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Armstrong in Georgia Tour leader's jersey after TT
It really hasn’t been all that long since an elite cyclist won two UCI-sanctioned races on the same day: seven weeks, to be precise. The rider was CSC’s Jens Voigt, and the event was the two-day, three stage French Critérium International. Voigt took the overall on March 28 by winning the 98.5km morning climbing stage in a three-up sprint, and followed up with a win in the final 8.3km time trial, besting U.S. Postal-Berry Floor’s Lance Armstrong by four seconds on the stage and 14 seconds overall.
Armstrong turned the tables in dramatic fashion at the Dodge Tour de Georgia Thursday, following his surprise stage 3 field sprint win with a flying time trial victory, covering the mountain-in-the-middle 30km course in 39:51, 22 seconds in front of Voigt. Third on the stage was Webcor’s Chris Horner, defending Georgia champion, 45 seconds down behind the defending Tour de France champion.
CSC’s Bobby Julich, winner of the 8.5km closing time trial at the Spanish Tour of the Basque Country less than two weeks ago, took fourth, 15 seconds behind Horner and exactly one minute down on Armstrong. Julich’s teammate Brian Vandborg took fifth, 1:24 down. The top five finishers now fill out the top-five on the general classification, in their respective finishing order giving CSC three riders in the top-five, while Postal has Viatcheslav Ekimov sitting sixth, George Hincapie in ninth and Pavel Padrnos in tenth overall.
The result came as confirmation for Armstrong, who began the six-day, seven stage event claiming he was unsure of his fitness after going three weeks without racing.
“When I rode the time trial at Critérium [International], I didn’t feel super-super,” Armstrong said. “I had a pretty good TT but the uphill finish there I suffered. That was really the last check I had had. In the weeks since I’ve had a good time, I’ve been back in the States, I’ve spent a lot of quality time with my kids, which gave me a bit of a charge. No problems, no injuries. It’s not bad.”
Still, Armstrong pointed out, he went to his limit today. “That was a very hard climb,” he said. “I suffered. I suffered this morning, too.”
Armstrong’s U.S. Postal Service team director Johan Bruyneel was pleased with Armstrong’s performance. “We said before the time trial that it would be good to slow down for one kilometer before the climb, so he slowed down and came into the climb very steady and didn’t have any weakness,” Bruyneel said. “Still, Horner has been the rider above everybody in American races, and we’ll continue to watch for him.”
For Horner, who has grown accustomed to winning races on American soil over the past few years, his result brought mixed emotions, including frustrations over his new time trial bike, which he only received on Monday. While his defeat of Julich — and proximity to Voigt and Armstrong — reconfirmed to the international cycling community that he truly belongs among the elite in Europe, Horner admits his 51-second deficit to Armstrong heading into the mountains is likely insurmountable.
“I think it’s a respectable ride,” said Horner, who nearly collapsed with exhaustion at the end of his ride. “I think, given a bike I was a little more familiar with, I could have gone 20-30 seconds faster, because the position is still not yet dialed. It’s still not yet there. I’m going against the best in the world and I’m getting a bike that I’ve never ridden before. I’d appreciate next time the sponsor sending that bike a little bit sooner. I know they’ve got their own problems for getting that, too, but I’ve got to win some races, but when you’re going up against the best I’d like to be a little familiar with the bike.
“I can’t do Lance’s time, that’s…that’s a good time. But I’m content. I’m satisfied with what I’ve done, and I’m still in contention to win this thing, too, but it takes Lance not being 100 percent for me to win this, so I’m hoping and crossing the fingers a little bit.”
RACE NOTES
- USA National/TIAA-CREF’s Craig Lewis, 19, was struck by a car whileon the course and was taken to Floyd Medical Center in Rome by ambulancewith injuries later to be determined as collapsed lungs as a result ofbroken ribs and a concussion.“While Craig’s injuries are serious,” team physician Prentice Steffensaid in a press release, “his condition continues to improve and we expectthat he will recover fully. Craig is conscious and in good spirits, andat this point can be expected to remain in the hospital for about fouror five days.”- Health Net’s Jason McCartney put in an amazing ride, finishing 1:27down, seventh overall and as the third-placed American. McCartney’s effortwas remarkable considering he spent more than three hours setting tempojust 24 hours earlier in defense of Gord Fraser’s leader’s jersey and finishedthe stage second-to-last, giving him starting position of third. His timeof 41:18 stood for over an hour, was only two seconds slower than reigningOlympic time trial gold medalist Ekimov, and beat Canadian national timetrial champion Eric Wohlberg and U.S. national time trial champion ChrisWohlberg.THE JERSEYS
YELLOW: Lance Armstrong, U.S. Postal Service-Berry Floor.
POINTS: Ivan Dominguez, Colavita Olive Oil.
MOUNTAINS: Mark Walters, Navigators. “It’s a good feeling. I’venever had a climber’s jersey in a stage race before. It’s a new experience,but it it’s going to be hard to keep a hold of it tomorrow. It’s goingto take a pretty bold and frisky move to have a chance of keeping it becauseI’m not going to be going up the hills with the likes of Lance, althoughI’ll give it a shot. I’m here to ride aggressively.”
BEST YOUNG RIDER: Nieko Biskner, Ofoto-Lombardi Sports.THE ROAD AHEAD
Stage 5, from Dalton to Dahlonega, offers up three Category2 climbs and a pair of Category 3’s over 140 miles, with a screaming fastdescent into a brief uphill jaunt. It’s a day custom designed for a grandtour climber like Armstrong.
