Hunter takes slooooooow Georgia opener
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After what was more leisurely stroll than bike race, it was Phonak's Robbie Hunter taking the first stage of the 2005 Dodge Tour de Georgia on Tuesday. Hunter charged to the front at the end of the 128.9-mile stage that started in Augusta, taking the win in downtown Macon.
Jelly Belly's Ben Brooks took second, with Italian Michele Maccanti (LPR) in third.
"There was no one to really set up the sprint," said Hunter, who is in his first year with the Swiss-based squad. "It was too fast to control it - all the guys on the limit. We came into the last corner and all the guys were looking at each other and [Elia] Aggiano (LPR) came out of the corner, and tried to pull something for his guy, and I got on the wheel and blew straight past at 150 to go."
Hunter stopped the clock in 5:47:52, more than an hour slower than the slowest estimated time listed in the race bible.
"In the race booklet there are three columns for slow, medium and fast average speed," said Navigators Chris Baldwin. "Floyd [Landis] and I were joking that we were about seven columns to the left of anything they put in the race booklet."
The driving force behind the slowpoke pace was a long solo breakaway by Dan Bowman. The TIAA-CREF rider peeled off the front of the 121-rider field just nine miles into the rolling stage that started just two blocks from the Savannah River and the Georgia-South Carolina border. As the race headed west towards Macon, an uninterested peloton rolled along at a very non-race pace, allowing Bowman's advantage to climb near 13 minutes as the bunch rolled past the feedzone, 67.7 miles into the race.
"I was really hoping someone was going to join me, but the gap went up pretty fast," said Bowman, who was just three days removed from his last day of classes at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado. "They must have been going pretty slow back there."
Indeed, Bowman's stay at the front lasted until the 101-mile mark when he was finally caught by the Italian pair of Marco Pinotti (Saunier Duval-Prodir) and Ivan Fenelli (LPR). That twosome sailed right by a spent Bowman, who quickly drifted back to the pack.
"I was thinking I might be able to hold it," said Bowman. "But it was a long way to go. Those two guys blew right by me. I usually recover pretty well, so hopefully I'll be alright tomorrow."
The 23-year-old Bowman could at least take solace in the fact that by winning all three of the hot spot sprints, he would be donning the sprinter's jersey on Wednesday. He also was awarded the jersey for most aggressive rider.
"We said that if he had more than nine minutes at the last sprint we'd tell him to keep trying, and if he had less we'd tell him to sit up," explained TIAA-CREF team director Jonathan Vaughters. "Our team here is not going to win the GC. Our chances of winning a stage are limited to one or two of the guys, so for the rest of the guys I said, 'You're young, you can ride in the grupetto every other day, but let's try and be aggressive. You've got nothing to lose.' At that age, there's no reason not to give it a chance. Roll the dice, put your nose out there. Show yourself to the ProTour teams. Show them who are you, and they'll recognize your name in the future."
Six miles after Bowman was caught, Pinotti attacked his Italian breakaway companion and dropped him. But by mile marker 113 the race was all back together.
"Teams were are all just protecting GC guys and chasing down any breakaway," said Baldwin. "It gets to the point where everything cancels each other out, and after a while it's a stalemate and it's kind of pointless to attack."
The last move of consequence came courtesy of Andy Schleck (CSC) and Danny Pate (Jelly Belly-PoolGel), who took off during the second of three laps around the 2.1-mile finishing circuit in Macon and opened a 50-meter gap.
As the pair crossed the finish line with one lap to go, Schleck actually threw his hands up in the air thinking he had won the race. The rider from Luxemburg had been confused about the number of laps remaining after a race official inadvertently called one instead of two laps to go. Schleck quickly realized his mistake in part because of a headshake from Pate, as the peloton reeled them in for the final lap.
That left the endgame to the South African Hunter.
"I had one guy with me from the top of the climb, Enrique Gutierrez, who really rode good in the last 2km to try and keep everybody together," explained Hunter of the final lap. "In the last corner it was a bit of chaos. The small climb split everything up, and guys were really on the limit. One guy was good enough to make it until the last two corners."
Racing in Georgia continues on Wednesday with a 122.7-mile run from Fayetteville to Rome. It will likely be another day for the sprinters, with only a category 4 climb to shake things up.
Race Notes
The Lance Report The star attraction and defending Tour de Georgia champion was late getting to the starting line in Augusta, but the rest of his day was trouble free. Armstrong cruised home safely in the bunch in 15th, surrendering just 10 seconds to race winner Hunter.
"The stage was safe, the circuits were safer than last year not as fast. It was more relaxed, not as fast as I remember," said Armstrong, adding that the above-80 temperatures played a roll in the day's slow pace. "For the Europeans, it was the hottest weather they've encountered this year. We didn't go very fast, in fact it was flat out slow most of the day. Coming into the circuits, we had the team at front - just trying to stay out of trouble. When they started accelerating on the circuits, I'm not used to that kind of race pace. I remember being shocked by pace last year on these circuits. But overall I would say I feel good."
Tyler Reaction There was no shortage of opinions a day after word came down that former Phonak pro Tyler Hamilton had been suspended for two years after failing a doping test last summer at the Vuelta.
"I was surprised because people have told me that he was so confident that he had a case," said CSC's Bobby Julich, who finished eighth in stage 1. "I was starting to think that he really had a case as well. I though they were going to announce that he was off and that he was going to be racing at the Tour de Georgia. Then I walk up the stairs and a reporter hits me with the bad news about Tyler. It's unfortunate but we have to move on."
Veteran race announcer Phil Ligget shared Julich's sentiment, calling it a sad, but necessary day for the sport.
"I was very disappointed because I rather liked Tyler," Ligget said. "I think he's been a remarkable athlete in our sport. But he's now been proven to have taken the blood change and that's not in the nature of the sport. You've got to throw out cheats and I'm glad that they've caught him."
Meanwhile, Phonak CEO Andy Rihs wasn't quite ready to give up on his former star rider. But Rihs did admit that Monday's ruling didn't bode well for Hamilton's future.
"We will have to see how it develops in the future, but otherwise it could be the end of professional cycling life," said Rihs of Hamilton who has said he will appeal his case to CAS. "We can not count on him at this time. That is clear. But we have told him that if he comes out clean he has the door open with Phonak any time. But first he has to be cleared, and at the moment it doesn't look so good."
Love Tap Kodak Gallery-Sierra Nevada's team manager Kurt Stockton said Colavita Olive Oil's team director Frank McCormack would be "buying the beers" Tuesday night after McCormack rear-ended the Kodak Gallery team car following a sudden, unexpected stop in the caravan. Neither car was significantly damaged. The Gerolsteiner team car actually died, however, and was replaced mid-way through the race by a Dodge minivan, a violation of caravan rules prohibiting vehicles taller than a sedan.
Local Flavor Our favorite sighting in Tuesday's stage was the "Kuntry Stoe," at mile 85 outside of Milledgeville, which offered Cured Hogs Jowls in marquee letters outside its door.
Quotable "It's awesome because we haven't seen all our buddies for a while," said Navigators pro Chris Baldwin on the day's slow pace. "It was totally social hour - or social six hours actually." Results
IndividualStage Results
THE JERSEYS
Dodge Leader's Jersey Robbie Hunter (Phonak)
Maxxis Sprint Leader's Jersey Dan Bowman (TIAA-CREF)
Georgia Power KOM Leader's Jersey Not Applicable
GE Best Young Rider Leader's Jersey Mauro Santambrojio (LPR)
Aaron's Most Aggressive Rider Jersey Dan Bowman (TIAA-CREF)
To see how today's stage developed, simply open up our LIVE COVERAGE window.
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