What a way to start 2008. Canada's three-time Olympian Eric Wohlberg did what he does best—took a great win—to start the season off for Symmetrics Cycling.

The legendary time triallist did what has worked well for him for almost almost 15 years: solo away to victory. Wohlberg rode alone for almost 40km, finishing ahead of Ben Jacques-Maynes (Bissell) and Anibal Borrajo (Colavita/Sutter Home.) 2008 was a veritable improvement on last year's'Wohlberg tried the same thing but was ultimately caught.

Wohlberg made his move from a lead group of 25, which was full of heavy hitters'all of the top American teams ready to show off their stuff: from the infamous Rock Racing team, Colavita/Sutter Home, Bissell, BMC, and more.

"I am happy for myself and the team. We've had some tough times lately with losing some sponsors but I hope that the win signals a healthy year ahead," Wohlberg said after the race. "Cam Evans and Andrew Randell also had good legs so I'm hoping we can carry this form into the other California races."

After the race, Symmetrics Cycling's Kevin Field sat down with Eric and chatted about Wohlberg's love of the sport'what's kept him in cycling for so long. Here's the transcript of that rather interesting interview:

Kevin Field: Eric, I was chatting the other day with Jake Erker about how fun it is to talk bike racing with you. It seems like whatever obscure race we talk about you ve done it'on top of that it seems like you've won most of them! I don t think many people understand how well traveled you are. Although you re a huge fixture in North American racing, you've really raced all over the world. Do you have any idea how many total races you've won now in your career, and of all those which one was the most special for you?

Eric Wohlberg: Not too sure how many races I've won. I know my losses, exceed my victories. Honestly, I can be satisfied with a 100% effort over closely contended losses. Winning is too over-rated; I just wish more people would see it that way.

I hope that people will remember me more for my contributions, the way I conduct myself and my other ( usually misunderstood, and under appreciated) good attributes instead of the races I may have won or lost.

The best win to date was my Commonwealth Games ITT in 1998. It was my Dad's birthday, his last day of work, and I was far from the favourite. A close second was winning the 2007 Superweek Delta Crit. We had been trying for years to do that for our sponsors.

KF: You're 43 now, and still an unstoppable force on the pro cycling circuit. What's the secret to your longevity? And does it have anything to do with either your three-year-old Shaklee protein powder (Wohlberg rode for Team Shaklee in the late nineties), or the reported 600 crunches a day? I guess what I m trying to get at is that a lot of people think there's some magic to being a fantastic bike rider... what's that magic for you?

EW: First off'regarding the Shaklee powder'yes it is true that I do not throw many things out. I generally have to be innovative a couple times each day. Car parts work on bikes and vice versa, so keep everything.

I seem to get better with age, so why not apply this theory to nutritional products. Expiry dates and speed limits are open to interpretation. Fact is, I have always loved to ride bikes and even in the most difficult racing/training situation I have generally enjoyed the overall day.

Today I rode the better part of 200km, through the Redwood Forests, up and down the Santa Cruz Mountains and along the ocean with my friends. What more could you ask for?

I'm not really sold on magic and cycling. Over the years I have seen some pretty unexplainable stuff. I figure that it's wise to forego the notion of magic and control as much as you can through preparation and achievable planning.

I also believe that it is good policy to have an extra can of whoop ass with you in case of emergencies.

KF: It's recently come out that the Symmetrics team is going through some tough times. How are you approaching the season, and do you see yourself in a stronger leadership role this year to help the guys get through?

EW: Today's tough economic environment has impacted our team. Everyday, all of us are thinking of ways to find new sponsors and better service our current ones. Our success to date is due to our strength as a group, and utilizing our collective experience to achieve our best possible result. While we do ride bikes well, all of us have interesting attributes which sponsors can capitalize from.

A couple of us have been through turbulent times with other teams and we understand the importance of holding our heads high and rolling with the punches. There's always room for improvement, but we are far from rock bottom.

KF: Finally, I know Cam Evans just showed up to start training with you and Randell in Sunnyvale. What do you say to Cam when he shows up for training rides with his hair done up with all those fancy hair products?

EW: It is great having both Cam and Andrew Randell here in Northern California with me. I have introduced them to the local cycling community down here and they have been well received.

Randell claims to be more sophisticated than myself, and can differentiate between good and bad coffee.

Cam has a nicer hairdo and better shoe collection. However with his helmet on he looks pretty average and he can't keep cleats on his Pradas. And at the end of the day, I always have to remind him I do have better cars and, two race wins this season.