Tour de Georgia Releases List of Teams - Rock Racing Not Selected
With the increasing popularity of the Tour of Georgia the number of teams requesting invitations to race in Georgia in April has seen a steady increase. Medalist Sports, the management company for the Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T, has announced an elite field of 15 teams, with the obvious exclusion of Rock Racing. With eight riders on each team, a total of 120 professional cyclists will compete in the 600-mile, seven-day event (April 21-27, 2008), beginning just 31 days from today.
With the exclusion of Rock Racing from the Tour of Georgia you can be sure that the war of words is soon to start. Medalist Sports was probably not to happy with Rock Racing after the debate at the Tour of California over Rocks riders that were not allowed to start (Hamilton, Botero, Sevilla). In that case all teams had to sign an agreement that any rider that was “implicated” in a doping investigation will not be allowed to start. But when Rock Racing released their rooster they had 3 riders that had been “implicated” in the Puerto Affair.
At this point we are left to guess at the reasons for the exclusion of Rock, but we are sure that soon enough we will hear from both sides. As of yet our request for reaction from Michael Ball has not come through, but we have been re-assured that he will release a statement later in the day. Stay tuned, you can be assured that it will be worth reading.
The 15 teams in this year’s Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T are as follows:
UCI Pro Tour
Astana Cycling Team (Luxembourg)
Saunier Duval-Scott (Spain)
Team CSC (Denmark)
Team High Road (USA)
Team Gerolsteiner (Germany)
UCI Professional Continental
BMC Racing Team (USA)
Slipstream/Chipotle presented by H30 (USA)
Continental – UCI America Tour
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)
Continental – UCI Asia Tour
GE/Marco Polo Cycling Team presented by Trek (China)
“This is not only the most international field we have had at Georgia, but one of the most elite as well. Usually you only see names like Hincapie, Zabriskie, Leipheimer and Millar at the Grand Tours. Now you will see them at the Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T. We have many teams from across the U.S. and Europe that we just could not accommodate,” said Jim Birrell of Medalist Sports, and race director for the Tour de Georgia.
Details about the 600 miles of racing for the 2008 Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T were unveiled today by event organizers. The sixth season for this prestigious professional cycling event will include a record 13 Georgia Power Sprint lines and eight United Community Bank King of the Mountain climbs during the seven days of racing, April 21 to 27.
Team CSC, the #1 ranked ProTour team for the past three years, brings a strong squad and years of experience to Georgia. Fifth last year at the Tour de Georgia, CSC’s team includes Argentinean sprinter Juan Jose Haedo, who took first place in last year’s Stage 7, the Atlanta circuit, as well as the overall Sprint Leader’s Jersey. Expect him to be joined by Americans Bobby Julich and Jason McCartney. Look for Julich, a former Olympian and national champion, to race to better his 4th place 2005 finish while McCartney, a transfer from Discovery, and KOM title holder from 2004 and 2006 Tours de Georgia, hopes to once again ride strong in the mountains.
Hoping to make a big splash and competing in Georgia for the first time is the Astana squad, led by former Discovery Director Johan Bruyneel. “I’ve always enjoyed attending the Tour de Georgia. We originally found success with Lance Armstrong and most recently last year with Jani Brajkovic. I now look forward to introducing the new Astana Cycling Team to this world-class event and I’m hopeful that we’ll continue to put on a great show for Georgia,” said Bruyneel, Astana Cycling Team General Manager.
On Astana, expect to see former Discovery rider Levi Leipheimer, who placed 3rd in the 2007 Tour de France and is the current U.S. National Road Champion, to return to Georgia. Astana expects Leipheimer to match, or better, his two stage wins from last year’s race, including the epic Brasstown Bald Mountain stage. Teammate Chris Horner, a transfer from Predictor-Lotto, won the 2003 Tour de Georgia. In 2007 Horner assisted former teammate Cadel Evans to a second place overall finish at the Tour de France. Joining the Americans will be defending Tour de Georgia champion Janez Brajkovic of Slovenia, also crowned the Best Young Rider in 2006 and 2007 in Georgia while riding for Discovery. Another Discovery transfer, Spaniard Alberto Contador, won the 2007 Tour de France and Paris Nice, is expected to be on the Astana team this spring.
Team Gerolsteiner had a successful 2007 campaign with 18 wins, including individual victories at the Amstel Gold Race, Giro d’Italia, German National Championship, and Flèche Wallonne. Returning to Georgia after a fourth place finish in 2005, Gerolsteiner is home to Italian Davide Rebellin, who was ranked second overall in the 2007 Pro Tour rankings. Joining him are Germans Fabian Wegmann, the 2007 German National Road Champion and winner of the points competition in the 2004 Giro D’Italia, Robert Förster who has stage wins in both the Vuelta and the Giro to his credit, and Stefan Schumacher who placed 3rd at the 2007 World Championships and won the Amstel Gold Race.
Team High Road boasts a diverse roster with athletes from all over the globe, but is expected to bring several of its American riders to Georgia. New to High Road for 2008 is former U.S. Road Champion and 2007 Tour of Missouri winner George Hincapie, from Greenville, S.C. Look for him to be joined by second-year pro John Devine, also a transfer from Discovery. A transfer from Team Slipstream, Craig Lewis is expected to return to Georgia. Another Greenville resident, Lewis captured the U.S. Under-23 Road and Criterium Championships in 2006. Three-time world time trial champion and former Tour of Germany champion, Australian Michael Rogers, is another veteran expected to share his experience with his younger teammates.
Led by three Americans who transferred from ProTour teams, Team Slipstream/ Chipotle presented by H30 has Tour de France aspirations, and plans to lay a foundation for July at the Tour de Georgia. Tom Danielson (formerly with Discovery), won the 2005 Tour de Georgia and 2006 Tour of Austria champion. Christian Vande Velde (formerly Team CSC) placed second in Georgia last year. And David Zabriskie (formerly Team CSC) is a two-time U.S. National Time Trial Champion. Slipstream will be looking to better its 2007 6th place finish. Expected to join Team Slipstream here in April are David Millar, the British National Road and Time Trial Champion, and Canadian Ryder Hesjedal, who took first in the Georgia King of the Mountain competition last year and is the Canadian National Time Trial Champion.
The BMC Racing Team has a roster comprised of Swiss and American athletes. In 2007, the team took first in the Team Time Trial at the Giro del Friuli Venezia in Italy, and the top two KOM spots at the Redlands Bicycle Classic. Americans Antonio Cruz, a transfer from Discovery, and Jeff Louder, a transfer from Health Net/Maxxis will lead the crusade in Georgia along with Scott Nydam, who placed sixth on GC at the 2007 Tour de Georgia. Swiss rider Alex Moos has had many podium finishes, including third place at the 2004 Swiss road championship.
The Bissell Pro Cycling Team debuted last year as Priority Health - Bissell. One notable new rider to the young squad is former ProTour rider Aaron Olson (USA), who took third overall at the 2007 Tour of Ireland. The team is led by Ben Jacques-Maynes, who won seven US National Racing Calendar events in 2007 and finished second overall in NRC individual points. With the help of Americans Garrett Peltonen and transfer Burke Swindelhurst, the team looks to continue its success in Georgia, where it has amassed multiple Top 10 stage finishes.
With an average age of 26, the Jittery Joe’s Professional Cycling Team returns to the Tour de Georgia presented by AT&T for the sixth consecutive year. The team has five new riders this year, but will be led by Neil Shirley, who placed third at the 2007 U.S. National Road Championships, and team captain Trent Wilson of Australia. Look for Atlanta native Tim Henry, in his second year as a pro, to be a crowd favorite as he competes on his home turf.
“We are proud to be the only team to have raced in Georgia for all six years since its inception in 2003. In March we will have a serious training camp in Georgia to focus on stages of the Tour de Georgia. Having the team based in Georgia brings the home field advantage in ways like this, even though most of our riders live elsewhere in the U.S. and in Australia,” said Micah Rice, general manager of the Jittery Joe’s squad.
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This just makes me sick. Do the people who organize this race realize that the best thing they had going for them just got the door slammed in their face?
It sounds like the good ole boys don’t want to play “Ball” with a guy who just might show them up.
Maybe this decision will be the dagger in the heart of this race that finally brings it to an end. And that’s too bad.
I’m disappointed that Rock Racing was not invited. Accusations are not doping convictions, and those who have doped have been punished and should be allowed back. (Jeez, David Millar has practically made a career of being a reformed doper!)
Plus, it’s neat to see them shake up the pelaton a little bit! Cycling is changing, and in so many ways changing for the worse with all the stupid doping regulations; it’s nice to see someone try to do things a little differently.