April 26/03 4:19 am - Green & Barry Move Up at Georgia, Fraser Wins at Bisbee

Posted by Editor on 04/26/03
 

Tour de Georgia - USA

There was a big shakeup today in the 197 kilometre fourth stage of the Tour de Georgia, with Canadian US Postal teammates Roland Green and Michael Barry moving into the top six on general classification. An early break (10 kilometres into the stage) containing Floyd Landis (US Postal-Berry Floor), Dominique Perras (Flanders-Iteamnova), Phil Zajicek (Saturn), Peter Knudsen (Schroeder Iron), Aaron Olsen (Schroeder Iron) and Svein Tuft (Prime Alliance) was nearly four minutes clear by the halfway point, but that gap dropped rapidly in the following 50 kilometres, as the race entered the climbs on the stage. the break was caught at the base of the final climb, at which point the decisive action took place.

A group containing Tom Danielson, Chris Horner, and Nathan O'Neill from Saturn, David Zabriskie, Michael Barry and Roland Green from US Postal-Berry Floor, plus Fred Rodriguez (Vini Caldirola-Sidermec), and Allan Iacuone (Flanders-Iteamnova) got away on the final climb, cresting it a minute in front of a chase group. Significantly, race leader Henk Vogels (Navigators) was not in the first chase group, but the second.

With three riders each from Saturn and US Postal, the break flew down the descent and along the flat to the finish, motoring away from the chasers. Saturn did most of the work, setting up Horner and O'Neill to regain the GC lead, but had enough energy left to counter attacks made by Barry and Green. Rodriguez took his second consecutive stage win, ahead of Horner, who has moved into the yellow jersey in front of his team mate O'Neill. Roland Green should take third overall and Michael Barry sixth.


La Vuelta de Bisbee - Arizona
Report courtesy Saturn

Today's morning stage began with almost fifteen miles of descending which kept the group intact until the road flattened out and then turned into the wind. However, once the race turned back toward Bisbee, the riders had to climb back up the 15 mile climb to the finish. After her strong ride in the prologue the evening prior, Saturn's Manon Jutras donned the Leader's jersey, cushioned with a ten-second lead over T-Mobile's Katrina Berger. In the men's race Andrew Miller had a tentative lead of mere seconds over a handful of very strong riders, notably Mike Sayers (Health Net) and Viktor Rapinski (Saturn). With over 30 seconds of time bonuses up for grabs in the intermediary sprints, there was ample opportunity to gain the lead before the race even hit the final climb. After the challenge of the morning stage is complete, the riders will have a brief respite before they are faced with a second time trial of 10.6 miles.

The men's race saw a slow start with Sayers winning the first time bonus sprint in front of Rapinski and moving into the Leader's Jersey. After a series of attacks a non-threatening group of six went up the road and soaked up the additional bonuses. Coming into the final climb, the pace brought back the group, and from there it was Gord Fraser's Health Net Team manning the front to ensure a bunch sprint. Around the final corner and into the finish it was Fraser all the way for the win in front of Rapinski and his Saturn teammate, Ivan Dominguez, in third. Sayers is in Yellow, but only by a mere five seconds over the powerhouse Rapinski. Sayers will have to pull a solid time trial this afternoon to maintain his lead over the Belorussian Saturn rider.

The women's race saw an early break with Saturn's Megan Elliott and Liza Rachetto go up the road, claiming the available bonuses on the road. With a big investment on Elliott's part, the break stayed away from a controlled tempo pace set behind them by the T-Mobile Team. Elliott finally succumbed, allowing for the counterattacks to fly, with Saturn's Amy Moore launching herself off the front. However, T-Mobile responded to each attack, and the final meters saw a group coming into the finish. It was Lyne Gaggiolli for the win over Dotsie Cowder (T-Mobile) in second. Jutras finished fifth, but maintained her lead into this afternoon's time trial.

Women
1. Lyne Gaggiolli - VeloBella
2. Dotsie Cowden - T-Mobile
3. Elizabeth Begosh - Team Snow Valley

GC
1. Manon Jutras - Saturn

Men
1. Gord Fraser - Health Net
2. Victor Rapinski - Saturn
3. Ivan Dominguez - Saturn

GC
1. Mike Sayers - Health Net
2. Victor Rapinski at 0:05