cyclingnews.com | Tinkoff rides the wind to a win
VeloNews | Tinkoff's Contrini wins Georgia opener
Daniele Contrini of Tinkoff Credit Systems is the first leader of the Tour de Georgia, after surviving a long break on Stage 1.
Contrini, who raced here in 2005 for Team LPR, chalks up Tinkoff's first victory in North America, ahead of Doug Ollerenshaw of Health Net/Maxxis and Ben Day of Navigators Insurance. A wicked tailwind gave the breakaway a slight advantage, but the pack whittled down a lead of more than 8 minutes to slightly more than a minute at the finish. Health Net's Ryder Hesjedal led in the field at 1:07. Health Net and Navigators each had 3 riders in the day's top 10.
Tinkoff faces an interesting tactical situation: They brought only 6 riders, and Tyler Hamilton is probably here to race his own race, so they're left with only 4 riders to set tempo.
Top 10 (Stage and overall):
1) Daniele Contrini, Italy, Tinkoff Credit Systems
2) Doug Ollerenshaw, US, Health Net/Maxxis, @ :21
3) Ben Day, Australia, Navigators Insurance, @ :28
4) Ryder Hesjedal, Canada, Health Net/Maxxis, @ 1:07
5) Ivan Dominguez, Cuba, Toyota-United, same time
6) Karl Menzies, Australia, Health Net/Maxxis, s.t.
7) Sergey Lagutin, Uzbekistan, Navigators Insurance, s.t.
8) Ciaran Power, Ireland, Navigators Insurance, s.t.
9) Juan José Haedo, Argentina, Team CSC, s.t.
10) Alessandro Proni, Italy, Quick Step, s.t.
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