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Tour de Georgia - 2.3
Georgia, USA, April 20-25, 2004
Main Page Results Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 6 - April 24: Athens - Hiawassee/Young Harris, 206.4 km
Complete live report
Commentary by Kristy Scrymgeour, with additional reporting from Tim Maloney
10:05 EDT
Welcome to Stage Six of the Tour de Georgia. Today we begin in Athens, the home
town of the Jittery Joe's team, and travel north to cross Hogpen Gap at 135km,
finally arriving at the highest point in Georgia, Brasstown Bald, after 206km
of racing.
Yesterday was a tough day on the road, but today could be even tougher. The
first KOM is 11.2km and is said to be even harder than any of yesterday's climbs,
not to mention the mountain top finish which reaches 1426meters/4679ft in elevation.
Riders today will climb a total of 4,605 meters.
After yesterday's stage, where Jason Mccartney rode brilliantly to win, the
top ten riders on GC are
1 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor 17.02.19 2 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 0.24 3 Chris Horner (USA) Webcor Builders 0.51 4 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 1.06 5 Brian Vandborg (Den) Team CSC 1.30 6 Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor 1.31 7 Christopher Baldwin (USA) Navigators Insurance 1.37 8 Eric Wohlberg (Can) Sierra Nevada Cycling 1.39 9 Phil Zajicek (USA) Navigators Insurance 2.32 10 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor 2.37
10:11 EDT
Thousands of people came out to the Classic City, Athens, Georgia this morning
to see off the race. At least a third of the spectators were from out of state
and had traveled just to watch this stage. The weather is fine with temperatures
currently in the mid 70's.
10:14 EDT
A lot of riders have put 27 tooth rear cogs on their bikes today and the riders
who didn't are going to be in for quite a shock. The last five kilometers of
the race are very steep.
We talked to Cesar Grajales (Jittery Joe's) this morning who lives in this area
and has been training on this climb twice a week to get ready for the race.
He said it was very steep and that he knew the exact place to attack, but of
course he wasn't giving away any of his secrets.
10:16 EDT
We also talked to Chris Horner (Webcor) who said he attacked too late yesterday.
"The place to attack was in between the last two climbs," he said. "If we had
gone over the climb with just Lance [and not his teammates], things would have
been different."
10:24 EDT
We also talked to Daniel Rincon (USPS) today who has been doing a lot of work
for Lance Armstrong in the hills. He is really enjoying his time in the US.
It is his first race in the US racing with Lance and he says it is very special
for him, especially because they have the leader's jersey.
10:29 EDT 18km/188km to go
The race has been very active going out of town with constant attacks and they
have been riding at 50km/h from the start.
CSC, Colnago, Ofoto and Sierra Nevada have been very active but they are being
chased of course by Postal and also Health Net who are now riding to protect
McCartney and Jittery Joe's who want Grajales in good position for the climbs.
10:33 EDT
There is a break of ten riders including Eriksen (CSC), Durand (Colnago), Hincapie
(USPS), Power (Navigators), Fraser (Health Net), Ollerenshaw (Jelly Belly),
Lawler (Jittery Joe's), Schneider (Jittery Joe's), Stewart (Ofoto) and Rosenbarger
(Jitter Joe's).
They are riding hard, but so is the chasing bunch behind and it looks like they
will get caught soon.
10:35 EDT
The break got out to 17 seconds but is now down to 5 seconds and falling.
10:41 EDT
The break has been reeled in now and Colavita are attacking. There are a lot
of attacks on these wide open roads. The roads are slightly rolling at the moment
and there is a tailwind which is helping to move them along pretty quickly.
10:52 EDT 35km/171km to go
There is another break of eight riders now on the rolling hills. Russel Hamby
(Sierra Nevada) attacked solo and Eriksen (CSC) bridged to him taking with him
Louder (Navigators), Fraser (Health Net), Ellis (Jelly Belly), Hartley (Jittery
Joe's) and Saunders (Ofoto).
10:53 EDT
The gap is at 20 seconds and another rider has bridged to the break. The rider
is from the Saeco team.
Postal is chasing hard up a small rise. They have no-one in the break.
10:57 EDT 40km/166km to go
Three riders have bridged to the break, which is now at 30 seconds and stabilizing.
The three new riders are James Mattis (Webcor), Ivan Ravaioli (Barloworld) and
Alessio Galletti (Domina).
10:59 EDT 42km/164km to go
The break now has one minute to the peloton as the riders go through horse country
heading toward the hills. It looks like Postal is happy to let it stay out there
at this point.
11:07 EDT
To explain what I meant previously when I said that most of the riders have
a 27 on their bikes, I was talking about the easiest gear on the rear cog of
the bike. A normal gear ratio would be a 23 as the easiest gear and a 12 as
the hardest at the back. It is the number of teeth on the cog, the more teeth
the easier the gear. To go up a very steep climb like Brasstown Bald, it is
better to have a small gear so that you can keep somewhat of a rythm going up
the climb.
11:11 EDT 50km/156km to go
The break is now at 2 minutes. There is also an update to the break. Jacky Durand
(Colnago) is also in there and there is no Webcor rider in there. Jittery Joe's
rider Rosenbarger and Mattis (Webcor) just tried to bridge to the break but
they didn't make it and have been swallowed up by the field.
11:13 EDT
Three minutes is the gap now and these guys are riding hard up front. Postal
is once again manning the front of the peloton setting tempo.
11:20 EDT
For an update of Craig Lewis, the young TIAA Cref rider who was hit by a car
in the time trial on Thursday. He is recovering well in hospital. He has a few
broken ribs and a fracture in his leg and jaw, but he is in good spirits and
his parents are with him.
11:27 EDT 60km/146km to go
The gap is now up to 3'45" as they head to the first Maxxis sprint line. They
have 8km remaning to the sprint which is in Gainsville, Georgia. The old pro's
in the break are really driving it to get the maximum out of it before the hills.
At this rate they could have eight minutes before the first climb.
11:31 EDT 67km/139km to go
Another update on the break, Todd Herriot (Colavita) is also in the break, he
has been there from the start. The gap has now dropped a little and sits at
3'20" with 5km remaining until the sprint.
11:33 EDT
The sprint will be interesting because Gord Fraser is there and if he takes
the sprint he will be on equal points with Ivan Dominguez. There is another
sprint at 110km which will give Fraser the chance to go ahead of Dominguez in
the sprint points.
11:34 EDT
Colavita do have Herriott up there who will try to take the points from Fraser,
but Fraser is the better sprinter. What Herriott might do is attack before the
sprint.
11:37 EDT 72km/134km to go
Fraser has just taken the sprint from Durand and Saunders. He really didn't
sprint, he just rode tempo at the front of the break to take the points.
11:44 EDT 74km/132km to go
Alessio Galletti (Domina Vacanze) is the best placed rider in the break,
lying 20th at 3'58. It doesn't look like he will become the leader on the road
though, as the gap is still dropping and is now at 3'10. US Postal are setting
tempo on the front of the peloton with Lance sitting in 5th wheel, they are
simply keeping the gap under control.
11:52 EDT 80km/126km to go
The gap is starting to go up again with Galletti, Eriksen and Durand pushing
the pace. It is back up to 3'45" now, and Galletti is nearing being leader on
the road.
12:01 EDT 85km/121km to go
Matt Dubberly (Sierra Nevada) has just abandoned the race.
The break continue to work hard together with Galletti having somthing to ride
for. He is almost Maillot Jaune virtual.
12:08 EDT 90km/116km to go
Coming up in another 20km is the second Maxxis sprint line in Cleveland, Georgia.
Right now Fraser is the virtual sprint leader on the road having equaled his
points with Dominguez in the last sprint. He will be looking to take more points
in the next sprint to ensure that lead. That is his reason for being in the
break today.
12:12 EDT
It will be an exciting battle when we hit the mountains today. CSC have Voigt,
Julich and Vandborg to work with and will be on the attack to try to take the
lead away from Armstrong. Chris Horner (Webcor) will definitely attack, most
likely on the second climb of the day as he has already said he will not settle
for third place. His disadvantage is that he doesn't have as strong a team as
Postal and CSC in the hills, although his team will be protecting him as much
as possible until then.
12:13 EDT 95km/111km to go
The gap has fallen again to 3'20" with Postal determined not to let it get too
far out.
12:18 EDT
There is something strange going on in the peloton. Francesco Secchiari (Domina
Vacanze) is collaborating in the chase. His teammate up ahead is Galletti, who
would become race leader on the road if the gap stretches out, so it is a mystery
as to why he is helping with the chase.
12:20 EDT
If you look at the profile of this stage you will see that it is predominantly
uphill all the way. At the moment the roads are rolling hills as they head to
the mountains.
12:29 EDT 108km/98km to go
We are nearing the sprint now and there are hundreds of people lining to road
waiting for their piece of the action.
12:32 EDT
We figure that Postal has perhaps asked Domina for a bit of help today. Despite
the fact that Domina have Galletti up the road, they would know that with these
big mountains approaching, it's going to come back together, and there is still
tomorrow, a stage that Cipollini will want to go for. If Domina help out Postal
a bit today, they could get some help tomorrow from Postal.
12:33 EDT 110km/96km to go
Fraser has taken the second sprint of the day which puts him in the sprint points
lead by five points from Dominguez. Second in the sprint was Durand followed
by Ellis.
12:37 EDT
The break is up to 4'15" again but the break is a little disorganised at the
moment. Galletti is the leader on the road and has attacked out of the break.
He has a little gap on the break now and has been joined by another rider. The
rest of the break are looking at each other, not really getting organised.
12:39 EDT 113km/93km to go
They have just crested a little climb and they are going downhill, the road
is a little twisty at the moment.
12:42 EDT
The other ride with Galletti is Fraser and the pair have 30" on the rest of
the break.
12:45 EDT 116km/90km to go
The roads are getting hillier now and more twisty in the foothills as the race
approaches the mountains. The top of the first climb is 19km from here.
12:47 EDT
The temperature today is now about 80 degrees (25 C), so its going to be a hot
ride up the mountains, especially the final climb.
12:56 EDT 120km/86km to go
The riders in the break have just started climbing Hogpen. Galletti and Fraser
have 50" on the chase group now and 4'30" on the peloton. Hogpen gap is reknowned
as a hard climb, harder than anything yesterday.
12:57 EDT
All the top GC riders are back in the peloton sitting comfortably with Postal
still riding tempo on the front.
13:03 EDT
One rider of note, this being known as "the race to help defeat cancer", is
Ernie Lechuga (Jelly Belly), who had a great ride yesterday to finish in the
front group. A reader has written in to tell us that he also survived testicular
cancer and that Lance gave him some encouragement along the way. This is the
first time he has raced with Lance since battling cancer.
13:12 EDT 131km/75km to go
Galletti now has 5'00" on race leader Lance Armstrong. He has dropped Fraser
and the break has totally blown apart and are sitting about 10" apart in the
following order behing Fraser. Herriott (Colavita), Ellis (Jelly Belly), Hamby
(Sierra Nevada) and Saunders (Ofoto). Ravaioli (Barloworld) punctured 5km from
the top of the climb but is back in the action sitting behind Saunders.
13:12 EDT
Bobby Julich (CSC) is the first to attack out of the peloton on this first major
climb of the day.
13:14 EDT
Mike Sinyard, founder of Specialized bikes, is sitting in the Domina team car
today watching the race. He would certainly be happy to see Galletti on the
attack today.
13:17 EDT 134km/72km to go
Julich (CSC) has been caught by the peloton and Ricon and Padrnos (USPS) are
setting tempo on the front. Armstrong is sitting comfortably behind.
13:19 EDT 134.3km/71.7km to go
Galletti now has 1'10" on Fraser and 2'00" on Herriott as he approaches the
KOM at Hogpen. The peloton are catching riders from the break but are still
4'00" behind Galetti. He'll need a lot more than four minutes today though if
he's going to survive the bagarre on the final climb to Brasstown Bald.
13:25 EDT
The climb the riders are cresting now is really steep in the last 5km getting
up to a 20% gradient at time. Galletti is on the descent now which is really
fast for the first part. He'll be able to crank it up to about 90km/h going
down parts of this decent because it doesn't have a lot of sharp turns.
13:31 EDT
Galletti has increased his lead to Fraser. It is now 2'00". Herriott is behind
Fraser and the Lance Armstrong group is at 4'00". All the other original break
riders have been absorbed.
All the favourites are still with the main bunch. Cipollini's group went over
the climb about 3'00" down on the main group.
13:33 EDT
36 year old Alessio Galletti (Domina Vacanze) is better known as a domestique
rather than a race winner. However, in his 10 years as a pro, he has picked
up a handful of victories. He won a stage in the Tour de l'Ain in 1998 as well
as the GP Fred Mengoni in Italy in 2003. In 2001, he won a very hot stage solo
into Victor Habor in the Tour Down Under after a long breakaway.
He is looking good as he winds through the valleys. It is all rolling now until
they reach the final climb. Galletti is a tough rider and is riding very hard
today.
13:42 EDT 150km/56km to go
There is now 17 kilometers until the next Maxxis Sprint. The gaps on the road
remaint the same. Hundreds of people lined the road on the last climb and the
crowds are really gathering at Brasstown Bald for the finale. Again many cyclists
are riding up the hill to make it up there before the race comes up. Still 56km
to go until that happens.
13:48 EDT 152km/54km to go
The terrain is beautiful here in high horse country, very reminiscent of the
Ardennes. It is rolling hills through the valley. Galletti's team car has finally
made it up to him to give him some much needed food and fluids. He now has 4'20"
on the main bunch. Fraser is 1'45" behind him and Herriott 2'30".
13:58 EDT 162km/44km to go
Glen Mitchell (Sierra Nevada), John Murphy (Jittery Joe's) and Nieko Bisker
(Ofoto) have abandoned the race.
13:59 EDT 162km/44km to go
We have 5km to before the third sprint of the day. Galletti is still 4'20" on
the front bunch. Fraser is 3'20" behind Galletti and Herriott has been absorbed
by the bunch.
14:01 EDT 167km/39km to go
Galetti has crossed the sprint line and Fraser will take second place in a couple
of minutes to increase his lead in the sprint competition.
14:07 EDT 171km/35km to go
Galletti has 3'55" on the peloton at the moment. The gap is falling a little
now as we head towards the final climb. Fraser still sits in the middle about
a minute in front of the peloton but it is likely that he will sit up now and
wait for the bunch, as he has done what he set out to do and taken as many sprint
points as he could.
14:08 EDT
The sprint results are Galletti, Fraser with Dominguez taking the sprint out
of the bunch for third.
14:10 EDT 174km/32km to go
Fraser has been caught and the gap to Galletti has fallen to 2'55" as they head
up a long drag on a wide, four lane highway.
14:14 EDT 177km/29km to go
With only 30km remaining in the race, the main bunch has about 50 riders in
it. All the big guns are in the group and a lot of guys who were dropped on
the climb got back on during the descent.
14:14 EDT
The gap is back out to 3'40" as the peloton slowed a little going up the long
flat drag.
14:25 EDT 186km/20km to go
The final climb actually starts now with 20km remaining. It is the last 5km
that is really steep and where the race will be won or lost. Get ready to see
the attacks come up here. Galletti has just started the climb and his gap to
the peloton is down again to 3'06".
14:30 EDT
The gap is down again now to 2'40" as the peloton starts revving it up for this
final climb. This is the last chance in the tour for the GC to really get shaken
up. We should be watching for attacks from all the riders in the top 10 on GC.
Those are:
1 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor 17.02.19
2 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 0.24
3 Chris Horner (USA) Webcor Builders 0.51
4 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 1.06
5 Brian Vandborg (Den) Team CSC 1.30
6 Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor 1.31
7 Christopher Baldwin (USA) Navigators Insurance 1.37
8 Eric Wohlberg (Can) Sierra Nevada Cycling 1.39
9 Phil Zajicek (USA) Navigators Insurance 2.32
10 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal Service presented by Berry Floor 2.37
But we will also expect an attack from riders such as Grajales, who trains in
this area and knows the climb well. He'll be going for a stage win today.
14:32 EDT
CSC will be trying to work over Lance Armstrong, but he has Hincapie by his
side at all times and a strong team of climbers to help him in the hills.
14:35 EDT 190km/16km to go
The road was going upwards at 20km to go in the foothills, but in reality the
climb starts at 10km to go. Galletti has just over 2'00", he is getting tired.
The peloton are stretched right across the road right now, and not in single
file like they were before. They are just rolling towards the climb preparing
themselves for the onslaught.
14:45 EDT 14km/192km to go
The gap is 2'40" now but the peloton look like they have picked up the pace.
They have just turned onto Owl Creek road and the road has narrowed to two lanes.
There are a lot of small groups of spectators on the side of the road and families
sitting in their pickup trucks watching the race go by.
14:46 EDT
There are big clouds looming at the top of the mountain and the last one kilometer
of the climb is total white out.
14:49 EDT
Apparently, back in the good old days of toeclips (1988-1989) the Athens Twilight
Criterium was an omnium weekend and all categories had a ITT up the last five
kilometers of Brasstown. I'm sure there'll be people out there checking their
times with the pace today!
14:57 EDT
The race is lost in the mountains momentarily.
15:03 EDT
As soon as we get any coverage at all, we'll give you an update.
15:05 EDT
A rider who will be giving it everything today is Eric Wohlberg (Sierra Nevada).
He is the classic domestique and is always giving 100% to his teammates. In
this race, he is sitting 8th on GC and can ride for himself, as his teammate
Trent Klasna abandoned the race a few days ago.
15:15 EDT
There is approximately about 5km to go in the race and we do apologise for not
being able to give updates at this moment when it is all happening. As soon
as we can find out anything, you will get it. The race is right in the
middle of the mountains, so there is not even any cell phone coverage to resort
to.
15:29 EDT
To recap, we are approaching the end of the deciding stage to Brasstown Bald,
where Alessio Galletti (Domina Vacanze) is trying to pull off an unlikely stage
win after having been in a break all day. The Italian started the climb with
a 2'40 lead on the peloton, which may not be enough to hold them off.
Unfortunately, the race has disappeared into the clouds as it were, and we have
had no contact with race radio or any of the race officials since the climb
started. (There is no TV coverage). We're trying our best to find someone though.
Aha, success...
15:30 EDT 206km/0km to go
A report has come in from Chris Brewer (Lancearmstrong.com), who is in the US
Postal team car:
"In an epic battle to the top of Brasstown Bald Mountain in northern GA, it
was Jittery Joe's Cesar Grajales winning the dramatic stage, but Lance was there
in third place on CSC's Jens Voigt's wheel. Lance retains the yellow jersey
and should take the overall title tomorrow! The day was dominated by Team USPS
as they let a small break go up the road but then took over at the base of the
final climb."
Once again, apologies that our high tech tin can-and-string failed at the final
hurdle. We're putting in a request for a Tour de Georgia mobile cell network
for next year. We can always hope...
Results
Top 3 1 Cesar Grajales (Jittery Joe's) 2 Jens Voigt (CSC) 3 Lance Armstrong (USPS) General Classification after stage 6 1 Lance Armstrong (USPS) 2 Jens Voigt (CSC)
