THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Fraser sprints to win Tour of Georgia opener
Canadian veteran Gord Fraser (Health Net-Maxxis) took the opening stage of the 2004 Dodge Tour de Georgia Tuesday, beating sprint specialist Ivan Dominguez (Colavita Olive Oil) and last month’s Criterium International winner Jens Voigt (CSC) to the finish line in front of an enthusiastic downtown Macon crowd. Fraser’s lead-out man Greg Henderson finished fourth, with Landbouwkredit-Colnago’s Ukrainian sprinter Yuri Metlushenko in fifth.
Race favorites Lance Armstrong, Chris Horner and Bobby Julich finished in the main field and were given the same time. Stage favorite Mario Cipollini did not contest the day's final sprint.
“It was such a blur,” said Fraser, who called it one of the best wins of his career. “I was fully lactic, it was just a matter of holding on. I couldn’t even see the finish line I was so cross-eyed.”
It was supposed to be easy
Arguably the flattest stage of the six-day, seven-stage event, the 82.1-mile loop saw just one breakaway, a two-rider escape by Ofoto’s Tim Larkin and Webcor’s Marc Hagenlocher.
The pair escaped just seven miles into the stage, passing together through the rural towns of Gordon, Milledgeville and Gray with a gap that steadily ballooned to nearly eight minutes by mile 36 before a Domina Vacanze driven field slowly reeled them in by mile 69.
As the peloton approached the start/finish town of Macon for four finishing circuits, the pair had been absorbed and the sprinters’ teams of Domina Vacanze, Landbouwkredit-Colnago and Health Net went on the offensive. But even after all the hype surrounding Cipollini’s unexpected attendance and a relatively flat course for him to work with, in the end the 90-degree weather and a significant cobble-stoned pitch on the finishing circuits proved too much for the 2002 world champion.
“I had heard it was supposed to be an easy circuit,” Voigt said. “It was tough, and you can tell because Cipollini wasn’t up there. If it had been a flat finish for sure he would have been on the podium. I think because of the cobbled climb he didn’t have what he needed to do a sprint.”
Instead, a series of attacks by Sierra Nevada’s Trent Klasna, Russell Hamby and finally Eric Wohlberg softened up the strung out field. Although Cipollini was near the front on the final lap, he tired on the last ascent and faded back, forcing Health Net’s Chris Wherry to close the gap the slowing “Super Mario” created. A crash near the back of the field approaching the final climb delayed about 20 riders, but did not affect Cipollini or his world-famous lead-out train.
Do or die!
As Wohlberg attacked in the final kilometers, Fraser was recovering from his efforts on the climb and working his way back into position. “When Wohlberg made a move, I was so far back I didn’t really know who was making what moves,” said Fraser, who will start stage 2 as race leader. “I was really on the maximum on the bricks on the climb. The guys were rallying around me, telling me ‘Come on, come on,’ and I was telling them, ‘I can’t move up on the uphills, you guys have to wait.’”
“I knew there was a good chance because of the downhills to get some good drafts and kind of coast back up a few spots. Sure enough, Chris Wherry was telling me, ‘You can do it, you can do it.’ I was just about to throw in the towel on the last climb, but I was able to get to him, then I was able to get to Mike [Sayers] and then to John [Lieswyn] and then to Greg [Henderson] and Greg led me out perfectly. Even though it was headwind sprint it was a big downhill. I got that close and I said to myself, ‘I’ve gotta go, man, it’s do or die. I’ve suffered this far.’ I’d rather lose by going all out than by being too hesitant. If I can hold them off than I deserve it, if I don’t then at least I did the right thing and I have no regrets.”
While Fraser was setting himself up for the sprint, Voigt was feeling good and sitting in a perfect position, unaware that Fraser was about to pounce.
“I was at the front on the last climb,” Voigt said. “My teammate Brian Vandborg did a major hard pull up there that really strung it out, and I was the fifth or sixth, just perfect position. I came around third on the last turn, and for a second I thought, ‘I’m going to win,’ but then Gordon Fraser comes flying past me and I thought, ‘Yeah, right, I’m not a sprinter.’ I’m just a good rider, you know, a good strong rider, but I don’t have the punch power to pedal faster. Gord was just too fast. He’s a good sprinter, and it’s his business. I’m just happy to be somewhere up there, you know. It’s more than I expected.”
As for Cipollini’s presence over the next few days, the cagey Canadian knows better than to start making any claims about the event’s upcoming sprints. Instead, Fraser was more concerned about getting the message across that it was time his Health Net-Maxxis team — a team that was heavily hyped in the pre-season and then, Fraser said, criticized for failing to come away from the Redlands Classic with a stage win — be reevaluated.
“[Cipollini]’s not done yet. Okay I won today; I get the jersey, the pressure is off. Health Net-Maxxis can now look our critics in the eye and tell them we’re here for real, and we’re always racing to win, and today we did. We do everything we can to win the race, and sometimes we get criticized for it, but you can’t criticize today. We did a great job.”
Race Notes and Quotes: Lance Armstrong shared his impressions of the first stage with the press. “The weather was great; hot and warm. The course was nice. It seemed to be pretty much safe. Nice big open roads, good pavement. It was a fairly relaxed race. The four closing circuits were fast. The little hill on the circuit was hard. I feel strong. I am a little tired today; I haven’t raced in three weeks. Race pace is different than training pace. I’m happy.” First to attack on the day, just four miles into the stage, were none other than race favorites Jens Voigt and Chris Horner. “That was just to take a piss, basically,” Voigt said. “That was just to test the legs a little bit, scare some people, and say, ‘Hey, we’re here to race.’ Just test the legs a little bit. I didn’t want to go, I was just testing out the legs, and they felt a little bit sticky.” In chief commissaire Wayne Pomario’s communiqué to teams and the media, he stressed that, “it is against race regulations and unlawful to urinate in public. Penalties may be applied against any team members who break this regulation and local law. They may also be subject to a jail sentence from local authorities.” Stage 2 departs Wednesday from Thomaston, about 30 miles west of Macon in Upson County. This stage covers nearly 118 miles, taking the peloton to Columbus with the first two King of the Mountain climbs in the Callaway/Pine Mountain area.
