Tour de Georgia weblog

Stage 3 preview

Just another flattish day at the Tour de Georgia, one of the big differences between this year's race and the last few, which have spent a lot of time in the mountains of North Georgia. It's almost 110 miles, from Washington to Gainesville. Things are getting more and more rolling, and gradually climbing about 600 feet in elevation, but we won't see another rated climb until Friday.

Today's sprint lines are in Comer, Ila, and Homer, all tiny towns along the course. Comer comes about 48 miles in, Ila at 60 miles, and Homer just after the 80-mile mark. Team Slipstream has got to be just itching to get their big burrito on the podium, and with Tyler Farrar just 5 points back of sprint jersey leader Dominguez, I expect we'll continue to see contested sprints throughout the day.

Riders will ride the 2-mile finishing circuit 2.5 times, coming onto the loop with about 5.5 miles to go. Rather than finishing on the Gainesville square, where previous TdG stages have started, this one looks to fence in a neighborhood and end next to a park called Glenwood Park.

Leaders

Overall: Ivan Dominguez, Toyota-United Sprints: Dominguez, jersey worn by Greg Henderson, Team High Road King of the Mountains: Frank Pipp, Health Net Best Young Rider: Nicholas Sanderson, Jelly Belly Most Agressive Rider, Stage 2: Rhys Pollock, Marco Polo

TourdeGeorgia.com | Stage 3 course map | Stage 3 profile | Stage 3 log

Also:

PodiumCafe.com | Washington to Gainesville - Stage Three

Stage 2 links

TdG2008_Stage2 049
Originally uploaded by eddy58.

Flickr user eddy58 found himself in the perfect position to document yesterday's sprint lead-out. Dominguez, trailing Rollin, showed how hard it is to attack off the front as a marked man, while Haedo and Henderson sit in, ready to slingshot past in the next 500ish meters. Also interesting that Freddie Rodriguez is slightly gapped here.

Photo by Ken Conley

Ken Conley's Stage 2 journal and gallery.

Neal Rogers takes up the case of the biggest Georgia robbery since The General: Why didn't Justin England win the most aggressive rider jersey for Stage 2?

Also:

Daily Peloton | 6th Tour de Georgia - Stage 2

Featured weblog: Podium In Sight

Lyne Lamoureux is probably a familiar name to folks who follow cycling on the web. She frequently wrote articles for ThePaceline.com, and has gotten bylines on RoadBikeReview.com, VeloNews, and The Daily Peloton. I've rubbed shoulders with her in the post-race mosh pit set up for race photographers, and she's got a healthy collection of racing photo galleries.

This season, Lyne has launched a new weblog, podium in sight, where she provides interviews, race analysis, and photography, but with an NRC/US calendar focus.

In the last week, she's had race coverage and some great photographs from the downhill practice sessions at Sea Otter, analysis of the overall and the 2 stages so far at the Tour de Georgia, and an interview with Toyota-United's Henk Vogels (at right), one of the pro peloton's most experienced and well-traveled riders, on the Art of the Sprint.

Definitely a site to bookmark; RSS/Atom feed available.

Stage 2 preview

We'll take a quick side trip into South Carolina today, as the race travels from Statesboro to Augusta. Look for action to continue at the intermediate sprints, which come today just before the 30 and 60 mile marks, in Millen and Sardis.

It's a much longer stage, at 115.7 miles, and is expected to finish somewhere around 4 p.m. Eastern. I'll be posting race updates to Twitter as the stage progresses.

The race will also crown its first King of the Mountains, based on a single 4th-Category climb in North Augusta, at the 109 mile mark, which could launch an opportunistic attack like those we've seen succeed in Rome the last two years, from Yaroslav Popovych and Ivan Stevic.

Ivan Dominguez holds the leader's and sprinter's jersey, which will be worn by High Road's Greg Henderson. Jelly Belly's Nicholas Sanderson owns the young rider's jersey, and Scott Nydam of BMC was named most aggressive rider of Stage 1.

I would look for Toyota-United to defend the sprint jersey at the intermediate sprints, but give up the overall leader's jersey if a break forms. It looks most likely we'll see a sprint finish, which gives Dominguez a shot at another stage victory and another day in yellow.

TourdeGeorgia.com | Stage 2 race log | Stage 2 profile | Stage 2 map

So why was Danielson in the break?

VeloNews | Danielson: protected leader, or opportunist?

About midway through today's stage, a 13-rider breakaway briefly formed with some big names included. Bobby Julich was there, Victor Hugo Peña, and Chris Horner. There was also a very unexpected presence: presumptive Slipstream leader Tom Danielson.

It's safe to say a flat Stage 1 is not where I thought we would see either a Slipstream team leader or Tom Danielson specifically scratching for seconds, and Ken Conley commented:

Danielson's jump either means his lieutenants failed to cover or that that he isn't their leader... or maybe he was just having fun.

VeloNews takes up the question with a vengeance, outlining changes in Danielson's training after doctors found he was riding with a herniated disc probably dating back at least to last year's Vuelta.

As for the man himself:

“I was at the front when I saw Julich jump, and then Horner jumped on that,” Danielson said. “It was a crazy, short stage, and there’s no better place to be than the front. I was there and I saw it, and I jumped on those wheels. It was really a matter of five pedal strokes and I was with them. It turned into a breakaway with barely any effort, and it saved the team a lot of energy. At the time we didn’t have any guys up there, and if no one was there it would have been dangerous. It’s always better to take the race in your hands than not cover a move just because you’re riding for GC, and you’re ‘not supposed to.’”

I for one would welcome a new more aggressive Danielson. He's clearly loaded with talent, but I can't remember ever seeing him solo off the front, breaking the legs of his opponents. Maybe that will change this week.

Stage 1 finish photo

How tight was the finish? It was nearly a double photo finish. Dominguez won by almost a full bike length, but Nicholas Sanderson just pipped Robert Förster of Gerolsteiner, and Bissell's Richard England narrowly edged Sergey Kudentsov of Marco Polo.

Dominguez takes Tour de Georgia Stage 1

Photo by Ken Conley

Toyota-United's Ivan Dominguez took a smart victory in the first stage of the 2008 Tour de Georgia Monday.

While Rock Racing (with Freddie Rodriguez), High Road (with Greg Henderson), and Gerolsteiner (with Robert Förster) jockeyed for position at the front of the field, Dominguez found a good wheel, and just flat outsprinted the field.

Jelly Belly's Nicholas Sanderson was 2nd and Förster 3rd, with essentially all riders finishing in the same time.

Stage 1 Top 10:
1) Ivan Dominguez (Cuba), Toyota-United, 2:30:18
2) Nicholas Sanderson (Australia), Jelly Belly, same time, U25
3) Robert Förster (Germany), Gerolsteiner, s.t.
4) Richard England (Australia), Bissell Pro Cycling, s.t.
5) Sergey Kudentsov (Russia), Marco Polo, s.t.
6) Danilo Wyss (Switzerland), BMC, s.t., U25
7) Bradley Mcgee (Australia), CSC, s.t.
8) Greg Henderson (New Zealand), Team High Road, s.t.
9) Aaron Kemps (Australia), Astana, s.t.
10) Karl Menzies (Australia), Health Net-Maxxis, s.t.
U25 - qualifies for young rider leader's jersey.

Looks more like the Tour Down Under standings, with 5 Aussies in the top 10 and Greg Henderson from New Zealand. The best placed US rider was BMC's Taylor Tolleson, 13th, with Chris Horner 18th. It appears neither Freddie Rodriguez nor JJ Haedo were their team's featured sprinters today: Sevilla in 14th was the best placed Rock Racing rider (Rodriguez in 54th), and McGee led CSC in 7th with Haedo back in 75th.

Tyler Farrar finished last, but in the same time as the leaders after puncturing in the day's last 2k. Scott Zwizanski of Bissell, the broom wagon sponsors, is positioned just in front of them in 119th, last overall.

Overall Top 10:
1) Ivan Dominguez, Toyota-United, 2:30:08
2) Nicholas Sanderson, Jelly Belly, at :04, U25
3) Greg Henderson, Team High Road, at :05
4) Tyler Farrar (USA), Slipstream-Chipotle, at :05, U25
5) Robert Forster, Gerolsteiner, at :06
6) Ivan Stevic (Serbia), Toyota-United, at :06
7) Christian Meier (Canada), Symmetrics, at :07, U25
8) Garrett Peltonen (USA), Bissell Pro Cycling, at :09
9) Richard England, Bissell Pro Cycling, at :10
10) Sergey Kudentsov, Marco Polo, at :10

Also:

spare cycles | Dominguez takes Stage 1 | photo gallery

VeloNews | Dominguez bike details

Dominguez rides a Fuji TT frame in road stages, which is heavier but stiffer and more aero than their road frame, mated to a road fork.

Stage 1 underway

The 2008 edition of the Tour de Georgia is underway, with riders currently pedaling toward the highest point on the day's route, the causeway bridge between Tybee Island and the mainland. No King of the Mountain points are awarded for this 60' vertical climb.

Our first sprint of the day was actually on the first trip through the start-finish, won by High Road's Greg Henderson, who takes 3 seconds and 5 sprint points at the line, and uses it to build a small cushion on the field.

He's quickly reabsorbed, as are a number of other testing breakaways, until, at the 45-mile mark, a group of 4 strong US riders is joined by a 5th, and they ride together: Garrett Peltonen (Bissell), Scott Nydam (BMC), Frank Pipp (Health Net), Christian Meier (Symmetrics), and Bernard Van Ulden (Jelly Belly). Several of the big Euro squads will have reason to chase, but this is a quality group.

Gerolsteiner and High Road have spent some time driving the gap down over the last few miles, and the gap sits at about 45 seconds with about 20 miles to ride.

The gap is being allowed to dangle a minute or so in front of the field, where they discourage another rider from breaking away, but can still be reeled in the 14 miles yet to race. Slipstream-Chipotle takes its turn on the front.

At 9 miles to ride, the breakaway is starting to splinter, and the final catch comes with just under 6 miles to ride. Now the field is jockeying for position for a field sprint.

Gerolsteiner, Astana, High Road, and Rock Racing all spent some time on the front in the closing kilometers. But in the end it was a rider whose team was pretty quiet today, Ivan Dominguez of Toyota-United, who outclassed the field. Dominguez is another of those riders who takes the wheel of another sprinter, then can catapult off for the win.

Stage 1 preview

The Tour de Georgia kicks off on Tybee Island, just outside of Savannah, with a nearly out-and-back course that's fairly short and very flat. Unless an ill wind blows in, this stage looks like a field sprint, and the best 3 sprinters in the field are Juan José Haedo of Team CSC, Freddie Rodriguez of Rock Racing, and Ivan Dominguez of Toyota-United.

Georgia's big annual state ride is BRAG, the Bicycle Ride Across Georgia, which frequently ends in Savannah and passes through Pooler, which will host two of the day's three intermediate “Georgia Power Sprints,” at the 32.8 and 59.5 mile marks.

Stage 1 Course Map

Stage 1 Profile (or look at your desktop surface)

Stage 1 Log

VeloNews | 2008 Tour de Georgia start list

Following the 2008 Tour de Georgia from your desktop

Haedo after 2006 TdG stage win
Originally uploaded by Frank Steele.

I'll update this post as the TdG progresses, and I find new sources.

The primary online resource I'll be tracking is the Tour de Georgia Live Tracker, created by Adobe, which looks like it will incorporate the VeloNews live text feed, and adds a chat room feature beyond its basic leader, breakaway and course-tracking.

There should be some live video on the Live Tracker, and more over at WCSN.com, which is promising live video of every stage.

It's still worth checking in at the VeloNews live ticker, as they're likely to splice in photos from the course as things develop. CyclingNews should also have their Live Ticker running.

I'll be posting commentary as stages develop on Twitter, at twitter.com/TdFblog/. Ken Conley will also be Twittering and photographing from the course.

I'll be aggregating anything I find interesting. If you're photographing the race and using Flickr, please tag your photos “tourdegeorgia” (and please e-mail me or post a comment if you're posting race coverage or photos elsewhere). I expect Medalist Sports will also be posting pics to its “tourtracker” Flickr account once things get underway.

The TdG itself is going all Web 2.0 this year, offering a MySpace page and an Official YouTube channel, currently featuring video of Jittery Joe's pre-flighting the TTT course at Road Atlanta. If you've been to races at Road Atlanta, it's a little strange trying to pick out where they're riding, because the TTT will run the course counter-clockwise, where auto and motorcycle races travel clockwise on the course. This means teams will immediately be climbing a tight uphill left-hander which is usually Turn 12, a downhill right into the finishing stretch.