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Rodriguez, Horner the big winners in Georgia shake-up
Chris Horner wanted a hard day. He got it.
On Saturday’s stage 4 at the Dodge Tour de Georgia, the race blew apart as anticipated, and the major players of the first four days were all in the spotlight. Navigators and Henk Vogels were on the hotseat after defending the race lead for the past two stages; Horner and Saturn were in the driver's seat, with a course finally suited to their strengths; and Fred Rodriguez continued to exact his revenge following the time penalty he was assessed on stage 1. In the end, Rodriguez won his second stage in a row, Horner took the yellow jersey, and Vogels and Navigators saw their G.C. chances disappear into the backwoods of Georgia.
The highly anticipated 126-mile stage between Dalton and Gainesville took the Tour de Georgia into the beautiful Chattahoochee National Forest, and incorporated two KOM climbs and miles and miles of rugged rolling terrain.
The day started under gray skies and the threat of storms, which thankfully never materialized. After best-young-rider classification leader Saul Raisin (Ofoto-Lombardi Sports) was awarded the key to the city in his hometown of Dalton, the peloton rolled through three neutral laps and then headed out onto the road.
The attacks began immediately, and by the 10-mile mark, a strong group of seven took shape on fast, twisty roads outside of town. Included in the group were Phil Zajicek (Saturn), Floyd Landis (U.S. Postal Service), Patrick Heaney (Webcor), Aaron Olson (Schroeder Iron), Peter Knudsen (Schroeder Iron), Svein Tuft (Prime Alliance) and Dominique Perras (Flanders-iTeamNova).
At the first sprint point, at 19.1 miles, Zajicek took the three-second bonus, followed by Tuft and Perras, and then the seven riders hit the lower slopes of the 8.25-mile Fort Mountain climb.
The move was perfect for Saturn, Postal and Prime Alliance, but bad news for the Navigators, which missed the break. With the gap to the main field at over two minutes when the break hit the climb, Zajicek was the race leader on the road, with Tuft next best placed. As the break went up the gentle but steady climb, Horner was happy to sit back and take it easy.
"We were thinking we were going to have to light it up on the climb, but we got the one [other] scenario that we had to get. We got Phil Zajicek in the group and he was the leader on the road," said Horner. "That left us with fresh legs to hit it really hard on the second KOM."
The only G.C. contender with real problems on the first climb was 7UP-Maxxis’s John Lieswyn, who flatted twice at the bottom of the climb. Lieswyn got back on, but said, "I kind of panicked a little, and used a lot more energy than I needed to."
Meanwhile, Navigators was forced to chase, because of the danger posed by Zajicek. Over the top of the climb, the lead had grown to 2:45, with Heaney having dropped off the pace, and as the race rolled on through the forest, the now six leaders increased the lead to as much as 3:45 by40 miles into the race.
Behind, Navigators was putting all its efforts into keeping Vogels in yellow, but even with some assistance from Jelly Belly and Rabobank, the gap was slow in coming down. Olson dropped off the pace of the break as well, having waited for a bridging Chann McRae who never made it across. The remaining five riders would stay off all the way to the 85-mile mark on the second climb of the day at Woody Gap.
When the main field hit the Woody Gap climb, Saturn put it all on the line, just as it had been preparing for all week long. Horner, Nathan O’Neill and Tom Danielson went to the head of the field. "The Saturn guys were really strong. They just drilled it up the hill," said U.S. Postal’s Michael Barry, who made the final split along with teammates David Zabriskie and Roland Green, and Rodriguez and Flanders-iTeamNova’s Allan Iacuone.
Over the top of the climb, those eight leaders had a gap of about 55 seconds over the first chase group of about 12, while Vogels was still further down the road. On the long, fast descent, though, things began to regroup behind, with the peloton swelling back to about 30 riders. Vogels, though, was still in a group of about seven a little further back when the pack rolled through the town of Dahlonega, where the biggest crowds of the week showed up to cheer the riders on.
"There was a [lead] group of eight or nine, and then a group of 30, and then we were with seven, but only three would work, so I was pretty much in no man’s land," said Vogels, who would finish far behind the main field.
In that field of 30, not enough riders were committed to bringing back the leaders, according to Lieswyn. "We only had six or seven guys chasing at one time," he said. "That wasn’t enough to bring it back."
Instead, the leaders poured it on on the rolling hills heading toward Gainesville, with Postal and Saturn doing the bulk of the work. "We got three Postals, Freddy and three of us, and we just drove it as hard as we could," said Horner.
With their advantage hovering around one minute, the leaders couldn’t afford to mess around, and shared the work until about 5km to go. Then, Postal knew its best hope was to launch attack after attack, but each time they were foiled by Saturn’s O’Neill, who wanted to make sure that Horner finished no worse than second on the stage, so that Rodriguez wouldn’t gain too much of an advantage through the finish-line time bonuses.
As they came down to the finish, Green and Barry tried one last attack on the finishing straight, but when Rodriguez led out the sprint, it was all over for the Postals. Rodriguez took his second stage win, while Horner swept his wheel and got the needed second-place finish.
For Rodriguez, the victory was bittersweet, knowing that he could have been in the running for the overall victory if not for the stage 1 time penalty. "I’m really happy for what I’ve done, but it really made what was done to me at the beginning a lot worse," he said.
Horner and Saturn, though, all but wrapped up the overall win with the Saturday’s result, and there was time for a little more talk to back up the riding. "Like I said from day one, Saturn is the strongest team and we’ve been winning races left and right all season long, and we’re not gonna stop now," said Horner.
Meanwhile, click here to see how the final miles of today's race unfolded.1. Fred Rodriguez, Sidermec Vini Caldirola, 199km in 4:49:22
2. Chris Horner, Saturn
3. Alan Iacuone, Flanders Iteamnova
4. Roland Green, U.S. Postal Service
5. Michael Barry, U.S. Postal Service, all s.t.
6. David Zabriskie, U.S. Postal Service, at 0:05
7. Nathan O'Neill, Saturn, at 0:05
8. Tom Danielson, Saturn, at 0:05
9. Scott Guyton, Flanders Iteamnova, at 1:18
10. David Clinger, Prime Alliance, at 1:23
11. Uros Murn, Formaggi Pinzolo, at 1:23
12. Mauro Gerosa, Sidermec Vini Caldirola, at 1:23
13. Jeff Louder, Navigators, at 1:23
14. Chad Hartley, Jittery Joe’s Coffee, at 1:23
15. Steve Larsen, Webcor Cycling, at 1:23
16. Jacques-maynes Ben, Sierra Nevada/Clif Bar, at 1:23
17. Vincent Van Rijn, Netherlands National, at 1:23
18. David O'Loughlin, Ofoto/Lombardi Sports, at 1:23
19. Tim Larkin, Ofoto/Lombardi Sports, at 1:23
20. Andrea Masciarelli, Sidermec Vini Caldirola, at 1:23
21. Chann Mcrae, Schroeder Iron, at 1:23
22. Jonathan Hamblen, Team West Virginia, at 1:23
23. Danny Pate, Prime Alliance, at 1:23
24. John Lieswyn, at 7Up/Maxxis, at 1:23
25. Grischa Niermann, Rabobank , at 1:23
26. Mauro Radelli, Sidermec Vini Caldirola, at 1:23
27. Jacob Erker, Schroeder Iron, at 1:23
28. Kevin De Weert, Rabobank , at 1:23
29. Phil Zajicek, Saturn, at 1:23
30. Floyd Landis, U.S. Postal Service, at 1:23
31. Saul Raisin, Ofoto/Lombardi Sports, at 1:23
32. Matteo Cappe', Formaggi Pinzolo, at 1:30
33. Andy Bajadali, Ofoto/Lombardi Sports, at 1:43
34. Ronald Mutsaars, Rabobank , at 1:43
35. Thorwald Veneberg, Rabobank , at 1:43
36. Jonathan Vaughters, Prime Alliance, at 4:54
37. Adham Sbeih, Sierra Nevada/Clif Bar, at 9:53
38. Antonio Cruz, U.S. Postal Service, at 12:27
39. Christopher Baldwin, Navigators, at 12:27
40. Roman Peter, Ofoto/Lombardi Sports, at 12:27
41. Henk Vogels, Navigators, at 12:27
42. Matt Decanio, Prime Alliance, at 12:27
43. Benjamin Brooks, Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing, at 12:27
44. Adam Livingston, Schroeder Iron, at 12:27
45. Massimilano Mori, Formaggi Pinzolo, at 12:27
46. David De La Fuente, Sidermec Vini Caldirola, at 12:27
47. Svein Tuft, Prime Alliance, at 12:27
48. Jacob Rosenbarger, Jittery Joe’s Coffee, at 18:52
49. Chris Pic, at 7Up/Maxxis, at 21:00
50. Derek Wilkerson, Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing, at 21:00
51. Marco Gilli, Sidermec Vini Caldirola, at 21:00
52. Troy White, Sierra Nevada/Clif Bar, at 21:00
53. Matt Dubberley, Sierra Nevada/Clif Bar, at 21:00
54. Jason Bausch, Schroeder Iron, at 21:00
55. Scottie Weiss, Team West Virginia, at 21:00
56. Dion Murk, Netherlands National, at 21:00
57. Conor Hurley, Team West Virginia, at 21:00
58. Dario Falquier, Webcor Cycling, at 21:00
59. James Mattis, Webcor Cycling, at 21:00
60. Jurgen Landrie, Flanders Iteamnova, at 21:00
61. Nieko Biskner, Sierra Nevada/Clif Bar, at 21:00
62. Todd Littlehales, Sierra Nevada/Clif Bar, at 21:00
63. Jonathan Erdelyi, Ofoto/Lombardi Sports, at 21:00
64. Maarten Den Bakker, Rabobank , at 21:00
65. Robbie Ventura, U.S. Postal Service, at 21:00
66. Jonathan Sundt, Jittery Joe’s Coffee, at 21:00
67. Vassili Davidenko, Navigators, at 21:00
68. Brent Dawson, Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing, at 21:00
69. Chris Fisher, Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing, at 21:00
70. David Wenger, Team West Virginia, at 21:00
71. Michael Jones, Team West Virginia, at 21:00
72. Angermannjeff, Webcor Cycling, at 21:00
73. Patrick Heaney, Webcor Cycling, at 21:00
74. Shawn Willard, Colavita-Bolla, at 21:00
75. Eric Wohlberg, Saturn, at 21:00
76. Alex Candelario, Prime Alliance, at 21:00
77. Wouters Mol, Netherlands National, at 21:00
78. Addy Engels, Rabobank , at 21:00
79. Floris Goesinnen, Netherlands National, at 21:00
80. Markus Wimmer, Formaggi Pinzolo, at 21:00
81. Kirk Albers, Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing, at 21:00
82. Tyler Wren, Colavita-Bolla, at 21:00
83. Jos Pronk, Netherlands National, at 21:00
84. Dominique Perras, Flanders Iteamnova, at 21:00
85. Bobbie Traksel, Rabobank , at 21:00
86. Charles Dionne, Saturn, at 21:00
87. John Peters, Prime Alliance, at 21:00
88. Russell Hambey, Ofoto/Lombardi Sports, at 21:00
89. Douglas Ziewacz, at 7Up/Maxxis, at 21:00
90. Antonio Rizzi, Formaggi Pinzolo, at 21:00
91. Gustavo Artacho, Colavita-Bolla, at 21:00
92. Mark Mccormack, Saturn, at 21:00
93. Erik Saunders, Ofoto/Lombardi Sports, at 21:00
94. Tim Johnson, Saturn, at 21:00
95. David Mckenzie, Flanders Iteamnova, at 21:00
96. Moreno Di Biase, Formaggi Pinzolo, at 21:00
97. Gabrielle Balducci, Sidermec Vini Caldirola, at 21:00
98. Trent Wilson, Flanders Iteamnova, at 21:00
99. Brice Jones, at 7Up/Maxxis, at 21:00
100. Kevin Monahan, at 7Up/Maxxis, at 21:00
101. Ciaran Power, Navigators, at 21:00
102. Laurens Ten Dam, Netherlands National, at 21:00
103. Meza Flores Miguel Angel, Schroeder Iron, at 21:00
104. Oscar Pineda, at 7Up/Maxxis, at 21:00
105. Gregory Henderson, at 7Up/Maxxis, at 21:00
106. Mitchell Glen Anthony, Navigators, at 21:00
107. Mark Fitzgerald, Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing, at 21:00
108. Dane Jankowiak, Schroeder Iron, at 21:00
109. Pete Knudsen, Schroeder Iron, at 21:00
110. Mccartney Jason, at 7Up/Maxxis, at 21:00
111. Damon Kluck, U.S. Postal Service, at 21:00
112. Aaron Olsen, Schroeder Iron, at 21:00
113. Mariano Friedick, Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing, at 21:00
114. Brian Forbes, Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing, at 44:25
115. Chris Baumann, Sierra Nevada/Clif Bar, at 44:25
116. Dirk Peetoom, Netherlands National, at 44:25
117. Andrew Deters, Jittery Joe’s Coffee, at 44:25
Overall, after 4 Stages
1. Chris Horner, Saturn, 19:57:57
2. Nathan O'Neill, Saturn, at 0:12
3. Roland Green, U.S. Postal Service, at 0:18
4. Fred Rodriguez, Sidermec Vini Caldirola, at 0:18
5. Michael Barry, U.S. Postal Service, at 0:21
6. David Zabriskie, U.S. Postal Service, at 0:24
7. Tom Danielson, Saturn, at 0:25
8. Alan Iacuone, Flanders Iteamnova, at 0:27
9. John Lieswyn, at 7Up/Maxxis, at 1:37
10. Scott Guyton, Flanders Iteamnova, at 1:37
11. David Clinger, Prime Alliance, at 1:38
12. Danny Pate, Prime Alliance, at 1:40
13. Phil Zajicek, Saturn, at 1:41
14. Jeff Louder, Navigators, at 1:44
15. Jacob Erker, Schroeder Iron, at 1:46
16. David O'Loughlin, Ofoto/Lombardi Sports, at 1:46
17. Tim Larkin, Ofoto/Lombardi Sports, at 1:47
18. Chann Mcrae, Schroeder Iron, at 1:49
19. Jacques-maynes Ben, Sierra Nevada/Clif Bar, at 1:49
20. Saul Raisin, Ofoto/Lombardi Sports, at 1:51
21. Uros Murn, Formaggi Pinzolo, at 1:53
22. Grischa Niermann, Rabobank , at 1:53
23. Chad Hartley, Jittery Joe’s Coffee, at 1:56
24. Kevin De Weert, Rabobank , at 1:58
25. Mauro Gerosa, Sidermec Vini Caldirola, at 1:58
26. Steve Larsen, Webcor Cycling, at 2:00
27. Vincent Van Rijn, Netherlands National, at 2:08
28. Mauro Radelli, Sidermec Vini Caldirola, at 2:09
29. Floyd Landis, U.S. Postal Service, at 2:12
30. Ronald Mutsaars, Rabobank , at 2:15
31. Andy Bajadali, Ofoto/Lombardi Sports, at 2:18
32. Thorwald Veneberg, Rabobank , at 2:58
33. Andrea Masciarelli, Sidermec Vini Caldirola, at 3:02
34. Jonathan Hamblen, Team West Virginia, at 3:24
35. Jonathan Vaughters, Prime Alliance, at 9:03
36. Matteo Cappe', Formaggi Pinzolo, at 10:38
37. Henk Vogels, Navigators, at 12:27
38. Matt Decanio, Prime Alliance, at 12:49
39. Christopher Baldwin, Navigators, at 12:54
40. Antonio Cruz, U.S. Postal Service, at 12:54
41. Roman Peter, Ofoto/Lombardi Sports, at 12:57
42. Adam Livingston, Schroeder Iron, at 12:58
43. Benjamin Brooks, Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing, at 12:59
44. Svein Tuft, Prime Alliance, at 13:06
45. David De La Fuente, Sidermec Vini Caldirola, at 14:21
46. Massimilano Mori, Formaggi Pinzolo, at 16:34
47. Adham Sbeih, Sierra Nevada/Clif Bar, at 20:05
48. Meza Flores Miguel Angel, Schroeder Iron, at 21:19
49. Eric Wohlberg, Saturn, at 21:25
50. Alex Candelario, Prime Alliance, at 21:28
51. Vassili Davidenko, Navigators, at 21:29
52. Dane Jankowiak, Schroeder Iron, at 21:34
53. Douglas Ziewacz, at 7Up/Maxxis, at 21:34
54. Derek Wilkerson, Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing, at 21:35
55. Charles Dionne, Saturn, at 21:35
56. Maarten Den Bakker, Rabobank , at 21:35
57. Kevin Monahan, at 7Up/Maxxis, at 21:36
58. Erik Saunders, Ofoto/Lombardi Sports, at 21:36
59. Jason Bausch, Schroeder Iron, at 21:37
60. John Peters, Prime Alliance, at 21:38
61. Mark Fitzgerald, Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing, at 21:40
62. Gabrielle Balducci, Sidermec Vini Caldirola, at 21:40
63. Scottie Weiss, Team West Virginia, at 21:41
64. Chris Pic, at 7Up/Maxxis, at 21:43
65. Antonio Rizzi, Formaggi Pinzolo, at 21:46
66. Brice Jones, at 7Up/Maxxis, at 21:47
67. Pete Knudsen, Schroeder Iron, at 21:50
68. Damon Kluck, U.S. Postal Service, at 21:50
69. Jonathan Sundt, Jittery Joe’s Coffee, at 21:50
70. Russell Hambey, Ofoto/Lombardi Sports, at 21:57
71. Mariano Friedick, Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing, at 22:11
72. Mitchell Glen Anthony, Navigators, at 22:18
73. Mark Mccormack, Saturn, at 22:22
74. Oscar Pineda, at 7Up/Maxxis, at 22:45
75. Gustavo Artacho, Colavita-Bolla, at 22:46
76. Matt Dubberley, Sierra Nevada/Clif Bar, at 23:03
77. Todd Littlehales, Sierra Nevada/Clif Bar, at 23:11
78. Conor Hurley, Team West Virginia, at 23:13
79. Laurens Ten Dam, Netherlands National, at 23:24
80. Jacob Rosenbarger, Jittery Joe’s Coffee, at 23:42
81. Kirk Albers, Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing, at 23:46
82. Patrick Heaney, Webcor Cycling, at 23:49
83. Dion Murk, Netherlands National, at 23:49
84. Ciaran Power, Navigators, at 24:04
85. James Mattis, Webcor Cycling, at 24:13
86. Brent Dawson, Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing, at 24:16
87. Angermannjeff, Webcor Cycling, at 24:16
88. Chris Fisher, Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing, at 24:21
89. Shawn Willard, Colavita-Bolla, at 24:27
90. Addy Engels, Rabobank , at 24:32
91. Dominique Perras, Flanders Iteamnova, at 24:34
92. Robbie Ventura, U.S. Postal Service, at 24:51
93. Jonathan Erdelyi, Ofoto/Lombardi Sports, at 25:05
94. Jos Pronk, Netherlands National, at 25:13
95. Jurgen Landrie, Flanders Iteamnova, at 25:31
96. Marco Gilli, Sidermec Vini Caldirola, at 25:33
97. Gregory Henderson, at 7Up/Maxxis, at 25:42
98. David Wenger, Team West Virginia, at 25:46
99. Tyler Wren, Colavita-Bolla, at 25:48
100. Trent Wilson, Flanders Iteamnova, at 25:55
101. Wouters Mol, Netherlands National, at 26:03
102. Aaron Olsen, Schroeder Iron, at 26:07
103. Tim Johnson, Saturn, at 26:20
104. David Mckenzie, Flanders Iteamnova, at 26:28
105. Markus Wimmer, Formaggi Pinzolo, at 26:51
106. Moreno Di Biase, Formaggi Pinzolo, at 27:08
107. Floris Goesinnen, Netherlands National, at 27:19
108. Bobbie Traksel, Rabobank , at 27:48
109. Nieko Biskner, Sierra Nevada/Clif Bar, at 29:41
110. Mccartney Jason, at 7Up/Maxxis, at 34:37
111. Troy White, Sierra Nevada/Clif Bar, at 43:12
112. Dario Falquier, Webcor Cycling, at 46:08
113. Dirk Peetoom, Netherlands National, at 50:03
114. Brian Forbes, Jelly Belly/Carlsbad Clothing, at 52:20
115. Michael Jones, Team West Virginia, at 57:04
116. Chris Baumann, Sierra Nevada/Clif Bar, at 1:05:36
117. Andrew Deters, Jittery Joe’s Coffee, at 1:15:47
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