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Tour of California - 2.1
USA, February 19-26, 2006
Main Page Results & report Stage Details Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 3 - February 22: San José Time Trial, 27.4km
Commentary by Kristy Scrymgeour, with additional reporting from Mark Zalewski
Complete live report
10:38 PST
Welcome back to the Cyclingnews live
coverage of the Tour of California. After a gruelling day in the hills yesterday
which saw a group of only 22 guys make it to the finish line in the front group,
today is another stage that will have a big effect on the overall standings
of this race. Yesterday Georgie Hincapie took out the 22 man sprint and earned
a ten second time bonus which moved him into the lead in front of former leader
Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner) and Bobby Julich (CSC), who sit in second and
third respectively. The top ten at this point are:
1 George Hincapie (USA)
Discovery Channel 7.20.28
2 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 0.04
3 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 0.09
4 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak Hearing
Systems 0.10
5 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC 0.13
6 Cadel Evans (Aus)
Davitamon-Lotto 0.16
7 Christopher Horner (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 0.19
8 Thomas Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel 0.21
9 Christian Vandevelde
(USA) Team CSC
10 Michael Barry (Can) Discovery Channel 0.22
All of the top 22 riders have a chance to move into the leaders jersey today,
but anyone after that would have to make up over three minutes and as we say
in Australia, they've got buckleys (No chance). They'll be using today as a
rest day so that they'll be fresh to help their GC guys in the upcoming stages.
Of course there will be those out there who might want to go for a stage win
today so there will be others to watch out for.
10:41 PST
Some of you might want to note that
we have changed the URL of our live coverage so if you're looking for the live
coverage on a WAP enabled handset (Blackberry etc), the URL is live.cyclingnews.com/wap.
10:58 PST
The time trial is set over 27.4km
of undulating roads on the outskirts of San Jose through the Chesbro and Calero
Reservoirs. Starting on Bailey Avenue it heads out to Celebro Resevoir and turns
left onto McKean Rd. When it reaches Chesbro Resevoir it turns left onto Oak
Glen Avenue and onto Willow Springs Rd before another left onto the flatter
road of Hale Ave/Santa Theresa Blvd. towards the finish. At this point there
is not much wind to speak of but that could change as the day goes on. Its another
sunny day and temperatures are expected to be in the high 60's.
11:02 PST
The start list for today goes is reverse
order of CG so won't be seeing the GC guys hit it out until the very end. The
first rider off the blocks is Domingo Gonzalez (KB Home Mexican National Team),
followed by Gustavo Artacho (Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home Wines) a minute
later.
11:11 PST
We caught up with Johan Bruyneel this
morning who says this is a good course for George. "Of course its a good course
for other riders too," he said. "George is just going to go full gas and see
what he can do. We rode the course yesterday and again this morning so he knows
it well."
He added, "Whoever takes the jersey today will hold it for the
rest of the week."
So definitely an important stage today!
11:16 PST
Five riders abandoned the race yesterday.
One was Ivan Dominguez (Toyota United Pro) due to a crash last week and four
riders from the Mexican National Team.
11:18 PST
As well as the leaders jersey, George
also holds the sprint jersey after yesterdays stage. Bernhard Kohl (T-Mobile)
held onto the mountain jersey and best young rider is Thomas Peterson (TIAA
CREF).
11:25 PST
We have 24 riders on the course right
now. If they travel at about 40km/h, we'll see the first rider arriving in about
15 minutes.
11:29 PST
The first rider reached the midway
split point in 16'45". We're not sure exactly how many km into the course this
is but we'll keep his time split as a marker for riders to come.
11:30 PST
One rider who did not start today
is Jose Alberto Benitez Roman (Prodir Saunier Duval).
11:32 PST
We're not sure why the Mexican National
Team are pulling out. The pace has been pretty fast with this big international
field, so this is likely to be one reason. It could be too early in the season,
as it is for some riders.
11:35 PST
We also heard from CSC Team Director
Scott Sunderland who commented on some of yesterdays tactics. "If Leipheimer
and Landis had waited for Zabriskie," he said, "they might have made it to the
finish line alone," pointing out that if Zabriskie had been in the lead group
CSC would have had no motivation to chase the leaders. Sunderland also told
Cyclingnews he was pleased to see Zabriskie able to stay so close to a climber
like Leipheimer.
Sunderland is optimistic about the team's chances
in today's time-trial. "We've got about as big a chance as anyone at this moment,"
Sunderland said. "Dave can do a solid time trial. He's really motivated."
11:39 PST
Gord Fraser is on the road now. Here
is one rider who is a little disappointed with his tour so far. We caught up
with him before the TT. "I've been pretty unlucky," he said. " I punctured on
the final circuits on stage one and yesterday my chain was dropping on the climbs.
I really wore myself out chasing yesterday," he added, "today will be a recovery
ride." He also added the he thinks the points jersey is out of reach for him
now, so he'll be concentrating on stage wins from here on in.
11:40 PST
The riders are off at 1 minute intervals
until the last nine riders who will have two minute gas between them.
11:43 PST
The first rider has now finished with
a time of 39'33.60. This was Domingo Gonzalez (KB Home Mexican National Team)
11:46 PST
Lots of spectators gather around both
the start and the finish areas today. Its a good day to check out the cool time
trial equipment that the teams are using. There are also a lot of people out
along the course. A few good viewing points are:
-IBM Silicon Valley Labs,
555 Bailey Avenue
-Bailey Hill (west of IBM)
-Bailey Avenue at McKean
Road
-Cinnabar Hills Golf Course (hill south of Cinnabar Hills Golf Course)
-Uvas Road at Oakglen Avenue
-Oakglen Avenue at Willow Springs Road
-Top of Willow Springs Hill
-Willow Springs Road at Hale Avenue
-Santa Teresa Boulevard at Bailey Avenue
-Santa Teresa Boulevard at Bayliss
Drive (just south on the small hill)
-Finish Line: Bernal Rd between Chantilley
Lane and Avenida Espana
11:47 PST
Vassili Davidenko (Navigators) just
posted a 39'00"
11:49 PST
Jens Voigt (CSC) is on course. He
is ten minutes down after yesterday so he'll be taking it fairly easy today.
12:02 PST
Somebody asked about team tactics
and whether all members of the team would be going hard today. Certainly those
team members in the top 20 with any chance of being up there on CG, will be
going hard. For example Danielson will also being going as hard he can, even
though his teammate is in the leaders jersey. Its good for teams to have a few
members of the team high on CG so that they have options in the days to come.
Other team memebers however will be taking it a little easier. That is they'll
ride just fast enough to make sure they make the time cut. Its usually 10% of
the fastest riders time.
12:03 PST
There is a new best time. Lars Bak
posted a 38.00 flat.
12:06 PST
We have just found out that the time
cut today is actually 15%. That means that riders have to make sure that they
come in with a time that is no more than 15% more than the winners time. This
rule is in place so that riders don't take too much advantage of the rest day
and just roll along.
12:12 PST
Michael Friedman (TIAA CREF) now sits
in second place behind Lars Bak. He posted a time of 38'14". The TIAA CREF team
are doing extremely well here. They hold the young riders jersey as well.
12:14 PST
World TT champion Mick Rogers (T-Mobile)
has just finished with a time of 38'16" which puts him in third place. Young
Michael Friedman is ahead of him.
12:16 PST
Freddy Rodriguez (Davitamon Lotto)
just finished with a time of 38'41".
12:22 PST
The fastest average speed so far is
43km/h.
12:31 PST
We just spoke with Aaron Olsen (Saunier
Duval-Prodir). He has just finished his ride and tells us about the course.
"There are a few tough hills on the way out. You know, not hard hills, but hard
for a time trial. I just tried to keep my cadence up so that I wasn't loading
up my legs too much. The final 15km section was mostly flat but there was a
headwind which made it pretty hard."
12:31 PST
Jens Voigt has moved into second place
so far with a time of 38'04.78.
12:35 PST
Stuart O'Grady (CSC) has set a new
best time of 37'45.20....no hang on. His time has been taken over already by
his teammate Fabian Cancellara. Cancellara posted a 37'01.19.
12:41 PST
Cancellara is no stranger to time
trials. He is two time Jr. World TT champion (1998-99) and he won the Prologue
in the Tour de France a couple of years ago.
12:44 PST
Nathan O'Neill is about to start now.
He is seven time Australian National Time Trial Champion and will be giving
it everything today. He had a great ride yesterday and was able to get over
the hills and finish with the lead group yesterday. He now sits in 18th place,
five seconds down on Hincapie.
12:45 PST
So its time for the big guns. Anyone
from here on in is still up there with a chance on GC.
12:48 PST
Our reporter, Mark Zalewski will be
in the team car with CSC Director Scott Sunderland today following Bobby Julich.
12:49 PST
The UCI judges have held back Gilberto
Simoni due to his bike being too light. They are still weighing it.
12:49 PST
They held him back a minute and let
Jason McCartney start in front of him and now they're starting him. That means
that he loses over a minute.
12:54 PST
Vladmir Gusev (Discovery) has posted
a time of 37'01.75 moving into second place.
12:54 PST
Tom Danielson has had the same problem
with his bike being too light but he has managed to get a new bike to the line
in time for his start and won't lose any time.
12:56 PST
Hunter has moved into third place
right now.
12:56 PST
Chris Horner is just about to start.
12:57 PST
Danielson is now up on the start podium.
Ready to start. He actually has Johan Bruyneel driving behind him today.
13:00 PST
Cadel is on the start line now. He
is currently in 6th place, 16 seconds down on Hincapie.
13:00 PST
The weight for these time trial bikes
is 6.8kg. Anything under that is not allowed.
13:02 PST
Zabriskie is on the road now too.
He will be one to watch of course.
13:03 PST
A correction on what I said earlier
about Nathan O'Neill. I was looking at yesterdays stage results instead of the
GC results. O'Neill is actually 25 seconds down on GC after yesterday.
13:09 PST
Bobby Julich has just started. He
is currently 9" down on Hincapie and 5" down on Leipheimer.
Our reporter
is following Julich. He says the course immediately goes uphill. It gets steep
enough that he has to get out of the saddle. He did pre-ride the course so he
knows it well.
13:10 PST
Viatcheslav Ekimov has just finished
his ride with a time of 37'45.03. This puts him in 4th place behind Robert Hunter.
13:17 PST
A very fast time by Hayden Roulston
(Health Net/Maxxis). He has great form right now. He posted a time of 37'06.66
and moved into third place.
13:19 PST
I was going to post mid way splits
for you along the way, but there is no official point of the road where splits
are being taken, so we'll have to wait for the finish.
13:27 PST
New fastest time by Nathan O'Neill
(Health Net/Maxxis). His time is 36'55.74.
13:30 PST
Julich is looking good out on the
road, he has just turned onto Hale which is the flat straight section all the
way to the finish. There is one small hill along the way but there's also a
headwind. Sunderland is expecting Julich to post about a minute faster than
Cancellara.
Bjarne Riis was saying earlier that Cancellara was descending
very quickly. He said he descended faster than he has seen anyone else go on
a TT bike. Thats impressive.
13:31 PST
Julich has taken the radio out of
his ear so Sunderland has to yell out the window. This is frustrating Sunderland.
He know the splits from Fabian and Bobby is doing better.
13:32 PST
Simoni has finished. Remember that
he missed his start so lost about a minute. He posted a 41'25.28.
13:32 PST
Scott predicts that this long flat
section into the headwind can be where Bobby can win the race.
13:33 PST
Christian Vandevelde (CSC) has finished
in a time of 37'42.01.
13:33 PST
Horner has 1km to go.
13:34 PST
Chris Horner finished with a time
of 38'06.43.
13:36 PST
Danielson is finishing now. He did
a 37'41.10.
13:39 PST
A new best time for Zabriskie - 36'24.53.
13:40 PST
Landis has set a new best time! 35'58.91
13:41 PST
Julich is cresting the final hill
with just 1km to go.
13:42 PST
400m to go for Julich.
13:42 PST
Julich's time is 36'33.89. Floyd still
holds the lead.
13:43 PST
Only two riders left now. Leipheimer
and Hincapie.
13:44 PST
Leipheimer is at 1km to go. Floyd
needs a time six seconds faster than him.
13:45 PST
Leipheimer posts 37'14.97. Landis
is ahead of him on CG.
1km to go for Hincapie
13:48 PST
George finished with a fourth place
time.
13:51 PST
This moved Floyd into the leaders
jersey and from what everybody says, its going to be hard for anybody to get
it back after this.
13:54 PST
So another day of racing and the jersey
has changed hands yet again. Thanks for tuning in. Full results will be posted
shortly and we'll be back for tomorrows 210km stage from Monterey to San Luis
Obispo.
Unofficial brief results 1 Floyd Landis (Phonak) 35'58.91 2 David Zabriskie (CSC) 36'24.53 3 Bobby Julich (CSC) 36'33.89 4 George Hincapie (Discovery) 36'53.05 5 Nathan O'Neill (Health Net/Maxxis 36'55'74 6 Fabian Cancellara (CSC) 37'01.19 7 Vladmir Gusev (Discovery) 37'01.75 8 Hayden Roulston (Health Net/Maxxis) 37.06.66 9 Levi Leipheimer (Gerolsteiner 37'14.97 10 Robert Hunter (Phonak) 37'27.21 11 Tom Danielson (Discovery) 37'41.10 12 Christian Vandevelde (CSC) 37'42.01 13 Viatcheslav Ekimov (Discovery) 37'45.03 14 Stuart O'Grady (CSC) 37'45.20 15 Lars Bak (CSC) 38'00.27 16 Jens Voigt (CSC) 38.04.78 17 Michael Friedman (TIAA CREF) 38'14.93 18 Mick Rogers (T-Mobile) 38'16"
