Tour de Georgia Cycling News Special for April 25, 2005Edited by Jeff Jones Tour de Georgia final stage wrap upDiscovery Channel and Health Net combined to take the final honours in the 3rd Dodge Tour de Georgia, which finished with a 201 km stage to Alpharetta on Sunday. After Discovery's Tom Danielson took over the general classification on Saturday, his team successfully defended his four second lead over Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner). It was the 27 year-old American's biggest stage race win in his career, which has also included the Tour de Langkawi in 2003. In the race for the stage win, Health Net delivered its sprinters Gord Fraser and Greg Henderson to a 1-2 finish in Alpharetta, which also gave Henderson the sprints jersey. José Luis Rubiera (Discovery Channel) claimed the mountains jersey after his sterling effort in last Friday's fourth stage, while Trent Lowe (Jittery Joe's) sealed the young rider's jersey and Discovery Channel took home the teams classification. Full results
& report Post-race commentsReported by Mark Zalewski, Tim Maloney and Eddie Monnier
Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel, 1st GC)
"I'm very relieved. To me, it was stressful...I haven't been in this situation before, with all the pressure...I was just mini-leader for today. There were so many fans on the road. I've never been to a race this big before. It was exciting. "The team was amazing. They just rode tempo and Johan was saying guys were dropping off the back in [groups of] 15's. In the final, they were as strong as the sprinters leadouts and they had been working after this."
Lance Armstrong (Discovery Channel, 5th GC)
"No trouble today. It was fairly controlled like last year. Very windy, gusty, a little chilly. Tom is riding great. I think he'll do a good Giro." Armstrong paid tribute to his team said that he did feel better as the race went on. "For me, I'm just as happy to see the team win than I am to get an individual win. The object remains the Tour, and I think I'm on track. I didn't think I was good enough to win, but I felt better toward the end of the race than I did at the beginning so that's a good sign. "The first thing I do now is soak up as much time with my kids and continue to train, continue to gain fitness.
Gord Fraser (Health Net p/b Maxxis, 1st stage)
"We've really had an up and down Tour of Georgia but we're always very happy to end it up on a winning note," said Fraser after winning the final stage. Fraser described the final kilometre: "I knew I had Greg on my wheel. I actually went a lot earlier than last year because if I blew I knew Greg was there to clean up the mess, but I had a great race. The sprint that really suits me was that downhill run. Since I did it last year I had a good idea where to be. I was looking around, had my teammate there Greg Henderson on my wheel so that's my ultimate insurance policy. To get one, two, that's more than we could've ever asked for to finish off the race." On the large crowd that came out to watch, Fraser commented, "It's what bike racing should be like all the time. If more races were like this, I would probably race another 10 years. It's an incredible feeling to have these types of enthusiastic crowds. Let's hope it continues because this is an incredible event, this Dodge Tour of Georgia."
Greg Henderson (Health Net p/b Maxxis) Describing the final kilometre on the closing stage, "Ah, it came out well. I had Mike Sayers pull off at about a K. Gord and I were left about sixth and fifth wheel. Navigators were trying to get a train going. At 500 [meters to go], I can't remember, it was Navigators, Floyd, Gord, then me. There was a bit of ****, Gord took off at 200-meters to go. I glanced under my arm. It was good. "It was definitely a goal of ours to win the jersey (Maxxis Sprint jersey)."
Floyd Landis (Phonak, 3rd GC)
"I think that Saturday's stage [to Brasstown Bald] went as good as it could have gone. The Discovery team did everything right; obviously with Johan and Lance, a team like that is hard to beat. They beat me fair and square; there's no saying I didn't have enough help. My team did an exceptional job and fortunately there were enough teams that had the same interest as ours (controlling the race), like HealthNet was riding for the sprints. "In the end, I'm very happy with the way it went here because I didn't expect to win the time trial! Next I do Catalunya and the Dauphiné Libéré, but first I'll go home to California for a few days of rest. All things considered, the race went well for me."
Andrea Tafi (Saunier Duval - Prodir)
Stage 6 marked the final race for Andrea Tafi (Saunier Duval), who is hanging up his wheels at 38 after a long and very successful career. Tafi tried his utmost to win a stage in the TdG, but he was unable to pull off that magic finale. He was award the most aggressive rider's jersey for his efforts. "I tried my all [to win]. But it's not ending with a victory," he said. Tafi, a past winner of Paris-Roubaix and a four time podium finisher in that race, said that he was very satisfied with his career. "Inside me, the time for speaking [with my legs] has stopped. I'm very happy. I finished feeling good. I see I have many, many friends. For this, I am very happy."
Marco Pinotti (Saunier Duval - Prodir) Macro Pinotti, who was aggressive throughout the six days, told Cyclingnews, "I aimed for Top-5 here. But the important thing is the performance and the feelings. I had good feelings, beautiful feelings during these days. I think, it is a week I will never forget because I have been searching for these feelings since the winter. I looked forward to riding the Giro. I'm on a mission."
Rene Savary (DS, Phonak) "It was a pity [to lose the leader's jersey], but the best one won. In the end, you have to accept this. And we did what we could....We came to Georgia with seven riders. It was not our very top team, but they did what they could. Basically, we had the jersey for five stages and two stage wins. In the end, we are happy that we reached these goals. It was a pleasure to be here."
Raimond Dietzen (DS, Gerolsteiner) Gerolsteiner's Levi Leipheimer finished in second overall, just 4 seconds down on Danielson, after finishing second in the crucial stage to Brasstown Bald. His DS Raimond Dietzen told Cyclingnews before the final stage that he was "very pleased with Levi's ride. I don't expect any changes in the GC today." Levi Leipheimer: On the midnight plane to Girona
Levi Leipheimer finished second overall in the TdG, by a small margin of four seconds. But in cycling and against a team like Discovery Channel, four seconds might as well be four minutes. Leipheimer described his emotions in his final diary update from Georgia:
"Oh, just four seconds away from victory! It might have been six if it weren't for my sleek helmet and the lack of a ponytail. Don't you hate it when you have one of those Laurent Fignon days? I was hoping that I could make up 4 seconds today, but the odds were against me. But overall I'm very pleased with the race. The race was fun, the fans were great, and I was pleased with my form. I have a few more races coming up, and then I'll take a break for a month before my final preparations for the Tour. My friend and training partner Marc Hagenlocher will be visiting next month so I hope to hit the Pyrenees with him and get a glimpse of some Tour stages. The race offered a potpourri of weather. Sun, rain, hail, wind, and this morning, near freezing temps. Odds were that I wasn't going to be able to get the four seconds I need on a flat stage like this, so we sent Sven off the front in a break with Tafi. Since Sven wasn't a threat to Danielson's lead, we were hoping Discovery wouldn't chase. The break lasted a while, but the LPR boys spoiled Tafi's chances. It was a bit sad since I was hoping that Tafi's last race would be a victory in Georgia. He's a great champion. Click here to read the rest of the diary End of "Phase One" for Bobby JulichBy Tim Maloney, European Editor in Alpharetta, Georgia As Team CSC's Bobby Julich ended Phase One of his so-far super 2005 season, where the American won Paris-Nice and Criterium International, Cyclingnews spoke to him after the Tour Of Georgia. "Mentally I felt really good at this race, but obviously the fresh legs of the other guys were a little too much", a smiling Julich told Cyclingnews as he signed autographs for a huge crowd of fans that clustered around the CSC team camper. "Honestly, my motivation wasn't, you know, terrific; I wanted to come here and have fun. When those two guys (Danielson and Leipheimer) attacked yesterday on Brasstown Bald, my main objective was to getting to the top without hurting myself. I was already thinking about my seven days off the bike next week." CN: Are you going back home to Reno? BJ: Yeah, I'm going up to train at altitude for a month before I head back to Europe. CN: Will your friend Jens Voigt join you this year like he did in 2004? BJ: Jens and his wife are expecting their fourth child soon, so he's staying close to home. CN: Your friend Jens had a hell of a Liege-Bastogne-Liege today! But Vino just beat him... BJ: Probably my two best friends in cycling right now. CN: Bobby, you were here at the race where Lance Armstrong announced his retirement...you have been a big rival of Lances since you were both junior riders in the late 1980's. What's your appreciation of Lance? BJ: I would say we were dangerously close to being really good friends, but we never quite made it that far. I definitely respect him as an athlete and a cancer survivor and I hope he continues to promote cycling as he has in the past seven, eight years. CN: What is your racing program going forward? BJ: When I return to Europe in June, I'll race the Dauphiné Libéré and the Tour De France. CN: Will that be it for your season? BJ: No no no, I want to try and make it to the World's and try for a World (time trial) title this year.
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