Tour de Georgia stage 4: Finally Freddie

'Man of the match' to McCartney

The fourth stage of the Tour de Georgia turned out to be a day for the sprinters, as Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto) finally got the victory that has eluded him for the last few months. On paper it was a day for the climbers, though, or perhaps for an epic solo breakway. That's certainly how it looked for much of the stage as Discovery's Jason McCartney took off on a solo adventure after dispensing with the company of the other eight riders from the early break.

With 15km to go, though, the peloton caught McCartney. but the young American still had enough in the tank to respond to an attack by Leonardo Scarselli (Quick Step-Innergetic), and Rodriguez' Davitamon-Lotto team-mates soon reeled in the pair, to set things up for A Fast Freddie dash for the line.

Last year, after finishing a minute down on Floyd Landis (Phonak) in the time trial, Tom Danielson, backed by Discovery teammate Lance Armstrong outclimbed everyone, making it to the summit with just enough time on Landis the take the jersey in what was like a slow motion, suspense filled finish. This year Landis doesn't have a minute's buffer, but is on amazing form and it will be a battle till the end once again.

Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.

Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.

She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.