News

24th April 2007

Have your voice heard on ProCycleNews... Click here to E-mail us with your comments on the stories below!

Dominance at the Tour de Georgia where Brajkovic takes the biggest win of his career to date by Brian C. Grenier

Dominance is a flashy word and can be used in many different circumstances depending on what emotion a writer wishes to impart on the reader. What I have seen here since coming to GA is the sheer dominance of the ProTour teams and one of those teams in particular, Discovery Channel! 

Watching cycling on the ground is a thrill beyond description from the party, circus like atmosphere, to the blaze of color as the peloton passes. The pageantry is totally absorbing and takes over one’s senses the moment you get there. From all reaches of the world people come for one reason and one reason only, their love for the sport of cycling and being in the Bible belt this had all the emotional connotations of a full blown evangelical revival!

The Tour de Georgia organizers did a phenomenal job at insuring that nothing was missing from this race except for another 14 days of world class performance! They have a traveling festival that shows up at all the major places the tour goes to insuring the atmosphere of jubilation follows the riders, which was incredible. 

We were able to ride up to Brasstown Bald area in a group ride which gave one the feeling of why these guys are truly unbelievable athletes. Each stage had special events in order to keep the fans engaged and the level of coordination was beyond reproach, everything just worked. Oh and the parties, ah the parties, from organized events complete with jacuzzi's and plenty of stuff to drink, the modern metropolitan club scene to the “biker bar” where guns are checked at the door, the diversity was there and no matter where I went there was one thing on every ones mind, This is the USA’s Premier Cycling Event The Tour of Georgia, and we are here to be part of it!

When I got here I was up close to Brasstown Bald for stage 5. The day before I had reported that Discovery rider Janez Brajkovic (Slo) had taken yellow in what I am sure was the decisive stage of the tour. The ride into Tennessee had so shattered the peloton. After 12th place the GC time gap rode up to over 28 minutes, leaving 12 riders to vie for a podium finish. To put it another way, after stage 5 the race was all but over for most and anything else that was won or done would be for personal pride. It was amazing to think that a race with 3 stages left, and decisive stages at that, was in no way going to be contested. This was historic! 

With the ride up Brass Town coming up the next day it was evident that Brajkovic would only be challenged by one rider for his slight GC edge of 12 seconds. His challenge would come in the form of Christian Vande Velde of CSC.

Brajkovic glued himself to the back wheel of Vande Velde with ever pedal stroke on the Brasstown Bald mountain all the way to the finish! 

When we asked Janez about what he was thinking up the climb he said, “I just focused on his wheel, He attacked at least 20 times and I have to say it was hard, However in the end I was able to stay with him and that is all that matters.”

For Tommy Danielson it was rewarding in one sense helping his team mate up the hill and just a total frustration in another coming in second, but Danielson, being who he is, responded to the question why the stage is so special to him saying, "I think that the fact that is it is very, very difficult and that it’s in America . The spectators can see high-speed climbing by the best climbers in the world. People can come from all over the country and…see the best climbing in the world in front of them. You can see us suffering just as spectators suffer on their training rides. It’s incredible. It’s like no other climb and that’s what makes it so special.”

Danielson continued, "I’ve won the race twice and (was) second today - I love this stage. Truly I feel this has launched my career - I absolutely love the Tour de Georgia, it’s close to my heart. The fans are rowdy and aggressive and I love Brasstown Bald.”

On stage 6 Discovery Channel continued their winning ways putting George Hincapie on the podium and aggressively protecting Brajkovic’s lead. With having the ability to let so many riders go the tactics can be handled in an intelligent manner.

When I started this article I was talking about dominance. The television just doesn’t show how it all falls out even though they try and have some of the best views.  When one group of riders take control of a race it is amazing to watch and frustrating for the other riders. I had read an article where partial owner of the Discovery Channel team and 7-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong was asked not only about his success but the teams as a whole and he said that he and Bruyneel had decided along time ago to approach the concept of cycle racing intelligently, something that they certainly have. 

To watch it all unfold makes one wonder who is the puppet master and what scene of the play he is at. I sometimes wonder why the other teams just don’t follow the lead and bring cycling out of the dark ages. The only other team that seems to have any in depth planning is Toyota-United. While I am not taking anything away from any other teams, the dominance of the Discovery Channel team and Toyota-United cannot go unnoticed. Agreed it also takes a stable of riders that have a full arsenal of tricks to throw at the other riders, but that is a management issue. The riders so far here have been great and when you can get to them they are a cordial bunch!

Saturdays stage was another cliff hanger with a break going clear at the feed station and staying clear all the way into Stone Mountain Park.  Once onto the circuit course the escapees were reeled in and the battle began in earnest. CSC drove the train and chased down all breaks that go clear, but the day was to belong to Predictor-Lotto's 'Fast Freddy' [Rodriguez]. Going into the final 500 meters or so Freddy seemed to be sitting in but once the group passed the 200 mt mark he exploded out of the saddle and took off like a rocket taking the line in fine fashion. CSC's JJ Heado came in second with American champion Hincapie on his wheel. Despite all the valiant effort, Brajkovic stayed in yellow.

Sunday proved to be a sprinters day as the pace on the final day of racing built higher with each lap. The course was a 9 lap circuit of 7.4 miles through the city of Atlanta. The pace and the action was furious! One scare of the day was when Brajkovic flatted near the end but he was soon back up and running thanks to a wheel swap with one of his teammates. When the final 2 K came up the sprinters had their day with JJ Haedo taking the win and extracting some revenge on Rodriguez.  With his lead secure Brajkovic had his day ending a year long dry spell of wins!

Check out the full results and report from the final stage of the Tour de Georgia - click here now...

[Check out some more images from the Tour de Georgia taken by Brian C. Grenier on the left side of this page]

ProCycleNews catches up with Janez Brajkovic at the Tour de Georgia after his win by Brian C. Grenier

PCN How did the team perform for you?

JB “Yesterday and today they did an amazing job protecting me. Yesterday for the first hour and half there were so many attacks and when I saw them sacrificing themselves for me it was an amazing thing.”

PCN How did it all work out when you got your flat?

JB “Immediately Brian (Vandborg) gave me his rear wheel… Within seconds the whole team was at the back of the peloton waiting for me. It wasn’t a problem… We were in the front of the group in a matter of a few minutes. To have the guys like George (Hincapie), Tom (Danielson) and Levi (Leipheimer) helping me, a young guy, it’s an amazing feeling.”

PCN How does it feel to be the 2007 Tour de Georgia WINNER?

JB "(This is the) the biggest win of my career so far. I wasn’t even planning to be here, so it’s really an amazing victory. To win this race by myself would be impossible, but with the team we had here, they were just amazing and they did a lot of work the past few days.”

PCN With this win how do you see your future working out?

JB “It’s going to be a long way to win a race like a Grand Tour, but I have to be optimistic. I know it’s not going to be possible in the next two, three, four or even five years…”

T-Mobile announce teams for upcoming races

The T-Mobile team have announced their squads for upcoming races, namely the Flèche Wallonne tomorrow in Belgium and the Tour of Saxony, another races that starts tomorrow, Wednesday the 25th of April.

Pinning their hopes on Patrik Sinkewitz and Kim Kirchen the T-Mobile team will send a strong lineup of experienced riders looking for success at the Flèche Wallonne, the 71st edition of the Belgian semi-classic.

Following a solid 14th place at last weekend's Amstel Gold race in Holland Kirchen said, "I've proved that the undulating terrain and the short climbs are best suited for me."

Germany's Sinkewitz and Kirchen from Luxembourg will be joined by Canada's Michael Barry, Belgian rider Axel Merckx, Italian Marco Pinotti, Australian's Scott Davis and Michael Rogers and German rider Thomas Ziegler.

The teams sporting director at the event will be 48 year-old Italian Valerio Piva who added, "It will be difficult but we'll try from the start to ride with aggression to get our top riders well-placed in the finale. The terrain of Flèche, but also at this Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege race, is more suited for the climbing specialists in the team."

Piva continued, "The finale really stretches the riders to their limits. You can be leading for the whole race only to throw it all away at the finish."

The squad for the Tour of Saxony, which kicks off tomorrow and ends on Sunday, the 29th of April, will be led by German riders Gerald Ciolek and André Greipel, a team that will be focusing on sprint finishes.

Ciolek and Greipel will be joined by fellow countrymen Marcus Burghardt, Linus Gerdemann, Bert Grabsch, André Korff and Andreas Klier.

The teams sporting directors for the 890.4 kilometer five stage race will be Denmark's Brian Holm and German Jan Schaffrath who said, "The individual stages are tailor-made for the sprinters. We will focus our tactics on the peloton finishing with a mass sprint, so we'll be putting our fast riders in the best positions up front."

Astana, Lampre-Fondital, Predictor-Lotto, Cofidis and Agritubel lineup for tomorrow's Flèche Wallonne
Some of the other teams who have named their selections for the Flèche Wallonne tomorrow are the ProTour teams Astana, Lampre-Fondital, Predictor-Lotto and Cofidis as well as the wild-card selected French Pro-Continental team Agritubel.

Astana have selected a strong team that will include Tour de France contenders Andreas Klöden from Germany and Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz), the winner of the 2006 Vuelta a España. Klöden and Vino will be joined on the squad that will be guided by their sporting directors Walter Godefroot and Adriano Baffi by: Igor Abakoumov (Bel), Antonio Colom (Spa), Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz),Sergueï Ivanov (Rus), Matthias Kessler (Ger) and Steve Morabito (Swi).

The Lampre-Fondital team, guided by sporting director Fabrizio Bontempi will look towards: Matteo Bono, Giampaolo Caruso, Loosli, Morris Possoni, Daniele Righi, Tadej Valjavec and Patxi Xabier Vila.

Predictor-Lotto will field: Mario Aerts, Dario Cioni, Cadel Evans, Nic Ingels, Matthew Lloyd, Pieter Mertens, Jurgen Vandenbroeck and Wim Vanhuffel - Sporting director will be Hendrik Redant.

The French Cofidis team will be: Sylvain Chavanel, Leonardo Duque, Bingen Fernandez, Amaël Moinard, Maxime Monfort, Critian Moreni, Rik Verbrugghe and Steve Zampieri - Sporting director will be Francis Van Londersele.

Wild card selection Agritubel, the French Pro-Continental team will be: Aivaras Baranauskas, Freddy Bichot, Manuel Calvente, Romain Feillu, Eduardo Gonzalo, Juan-Miguel Mercado, Benoit Salmon and Nicolas Vogondy - Sporting director guiding the squad for the event will be Emmanuel Hubert.

World Champion Bettini becomes a favorite for Belgium's Flèche Wallonne

Italy's current world champion Paolo Bettini will start tomorrow's Flèche Wallonne in Belgium as one of the favorites.

Supported by a strong Quick Step-Innergetic team, Bettini finished a strong 7th at the Amstel Gold last weekend and will no doubt be looking for the victory tomorrow.

Bettini will be joined by: Carlos Barredo, Bram Tankink, Matteo Tosatto, Jurgen Van De Walle, Cedric Vasseur, Geert Verheyen and Giovanni Visconti while the sporting director will be Serge Parsani.

'Killer' Di Luca looks forward to la Flèche Wallonne

Another rider looking forward to tomorrow's race in Belgium is Danilo Di Luca riding for the Italian Liquigas team. Di Luca, nicknamed 'Killer' won the Flèche Wallonne back in 2005, the same year he went on to win the first ever ProTour series and will be looking for more success, especially after his solid 3rd place at last Sunday's Amstel Gold race behind Gerolsteiner duo Schumacher and Rebellin.

Speaking on teamliquigas.it the Italian said, "Among the Classics the Flèche is the race I suit more." Satisfied with his podium finish on Sunday Di Luca continued, "From the brilliance of my pedaling I have the confirmation that all the work carried out in the past months is giving me the fruits I expected."

Di Luca will be joined in the Liquigas team for tomorrow's race by: Michael Albasini, Patrick Calcagni, Eros Capecchi, Kjell Carlström, Francesco Failli, Roman Kreuziger and Alessandro Spezialetti.

Barloworld ready for the Flèche Wallonne and the Liege Bastogne Liege, two races they want results in

"We have to give 105% in these races. We've got to honor our special invitation to both races from organizers ASO so that we can increase our chances of getting an invitation to the 2007 Tour de France," said Barloworld sporting director Alberto Volpi who will guide his team both tomorrow at the Flèche Wallonne and on Sunday at the Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

The Barloworld team will ride both events after they were issued with a wild-card invitation by the races organizers ASO who also run the Tour de France, a race the Pro-Continental team have ambitions of competing in later this year.

Volpi continues, "Despite injury problems for Siutsou and Caccia, we've got a good team and can be in the thick of the action during the decisive moments of the races with Efimkin, Cardenas and Cheula, while the other riders will hopefully put themselves in the spotlight by getting in early attacks. Our team spirit will be the same as in the other races so far this year: we’ll ride united and be focused on getting a result, despite facing the best riders in the world in these kind of races."

This won't be the first ProTour race of the season for the Barloworld team, already they have competed in the prestigious early season Milan-Sanremo classic in Italy, an event in which their riders were active throughout, fighting in the thick of the action. Indeed Volpi is hopeful that the team will again be active in both tomorrow's race and at Sunday's Liege-Bastogne-Liege.

Already a winner of four races this season, Alex Efimkin will lead the team, being suited to the hilly courses of the Ardennes races. Joining him will be experienced Columbian Felix Cardenas, Pedro Arreitunandia, Gianpaolo Cheula, Ryan Cox, Paolo Longo Borghini, Hugo Sabido and Mauricio Soler.

Following his second place at last weekend's Amstel Gold race in Holland, Gerolsteiner's Davide Rebellin has taken over control of the UCI's ProTour, taking control from Paris-Roubaix winner Stuart O'Grady (CSC).

Rebellin finished second at the Amstel Gold behind teammate Stefan Schumacher ensuring a one-two finish for the German ProTour team.

Rebellin now leads on 92 points, 10 points more than second placed Oscar Freire, the ex-world champion riding for the Rabobank team. Third place in the standings is now held by the deposed leader O'Grady.

CSC also moved into control at the head of the team classification taking the lead from American team Discovery Channel. Both CSC and Discovery Channel have enjoyed a great start to the season and will no doubt be looking forward to many many more results throughout the remainder of the season.

CSC now have 119 points while Discovery Channel have 114 points with Liquigas in third also on 114 points.

Make your InterContinental Hotel reservations at the Fulton Flyers’ website and the team earns sponsorship. Just go to their website www.fultonflyerscycling.org and click on the link. You still get the lowest internet rates and Priority Club Reward Points. InterContinental hotels include Holiday Inn Express, Holiday Inn, Candlewood Suites and Crowne Plaza .

The Fulton Flyers Development Team is dedicated to young cyclists in Georgia . Title sponsors are Land Rover Gwinnett and The BriarRose Land Company. The 2007 roster is twenty riders, including eight girls.

The Flyers Nationals Team riders are:

Alex Wechsler (Women 15-16)

Rose Mauney (Women 15-16)

Ann Turner (U23 Women)

Sean Cochran (Men 13-14)

Ty Magner (Men 15-16)

Kyle Cochran (Men 17-18)

Brian Ceballos (Men 17-18)

Oscar Clark (Men 17-18)

Christian Parrett (Men 17-18)