Tour of Georgia - 2.3

Georgia, USA, April 22-27, 2003

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Complete Live Report

Start time: 11:00 EDT
Estimated finish time: 1400 EDT

Welcome to Cyclingnews' live coverage of the first ever Tour of Georgia, a six day stage race given a UCI ranking of 2.3. Throughout the race, we'll be providing live updates, beginning with today's 4.2 kilometre prologue time trial in Savannah. All the major US teams are here, including US Postal, Navigators, Saturn, Prime Alliance, 7 Up - Maxxis, Schroeder Iron, Jelly Belly, Ofoto-Lombardi Sports, Jittery Joe's, Sierra Nevada, Colavita - Bolla, Webcor and West Virginia. There are also a smattering of international squads, including Rabobank, Vini Caldirola-Sidermec, Formaggi Pinzolo Fiave', Flanders - Iteamnova, and a Dutch National Team.

Weather report: It's a beautiful sunny Spring morning in Savannah, Georgia. We have a sparse crowd, but a lot of enthusiasm. The course is less technical than it looks on the map. The first half-hour we have riders like Chris Horner and Nathan O'Neill (Saturn), so we'll probably get a good idea of the fast times for the day.

11:13 EDT
The first rider off was Michael Barry (US Postal), who posted a 5:11:09. The officials are carefully checking the specifications of the bikes to ensure they are meeting the UCI regulations which is making all the riders a little nervous. Everybody is puzzled at the officials attention to the bikes given that is is such a short Time Trial.

Chris Horner (Saturn) just came across the line at 5:02:55, nine seconds faster than Barry. Given his form, that should be a good barometer for the rest of the field.

11:27 EDT
Nathan O'Neill (Saturn) has posted a 4:58:2, the first rider under five minutes. He exploded out of the start house and powered all the way to the finish. That will be a difficult time to beat. Nathan is on good form after winning the Time Trial events at Redlands and the Sea Otter Classic, and winning the Sea Otter Tour overall.

11:51 EDT
With 96 riders yet to go, O'Neill still holds the top spot with teammate Horner close behind in second. The big surprise for the day is Greg Henderson (7Up-Maxxis) who just posted a time of 5:02:80. Danny Pate (Prime Alliance) is currently in 4th with a time of 5:08:53 followed by Henk Vogels (Navigators) with 5:08:76.

Maarten Den Bakker (Rabobank), who Vogels suggested would be a GC threat, posted a time of 5:25:78

For those interested in European results, the top three of the 64th edition of Paris-Camembert can be found here, with full results and report to follow.

12:30 EDT
Nathan O'Neill still tops the leaderboard, with Saturn's Chris Horner in second place followed by Greg Henderson (7Up). The top 10 riders at this point are as follows:

1 Nathan O'Neill (Saturn)      4:58:22
2 Chris Horner (Saturn)        5:02:55
3 Greg Henderson (7-UP Maxxis) 5:02:80
4 Eric Wohlberg (Saturn)       5:06:76
5 Chris Baldwin (Navigators)   5:08:31
6 Phil Zajicek (Saturn)        5:08:41
7 Danny Pate (Prime Alliance)  5:08:53
8 Henk Vogels (Navigators)     5:08:76
9 Dave Zabriske (US Postal)    5:09:03
10 Scott Guyton (Iteam-Nova)   5:09:88

12:40 EDT
Looks like Saturn is flexing its muscles once again. O'Neill's time is proving to be outstanding on this course. With 30 riders still left, including Dave McKenzie (Flanders iTeam Nova), Charles Dionne (Saturn), Massimiliano Mori (Formaggi Pinzolo Fiave), Fred Rodriguez (Vini Caldirola Sidermec), Chann McRae (Schroeder Iron), and the last rider off the blocks, Jonathan Vaughters (Prime Alliance), there are still some strong contenders left.

Navigator's GC contender Vassili Davidenko, has just finished, but failed to crack the top ten

12:45 EDT
Its appearing as if Saturn may have quite a few options going into tomorrow's long 223 kilometre stage from Augusta to Macon.

12:51 EDT
Tom Danielson (Saturn), has posted a time of 5:10:06, just out of the top ten, behind Aaron Olson (Schroeder Iron) who is currently sitting in 11th place with 18 riders still to finish.

No word on Floyd Landis (USPS) yet.

13:06 EDT
There have been no changes in the top 10, with Nathan O'Neill, Chris Horner (Saturn) and Greg Henderson (7Up) holding down the top three places. Henderson's teammate and Cyclingnews diarist John Lieswyn is about to start

13:12 EDT
US champion Chann McRae (Schroeder Iron) is just about to start his ride. After him will be Ben Jacques-Maynes (Sierra Nevada), Ted Huang (Webcor), Ciaran Power (Navigators), (Uros Murn (Formaggi Pinzolo), David O'Loughlin (OFoto) and last of all, Jonathan Vaughters (Prime Alliance).

13:25 EDT
John Lieswyn's time is an excellent 5:04:07, putting him in fourth place just behind teammate Greg Henderson. Following him in not long after is Canadian Roland Green, who nearly missed his start but posted a 5:08:60 to land himself in the top 10.

13:29 EDT
The last rider to start, Jonathan Vaughters (Prime Alliance) was on his way to a posting a great time, but crashed in one of the corners on the technical course and lost a minute. That means that Nathan O'Neill will take out the TT followed by Horner and Henderson.

Saturn and 7-UP Maxxis appear to have dominated the Prologue claiming the top 5 spots between them, Saturn with four riders in the top ten alone. Prime Alliance would be disappointed after their GC rider Vaughters lost a minute on such a short prologue but there is a lot of difficult stuff to come over the next 5 days.

Floyd Landis finished with a time of 5:21, well outside the top 10, however we can expect to see him in some early breaks in the next few days (thanks Will, from floydlandis.com).

That's it from the prologue of the Tour of Georgia. Be sure to check back with us for a full report and results later on. We'll be covering each stage live, starting from approximately 12:00EDT, subject to network coverage in the hinterlands of Georgia. We'll also be doing tomorrow's Fleche Wallonne live, starting at 14:00 local time (0800 EDT).

Results

Unofficial
1 Nathan O'Neill (Saturn)     4:58.22
2 Chris Horner (Saturn)       5:02.55
3 Greg Henderson (7UP-Maxxis) 5:02.80
4 John Lieswyn (7UP-Maxxis)   5:04.07
5 Eric Wohlberg (Saturn)      5:06.76
6 Chris Baldwin (Navigators)  5:08.31
7 Phil Zajicek (Saturn)       5:08.41
8 Danny Pate (Prime Alliance) 5:08.53
9 Roland Green (US Postal)    5:08.60
10 Henk Vogels (Navigators)   5:08.76

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