The 2008 Tour de Georgia bike race certainly didn't follow any script.
It was full of surprises. Among them:
1. Fifty-one US cyclists rode in the 120-man peloton.
--Not one US cyclist won a stage. Not one US cyclist wore the yellow jersey. (Jason McCartney of CSC did win KOM.)
Interestingly, when Slipstream-Chipotle -- a team with 8 US cyclists -- won the Stage 4 Team Time Trial, it was Australian Trent Lowe who crossed the finish line first. That's how he ended up in the yellow jersey after the next stage.
2. The peloton hosted two former Tour de Georgia champions and many veteran contenders, including the winners of February's Tour of California and last fall's Tour of Missouri.
-- It was 25-year-old Kanstantin Sivtsov, right, from Belarus who made the decisive move on Brasstown Bald on Saturday. He passed 23-year-old Trent Lowe and 10-year cycling pro Levi Leipheimer to capture the stage and eventually the Tour.
3. Team High Road dominated the Tour, with three stage wins and four yellow jerseys.
-- If you had told me that before the race, I would have expected South Carolina's George Hincapie to be wearing the yellow jersey ... more»
I committed a real "Dewey Defeats Truman" blunder at Biking Bis on Saturday when I named Trent Lowe at the overall leader of the Tour de Georgia following the Brasstown Bald stage.
It was Kanstantin Sivtsov (Belarus) of Team High Road who actually captured the overall lead after powering ahead of Trent Lowe and Levi Leipheimer in the final yards on the mountain.
I had listened to and watched the video stream of the end of the final stage, rushed to file a story on the results, then logged off for the day as I undertook to catch up on my one-person parenting duties while my wife is out of town. Big mistake.... more»
In spite of what appears to be an Australian invasion controlling the Tour de Georgia after Friday's stage, the US favorites have climbed in the standings for a battle on Brasstown Bald on Saturday.
Aussie Richard England, right, riding for the Bissell cycling team, challenged and beat countryman Rory Sutherland (HealthNet) in a sprint to the Stage 5 finish line in Dahlonega on Friday.
Meanwhile, Slipstream's Trent Lowe, also from Australia, donned the yellow jersey although he's in a tie with two teammates. Lowe finished first in Slipstream's winning team time trial on Thursday, so he gets the honor of wearing the yellow ... more»
The Slipstream-Chipotle team used its horsepower to win the Team Time Trial at Road Atlanta on Thursday, Stage 4 of the 2008 Tour de Georgia.
Greg Henderson held onto the yellow jersey, however, in spite of his Team High Road's 3rd place finish, less than 4 seconds behind. Astana finished in 2nd place, about 2 seconds behind. Team CSC finished 4th.
The win by Slipstream helps to set up former Tour de Georgia winner Tom Danielson in a good position ... more»
Fifteen teams will be racing against the clock at the Road Atlanta speedway for Stage 4 of the 2008 Tour de Georgia, the event's first-ever team time trial.
The course is located in Braselton, northeast of Atlanta, and the event is scheduled to run from 1 to about 4 p.m. (ET). As usual, WCSN.com is offering its video stream of ... more»
In just one race stage, the 2008 Tour de Georgia is all about Greg Henderson of the High Road team.
The 31-year-old sprint and track specialist from New Zealand won the broken field sprint in Gainesville on Wednesday afternoon to take Stage 3. With yellow jersey holder Ivan Dominguez finishing far back, Henderson also took the over race lead.
And with intermediate and finish line sprint points building up for the past three stages, Henderson also took the lead in the points classification... more»
You could probably guess that if Argentine sprinter J.J. Haedo was signed up for the Tour de Georgia, he wouldn't be quiet for long.
We heard from the Team CSC speedster at the close of Stage 2 on Tuesday, when he missed a crash on the final turn in Augusta and passed an isolated Ivan Dominguez to capture his sixth win of the season.
Monday's winner Dominguez (Toyota-United) hung on to finish in third place, after Team High Road's Greg Henderson, and retain the yellow jersey for another day as overall race leader ... more»
Cuban cyclist Ivan Dominguez won Stage 1 of the Tour de Georgia in a bunch sprint on Monday.
While Rock Racing, High Road and Gerolsteiner battled for position at the front of the peloton, the "Cuban Missile" slipped past their sprinters and rocketed across the finish line.
Jelly Belly's Nicholas Sanderson and Gerolsteiner's Robert Forster finished second and third on the 70-mile stage from Tybee Island to Savannah... more»
It appears that the scheduled 10:30 a.m. (ET) start time for Stage 1 of the 2008 Tour de Georgia is slightly exaggerated. Based on Adobe Tour Tracker, the race started at 10:50 a.m.
There appears to be several opportunities to follow the action from the Tour de Georgia from your home or office when the bike race rolls out this coming Monday through Sunday.
Live video streaming to your computer is being offered for free through World Championship Sports Network WCSN.com. Go to the broadcast schedule page at WCSN and follow the link to "Watch Now" (you might have to register). Also check the "Live Video" page at Tour de Georgia.
Also, it looks like the Adobe Tour Tracker will be back to offer live GPS streaming of riders in the peloton, as well as a course profile, play-by-play from VeloNews and a chatroom ... more»
This is an interesting line-up for the sixth annual Tour de Georgia, which gets underway Monday on Tybee Island.
We have international stars, home-grown favorites, accused dopers, and two former winners, although last year's champion Janez Brajkovic (Slovenia) is not on the roster for Astana.
I'm sure all that talent will be more alert in the early stages this year. If you remember, all the favorites were out of contention by the end of Stage 3 when a breakaway of 13 young riders attacked and beat the peloton by nearly 30 minutes ... more»
Savannah plans to roll with the crowd when the 2008 Tour de Georgia bike race starts in nearby Tybee Island on Monday.
The historic old city is the site of bicycling events that aim to get Savannah residents out on two wheels this weekend.
Two bike rides -- the Savannah Wheelie on Saturday and the Ride for Research on Sunday -- are suited for recreational riders. The Saturday ride is free, and the next 100 to register for the Sunday ride also will get to ride free... more»
(Updated: Rock Racing is in the 2008 Tour de Georgia.)
Saunier Duval-Scott's loss is Rock Racing's gain.
A series of early-season injuries has prompted Spain's Saunier Duval-Scott pro cycling team to opt out of the 2008 Tour de Georgia that rolls from Monday through April 21.
The decision meant Tour de Georgia organizer Medalist Sport reconsidered Rock Racing for that final spot, even as the two were in Georgia Superior Court where the Continental cycling team has filed an injunction to get into the race ... more»
The upcoming Tour de Georgia (April 21 - 27) will host a pro cycling team from China, marking the first time a Chinese cycling team has competed in the US.
Although it's the first licensed Chinese pro cycling team, the GE Marco Polo Cycling Team presented by Trek has cyclists from 5 countries.
Fifteen teams are racing in the 600-mile Tour. The entire list:
Astana Cycling Team (Luxembourg) Saunier Duval-Scott (Spain) Team CSC (Denmark) Team High Road (USA) Team Gerolsteiner (Germany) BMC Racing Team (USA) Slipstream/Chipotle presented by H30 (USA) Bissell Pro Cycling (USA) Health Net presented by Maxxis (USA) Jelly Belly Cycling Team (USA) Jittery Joe’s Professional Cycling Team (USA) Symmetrics Cycling Team (Canada) Team Type 1 (USA) Toyota-United Professional Cycling Team (USA) GE/Marco Polo Cycling Team presented by Trek (China) ... more»
Hold the phone! A couple of months after T-Mobile hangs up on cycling, AT&T increases its presence in the sport.
The giant communications company has signed on as the presenting sponsor for the 6th annual Tour de Georgia, which runs from April 21-27. That's peachy because the race didn't have a major sponsor last year and was in danger of being cancelled.
What's ironic is that another communications industry player, T-Mobile, ended its sponsorship of a pro cycling team at the end of the season because of bad publicity involving team members and doping... more»
Organizers revealed the general bike race route for the 2008 Tour de Georgia on Wednesday morning, and it features some new real estate as well as some old favorites.
Five new towns will be among the 12 host cities to participate as the Tour enters its sixth year. The race features a return to ever-popular Brasstown Bald (at 4,784 feet the highest peak in Georgia) on the next to last stage.
The race, which runs from April 21-27, 2008, begins on Tybee Island on the Georgia coast. Other host cities are Savannah, Statesboro, Augusta, Washington, Gainesville, Braselton, Suwanee, Dahlonega, Blairsville, Brasstown Bald and Atlanta... more»
Tour de Georgia cycling fan Thomas Kinnebrew has died from the injuries he suffered in a crash on Brasstown Bald.
The 53-year-old man from Helena, Arkansas, lost control of his bike as he rode down the mountain road after the April 20 stage and crashed into a rock embankment, according to a story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The Tour de Georgia ended last weekend with a circuit race around Atlanta, but the action will be televised this Saturday and Sunday on the Versus sports network.
Formerly OLN (and still named that in Canada), the Versus cable network will broadcast Stages 1-4 on Saturday from 5-7 p.m. (ET) and Stages 5-7 on Sunday from 5-6 p.m. (ET). (Following the Tour de Georgia, Versus televises La Fleche Wallonne from 6-7 p.m. on Sunday.)
That means the interesting finish in Rome and the long breakaway will be shown on Saturday's telecast, and Brasstown Bald and the Atlanta finish are on Sunday.
On the West Coast, the broadcast is scheduled while many cyclists are out on the road enjoying their own bike rides, so I'd expect viewership to be low out here.
Visitors to the Brasstown Bald stage of the Tour de Georgia on Friday might have witnessed rescuers reviving a man who crashed his bike on the way down the mountain.
The man, Thomas Kinnebrew of Helena, Arkansas, crashed into a rock embankment after he lost control on his bike after the race. Rescuers at the scene kept him alive with .... more»
Six cyclists from the Pacific Northwest competed at the 2007 Tour de Georgia. Here's how they did in the final standings:
Omer Kem of Salem, Oregon (Priority Health); 106th overall more»
The Tour de Georgia has posted the highlights of several stages of this year's bike race at YouTube. Here's a 10-second clip of fans chasing Levi Leipheimer up Brasstown Bald.
As of Sunday night, the finishes for Stage 5 (Brasstown Bald), Stage 6 and Stage 7 were also posted. These clips run about 6 to 10 minutes each. ... more»
Janez Brajkovic, left, held off the challengers to win the 2007 Tour de Georgia on Sunday, becoming the first non-US cyclist to win the 5-year-old bike race.
Meanwhile, Argentinian sprinter J J Haedo repeated last year's feat by winning the last stage of the Tour, which ended in Atlanta with a 77-mile criterium race.
The overall win by the 23-year-old Discovery Channel cyclist from Slovenia is just one indicator of the growing international flavor of this stage tour, which has been dominated by Americans in previous years. Other winners were Chris Horner (2003), Lance Armstrong (2004), Tom Danielson (2005), and Floyd Landis (2006). ... more»
Fast Freddie Rodriguez jumped out of a sprinting mass of cyclists at Stone Mountain on Saturday to win Stage 6 of the Tour de Georgia, just ahead of JJ Haedo and George Hincapie.
This is the first stage win for the popular US cyclist on Predictor-Lotto since taking Stage 4 of the 2006 Tour de Georgia. He suffered a very bad fall during last year's Tour de France which kept him out of contention for awhile.
In the overall battle for the yellow jersey, Discovery Channel's Janez Brajkovic of Slovenia has maintained his 12 second lead over US cyclist Christian Vandevelde of Team CSC. ... more»
The 2008 Tour de Georgia bike race certainly didn't follow any script. 
2. The peloton hosted two former Tour de Georgia champions and many veteran contenders, including the winners of February's Tour of California and last fall's Tour of Missouri.
In spite of what appears to be an Australian invasion controlling the Tour de Georgia after Friday's stage, the US favorites have climbed in the standings for a battle on Brasstown Bald on Saturday.
The Slipstream-Chipotle team used its horsepower to win the Team Time Trial at Road Atlanta on Thursday, Stage 4 of the 
In just one race stage, the 2008 Tour de Georgia is all about Greg Henderson of the High Road team.
You could probably guess that if Argentine sprinter J.J. Haedo was signed up for the Tour de Georgia, he wouldn't be quiet for long.
Cuban cyclist Ivan Dominguez won Stage 1 of the Tour de Georgia in a bunch sprint on Monday.
Savannah plans to roll with the crowd when the 
(Updated: Rock Racing is in the 2008 Tour de Georgia.)
Fast Freddie Rodriguez jumped out of a sprinting mass of cyclists at Stone Mountain on Saturday to win Stage 6 of the Tour de Georgia, just ahead of JJ Haedo and George Hincapie.
