Tom Danielson lays his stake to the next great American cyclist by winning today at Brasstown Bald! He put over a minute into Landis and Armstrong in the last super-steep kilometer. Not sure if it was enough to take the jersey, though, because Leipheimer surprisingly finished second at around 15 secs.
Poor Floyd, he had no help from his teammates today - looks like Discovery decimated them yesterday. Another great stage!!!
Looks like Danielson takes the jersy by 5 seconds over Leiheimer and only about 8 seconds ahead of Landis. Great stuff. Looks like the Giro will be fun!
He’s definitely a good climber. I’m pretty sure he won Mt. Evans last year.
Anyone know the profile/distance of Brasstown Bald? I wonder how it compares to the Wintergreen Mt. climb in Virginia?
Dave in VA
is the overall GC updated and posted anywhere ?
General classification after stage 5
1 Tom Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel 21.54.44
2 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 0.04
3 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.09
4 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 1.10
5 Lance Armstrong (USA) Discovery Channel 1.41
6 David Zabriskie (USA) Team CSC 3.04
7 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Prodir - Saunier Duval 3.11
8 Nathan O’Neill (Aus) Navigators Insurance 3.14
9 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC 3.51
10 José Azevedo (Por) Discovery Channel 3.58
11 Trent Lowe (Aus) Jittery Joe’s - Kalahari 4.12
12 Christian Vandevelde (USA) Team CSC 4.19
13 Saul Raisin (USA) Credit Agricole 4.43
14 Justin England (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis 6.45
15 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 6.54
16 Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) Prodir - Saunier Duval 6.59
17 Brian Vandborg (Den) Team CSC 8.19
18 Danny Pate (USA) Jelly Belly - Pool Gel 8.59
19 Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) Discovery Channel 11.01
20 Scott Moninger (USA) Health Net pb Maxxis 11.58
21 José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Discovery Channel 13.06
22 David Canada Gracia (Spa) Prodir - Saunier Duval 14.09
23 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Team L.P.R. 14.27
24 Sven Krauss (Ger) Gerolsteiner 14.37
25 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Team L.P.R. 15.33
I’ve ridden both. Brasstown Bald is the harder climb. But then Wintergreen is no slouch either, particularly at the TT.
While its no real surprise, its good to note the prevalence of the Pro Tour riders at the top of the standings…each year seems to bring more top riders to this race. Lets hope we can keep the momentum even after Lance…this is a good race, and a worthy successor to the Tour du Pont.
Dave,
Do you do the Wintergreen ride? I used to be on the Wintergreen Ski Patrol. Used to start my rides down at the bottom in Nellysford(?) or was that Wintergreen, off of 151(?). Ride to the top at Devils Knob, back down to the main entrance then right and go up to the Parkway, then back down to the car. I loved that ride!
Would have been an exciting race to watch. How old is Danielson anyway?
Danielson is 27, but even younger in “bike years” since he came to the sport later than most. He fits very well into the Giro, but is not ready for Le Tour just yet.
I agree the Pro Tour teams have come out to play this year…much more than last year. It’s obvious the Continental teams are severly overmatched - guess that’s why they’re Continental Teams (well, that and money, but money buys talent so…).
TdG is placed very well in the calendar as a Giro warm-up, so maybe it has a chance for continued growth post-Lance. The Tour of California will be interesting, but for different reasons. It’s so early in the year, and just after the races in south-east Asia, so teams will probably come to continue, or extend, their “pre-season.” Continental teams, therefroe, will have more chances to make an impact there since the Pro Tour team riders won’t be looking for big results - especially the GC riders.
The ITT starts at the Exxon station and continues to the highest point on the ski resort. Many will just take the main road up to the Blue Ridge Parkway but if you don’t make the right onto the ski resort then your missing the toughest part of the climb!
Dave in VA
You can look at a profile of Brasstown Bald climb on the TdG website for stage 5. The profile says it gains almost 2500 feet in 3.2 miles. I walked up it yesterday and its tough. Took the MTB, but the rangers made us dismount as we turned into the final climb.
haven’t been keeping real close tabs on the tdg but i thought chris horner was racing in it? anybody know if he is/how he’s doing? by the looks of the gc not too well.
He was out with a broken hip.
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2005/apr05/apr19news3