THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Sivtsov wins Georgia as Henderson claims finale
The 2008 Tour de Georgia couldn’t have ended better for Team High Road on Sunday, as Kiwi sprinter Greg Henderson won the final stage and Belarusian Kanstantin Sivtsov secured his overall race lead by four seconds ahead of Slipstream-Chipotle’s Trent Lowe.
Henderson’s field-sprint victory, ahead of CSC’s J.J. Haedo, was his second of the weeklong race and the team’s third, following Sivtsov’s stage win atop Brasstown Bald Saturday. Henderson’s win also secured his points jersey, bringing High Road’s tally to three stage wins and two leader’s jerseys over seven days of racing. It was Henderson’s second career Georgia points jersey, the first coming in 2005.
Sunday’s stage dished up 10 laps of a 6.2-mile route around a circuit at Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park. Heavy rains soiled the course before the race but subsided for the peloton, leaving the course a mix of wet and dry patches.
As expected, a large break formed on the first lap and was off the front nearly the entire day. Among the escapees were Justin England and Hilton Clarke (Toyota-United), Doug Ollerenshaw (Rock Racing), Sebastian Lang (Gerolsteiner), Aaron Kemps (Astana) Cam Evans and Jacob Erker (Symmetrics), Rhys Pollock (Marco Polo), Tom Danielson (Slipstream), Darren Lill (BMC), Aaron Olson (Bissell), Matt Cooke and Matthew Crane (Health Net-Maxxis), Chris Jones (Team Type 1) and Jared Barrilleaux (Jittery Joe's).
None of the riders posed a threat to Sivtsov, but his team took to the front of the peloton anyway and made sure the break didn’t take too much time on the rain-slicked roads. With High Road riding tempo at the front, the gap never exceeded 1:15.
“I told the rest of the break that if we rode fast at the front, High Road was going to keep it at a minute, and if we rode easy, High Road was going to keep it at a minute, so we might as well ride steady and keep something for the end,” Clarke said.
The technical course, which passed through Atlanta’s downtown district and urban neighborhoods, delivered 15 turns over rough roads littered with potholes and manhole covers that conspired with wet conditions to sabotage riders wheels. Between punctures, mechanicals and a crash that took Lang and Crane out of the breakaway, Mavic neutral support tended to more than 40 distress calls and spent much of the race restocking spare wheels.
Eight riders abandoned the stage, including Rock Racing’s Santiago Botero, Toyota-United’s Ivan Dominguez, Bissell’s Tom Zirbel and Lang, who was last seen waving his arms furiously at the errant motorcycle driver.
As the peloton crossed through the start/finish line with one lap remaining, the pace began to heat up. Though Rock Racing was down two men when Botero and Kayle Leogrande abandoned, the skull-and-wings squad, led by Oscar Sevilla, took over the chase, looking to set up sprinter Freddie Rodriguez. As the catch became inevitable, Evans, England and Danielson tried to jump away but to no avail.
“I thought we had a chance there in the last lap; we were just drilling it,” England said. “But there was a little bit too much fooling around on the last lap. [Evans] was definitely the strongest guy in the break today. Every time he came through it looked like he was hardly breathing.”
The field caught the remnants of the break with less than one mile to go. As the catch was made, Astana’s Antonio Colom shot out of the bunch, dogged by CSC’s Bobby Julich. The two opened a slight gap over the chase as they hit the 1km-to-go marker, but it was all uphill from there. The pair was overrun short of the line, and after riding Haedo’s wheel, Henderson rocketed across first. Haedo finished second, with Symmetrics rider Andrew Pinfold in third and Rodriguez fourth.
“There were a few too many guys in the break, and it was initially cause for a little panic,” Henderson said. “But the guys held them at 50 seconds, with just four guys rotating through, because they’re just that good. On the last lap we lost our dominance at the front, which was to be expected after riding all day, but Rock Racing came up and helped out. In the sprint I just had enough gas to come around J.J.”
The finale had little effect on GC — Sivtsov took the yellow jersey by four seconds over Lowe with Astana’s Levi Leipheimer, the heavy pre-race favorite, finishing third at 14 seconds back. Astana left the race with no stage wins, but took salvation with the team GC prize.
“If I had to grade my performance this week, I’d give myself an A-minus,” Leipheimer said. “But I’d give my team an A-plus. They rode amazing.”
Health Net-Maxxis rider Rory Sutherland was named most aggressive rider of the week, while Jason McCartney was the race’s final King of the Mountains winner.
Lowe, just 23, left the race not only second overall but as best young rider, a prize he also won in 2005. The young Aussie was philosophical about beating a Tour de France podium finisher on Brasstown yet leaving the race without a stage or overall win. His ability to jump away from Leipheimer in the closing meters on Brasstown left many wondering if he’d blown his chance for overall victory by not reacting when Sivtsov attacked with 500 meters remaining Saturday.
“There was nothing I could do,” Lowe said. “He got a good jump. The strongest man won the race.”
As for Sivtsov, the 2005 under-23 world road champion leaves his first race on American soil with nothing good memories.
“I liked this event, it had great organization and nice courses,” High Road’s GC champion said. “I usually like longer climbs, like 15 to 20km, but I also like it when it’s steep. For me, Brasstown is a really nice climb, and this is an important win.”
