Stage One: Macon - Macon, 134km
This report from Team
Barloworld-Androni Giocattoli
It’s April 20th and stage one of the Dodge Tour of Georgia has begun this
five day race through the Southeastern American countryside. The weather
was a perfect 91 degrees F in the shade with 40 % humidity.
After 24 hours of press conferences, team introductions and a gala dinner,
the riders finally took to their bikes, racing hard over the 134 km semi
flat stage. With huge names in the line up such as five times Tour de
France winner Lance Armstrong and the world’s best known sprinter, Mario Cipollini, everyone in the field is here to “Go Hard!"
Stage one, being relatively short with no real climbs and a down hill run
over the finish line saw a predictable field sprint take shape.
Speaking to Barloworld Androni Giocattoli’s velocista, Enrico Degano, about
the finishing circuit, he had this to say:
“The climb in the final circuit was okay once, but three times at really high
speeds was extremely taxing. In the last lap I was with Ivan Ravaioli
(Dega’s lead out man) in the top five positions and we were going as hard as we
could.
"At first Mario Cipollini was there with Lombardi but after the hill
I did not look around to find him. Ivan was first to the last corner 350
meters to the finish and I was on the wheel in second position. It was
perfect really. That’s when Gordon Fraser and two others blew past. I went
with them but Fraser started the sprint 350 meters before the line and it
was just too long for me today. My legs are good though, and I will get one
of these stages.” Enrico finished 6th in the 65 kp/h sprint.
Gordon Fraser of the Health Net Team won the stage in an incredibly long,
powerful charge to the line. Oddly enough, Cipollini did not feature in the
sprint at all. He did not even contest the gallop.
Fraser wins the sprint. Bob Badalucco/www.bbactionphoto.com.
Click for larger image.
Jens Voigt of CSC finished an impressive third in that long run in
displaying his excellent condition. Voigt will surely be a contender for
the overall tour - Kudos - he has arrived in Georgia on great form.
And of course Lance Armstrong also said yesterday in a press conference that
he was here to win the tour of Georgia, not come second. Armstrong seems to
be somewhat on edge these last couple of days and taking things pretty
seriously. It is as though he is putting on an aggressive race face.
And speaking of edgy, Cipo was more than a little testy when he rolled over
the line. The hulking Italian gathered his men together and gave them an
ear full! It appeared as though he was holding court, the way he towered
over their bent heads. No one spoke a word as Mario barked at them. They
were gathered around him with their heads slightly bowed and he let rip with
a few minutes of Italian adjectives and very little punctuation. Possibly
that 8 litre lung capacity proves to be daunting when you're on the receiving
end of a lecture.
So the tired striped men in lycra slipped away to their rooms to rest up and
ride on the front all day tomorrow too.
Mario Cipollini. Bob Badalucco/www.bbactionphoto.com.Click
for larger image.
This evening David George of Barloworld Androni Giocattoli is still having
some troubles as a result of the crash he suffered in The Giro Del Capo’s
third stage. George spoke at a press conference yesterday alongside
Armstrong, Julich, Wolberg and last year’s Tour of Georgia winner Horner.
John Lieswyn of Health Net
stopped by the Daily Peloton messageboard and gave a little insight into the
crash that occurred shortly before the finish today, which he said did not
effect any of the top 60 riders:
The crash was next to me, I had just finished my last pull and was drifting
back. It was ten guys to my right (we were nearly curb to curb hammering up
the hill last lap) and about 60 guys from the front. Cipo was in the top 10 at
that point. My roommate Wherry said that Cipo just pulled out of the line
(well, after the crash, which he was far in front of) and sat up. Keep in mind
that this circuit was HARD HARD HARD. Anyone who went down was not a contender
at that late point in the race; it was just 2.5 km to go.
The CSC website
reports the following:
"It was very hot over here today, which takes some getting used to. But we
managed a good stage and it was an absolute pleasure to watch Jens. It seems as
though he can't help but attack and try to get ahead, which is the exact right
attitude. We go into this race with high expectations, and I really feel our
chances are good. Both Bobby Julich and Voigt have shown great form lately and
especially Julich is really sharp and keen to prove his worth in front of a home
audience,” said Team CSC sports director Johnny Weltz, who also had reason to be
happy about the fact, that Jakob Piil, who has been plagued by an injury, is
about ready for action again.
”Jakob hasn't been in a race since Paris-Nice because of his knee injury, but
he got through today fine and even managed an attempt to escape towards the end.
He lost a little time, but still, he made his presence known. For him this race
should be all about getting in shape again, and so far it looks promising,”
added Weltz.
Today's podium: Ivan Dominguez, Gordon Fraser, Jens Voigt. Bob
Badalucco/www.bbactionphoto.com.
Click for larger image.
The breakaway near Millidgeville, which included Tim Larkin of
Ofoto and Marc Hagenlocher of Webcor. They had about a 10 min gap at that point.
Bob Badalucco/www.bbactionphoto.com.
The break. Bob Badalucco/www.bbactionphoto.com.
Click for larger image
Results
1. FRASER Gordon HNC 3.18'59"
2. DOMINGUEZ Ivan COB m.t.
3. VOIGT Jens CSC m.t.
4. HENDERSON Gregory HNC m.t.
5. METLUSHENKO Yuri LAN m.t.
6. DEGANO Enrico TBL m.t.
7. BISKNER Nieko OFO m.t.
8. DAVIDENKO Vassili NIC m.t.
9. BROOKS Benjamin JEL m.t.
10. JACQUES-MAYNES Ben SIE m.t.
11. DIONNE Charles WEB m.t.
12. OLLERENSHAW Doug JEL m.t.
13. MARINANGELI Sergio DVE m.t.
14. ALBERS Kirk JEL m.t.
15. HINCAPIE George USP m.t.
16. MANION Caleb JEL m.t.
17. OLSON Aaron COB m.t.
18. RAVAIOLI Ivan TBL m.t.
19. JULICH Bobby CSC m.t.
20. HORNER Chris WEB m.t.
21. STEWART Jackson OFO m.t.
22. ROSENBARGER Jacob JIT m.t.
23. CLINGER David DVE m.t.
24. HAMBY Russell SIE m.t.
25. KLUCK Damon USP m.t.
26. WOHLBERG Eric SIE m.t.
27. WHERRY Chris HNC m.t.
28. ARMSTRONG Lance USP m.t.
29. PERRAS Dominique OFO m.t.
30. CIPOLLINI Mario DVE m.t.
31. LOMBARDI Giovanni DVE m.t.
32. VANDBORG Brian CSC m.t.
33. SCIANDRI Maximilian CSC m.t.
34. PADRNOS Pavel USP m.t.
35. ZAJICEK Phil NIC m.t.
36. GRAJALES CALLE Cesar JIT m.t.
37. MORI MassimilIano DVE m.t.
38. MADSEN Jimmi CSC m.t.
39. GEORGE David TBL m.t.
40. MATTIS James WEB m.t.
41. FRISCHKORN William COB m.t.
42. BRUUN ERIKSEN Thomas CSC m.t.
43. SCIREA Mario DVE m.t.
44. POWER Ciaran NIC m.t.
45. EKIMOV Viatcheslav USP m.t.
46. JOHNSON Tim MX1 m.t.
47. BERGMAN Adam JEL m.t.
48. WALTERS Mark NIC m.t.
49. BELLOTTI Francesco TBL m.t.
50. LECHUGA Ernesto JEL m.t.
51. AYESTARAN ODRIOZOLA Imanol WEB m.t.
52. LIESWYN John HNC m.t.
53. PIC Christopher JIT m.t.
54. COMMESSO Salvatore MX1 m.t.
55. SAUNDERS Erik OFO m.t.
56. COBO ACEBO Juan Jose MX1 m.t.
57. RINCON Daniel USP m.t.
58. CREED Michael USP m.t.
59. CRUZ Antonio USP m.t.
60. PATE Danny HNC m.t.
61. KLIKNA Jason SIE m.t.
62. BALDWIN Christopher NIC m.t.
63. DUGGAN Timothy USA m.t.
64. BERNUCCI Lorenzo LAN m.t.
65. SAYERS Mike HNC m.t.
66. PEARCE Colby USA m.t.
67. BUCCIERO Antonio MX1 m.t.
68. GALLETTI Alessio DVE m.t.
69. WREN Tyler COB m.t.
70. HERRIOTT Todd COB m.t.
71. GILLESPIE Stuart USA m.t.
72. DULIN Thad COB m.t.
73. HARTLEY Chad JIT 29"
74. MCCARTNEY Jason HNC m.t.
75. LOUDER Jeff NIC m.t.
76. ADAMSSON Stefan TBL m.t.
77. ELLIS Paul JEL m.t.
78. MONINGER Scott HNC m.t.
79. CANDELARIO Alex JEL m.t.
80. DURAND Jacky LAN m.t.
81. ARTACHO Gustavo COB m.t.
82. HAEDO Juan Jose COB m.t.
83. ENGLAND Justin WEB 42"
84. DUBBERLEY Matt SIE 46"
85. SCHNEIDER James JIT m.t.
86. BOUCHARD-HALL Kevin USA m.t.
87. BOWMAN Daniel USA m.t.
88. KLASNA Trent SIE m.t.
89. SUNDT Jonathan JIT 51"
90. GAVAZZI Nicola MX1 56"
91. ZWIZANSKI Scott OFO 1'05"
92. HAGENLOCHER Marc WEB m.t.
93. HALDEMAN Benjamin WEB m.t.
94. CALDWELL Blake USA m.t.
95. TIMOCHINE Mikhail LAN m.t.
96. SULLIVAN Sean TBL m.t.
97. PIIL Jakob CSC m.t.
98. STAFFORD Ben WEB m.t.
99. LEWIS Craig USA 1'15"
100. MITCHELL Glen SIE 1'25"
101. VOGELS Henk NIC 1'25"
102. O'BEE Kirk NIC 1'25"
103. LAWLER Jesse JIT 1'34"
104. LOPINTO Peter OFO 2'00"
105. MURPHY John JIT m.t.
106. PERRY James Lewis TBL 2'08"
107. LAGUTIN Sergey LAN m.t.
108. BAUSCH Jason OFO m.t.
109. CAPELLE Ludovic LAN m.t.
110. SECCHIARI Francesco DVE m.t.
111. MAGNELL Sterling SIE 2'25"
112. LARKIN Tim OFO 4'49"
113. MACGREGOR Ian USA 6'55"
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