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Macon, Georgia (April 18, 2005) - Not long
after Augusta native James Brown - the Godfather of Soul himself - fired
the starter's pistol at the 128-mile opening stage of the Ford Tour de Georgia
from August to Macon, the Kodakgallery.com/Sierra Nevada Pro Cycling Team
made its mark on the race in its hallmark attacking style.
After Kodakgallery.com/Sierra Nevada riders like Dominique Perras and Scott
Zwizanski made some of the early attacks attacks that kept the pace high
during the first two hours of racing, Jackson Stewart attacked over 80 miles
from the finish and was joined after a mile or so by Aaron Olson (Prodir-Saunier
Duval), Neil Shirley (Jittery Joe's-Zero Gravity), and Dan Bowman (TIAA-CREF).
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Jackson Stewart in the break |
The quartet worked well together for almost two
hours and held a maximum advantage of 11 minutes over the field. But as
they neared 20 miles to go, the break's cooperative spirit evaporated as
Olson attacked repeatedly and eventually went clear of Stewart, Shirley,
and Bowman before all four were caught as the race entered Macon.
Stewart said, "I didn't feel great today, but I thought we would probably
make it. I just wish I was riding a little better and then I could have
marked Olson. I think he just wanted the Most Aggressive jersey, and he
knew he had to get away from me since I'd started the break and won the
third sprint."
Coming into the difficult finishing circuits in Macon, which typically weed
out many of the pure sprinters in the field, Kodakgallery.com/Sierra Nevada's
Ben Jacques-Maynes was feeling fresh.
"My legs felt good today, just rolling around in the bunch. Jackson did
a great job in the break and made things easy for me and Dom [Perras].
Coming into the last lap, Kodakgallery.com/Sierra Nevada's sprinter Dan
Schmatz was starting to cramp and gave Jacques-Maynes the green light to
try for the finish on his own.
"I followed a CSC guy the last time up the bricks," Jacques-Maynes recalled,
"and that gave me good position. With two corners to go, there was a big
hit on the right side of the field that pinched me into the curb. I reaccelerated
and passed a couple guys, then [Toyota-United's Ivan] Dominguez went down
right in front of me in the last corner. Then it was just drag racing down
the hill with a tailwind for the last 300 meters. There was nowhere for
me to go, and then I got a run at the guys in front of me as they petered
out. I swung around the right side and nipped a couple guys on the line."
Jacques-Maynes was sixth as CSC's Lars Michaelsen took the field sprint
ahead of Fred Rodriguez (Davitamon-Lotto) and Caleb Manion (Jelly Belly).
Kodakgallery.com/Sierra Nevada is now third in the team classification,
as Jesse Anthony - in his first international pro race - placed 16th and
Dominique Perras finished 22nd.
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