September 13/07 11:47 am - Tour of Missouri Stage 3: Photos, Report & Results

Posted by Editoress on 09/13/07
 

Tour of Missouri

Photos by by Casey B. Gibson.

Amy Smolens is providing our on-site interviews

Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada's Dominique Rollin began the day in 2nd place overall, 4 seconds behind leader George Hincapie. As Rollin had anticipated, today's Branson Time Trial wasn't exactly made for his characteristics, the foothills of the Ozarks taking their toll. His 22nd place, 4:26 behind stage winner Levi Leipheimer, was respectable for such a challenging time trial, but both Will Frischkorn and David Cañada leapfrogged him into 2nd and 3rd on GC, respectively. The Quebecer now sits in 4th, 2:23 behind leader Hincapie and 1 second behind Cañada for the final podium spot.

Symmetrics Fueled By FarmPure's Svein Tuft was the top Canadian on the stage in 17th, and his time up the toughest climb of the day was second-fastest only to Leipheimer. The S-Team's Andrew Randell moved up one spot to 8th overall, 3:48 behind Hincapie.

A few hours after the stage finish I caught up with a refreshed Dominique Rollin in the lobby of the Oasis Inn & Conference Center in Springfield, Missouri.

AS: Talk about today's course, especially after your long day in the break yesterday.

DR: Yeah, the course was a bit too hilly for me. When I rode it this morning I knew it was written "Levi" all over it. I knew I could maybe
pull something but couldn't have the legs to keep my 2nd spot on GC. Unfortunately I lost just a bit too much time over Will Frischkorn to be able to keep that 2nd place again, but I'm just one second off the podium so I'll give it a shot in the intermediate sprint and maybe go for a stage win to bring myself back up on the podium.

AS: Cañada's tough but you should be faster than him, right?

DR: From what I saw yesterday (when they were in the Stage 2 break,) yeah, I got a better sprint than him so I doubt he can outsprint me in any of the intermediate sprints.

AS: So it's a matter of your team helping to try to keep things together?

DR: I think Discovery's gonna keep everything together so they'll be doing most of the work. Our job is just to put pressure on Cañada and Frischkorn and bring it back because George Hincapie's out of reach so, we'll try to first step back on the podium and then we'll see for Will Frischkorn.

AS: Were you getting splits today, did you know where you were compared to Hincapie, Cañada and Frischkorn?

DR: No, I didn't want any splits. I asked my team manager (Kurt Stockton) just to give me a heads-up and mostly motivation because it's hard after a long day in a breakaway, legs are tired, it's easy to lose focus and get caught in a false rhythm and lose time. So he was just there to give me motivation and keep me upright.

AS: You must be tired after your efforts yesterday and today but everybody else is in the same boat, too, right?

DR: Yeah, I think everyone is pretty tired and tomorrow I'm pretty sure everyone's looking forward for an easy day trying to get back into racing.

Report by Symmetrics Fuelled By FarmPure

Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel) won today's 29km individual time trial stage of the Tour of Missouri today, finishing just under 40 minutes on a very hilly course. Symmetrics Fuelled By FarmPure's Andrew Randell had a strong ride to climb up the leader board, sitting 8th overall now. The Toronto native rode well on the very difficult course which shook up the overall standings. "It was a good ride for me today. Definitely very hard. I felt a bit tired," Randell explained. "But then again, I think everyone who rode in the break felt fatigued. I had good cadence, good legs and I'm happy with my ride."

Randell described the course as beautiful. "It was a super course. It was up in the Ozarks, cutting into the hills. It's a really superb race in general. There are people all along the route that know all the riders' names, and it shows there is some health in the US cycling scene." The former national road champion said that he rode steady the whole time, pushing it on the final 3km climb to the finish, knowing every second would count. "I caught two other riders so I knew the legs were going well. Frischkorn (Slipstream) just beat be by 40 seconds or so or I could have moved up to 7th overall."

Although today's TT was definitely selective in terms of the overall, there are still plenty of days left in this race where things could change. "There are some hilly sections in the next few days so the race is not over yet," Randell said. "I think that it's more likely to see lots of breakaways now with non-GC guys stay away, but if anything splits with George in it, I have to be there. So we have to ride at the front and be attentive."

The team is definitely motivated to keep up the string of strong riding--Zach Bell is still within fighting distance for the points jersey, and Randell hopes to keep his GC spot. The rest of the team will focus on those two goals, and also try and go for stage wins. "Some of the guys coming back from Venezuela are still feeling the effects of the illness from down there, but they are all fighters. I was also impressed with Will Routley's ride today. He has great legs and I think he could pull of a great ride in one of the upcoming stages."