|
DEC
04 | JAN
| FEB
| MAR
| APR
| MAY
| JUN
| JUL
| AUG
| SEP
| OCT
| NOV
| DEC
Alpharetta,
Georgia (April 24, 2005) - As the Dodge Tour de Georgia drew to a close
today, Dominique Perras of the Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada Professional
Cycling Team made a last-ditch effort for a stage win as part of a four-rider
breakaway that formed after 65 miles of the 125-mile stage from Blairsville
to Alpharetta.
Perras and Sven Krauss (Gerolsteiner) bridged up to Andrea Tafi (Saunier
Duval-Prodir) and Danny Pate (Jelly Belly-PoolGel) and the four worked
well together, increasing their lead to over 3 minutes as they enterered
Cumming.
At the sprint point in Cumming with 40 miles to go, Perras attacked from
700m out and coasted across the line, winning $2500 for his effort. He
also took second in the final sprint points location in front of Alpharetta
City Hall.
When the group reached the finishing circuits in Alpharetta, the teams
of sprinters like stage winner Gord Fraser (Health Net-Maxxis) drove the
pace and it was only a matter of time before Perras and the breakaway
were caught inside the last two laps.
Perras, the top Canadian overall in 28th place, commented, "I wanted
to try for a stage and I'm feeling better every day. It's too bad the
time trial didn't come later in the week! Honestly, the level of the race
was harder than we thought and I'm surprised by how hard the ProTour teams
raced."
At the finish, Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada's Jackson Stewart placed 13th
in the wild field sprint and 50th overall.
"I was in the right spot but the sprint all went to the other side
of the road," Stewart explained. "This was probably the hardest
race I've ever done, but I was looking for a better stage finish. G.C.-wise,
I improved a lot and it's always good to improve."
Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada Racing Manager, Kurt Stockton added, "Obviously
it's tough to only have two finishers, but I think this was a real eye-opener
for our guys to see what kind of level may be possible for them in the
future. At the very least, it's been a great experience to be here at
the Tour de Georgia."
Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada's photo gallery from today's stage is viewable
at:
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=sg2d9w6.66enn8q&x=0&y=-62mjkg
|
 |
