bus is two blocks away. Walker sprints to the bus, the peloton rides away from the starting line, and Jansen pulls to the side of the road as the rest of the cars pass.

11:01 — Walker sprints back to the car, but doesn’t have the radio. It was no where to be found, but Jansen says, “No worries.” Indeed, he already has two radios, one for race communications and one to communicate with his riders. He also has a cellphone, calculator, touchpad GPS and accessories on the dashboard. Dude takes multi-tasking to a new level, making talking on a cellphone and driving seem like child’s play. With so many gadgets, he won’t miss the extra radio, which is really a backup to his primary team radio. He says he uses the extra one, too, because it has a headset that allows him to hear whether his messages on the primary radio are actually getting through to his riders.

11:02 - Third sign this is going to be a tough day. As the state troopers roll past at the tail end of the caravan, Jansen starts to pull away, only to have a course marshall slam his hand on the windshield, one, two, three, four times, ordering him “Don’t go! Don’t go!. Don’t go!”

11:02:15 — Fourth sign this is going to be a tough day. Word comes over the radio that yellow jersey wearer Dominguez is having an issue with his bike. Toyota-United HAS to go and NOW. The marhsall continues to pound on the windshield, for no good reason, as no cars are behind Jansen and the troopers are letting him in anyway. Jansen pulls away.

11:04 - Jansen speeds past the cars in the caravan and takes up his assigned spot right behind the race communication car. Dominguez’s problem turns out to be minor; his bike computer isn’t working properly, and he passes it into the car for Berna to clean the connections. After Berna finishes, Jansen passes the computer back to Dominguez, and he’s good to go.

11:05 - The first two miles are part of a “neutral start”, which means there’s no racing yet, just the riders cruising out of town amid the cheers of the crowd lining the street. Jansen takes this time to call his wife Amy and 17-month-old son Nicolas back home in Santa Monica, Calif., where the team is based. “Excuse me, it’s morning family time,” Jansen tells the passengers in the car. “Say, hi to Popa,” Amy says. “Hi, Nico, it’s Popa,” Jansen says. Nico coos and squeals on the other end.

11:07 - Finally, the neutral start is over and the race is officially on. Jansen bids his family farewell … just in time to see riders pulling to the side of the road for a “nature break.”

11:12 - The nature breaks over, the peloton starts to feel frisky, increasing the speed to 28 miles per hour, and the attacks are on. “There’s some serious stuff going on,” Jansen says.

11:13 - Something serious happens. St. Louisan Dan Schmatz of Team BMC goes down hard in a crash with several other riders hitting the pavement as well. Schmatz ran over an armadillo and did an endo, flying over the handlebars.

11:14 - Sullivan raises his arm in the peloton to indicate he has a problem. “Something’s stuck in my front wheel,” he says through the car window after Jansen pulls alongside him. They stop, and Berna hops out with a new wheel. Berna changes it in about two seconds, pushes Sullivan off and hops back into the car.

11:15 - Word comes through race radio that Schmatz has had to abandon the race. The Toyota-United car grows silent as the voice on race radio says, “A medical car is requested.” Schmatz has suffered a broken collarbone and lacerations, and his race is over. “That’s a bummer,” Walker says. “He’s been the face of the race, a hometown guy.”

11:16 - Jansen passes the information about Schmatz to his riders and reminds them to “pay attention to the shoulder” of the road, where Schmatz had crashed. He also talks about the zigs and zags on the course map, which is resting on his lap as he simultaneously operates the touchpad GPS on the dashboard. He instructs his riders to “look for each other,” and “stay together.” He instructs Blackgrove and Sullivan to stay with Dominguez.

11:42 - Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada’s  Ben Raby crashes into Toyota-United team leader Chris Baldwin. Raby gets the worst of the collision, scrapes on his chin and elbow. Baldwin has some road rash as well, but his bike takes the brunt of the crash. “Something’s not right,” he says through the car window as Jansen pulls alongside him. Berna hangs out the window to check out the bike. “He’s all set,” Berna says.

12:00 p.m. - An hour into the race, with some rolling hills coming up before the first feed zone, Jansen tells his team on the radio, “This might be a dangerous time. There’s a good chance for a break.” The riders are 25 miles into the race, with 100 miles to go. Jansen grabs a calculator to convert the miles to kilometers, his rider’s preferred description of distance. “160 K to go,” Jansen says. “I’m just sitting in the back seat, and I get tired just hearing that,” Walker says.

12:05 - Word comes on the race radio that 12 riders are “off the front,” breaking away from the peloton in an attack. “What’d I tell you?” Jansen says.

12:10 - The identity of the breakaway riders is slow to come over race radio. “We’re still waiting for numbers,” race radio crackles. Jansen fidgets in the front seat; he needs to know who’s in the breakaway, so he can determine whether his team should chase it down.

12:12 - Jansen learns that George Hincapie of Discovery is in the lead group … and that 11 of the 15 teams in the field have riders in the breakaway. That means Toyota-United is one of four teams not represented, along with Tecos, DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed and the USA Cycling Developmental team. The breakaway is 30 seconds ahead of the main field, and Jansen doesn’t want them to get away. He orders his team to get in the “rotation” at the front of the peloton in an effort to pull back the break. “Let’s go hard for 10 minutes and see if other teams step up to chip in some guys to help. Keep it steady uphill and go all-out downhill, Give it 10 minutes of solid effort, but let’s not bury ourselves.”

12:18 - The breakaway is still 30 seconds ahead, not gaining ground but not losing any ground either. Jansen worries about his riders. They worked with Discovery Channel Tuesday to bring back the break, and five riders “got spit out the back” of the peloton before the finish because of the hard effort with Discovery. Garcia finished last and got knocked out of the race completely, England was second-last, Sullivan third from the back because of his asthma. Blackgrove and Stevic gave the team five finishers in the last 15 of Stage 1. Toyota-United had paid a heavy price in Stage 1, but it had paid off with the stage win by Dominguez. But now, Jansen says his weakened team can’t pull the break back by itself, and no help appears to be forthcoming. After forming an alliance with powerhouse Discovery on Tuesday, no such alliance would occur Wednesday because Hincapie was in the breakaway. Discovery would not be helping the peloton reel in one of its riders.

12:22 - Jansen checks the timer on his watch. 10 minutes are up. The break is still 30 seconds up the road. “How are they doing? Are other teams chipping in?” he asks. The answer is no. “Other teams are not going to work,” Jansen says on his team radio, instructing his riders to “pull the plug. We did our 10 minutes. There are more teams that can’t be happy with that move. Get off the front. Pull the plug.”

12:23 - Baldwin radios the car that he needs his backup bike, because of the earlier crash. Jansen pulls off the road, and Berna hops out to prepare Baldwin’s backup bike. Baldwin gets on it and Berna runs behind and pushes him away.

12:24 - A noise starts emanating from the undercarriage of the Prius. Is something wrong with the car? It has been that kind of day for Toyota-United.

12:34 - The break is more than 2 minutes ahead of the slowing peloton, which has no team working at the front.

12:36 - After a visit with the medical car, Raby of Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada  pulls alongside the Toyota-United car and apologizes to Jansen for the crash with Baldwin. “My chain broke as we were trying to bridge up, and I hit him, I’m sorry about that,” Raby says. “No worries,” Jansen says, before asking Raby. “How are you doing?” “I’ve done better than I am right now, to be honest,” says Raby, who has a bandage on his right elbow and his chin.

12:45 - The riders hit the feed zone, picking up fruit, energy bars and drinks from team staff along the road. Jansen decides to pull over and have Berna and “10 Speed” check under the car to see what’s causing that noise. Turns out some sticks and weeds got caught in the under carriage when the car pulled off to get the new bike for Baldwin. The obstructions are removed, and Toyota-United is good to go again.

12:47 - With the riders feeding, it’s also time for lunch in the team car. Jansen puts a box lunch on his lap and steers with his left knee as he squeezes a packet of mustard on his sandwich.

12:51 - The breakaway is still pulling away, now 6:40 ahead. Jansen is disappointed that his team is not in position to chase. With Garcia out, he started the stage with seven riders. Sullivan (asthma) and Stevic (knee) are not feeling well. Blackgrove and England are spent from Tuesday’s stage. Baldwin has crashed and is hurting. That leaves him with only two riders - Dominguez in the yellow jersey and Chris Wherry - to chase. “It doesn’t make sense for us,” Jansen says.

1:01 - The breakaway is 7:30 ahead. Another team has finally started to pull at the front of the peloton. “Where were they when (the gap) was 30 seconds?” Jansen asks.

1:11 - The breakaway motors along at 28 miles an hour; the peloton slows to a crawl, with the gap now 11 minutes.

1:36 - The gap grows to 15 minutes. “We worked hard yesterday,” Jansen says. “I spit five guys off the back (of the peloton), and we won the stage. Today … it is what it is. We only have one guy with anything left, Wherry, What can we do?”

1:40 — Jansen gets on the radio and tells his team, “Let’s get through today and have a chance tomorrow (for a stage win) in the time trial.”

2:03 - The gap is 17 minutes, the race has covered 77 miles … only 48 to go. “It’s going to be a long day,” Jansen says. With the gap so big, race officials are concerned about the race progress. A big time gab creates problems with road closures, which are based on a range of speeds for the racers. If the gap is too big, roads have to remain closed for longer than anticipated, and that’s not good for anybody, particulary the people that regularly use the roads. Cellphone calls are exchanged between race directors and director sportifs in an effort to have teams pick up the pace of the peloton. Jansen would like to help, but he doesn’t have the bodies. Would the breakaway maybe slow down? NOT.

2:40 - Stevic rolls off the back of the peloton to the team car and tells Jansen his left knee is really hurting. “I don’t like it,” Stevic says, gesturing to his knee. He rides ahead.

2:48. Stevic pulls to the side of the road and abandons the race. Jansen pulls off the road and they chat. The second Toyota-United team car arrives, and Stevic climbs inside as the mechanics put his bike in the backrack atop the car. Stevic’s Tour of Missouri is over.

2:50 - Sullivan radios that his chest is hurting: his asthma is making it difficult to breath for the second straight day. “I’m going to see the doctor,” he says. He rides alongside the medical car speaking with the doctor. “I’m worried about him,” says Jansen, who also has been sniffling throughout the day because of his allergies. He fears that he might only have five riders left in the race by Thursday.

3:00 - The peloton is closing the gap, thanks to the work of Tecos and DFL-Cyclingnews-Litespeed, who finally went to the front to work. Jansen instructs Dominguez and Wherry, and any other rider who has anything left, to take some pulls at the front to help close the gap a bit to help the race organizers, but by this time, there’s no chance of catching the lead group. “Yesterday was a drama day, and today was a drama day,” Jansen says. “Just at the other end of the spectrum,” Berna says.

3:39 - Baldwin goes down again in a 10-rider pileup heading into Springfield. Jansen waits for the team car, and Berna pops out with two new wheels. He puts them on Baldwin’s bike and pushes him ahead.

3:49 - The peloton finishes 14 minutes after Hincapie wins the stage (and takes the yellow jersey from Dominguez). Jansen wheels the team car to the designated team area off the finishing circuit. “Yesterday we were drinking champagne with the stage win, but today is completely different,” he says. “That’s the way it goes sometimes. It’s highs and lows, but that’s what happens in bike racing.”

3:55 - The cycling media begins to arrive at the Toyota-United team car and basically asks Jansen to explain why his team didn’t do more to bring back the breakaway. Jansen explains the loss of Garcia, Stevic’s departure with a knee injury, Sullivan’s asthma and Baldwin’s crashes. He also reminds of the work his team did in Stage 1 to make a winner of Dominguez. Without help early in the break on Wednesday, Toyota-United held the breakaway group at 30 seconds for 10 minutes, but with its riders weakened, the team couldn’t keep it up. That’s racing, and that’s a day in the life of the team car.

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