Say captain - say what

With his instantly recognizable stars and stripes jersey, Fred Rodriguez sometimes resembles a two-wheel version of Captain America. We spoke to the three time USPRO champ and with Sunday's Wachovia USPRO Championship looming, Fast Freddy is brimming with confidence.

Rodriguez' Davitamon-Lotto teammates told Cyclingnews that the American is in excellent condition and he returned their props, explaining that, "Henk (Vogels) is in good form after the Giro and Nico Mattan is really excited to be here racing in UCI level races for the first time. I hope I have the good form it takes to keep my USPRO title Sunday."

Although Fred was runner up again in Trenton, he is still faithful to his choice of 54x11 for his sprinting gear. "That's the gear that works for me and it just needs that little extra push." But if FredRod isn't Captain America come Monday, he's okay to go back to the regular Davitamon-Lotto team kit. "Oh, I'd be okay with that ... but I'm not going to look at that until it happens. And I'll be back here at Philly again to give it another shot. (Wachovia USPRO) is one of my favorite races." Rodriguez will ride the Tour de France in 2005, where his role, "will be a mixture of things; there are about four stages that are good for Robbie McEwen and if I get the okay to have my own chance, I'll go on the attack in some other stages."