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Torrington,
Conn. (May 22, 2005) - A surprise ending in today's final stage of the
Tour of Connecticut dropped Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada's Dominique Perras
from fourth to sixth place overall, as Mark McCormack (Colavita-Sutter
Home) and Todd Wells (Capital Velo Club) escaped late in the race and
snatched first and second overall.
After cold and wet day on the hilly 166-mile loop through Litchfield County,
a breakaway including Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada's Glen Mitchell, who
started the day 55" down in 14th place, took a small lead as the
pack entered the flat finishing circuits in Torrington.
Navigators Insurance rode tempo on the front, initially allowing the break
a small gap while protecting Vasili Davidenko's overall lead. But then
McCormack and Wells, both of whom also started the stage 55" down
on Davidenko, bridged up to the break and drove the pace.
With Mitchell in the break and Perras in the field, Kodak Gallery/Sierra
Nevada's tactics were playing out nicely. But then Mitchell was dropped
from the leaders and Navigators was unable to keep the situation under
control. The gap went out to 1'07" at the finish, where McCormack
won the stage and the overall.
Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada Racing Manager, Robin Zellner commented after
the race, "It was disappointing to see Dominique [Perras] drop from
fourth to sixth, but Mark [McCormack] and Todd [Wells] did an amazing
ride today."
Earlier in the stage, Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada placed Jackson Stewart
and Hayden Godfrey in a group that broke away after 30 miles. But after
both were dropped, Kodak Gallery/Sierra Nevada went to the front and brought
back the breakaway, in which Navigators' Mark Walters was the highest
placed rider.
However, one rider remained alone off the front, scooping up KOM points
and overtaking Perras for the Climber's Jersey.
Perras said after the stage, "Obviously, I would have preferred to
keep fourth place and the Climber's Jersey, but a lot of things happened
today that no one would have predicted. But I'm really happy that my Kodak
Gallery/Sierra Nevada teammates did a great job and rode really cohesively
to bring back the group with Walters that could have won the race outright."
Complete results will be posted at www.tourofct.com
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