BiciRace.com :: 2005 Tour of Georgia

2005 Tour of Georgia, Stage 6

Tour of Georgia, USA

Stage 6, Blairsville - Alpharetta 201.5 km

24 April

Fraser Stage, Danielson Overall

Main
Main Stage Report
Photos
The Tim Johnson Phone Tap

Jittery Joe's-Kalahari Report

Preview: Mostly a flat circuit of 4 laps. Look for a big gun to fire here on the last day in Alpharetta.

Team Jittery Joe's-Kalahari Goals: Keep our GC guys out of trouble, set up Evan for the field sprint if it comes down to it.

Danielson Final GC Tour of Georgia, photo: Tour of Georgia

Today the riders faced their last stage on a tough Tour of Georgia. It was a stage for the sprint-guns, 4 circuits at the end of a mostly flat stage, from Blairsville to Alpharetta. The first difficult part of the day was stepping out of the team vans into the cold air, on the start line it was 40°F / 6°C.

Still the fans lined the roads to see the teams roll buy in the cold air. Teams were protecting their leader's jerseys today, but the sprint jersey was still up for grabs. Also, Andrea Tafi (Prodir - Saunier Duval) was riding his last race today and wanted to go out in style.

Tafi gave it a go at 100K into the race. He was quickly acknowledged as a strong rider and 3 others joined him, Danny Pate (Jelly Belly/PoolGel), Sven Krauss (Gerolsteiner) and Dominique Perras (Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada). They gained a gap that hovered around 3 minutes as they cruised in high-gear on the Georgia roads.

Tafi gave it his all, he could be seen on the front just hammering his heart out for one last victory. But the bunch was cruel. LPR and Health Net were at the front to bring about Tafi's demise. The crowds were out in huge numbers in Alpharetta, inspiring a retiring Tafi. But with 10K to go it was over for Tafi and his amici, Tafi's mind was shifting to his "pensione".

Fraser Henderson Health Net, photo: Tour of Georgia

LPR was driving hard for Napolitano, a proven winner, and Health Net for Fraser. The two teams had the pack strung out in a thin line through Alpharetta. Health Net's strong team work paid off, they got 1st and 2nd with Gord Fraser and Greg Henderson.

BiciRace.com reports on the final Jittery Joe's-Kalahari day in the 2005 Dodge Tour of Georgia. Tim and Geoff stayed safe in the peloton, looking after T-Lo. T-Lo kept his eyes on Saul Raisin, making sure his rival did not take any time for the best young rider's jersey. In the end it was all smiles for T-Lo, who rode an impressive stage race with the Jittery Joe's-Kalahari boys of coffee.

Results 4'59":
1 Gordon Fraser (Can) Health Net pb Maxxis
2 Gregory Henderson (NZl) Health Net pb Maxxis
3 Aurélien Clerc (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems
4 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Team L.P.R.
5 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Credit Agricole
35 Timothy Johnson (USA) Jittery Joe's - Kalahari
41 Geoff Kabush (Can) Jittery Joe's - Kalahari
43 Trent Lowe (Aus) Jittery Joe's - Kalahari

GC:
1 Tom Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel 26.53.44
2 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 0.04
3 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.09
4 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 1.10
5 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 1.41
6 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC 3.04
7 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Prodir - Saunier Duval 3.11
8 Nathan O'Neill (Aus) Navigators Insurance 3.14
9 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC 3.51
10 José Azevedo (Por) Discovery Channel 3.58
11 Trent Lowe (Aus) Jittery Joe's - Kalahari 4.12
31 Geoff Kabush (Can) Jittery Joe's - Kalahari 21.53
49 Timothy Johnson (USA) Jittery Joe's - Kalahari 40.53