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Wrenchin' in the USA: The Chris Davidson diary 2007
Chris joins us again in 2007 to report on life on the road turning the wrench for a variety of teams both in dirt and on the road. Formerly with Ford Cycling in 2006, Chris has also worked for such teams as T-Mobile, Equipe Nurnberger, Quark and Mercury in the past, as well as neutral support programs with Shimano, Pedros and Trek.
As 2007 holds some new challenges for Chris, some things will stay the same. One of those will be his informative diary contributions on Cyclingnews, where you'll often receive the inside scoop on all things tech and a look at life behind the wrench.
Catching up
Stage 5 - April 20: Dalton - Brasstown Bald/Towns Co, 172.1km
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Wow, Cyclingnews readers, the last 36 hours have been super busy. The queen stage was a killer. Awesome weather and an hors categorie climb at the end made for an exciting prospect for the day. We started in Dalton (home to Saul Raisin) and finished on top of the highest point in Georgia, Brasstown Bald. It was a busy day for me as we had to switch all the cranksets to compacts (50/36) for the stage to facilitate the last climb. Due to the extra work involved, I turned the camera duty over to a friend of mine that was along for the stage, he took the shots that documented the action.
The Navs put two riders in the break of eight and things looked good, but then Jittery Joes started to chase for Grajales and the gap started to come down. In the end Disco had the numbers and they retained the overall lead. I have to give it to Ben Day and Phil Zajicek for their efforts in the long break, it was great to be at the front all day.
Stage 6 - April 21: Lake Lanier Islands/Hall Co. - Stone Mountain Park, 182.9km
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Today's stage to Stone Mountain Park looked to be an easy, flat day, but there was a $2000 prime sprint at 4.7km into the stage. 4.7km! The race started fast and stayed that way early on. Then a move of three got up the road with our Glen Chadwick in it. Chady was killing it again today, as in the stage to Rome. They got caught with approximately 8km to go on the finishing circuit, and Fast Freddie ended up with the stage win. Full props to Chady for the effort, this week he revealed that he is the triple treat: he can climb (see Brasstown results), TT and sprint from the break (Rome stage). The real deal.
Tomorrow is the last stage, a flat circuit in Atlanta, the GC is set, but the sprinters are all eyeing a last shot at a stage win. It should be explosive.
Immediately post-race I load up to take one of the team cars straight back to New Jersey, as most of the riders are going to be flying back to Germany for a stage race that starts Wednesday. See you on the course tomorrow.
Chris Davidson
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Glenn Kalnins
- George Hincapie's bike ready for the assault on Brasstown Bald. Note the 12x27 cassette.
- JJ Haedo is not looking forward to this one.
- Slipstream bikes ready to go, also using a 12x27 cassette.
- David Zabriskie is happy to sign some autographs before the start of stage five.
- Fast Freddie gets ready for the hardest stage of the Tour
- Zabriskie and David Millar during rider introductions
- Jittery Joe's has a new all-white kit for the Brasstown stage
- A little on-the-fly adjustment for the Slipstream car.
- Navigators director Ed Beamon feeds Phil Zajicek from the car.
- Cycling legend Nelson Vails drives COM 1 for the Brasstown stage.
- Phil Zajicek (Navigators) charges the start of the ascent of Brasstown.
- Ben Brooks (Navigators) looks for help from the team care on the climb.
- Waiting for the riders after the stage at the summit of Brasstown Bald.
- Pat McCarty (Slipstream) felt the pain on Brasstown.
- Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United) struggles up the climb.
- David Millar at the summit of Brasstown Bald.
- We swapped to compact cranks for the stage to Brasstown Bald.
- Navigators rolled on 50/36 compact cranks and 11x25 cassettes.
- Tim Johnson (Health Net) at the start of stage 5.
- Dave Towle interviews Saul Raisin at the stage of stage 5 in Dalton.
- Day is done, time to wash Zajicek's bike.
- Toyota 'pops it out' once on scene.
- Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United) has been riding a special Fuji TT frame during the road stages for greater stiffness in the sprints.
- Danny Pate's Slipstream Felt.
- The back of the Slipstream car.
- Danny Pate was here (rear bumper of the Slipstream car).
- The race leader's Trek Madone.
- After Brasstown, it was time to swap cassettes back to the 11x23.
