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23 April 2005

24 April News ...

Danilo Di Luca in Liège

Italian, Danilo Di Luca is relaxed and ready to take on Liège-Bastogne-Liège. Di Luca won the Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne in an impressive style, beating Boogerd in Amstel Gold Race and Kirchen in La Flèche Wallonne. For Di Luca it is glorious winning spurt, but he is looking for more as he has his sites on this Sunday's classic.

Danilo Di Luca and Franco Pellizotti have out their books and are doing their homework. The two teammates on Liquigas-Bianchi paid a visit to the côtes yesterday, and they both agree: "The route will turn out to be tougher than last year’s. If in the past the race would be enliven on the [Côte de la] Redoute, [Sunday] the battle may start from the Côte de Stockeu."

Liquigas-Bianchi is bringing in a team of strong supporters. The Killer’s "accomplices" in the Flèche Wallonne include: Pellizotti, Albasini, Calcagni, Carlström, Gerosa, Ljungqvist, and Mugerli. Complete startlist for the race here.

Vandborg Victorious

Yesterday, Stage 4 Tour of Georgia, was an epic day that brought Team CSC's talented Danish rider, Brian Vandborg, his first professional victory. "I was suffering quite a bit, actually. I think Ekimov was close to dropping me. In the final corner, we were pretty much side-by-side and luckily I succeeded," said a happy Brian Vandborg after his victory. [from Team CSC's website]

No-Fuss Floyd Landis retains his overall lead, 19 seconds ahead of Team CSC's David Zabriskie, while Bobby Julich (also Team CSC) is now in third. Team CSC is riding an amazing race and leads the teams competition. Team CSC is as tough as leather. Here are the boys who are fighting it out in Georgia: David Zabriskie, Bobby Julich, Brian Vandborg, Michael Blaudzun, Christian Vande Velde, Andy Schleck, Christian Müller, and Lars Bak.

Stage 5: The Pain Continues

Stage 5 goes from Gainesville to Brasstown Bald Mountain (182.4K). The stage resembles the teeth of a shark, and it should bite just as hard. Brasstown Bald is the highest peak in Georgia and the only Hors Categorie climb of the race. The weather looks grim and it will not be an easy day. There are more thunderstorms are in store for the riders. Look for all sorts of explosions and a true champion to rise from the flames, maybe Bobby Julich, Tom Danielson or some "unknown" rider. Stay tuned for coverage of Stage 5.

Tim Johnson Tells All

BiciRace.com talked with Tim Johnson (Jittery Joe's-Kalahari) after a tough stage 4 of the Tour of Georgia. Read the Tim Johnson Phone Tap.
BiciRace.com:  How you doing? It was a Crappy day!
Tim Johnson:  Fine, thanks. No kidding, 45 minutes of hail, wind and downpour.
BR:  Did you get hammered with hail?
TJ:  Yah, hitting our arms and face.
BR:  How bad did you want to stop for some Jittery Joe's coffee?
TJ:  Ah, we just had some now!
BR:  Nice, warm. So, it started with a bang today?
TJ:  That first climb just detonated the group. Discovery was going nuts, hammering.
BR:  You put in a dig during the stage and got some KOM points? more...

22 April News ...