Posted: April 19, 2006

Cycling: 2006 Ford Tour de Georgia - Stage 1 Race Report

By Jason Sumner

Like a good real estate agent Lars Michaelsen knows that location is everything - especially when it comes to the waning moments of a bunch sprint. While some of the race's top sprinters were missing from the end game, the longtime CSC pro outgunned American Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto) and Aussie Caleb Manion (Jelly Belly), winning the 128.9-mile gallop from Augusta to Macon on day one or the 2006 Ford Tour de Georgia, Tuesday.

"If you are too far to the front it's not good," said Michaelsen, who finished the stage in 4:45:46 and a bit more than a bike length ahead of Rodriguez. "If you are too far back that's not good either. I wanted to be in the first five when I came to the second to last corner. That's what I was focusing on."

Michaelsen got to his spot, then blasted across the finish line in downtown Macon to take his second win on American soil. Back in 2004 he first at the CSC Invitational in Arlington, Virginia.

While Michaelsen was right where he wanted to be, there was a host of other pre-race favorites missing in action. Among those not around to contest the final dash for the line were Gord Fraser (Health Net-Maxxis), Francisco Ventoso (Prodir-Saunier Duval) and Ivan Dominguez (Toyota-United). Fraser punctured late in the race and was not able to catch back on. Ventoso was simply unable to keep pace on the tough Macon finishing circuit, and Dominguez crashed in sight of the finish line.

Rodriguez also had his share of late-race issues, overcoming two wheel changes before clawing his way back into contention and second place at the finish. His first pit stop was to change a punctured wheel. Then, after catching back onto the group with the aid of two teammates, Rodriguez pulled over again.

"The second time the gears were skipping," said the American. "I think it was a problem with the cog but I'm not really sure."

Remarkably Rodriguez was back near the front by the time the group started the last of three undulating 2.1-mile finishing circuits in downtown Macon.

"I was fourth behind [teammate Henk] Vogels but right before the last corner we got pinned in and had to lock it up and brake," said the Davitamon-Lotto rider who won two stages at the inaugural Tour de Georgia in 2003. "That caused me to drop back to about eighth or 10th. I was right in front of the guys who crashed."

Before all the finish-line fireworks, the day was marked by a host of unsuccessful breakaways, plus one that stuck. That lone break of consequence was led by Prodir-Saunier Duval's Aaron Olson, who is in his first year on a ProTour team. Olson, along with Dan Bowman (TIAA-CREF), Jackson Stewart (KodakGalllery.com-Sierra Nevada) and Neil Shirley (Jittery Joe's-Zero Gravity Pro) broke free of the field 60 miles into the stage that started at 11:30 a.m.

Olson had been on bottle duty during the early portions of the stage that traversed east to west across the softly rolling hills of central Georgia. But when finally given a chance at the front he jumped away.

"Today was definitely fast," said Olson who was riding with a cast on his left hand, the result of a crash at the Tour of Flanders back in early April. "In the beginning guys were having to kill themselves just to get 15 seconds."

Finally, though, the peloton eased off and the breakaway was allowed to slowly build an advantage that topped out at just over 11 minutes. But that was enough to sound the alarm bells back in the bunch, and it was Toyota-United who first took up the chase, wanting to protect the interests of their top sprint man, Argentinean Juan Jose Haedo.

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"When it got up to 10 and 11 [minutes] we started to look around for help, but no one was really into it at first," said Toyota-United director Frankie Andreu. "Finally Discovery and Phonak came up and we were able to bring it back."

The effort would prove fruitless though, as the Andreu's top lead-out man crashed, leaving Haedo to fend for himself. He ended up seventh, well back of Michaelsen.

Desite the big effort brewing behind them in the bunch, Olson, Bowman, Shirley and Jackson continued to plug away at the front. But as the final outcome started to become clear, the break lost its momentum despite several attacks by Olson.

"I was just trying to keep the young guys working," said Olson, adding that he is friends with all the riders that were in the break. "You always have to give it a go. I though maybe there was a chance that we could stay away and so did our team director."

It was not to be, though, and after his three companions finally sat up, Olson languished at the front before finally being absorbed once the race reached Macon. All four were eventually spit out the back, leaving the day to Michaelsen and his fellow sprinters.

"Everybody wanted to go in a morning break," explained Michaelsen. "But no one was giving anything to anybody. With all the strong European teams here we were never concerned about bringing [the break] back."

Racing at the six-day event in Georgia continues Wednesday with a 116.1-mile run from Fayetteville to Rome. It will likely be another day for the sprinters, with only a category 4 climb to shake things up.

To see how the stage developed, go to VeloNews.com

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