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Michaelsen takes Stage 1 in Georgia

By Jason Sumner, Special to VeloNews
Published: Apr. 18, 2006
Photo: Casey B. Gibson

Like a good real-estate agent, Lars Michaelsen knows that location is everything – especially when it comes to the waning moments of a bunch sprint. While some of the race's top sprinters were missing from the end game, the longtime CSC pro outgunned American Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto) and Aussie Caleb Manion (Jelly Belly) on Tuesday to win the 128.9-mile gallop from Augusta to Macon on day one of the 2006 Ford Tour de Georgia.

"If you are too far to the front, it's not good," said Michaelsen, who finished the stage in 4:45:46 and a bit more than a bike length ahead of Rodriguez. "If you are too far back, that's not good either. I wanted to be in the first five when I came to the second-to-last corner. That's what I was focusing on."

Race Finish
Race Finish
Photo: phoenix-sports.com

Michaelsen got to his spot, then blasted across the finish line in downtown Macon to take his second win on American soil (in 2004, he finished first at the CSC Invitational in Arlington, Virginia).

While Michaelsen was right where he wanted to be, a host of other pre-race favorites was missing in action. Among those at large in the final dash for the line were Gord Fraser (Health Net-Maxxis), Francisco Ventoso (Prodir-Saunier Duval) and Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United). Fraser punctured late in the race and was not able tocatch back on. Ventoso was simply unable to keep pace on the tough Macon finishing circuit. And Dominguez crashed within sight of the finish line.

Rodriguez also had his share of late-race issues, overcoming two wheel changes before clawing his way back into contention and second place at the finish. A puncture caused his first pit stop. Then, after catching back onto the group with the aid of two teammates, Rodriguez pulled over again.

"The second time the gears were skipping," said the American. "I think it was a problem with the cog, but I'm not really sure."

Remarkably, Rodriguez was back near the front by the time the group started the last of three undulating 2.1-mile finishing circuits in downtown Macon.

"I was fourth behind [teammate Henk] Vogels, but right before the last corner we got penned in and had to lock it up and brake," said theDavitamon-Lotto rider, who won two stages at the inaugural Tour deGeorgia in 2003. "That caused me to drop back to about eighth or 10th. Iwas right in front of the guys who crashed."

Before all the finish-line fireworks, the day was marked by a host ofunsuccessful breakaways, plus one that stuck. That lone break ofconsequence was led by Saunier Duval-Prodir's Aaron Olson, who is in his first year on a ProTour team. Olson, along with Dan Bowman (TIAA-CREF), Jackson Stewart (KodakGallery.com-Sierra Nevada) and Neil Shirley (Jittery Joe's-Zero Gravity Pro) broke free of the field 60 miles into the stage.

Olson had been on bottle duty during the early portions of the stage, which traversed east to west across the softly rolling hills of centralGeorgia. But when he finally got a chance at the front, Olson jumped away.

"Today was definitely fast," said Olson, who was riding with a cast onhis left hand, the result of a crash at the Tour of Flanders inearly April. "In the beginning, guys were having to kill themselves justto get 15 seconds."

Finally, though, the peloton eased off and the breakaway was allowed toslowly build an advantage that topped out at just over 11 minutes. That was enough to sound the alarm bells back in the bunch, and Toyota-United took up the chase, wanting to protect theinterests of its top sprinter, Argentinean Juan José Haedo.

"When it got up to 10 and 11 [minutes] we started to look around forhelp, but no one was really into it at first," said Toyota-Uniteddirector Frankie Andreu. "Finally Discovery and Phonak came up and we were able to bring it back."

The effort would prove fruitless, though, as Dominguez, Andreu's top lead-out man, crashed, leaving Haedo to fend for himself. He wound up seventh, well back of Michaelsen.

Despite the big effort brewing behind in the bunch, Olson, Bowman,Shirley and Jackson continued to plug away at the front. But as thefinal outcome started to become clear, the break lost its momentum,despite several attacks by Olson.

"I was just trying to keep the young guys working,"said Olson, adding that he is friends with all the riders that were inthe break. "You always have to give it a go. I though maybe there was achance that we could stay away, and so did our team director."

Michaelsen on the podium
Michaelsen on the podium
Photo: Casey B. Gibson

It was not to be, though, and after his three companions finally sat up,Olson languished at the front before finally being absorbed once therace reached Macon. All four were eventually spit out the back, leavingthe day to Michaelsen and his fellow sprinters.

"Everybody wanted to go in a morning break," explained Michaelsen. "Butno one was giving anything to anybody. With all the strong Europeanteams here, we were never concerned about bringing [the break] back."

Stage 1 notes
–by Neal Rogers, VeloNews senior writer
When former USPRO champ Mark McCormack (Colavita Olive Oil-Sutter Home) told Michaelsen at the start that the finishing circuits in Macon were ideal for the powerful CSC rider, he couldn’t have known how right he was. McCormack knew the circuit from last year, and knew Michaelsen from 1999, when they raced together at the Tour of Denmark on a composite Saturn/La Française des Jeux squad.

"Mark said, ‘This course is all you, Lars,’" Michaelsen said. "He told me it is a fast circuit, so just stay in the front, and that’s what I did."

McCormack’s altruism was payback from 1999, when Michaelsen gave the American the heads-up on a stage description from Odense to Sorø, which McCormack won in a two-man sprint. After today’s stage, McCormack threw Michaelsen a wave and a shrug of the shoulders.

"I think Mark was surprised a bit," Michaelsen said. "But then I was also a bit surprised in 1999."

Although it’s two days off, the word on Thursday's 25-mile time-trial course from Chickamauga to Chattanooga is that it’s tougher than it appears on the stage profile. Reports from those who have ridden the route over Lookout Mountain say that it is extremely undulating, with very few flat sections and a harrowing descent.

National time-trial champ Chris Baldwin (Toyota-United), who took third at last year’s time trial up and over Mount Alto in Rome, called this year’s route "like last year’s course on steroids."

Health Net-Maxxis rider Nathan O’Neill, who lives in Georgia, has ridden the course and said it’s to his liking. "It’s long and hard, and very tricky," O’Neill said. "I think it suits me."

Defending overall champion Tom Danielson said his Discovery Channel team might rearrange its hotel schedule in order to preview the course. Danielson also said he is considering using a modified brake lever on his aero-bar extensions due to the fast, twisting descent.

Racing at the six-day Tour de Georgia continues Wednesday with a116.1-mile run from Fayetteville to Rome. It's likely to be another dayfor the sprinters, with only a category-4 climb to shake things up.

Full results

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