THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Tinkoff's Contrini wins Georgia opener
Daniele Contrini (Tinkoff Credit Systems) won stage 1 of the 2007 Tour de Georgia on Monday, leaping away from a breakaway to cross the line alone in downtown Macon.
The 33-year-old Italian made his move during a series of finishing circuits, using a brick climb to spring away from Ben Day (Navigators Insurance), Doug Ollerenshaw (Health Net-Maxxis) and Mike Sayers (BMC) to win the 98.5-mile stage from Peachtree City to Macon.
It was a dramatic end to a day highlighted by the comebacks of two prominent Americans. Tyler Hamilton (Tinkoff) made his first appearance at a domestic UCI race since 2001, while former teammate George Hincapie (Discovery Channel) was back after his accident in February’s Amgen Tour of California.
“I’ve been training quite a bit,” said Hincapie. “I wasn’t able to get out of the saddle for a month, so while I was able to ride, but I was only riding indoors for the first 10 days after my accident. But (since then) I’ve been able to get outside so I shouldn’t be in too bad shape.”
With a strong tailwind pushing the field over the rolling terrain, high speeds were expected and delivered. Local outfit Jittery Joe’s showed some aggression early on, demonstrating the team’s desire to represent in its home state, but nothing really took hold as the bunch charged along at speeds of up to 35 mph.
That all changed once Navigators rider Viktor Rapinski got away and opened up a minute’s advantage on the field, collecting two intermediate sprint wins along the way as the race headed towards the rollercoaster ride of small hills outside of Macon.
Rapinski’s big effort came to an end once he hit the feed zone, and he gladly accepted the company of Aussie teammate Day, Contrini, Ollerenshaw and Sayers, who had been chasing him steadily for just over an hour.
The leaders began working in concert through beautiful, largely rural terrain. Children along the route were taken out in front of their schools to catch glimpses of the day’s spectacle as the peloton allowed the five to ratchet up a gap of six-plus minutes. But once the stage reached the 70-mile mark, a serious chase began, fueled by Discovery and Team CSC.
Not participating, much to their eventual misfortune, were the men of Toyota-United. A mildly frustrated Ivan Dominguez, who had been a key favorite for a sprint win in stage 1, illustrated his team’s miscalculation.
“Without the strong tailwind, the five escapees would have been caught,” said Dominguez. “We should have probably had a few guys work when CSC and Discovery were on the front, but (team director) Harm Jansen said to wait. By the time we started chasing it was too late, and the other teams didn’t want to do anything.”
As a result the breakaway was able to soldier on, eventually dropping Rapinski as they entered the three 2.55-mile finishing circuits in downtown Macon.
“We’d been working together pretty (steadily) coming into the circuits,” explained Ollerenshaw. “The first time up the brick climb, Contrini attacked, and that got rid of Viktor Rapinski, but the rest of us were able to follow that first attack. And then he pretty well pulled that entire lap leading back to the bricks. He tried to get some people to pull through, and we slowed down occasionally, but nobody wanted to work. He showed that he was really strong.”
Ollerenshaw stuck close to Contrini’s wheel up the climb, but when the Health Net rider’s focus shifted to Day’s whereabouts, Contrini took advantage of his distraction to seal the deal. The Italian buried himself, grimacing over the final circuit to take the win.
“This shows again that I’m good for a few more years,” said the stage winner.
Racing at the Tour de Georgia continues Tuesday with another flat stage, a 134.9-mile run from Thomaston to Rome.
Race note
Discovery's Jason McCartney was the sole non-starter in today's stage. VeloNews spoke with teammate Tom Danielson, who said McCartney has been suffering from flu-like symptoms for several days. On Monday morning, the 33-year-old pro awoke with a temperature in excess of 100 and team officials took him to a local hospital "for precautionary reasons." The Tour de Georgia is now down to 116 riders.
Stage results
1. Daniele Contrini (I), Tinkoff Credit Systems, 3:24:11
2. Douglas Ollerenshaw (USA), Health Net-Maxxis, 3:24:40
3. Ben Day (Aus), Navigators Insurance, 3:24:49
4. Emile Abraham (Tri), Priority Health-Bissell, 3:25:31
5. Andrea Tonti (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 3:25:32
6. Ryder Hesjedal (Can), Health Net-Maxxis, 3:25:33
7. Ivan Dominguez (Cub), Toyota United, 3:25:33
8. Karl Menzies (Aus), Health Net-Maxxis, 3:25:33
9. Sergey Lagutin (Uzb), Navigators Insurance, 3:25:33
10. Ciaran Power (Irl), Navigators Insurance, 3:25:33
Full results
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