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Tour de Georgia Cycling News for April 21, 2006

Edited by John Stevenson

Tour de Georgia stage 3: Landis leads after repeat TT win

Floyd Landis (Phonak)
Photo ©: Beth Seliga

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Floyd Landis has time-trialled into the lead of the Tour de Georgia, putting himself into the yellow jersey by just four seconds after beating defending champion Tom Danielson (Discover Channel) and fancied time triallist Dave Zabriskie (CSC).

As the last of the favourites to start Landis had the advantage of knowing his rival's split times on the hilly 39.9km course that took the race across the border and out of Georgia for the first time. But what made the biggest difference for Landis compared to his 2005 win was the sheer length of the course. "A 35 minute time trial is completely different than a time trial that is 55 minutes. The best thing to do is pace yourself."

Runner-up Danielson put his four-second deficit down to Landis' superior bike handling. "In the morning I was training on the descent and I was going as hard as I could but Landis came flying by me … like I was standing still! He is the best bike handler in the world -- I knew him back when we were mountain biking and he was great back then too."

Stage 4 - Time to climb

Stage four of Tour de Georgia is the first of the mountain days. (See stage map & profile). It's the day that last year, turned into an epic due to torrential rain and a cold snap that started after the first KOM of the day on Ford Mountain. One comment from an official during the race last year was "OK, we are in survival mode now." Thunderstorms are predicted again for tomorrow, but everyone is hoping that it won't be a repeat of the conditions in 2005

Last year, after rain, thunder and some pretty difficult climbing a group of 20 made it to the finish together and three riders including Brian Vandborg (CSC), Viatcheslav Ekimov (Discovery Channel) and Marco Pinotti (Prodir - Saunier Duval) took off in the last couple of kilometers of the race, holding off the chasing group for the slightly uphill finish. Vandborg took the win in a three up sprint.

Click here for the full report & stage 4 preview

Tour de Georgia stage 3 vox pop

By Mark Zalewski

Floyd Landis (Phonak)

"I don't know how I am climbing against Danielson right now it will be hard but hopefully I can do it. I want to keep the leaders jersey but it is never easy to keep or to win. We will just have to wait and see over the next few stages."

Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel)

"I am very happy with today. In two years I hope to be winning consistently in time trials where ever I go.

"I went out pretty fast but not too fast. My weight is really good this year and I am really light. I didn't go as hard as I could over the climb because I knew I could save a little there while going just as fast as the others and save some energy. I also knew that I could limit my losses by riding hard everywhere else. I held back on the steep climb and focused my energy on the rollers instead and that worked well for me."

Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto)

"I went out there and was mainly focusing on the later stages and not try to go too hard today. I went hard enough to make sure I did not get time cut. I am feeling pretty good but at the same time I wasn't mentally focused on the time trial to go as hard as I can go normally.

"I wouldn't say it helped me recovery by doing that. I would say that that the time trial taxed everyones legs so hopefully I saved enough or taxed myself a little less than the other riders did.

"I am going to try my best tomorrow to get over the mountains with the front group to sprint. I am the best climbing/sprinter here. I can get over the climbs better than any sprinter here. So I may be the only real sprinter in the finish tomorrow because I don't think the others can climb well enough. But, Brasstown bald is completely out of my league.

"I still have the sprint jersey and it is now important for us to keep this jersey. It is our main focus. I have tomorrow and Sunday to get a bigger lead on those points."

Jason McCartney (Discovery Channel)

"I think it is always good to have 2 or 3 in the top for general classification because it will give us more options."

Riding shotgun with CSC

Cyclingnews reporter Kirsten Robbins joined CSC directeur sportif Tristan Hoffman and team mechanic Nicholas Legan in the support car during Dave Zabriskie's time trial this morning. The shot gun seat provided a perfect view of the one of the most talented time trialists in the world along with some insight into Team CSC.

Dave Zabriskie (CSC)
Photo ©: Bill Parsons

Winning the time trial was the primary objective for Zabriskie and possibly his only opportunity at wearing the yellow jersey. "He will have difficulty getting the leader's jersey in the climbing stages," directeur sportif Tristan Hoffman told Cyclingnews as we climbed into the CSC team car. "Danielson and Landis are climbing very well right now and Brasstown Bald will be very difficult so we must do our best in the time trial today."

As we spoke, Zabriskie was on the starting ramp and looking very focused in anticipation of the start of his forty-kilometer effort. He knew that this was his best opportunity to wear the yellow jersey.

Many of the time trial favorites were out pre riding the time trial route early in the morning. "The team pre rode the time trial route so that we had no surprises along the way. The course is very hard," said Hoffman. "The climbs are all very hard and most difficult climb is long and very steep. But, Zabriskie really liked the time trial because he is a man that really likes to spin his legs and when you have a lot of steep climbs he can really spin well up them."

Time trailing is a lot about technique and every route requires a different technique. However Hoffman felt that Zabriskie's long experience as a time trial specialist meant he knew how to tackle almost every type of time trial from prologues - as proven in last year's Tour de France - to long and difficult courses.

Click here for the full story.

Liggett's view from the box

Phil Liggett is known round the world for his commentary of the world's biggest bike races; a veteran of the Tour de France press corps, the Welshman knows what it takes to make a good bike race. Making an appearance at this year's Tour de Georgia, the 'voice of cycling' believes the absence of Lance Armstrong shouldn't be too big a hurdle for US cycling to jump, as he told Cyclingnews' Kirsten Robbins on a ride around Fayetteville.

The voice of cycling
Photo ©: Mark Gunter

Those following this year's Tour de Georgia may have noticed a lack of interest and hype surrounding the event compared to the 2005 edition where Lance Armstrong made his final racing appearance on US soil before his swansong Tour de France.

"We need to remember that it [the race] is still in the early stages and the weather has not been our favourite," said Phil Liggett. "People may tune in a little less for the live coverage at such an early point in the race because the deciding days are about to come. If we allow patience for the unravelling of the stages we will see just how many fans are out, especially for stages like Brasstown Bald."

Liggett is confident that fans will get behind the race as it begins to heat up on the slopes of Brasstown Bald. "I can assure you there will be a lot of people tuning into that stage. They've gained in the last period."

The retirement of Lance Armstrong certainly had an impact on last year's event where the then six-time Tour de France champion announced his retirement in the pre-Georgia press conference. "Lance was an important storyline and it appealed to many people," said Liggett.